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Lucertulas Interview

Hey y'all.  Acolyte here.  Ya know there is a lot of really awesome rock and roll from all over the world.  Today we're interviewing one of my (Jack) favorite contemporary bands, Italy's noise rock apocalypse Lucertulas.  These guys and their music are really close to my heart, if you haven't checked 'em out yet ya should.  Their record "THE BRAWL" sounds like if Big Black (offa Atomizer) and The Icarus Line (offa Mono) fucking.  So without further adue, the Lucertulas interview...

First things first, names of players and what they play?

Chris:

Christin Zandonella  guitar, Luca Bottigliero drums, Federico Aggio bass/vocals.

Us 3 form the actual band but I would also include our sound man Roberto Olivertto in the line up, who is an essential presence.

What does Lucertulas mean?

Chris:

It's a misspelt or mutated version of the word lucertola, which means lizard. The fact that it's an invented name is pretty useful too because if you search it in google it's the first to come up!

When/Where did Lucertulas form?

Chris:

Around 2004, in the cold, foggy and monotonous plains of North East Italy.

What kind of stuff influenced you guys growing up?  Like what was the first thing you heard that made you go:  I can DO that!

Fede:

Our roots are definitely based in hardcore. Then in 2001 I heard Goat by the The Jesus Lizard and everything changed.

Unsane, Converge, US Maple, Cows, Oxbow, Melvins and Shellac are all bands who've strongly influenced our background. Nowadays we have a more varied taste from rock to electronic to jazz to classical etc. I think it's really important to listen to different types of music.

Have any of you guys been in any other projects or involved in other things besides music?

Luca:

Before Lucertulas I played in Mesmericao (an experimental rock duo) and then with One Dimensional Man. Actually I do have another project called Oscillator in which I create and produce all the tracks. I'll be releasing the debut album in 2013 and will go on tour to promote it, with a "real" band.

On your facebook page it says you can download your album "THE BRAWL" for free?  Do you guys always intend to give away your music?  How do you feel about file-sharing or piracy?

Luca:

This is a fairly long and complicated topic but one fundamental thing should be said; the way in which we listen to and find music has completely changed. We are living in the age of the shuffle generation, where there are no limits imposed by distance or finding the money to get the records, so music is found everywhere, even more than you could ask for, and this has generated a lapse in listening, which was once a contemplative experience. It should also be said that the industry as we once knew it doesn't exist anymore. A few things have changed: first of all the record labels aren't drowning in the millions anymore so to stay alive they invest in the same stuff, like old bands who live and act and think based on clichés and models of a world that no longer exists and which no longer makes sense. This happens in both the major and and the smaller labels. The system which has "destroyed" the music industry could also be seen as a great form of promotion which keeps the artists 100% in control of their bands promotion, bypassing press agencies, labels and distributors. This system is already in place, there's no longer a need for records or record shops. What has to change is the mentality, people need to update their points of view to understand that it's not music which is in crisis but just that the music industry is an entirely different thing now.

What's the scene like over in Italy?  I think the only other band that I can think of off the top of my head is the Secret?

Chris:

There are lots of groups of varying genres but the majority of them die out within a few years. In Italy there are increasingly less places to play gigs and venues will always go for the mainstream groups, which for bands like us is obviously really frustrating and detrimental our progress.

Putiferio, A Flower Collapsed, Oscillator are a few bands who hold up the fort.

So y'all have changed your name once and had a couple line up changes, one of which was a change in singer which superficially seems like a challenge.  Many groups break up after their singer leaves because of the challenge of replacing such an integral part of the group, how did you meet Federico and how did he become the singer/bassist for Lucertulas?

Chris:

Federico was always a big fan of the band (from 2004 until 2007 we were called Superlucertulas) and often we'd see him at our gigs. When Sandro Crisafid decided to leave, Fede proposed the idea of him joining, and it all happened naturally from there.

To formalize the change of line up, we changed our name from Superlucertulas to Lucertulas.

You guys have released 4 tracks off of THE BRAWL in your own Italian language as apposed to the english on the record.  What was the reasoning behind that?  Why write in english at all (this question may be naive)?

Fede:

Actually it's a really good question.

Expressing yourself in another language might seem unnatural but you have to take into consideration that we grew up listening to and reading lyrics of bands who were mostly English speaking, so in terms of writing English is familiar and in some ways also instinctive. In addition to this, travelling is an integral part of being in the band - seeing new places and meeting new people, particularly outside of Italy. That's the main reason behind choosing to write in English.

However there was the desire to relay our lyrics in Italian. In the beginning we wanted the record to be in both languages, but then we realised that though the translations, the majority of the meaning would probably be lost so we only chose the songs that really worked.

Is there a single songwriter in the band or does everyone kind of pitch in?

Fede:

As it goes now I write all of the the lyrics but the others read them and approve of them before we record.

Do you guys have any preference in gear?  Or do y'all just sort of plug in to whatever and play?

Chris:

Playing with our own instruments is fundamental. It's something we never compromise on, for us the sound is everything!

Any cool groups from Italy or that part of Europe we all need to know about?

Fede:

Loads! Zu, Marvin, Ten Volt Shock, Le Singe Blanc, L'enfante Rouge, Kurt, Ulan Bator...

What's next for Lucertulas?

Fede:

mmmh ...  a  new awesome album!

ciao.

Mean Jeans Interview

Had a nice summer?  

Us too.  

Check out this Mean Jeans interview.  

Thanks dudes!

First things first:  Names of players and what they play?

Billy Jeans (BJ) sings and plays guitar
Jeans Wilder (JW) sings and plays drums
Junior Jeans (JJ) plays bass

How did y'all get together as a group/where did the name "Mean Jeans" come from (I heard it was a reference to an ex-girlfriend spray-painting someone's house)?

BJ:  Yeah you heard right.  Once upon a time there was an ex-girlfriend spray painting 'Mean Jean' all over the town where we grew up, in the suburbs of Washington, DC.  We figured if we took the name for ourselves we'd already be notorious.

JW: I ran into BJ at a Weird Al concert and asked him if he wanted to start a balls2thewall punk band ala The Red Hot Chili Peppers. He said "no doy". The rest is history.

JJ:  That was my ex....whoops.

What kinda groups inspired y'all to play music in the first place?  Like what was the first thing you heard that made you go,"I can do that!"

BJ: for me that was minor threat and operation ivy. i got those albums the same day in 6th grade and it changed my perspective on shit. Then Junior Jeans and I decided to start our first punk band, The Dirty Rats.

JW: I remember I was listening to the radio late at night back in '94 under the blankets so my parents wouldn't hear, when all of a sudden Crash Test Dummies "Mmmm Mmmm Mmmm", The Cranberries "Zombie", and Ini Kamoze "Here Comes the Hotstepper" came on, one right after the other. I remember thinking to myself "I can do that!"

JJ: BJ called me the day he got the Minor Threat discography and said he had something next level to show me.  I remember listening to the whole thing together on a shitty boombox and both of us were sold.  We had to do it.

Have any of y'all been in other projects past/present?

BJ: I've played in a lot of shitty bands over the past 15 years.

JW: Apparently Gnar Tapes and Burger Records are going to put out a tape of my "solo project" The Hound of Love. It's a bunch of crap I've recorded over the past 6-9 years, coming out any day now I think. The cover looks cool, but the music itself...

JJ: I have a reggae project called Jr. Membah.  JW does all of the music with me.  Keep your eyes out for the gahdna frum da ghutta debut.

Just a quick look at "On Mars" and the first thing I noticed, even if trivial, was that the lengths of most the tracks on the new outing where double the length of most tracks on "Are You Serious?" is this something that just ended up happening or was it on purpose?

BJ: None of us ever said "let's write songs that are longer now", but we did make an effort to push our songwriting style beyond verse/chorus/verse/chorus, as every song on our first album is.

JW: It's actually a lot harder to write a short/fast/stupid "punk" song ON PURPOSE than one might think. The idea of trying to emulate the type of songs on the first album just because we felt like we had to seemed completely Ludacris. So we just did what we felt like doing.

I feel like "Are You Serious" as a record, was kinda like a perfect debut album in a sense that it was a complete package (sparse arrangements, goofy but heartfelt lyrics, equally goofy artwork) and the songs just ripped at you for 30 minutes or so and then it was done.  "On Mars" feels almost a little more intimate, is that a vibe y'all wanted to create during production of the album?

BJ: I'm not sure what 'intimate' means when describing music.  I figured some people would want us to write another Are You Serious album, i.e. fast, catchy, stupid, simple.  Just the idea of having some kind of expectation for what we should do bums me out, so we decided to try to make the songs different.  On Mars has songs with weirder parts, weirder instruments, weirder song writing, but we were just trying to have fun and be the Mean Jeans.

JW: Yeah I personally wanted to do something more than just go in the studio and try to get it done as fast as possible. Which is essentially what happened on the first album: record drums, bass, guitars, vocals then get the hell out of there. When we went into the studio for "On Mars" I was listening to a lot of ELO and had these illusions of grandeur that we could make a more intricate album with all sorts of crazy flourishes and nic-nacs all over the place. In the end that didn't really happen because we were recording with friends for not a lot of money; it's not like we got a bunch of money to go in to a big studio for months and go nuts. So we tried to do as much as we could with what we had, and as much as our laziness, impatience and ADD would allow.

JJ: When BJ was first showing me the songs, just demos with no vocals, I thought there was a lot more to them then the first record.  They were more structured and had melodies to draw you in.  The more i listened to them, they we still just punk songs though.  The lyrics came and they were just as party infused and self-deprecating.  The style is the same, BJ and JW just got deeper in to writing complete songs, not just verse, chorus, verse, chorus, done.

Hearing records being made like "On Mars" and "Are You Serious" is sorta nice compared to all this apocalyptic/depression minded stuff.  Do you guys have any opinions about all this gloom in our culture/society/music right now?

BJ: We try to be a fun band but alot of our lyrics are about hating life too.  We play music to have a good time, and want anybody who sees us to have a good time, but I wouldn't give any of us an award for being optimistic or positive.  We're all unsatisfied, but try to make the best of it. Mostly by partying on, which is the best advice you can get.

JW: I am at my parents' house right now and they have cable. I was up all night watching new music videos on all the different MTV stations and I had absolutely no idea what was going on. There was a pretty good Pink Floyd doc on VH1 Classic though...

JJ:  The Jeans have more then enough gloom and depression to spread around but thats not really the point.  We aren't trying to connect with an audience through a like minded feeling that the world is terrible.  Everyone knows life is shitty sometimes.  Not everyone knows that you gotta say fuck it and rage on.

A lot of punk bands seem to try to be as aggressive and fast as possible and the Mean Jeans kinda dip back to a time when the Ramones were just a pop band trying to write songs instead of stand for anything in particular, am I reading too much into it or is there a dissatisfaction within the members of the band with that sort of aggro approach?

BJ:  We play our songs at least twice as fast in our live set.  It's more fun for us that way.  I don't know who you are referring to when you say bands are being as fast or aggressive as possible; i love fast and aggressive music.  But you are right to say that we care more about pop songs than fast punk ones.  All Mean Jeans songs are pop songs, why wouldn't they be!

You guys have opinions on gear?  Or you just plug in to whatever is around and crank it? (drums too!)

BJ: I don't think any of us cares about gear or owns anything nice.  JW's drum set is from 6th grade or some shit.  Maybe it's our loss for not caring, and sometimes (always?) sounding like shit, but I think it's annoying when bands are primadonnas about gear and their sound.  This is punk! There's nothing serious about it.

JW: Yeah I've had the same drums since 1996. The head on my bass drum has been there since 98. Ride cymbal and hi-hats I've had since 97. I absolutely hate buying new shit. I had to buy a new cymbal about a month or two ago and I think I am still depressed from the whole experience. In fact I know I am.

JJ: Pretty sure we'd all rather use other peoples gear always.  I don't even own a bass.  Thanks JW!! 

C-Rex:  Are you serious?

BJ: No

Whats next for Mean Jeans?

BJ: We're on our way to Chile.  Then Florida, and Fest 11.  Have a couple split 7 inches in the works.  Everything else is a secret.

You guys wanna tell us about any cool new shit coming out of your area or bands that you guys have been really digging on lately?

BJ:  My favorite bands playing right now are Bi Marks, Dancer, Primitive Hearts, Therapists, Pangea, and Boom! 

JW: I can't stop listening to this Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers record. 

JJ:  all uh dat

QUEEN CITY HALL AND FRINGE MEDIA PRESENT: FRINGE MEDIA MUSIC AND FILM FEST!

Hey guys, check out this film/music 'fest' that Jack's band Howlin is gunna be playin' at in Dallas along with Austin's own punk outfit EXILE and Aristoscat from Dallas.  There showin' a couple movies before the music so get there early to enjoy the snuff and then get your rocks off with some rock and roll!!


SATURDAY MAY 26TH AT QUEEN CITY HALL IN DALLAS, TEXAS-

FILMS:

THE TURNPIKE KILLER  5:00pm

DEAD VISIONS (3 Short films by James Young)

BLACK DEVIL DOLL  7:00pm


LIVE MUSIC:

ARISTOSCAT

HOWLIN

EXILE


BYOB!  21+  $8


FACEBOOK EVENT PAGE HERE

THE HOUSE SHOW: TOGETHER FOREVER

Jack got bored and decided to put The House Show episodes so far together for easier viewing.  Kinda like a show!

THE HOUSE SHOW:  ONE

THE HOUSE SHOW:  TWO

THE HOUSE SHOW:  THREE

G-SIDE: LIVE FROM 35 DENTON

We here are proud to present one of the best sets we caught from 35 Denton: G-Side, live from Andy's. Enjoy. 

For whatever reason vimeo and blogger ain't getting along. Check out the higher quality version over here.

SEND US RECORDS

No seriously, do it. We're running out of things to keep you over-medicated-adolescent-minded-development-arrested beautiful and wonderful readers/watchers occupied with so... If you want Acolyte to review your record send us a shout at acolytebsa1@gmail.com. Because we're all paranoid here we don't want to just post our address on the interweb. We'll only review the records we like and no one will know that you suck if you do.

SEND US YOUR RECORDS - ACOLYTEBSA1@GMAIL.COM