Quick Hit Band Interview: Ryan Hahn & The Believers

 

Ryan Hahn & The Believers at the 
Silverlake Lounge

Interview with the band. Enjoy:

How would you describe your sound? I would describe my sound as Americana/Rock’n’roll. Influenced by artists like Tom Petty, Steve Earle, Neil Young, etc. 

 Is there a story behind one of your songs that you’d like to share? My song Farmers Son off our last EP titled the same . . . this one is about having tattoos, living in LA, and how lots of people see me as an “rock and roll city boy.” But even though I may not look like it, I’m still the same ole kid who grew up on the tobacco farm in small town rural Kentucky. It’s about never forgetting who you are and where you came from, no matter how far you travel from it.

Quick Hit Artist Interview: Lasers Lasers Birmingham

Lasers Lasers Birmingham at the Silverlake Lounge

Interview with the artist. Enjoy:

What is currently influencing you in terms of music? Most of my music career I focused on songwriting but now, I’m going back to old country standards trying to learn how to be a better interpreter of other people’s material.

What thrills you about performing live? It's just so great to be on a stage in front of people again. Every aspect of it thrills me, the energy when people sing along, laugh at my jokes between songs or when the room is silent and you can feel the crowd just listening. I don’t even mind if someone yells “Play Freebird!”

Silverlake Lounge: The Gooms with Chase Petra and Mashugana

The Gooms are the October residency band at the Silverlake Lounge. Like many bands, this was their first live set since the start of the pandemic. Opening up for them was Mashugana that had a nice chill sound. When the spirit took hold, the lead singer let loose with some vibrant moves on stage. The band got a touch excited when someone in the audience yelled out their band name with the proper pronunciation. I had to look up the word. It means someone who acts crazy or nonsensical.

Mashugana

Up next was Chase Petra. This is a band I saw three different times during the pandemic -- all online. I saw them playing Echo Park Rising, the Six at Six, and Wonder & Awe. Their music has a pop punk flavor to it. Having seen them online so many times, I was super eager to catch this band for the first time live. Yes, live. What did I notice that was different from catching their music online? Mercy, this band is so fun to photograph -- especially when the bassist and guitarist face off with each other.

Chase Petra

The Gooms closed out the night. Now, here's what I noticed about both Chase Petra and The Gooms. Their fans packed the front of the stage. I feel like this is the first time I've seen this happen when hanging out post-reopening at the Silverlake Lounge. No one was getting to the front of the stage if they didn't get their prior to the start of Chase Petra's set. The Gooms is just a fun band. They play their music fuzzy and, well, they like to make amusing facial expressions. I've followed this band since early 2019 and just was so happy to catch them again.

The Gooms

Silverlake Lounge: Mazie, Your Favorite Color, Jagged Baptist Club

I wasn't planning on going out on Wednesday night, but then I noticed that Mazie was playing The Silverlake Lounge. Now I'd never heard of Mazie before, but it seemed like it would be a unique set. Was I ever correct. It really was like watching live animation. What I mean by animation is a cartoon character jumping from the screen and right onto the stage. Just the way she dresses in very colorful fashion and the silver chain that she had in her hair. Her music also just had that kid cartoon feel to it (now I don't watch kid cartoons so I'm just imaging how those cartoons are). A very enjoyable set.

Mazie

Up next was Your Favorite Color. I swear I just couldn't get it out of my head: the lead singer reminds me of a young Jared Leto from his "My So Called Life" days. I think the band is still a work in process. I say that, because they rounded out their set with two cover songs. But this band really rocked me with crisp and slightly stretched vocals that played well against driving beats.

Your Favorite Color

Jagged Baptist Club concluded their fourth residency night. This band knows how to entertain and expects the adulation for doing so. At the end of the set, they shouted out some thanks. They even shouted out thanks to an individual who requested to be thanked. 

Jagged Baptist Club

Silverlake Lounge: Cuffed Up and Jagged Baptist Club

Cuffed Up hit the stage at the Silverlake Lounge for their first live set since March 2020. Was there any rust that needed to be polished out? Not from what I could tell. They came on stage and just shredded it throughout their set. Sapphire Jewell often played the guitar low to the ground while sliding those fingers. During one song where she took the lead vocals, she stepped out into the audience with power. Ralph Torrefranca was a tornado of energy that sent his glasses constantly sliding down his nose and him having to constantly move it back in place. What a 30 minute thrill.

Cuffed Up

As for Jagged Baptist Club, this was my second time seeing the band over a 4 day period. I'd previous driven down to Long Beach to cover Happy Sundays and got to catch their full set at Alex's Bar. This band is just fun to watch and photograph. Lead singer Blake Stokes does have a revival preacher style, which fits in perfectly with the band name. This style combines dynamic and quirky with a touch of the feeling that you're part of an inside joke. With arms often stretched out towards the audience, this band connects with their fans.    

Jagged Baptist Club

Quick Hit Band Interview: New Media

New Media at Silverlake Lounge

Interview with the band. Enjoy:

What's the story behind how your band started? A very American mix of fate and boredom. Zach Noel (lead singer/guitar) posted a Craigslist ad looking for someone. Jack Meighan (bass), answered. They immediately hit it off, talked about old Wilco records, and started jamming. Tamara Simons (guitar) joined as another guitarist who had a history of playing music with Zach from high school. Julien Nicolai (drums) joined the band May 2018 because we thought 2 guys with glasses weren't enough.

Outside of music, what are some other interests of the band members? Film, binge-watching, reading, corgis, word-searches, scrabble, a never-ending prison of watching the same Office/Parks and Rec episodes every night, graphics, visuals, sound design, video games. Riding trains, watching trains, thinking about trains.

Own Q&A: What is the perfect New Media pizza? Tamara, Zach, Julien: Pepperoni, BBQ chicken, basil, arugula, mushroom onion and baked in a brick oven with love, care, and “that warm fuzzy feeling.” Jack: I disagree. Too much going on. Perfect pizza is pepperoni and jalapeno, with no feeling, but lots of grease.

Quick Hit Artist Interview: Edgard

Edgard at the Silverlake Lounge

Interview with the artist. Enjoy:

How would you describe your sound? I believe my sound represents truthfully who I am. I blend all my major influences of blues, rock and prog into my own fusion. Improvisation is my greatest joy. When I'm playing, I deliver myself in the moment. I grew up with deep roots in blues and rock, having Jimi Hendrix as my biggest influence. Sincerely, music to me is a spiritual experience and that feeling comes out in my sound.

I read you grew up in Brazil. Do you have any interesting thoughts on the Brazilian music scene? Yes, I'm originally from Rio de Janeiro! We currently have some amazing independent production companies like Abraxas making cool events and festivals with new creative bands. Also, blues has become more and more deeply appreciated in Brazil. If live music is your thing, you should definitely explore and look into São Paulo's night life.

Own Q&A: Who are your major influences at the moment? Nowadays who inspire me the most are Derek Trucks, Eric Gales, Eric Johnson and Mark Lettieri, just to name a few.

Quick Hit Band Interview: Polymorph

Polymorph at the Silverlake Lounge

Interview with the band. Enjoy:

What's the story behind how your band started? The guitarist (Johann) and I (Nathan, keys) met 24 years ago, when he popped out of the same uterus as me, only 2 years later. In 2014, we moved to LA in order to study music at the Musicians Institute. And there, we were lucky to meet amazing musicians such as Austin (bass) and Mann (drums) in order to form Polymorph. Obviously, this is only the dull truth. If you want a better story, I would encourage you to read our bio on our website www.polymorphband.com.

What motivates you to write your music? Mann is going to beat the shit out of his drums on a daily basis anyway, so we figured we might as well add some notes and chords on top of that to make it more pleasant to the rest of the world.

Own Q&A: How would you rank the seasons of Community from best to worse? The answer would be 2 - 3 - 1 - 5 - 6 - 4.

Quick Hit Band Interview: Pacific Radio

Pacific Radio at Silverlake Lounge

Interview with the band:

How would you describe your sound? The sound we're going for is Party. The more we see people moving around, dancing and gyrating and such in front of us, the more we know we're doing something right.

Is there a specific decision the band has made (good or bad) that it feels other bands/artists can learn from? We're finding that the further we go from our home base, the more we grow as a unit. We played a show in Mexico City a few weeks ago and the people appreciated how far we'd come to play for them. It's good for a band to get on the road.

What's your favorite song to play off the album y'all just released, 'Pretty but Killing Me'? ‘Camaro’ is a saucy, swanky little number that has the grit and determination we all need and thrive from as a band at that point in the set, it feels good all over. But 'Weekend' is a close second because it jumps off the stage right from the start and takes us all for a wild ride.

Quick Hit Band Interview: BAH RAM YOU

BAH RAM YOU at the Silverlake Lounge

Quick interview with the band (via Sam):

How would you describe your sound? Our sound is nerd-Ska-punk. If blink 182 and Less than Jake had a baby who played World of Warcraft all day... it would be BAH RAM YOU.

Your set was fun. So what’s the favorite part of your set? My favorite part of the set is being able to nerd out to the horns. There’s some great lead riffs that I can’t help but skank too.

Own Q&A. Bucket list for our band would be to play on this last Warped Tour. It’s always been a dream of mine. Our drummer met her husband while they were both playing on the tour. I know it would mean a lot to her as well.

Pacific Radio and BAH RAM YOU at Silverlake Lounge

To be honest, Silverlake Lounge fell off my radar for about four months. I got into a cycle of going to the Bootleg Theater, The Echo, and The Satellite. And other nights I headed out to Harvard and Stone, The Hi Hat, and Hotel Cafe. There just wasn't enough time to head over to Silverlake Lounge.

On the fly, I decided to head over to Silverlake Lounge on a Monday night (2/19). I have to say I was happy I went. First off, it was nice to see that the bar was filled with an audience. In the past, when I've gone, there were only a handful of folks in the bar. Folks must have known they were in for a good show.

I caught two band: BAH RAM YOU and Pacific Radio.

BAH RAM YOU brought the horns for some ska-punk power. For the horns, they had two trumpets and two saxophones. Yeah, this is one large band. In total, the band features 8 musicians.

What I noticed: one of the saxophone players was wearing an animal hat. I wasn't sure if it was a cow or a lamb.

BAH RAM YOU

Pacific Radio hit the rock notes. They moved from song to song, almost getting a mosh pit going among the crowd. The lead singer had some fun with me, I have to admit. I was trying to take a photo of their guitarist. The lead singer spread out his arms and his hand got in front of my camera. He looked me in the eye and made some sort of amusing comment that I didn't exactly hear. Later, he went out into the audience for part of a song. When he headed back to the stage, he grabbed me camera and pointed my lens directly into his face to get a semi-selfie. Ha ha, my lenses couldn't focus at such close range so the shot came out blurry.

Pacific Radio

Quick Hit Band Interview: Molino

Molino at Silverlake Lounge

Q&A time with the band (via Abraham). Hope you enjoy:

How would you describe your sound? I would say we're a grungey/shoegazey/psych-rock band with a heavy "Manchester" influence (even though we all grew up in LA). Kind of like a mashup between Stone Roses, Oasis, Spacemen 3, and Nirvana...

What’s the story behind how your band started? It literally started with a trip out to Sedona to visit a Native American shaman for an energy clearing ceremony in a sweat bath in a yurt in the Arizona desert; needless to say afterwards I felt it was time to start a new musical project... Luckily I have super talented friends that also are musicians, so when the band came together it wasn't too difficult to find peeps to jam with... That's one of things about this project I love, we are all friends first, no egos, and the music just flows...

And if there's a Q&A you've always wanted to or love to answer... A. You're a new addition to the crayon box. What color would you be and why? Black, cuz it's the color of my soul...

Quick Hit Band Interview: Twin Ritual

Twin Ritual at the Silverlake Lounge

Q&A time with the band. Hope you enjoy:

How would you describe your sound? With all members coming from different musical projects, we would say a fusion of Dance Rock - Indie rock - New Wave. Catchy guitar melodies, layered synthesizers, bouncy bass lines, strong dreamy female vocals and danceable drum beats.

You mentioned you're from San Diego. What are some of the local music venues in San Diego that someone from Los Angeles should check out? San Diego music venues to check out: Soda Bar, Space Bar, Casbah, Whistle Stop, The Merrow, Blonde Bar, Observatory North Park.

Quick Hit Band Interview: Beachwood Coyotes

Beachwood Coyotes at the Silverlake Lounge

Q&A time with the band. Hope you enjoy:

How would you describe your sound? Energetic noisy indie weiner rock.

What’s a dream venue you’d love to play at and what about it intrigues you? The Hollywood Bowl. I hear they let you bring free booze in.

Quick Hit Band Interview: Big Language

Big Language at the Silverlake Lounge

Q&A time with the band. Hope you enjoy:

How would you describe your sound? I like to think of our music as a tapestry of bittersweet sentiments. The sound is always changing moods and dynamics. Each song kind of has its own world and its own color.

Does the band have any releases coming up? We have our first EP available online currently and will be releasing our next album in the coming few months.

Quick Hit Band Interview: Ivory Deville

Ivory Deville at Silverlake Lounge

Q&A time with the band. Hope you enjoy:

How would you describe your sound? If Chuck Berry was driving The Velvet Underground in a 1959 Cadillac Eldorado convertible, doing about 35mph, listening to The Gilded Palace of Sin, and meanwhile Leon Russell was coming from the opposite direction, doing 110 in a 1970 Dodge Challenger with The Ikettes on board, listening to Bleach, and they drove right past each other and waved.

Other than Los Angeles, where could you see yourself living and why? I'd be down the road in a cloud of smoke to some land I ain't bought.

(Interview took place in June 2016.)

Quick Hit Band Interview: Rod Melancon

Rod Melancon at the Silverlake Lounge

Q&A time with the artist. Hope you enjoy:

How would you describe your sound? At this point, it's just rock n roll sprinkled with southern grit. My voice and lyric content will always make things sound a bit southern.

Where is your favorite spot to write music? It's changes but my apartment or wherever I'm living at the time. My last record was written in Florida, Los Angeles and Joshua Tree.

Own Q&A. What's your favorite film? Terrence Malick's Badlands. Close seconds = The Last Picture Show and Apocalypse Now.

(Interview took place in June 2016.)