Interview by Ed Stuart
Who’s answering the questions?
Hey cool dude,
this is Josh!
Where is the band from?
We are from
Buena Park
Who is in the band and what instrument do
they play?
Josh Grelock -
guitar / lead vocals
Johnnie Magrann -
bass / vocals
Loye Aubrey Jr. -
drums
How did the band start? Originally the band was a two-piece
then later adding a bass player.
About 5 years
ago when we first started the band it was originally called The Merkins. The
line-up was me (Josh) on guitar and vocals, Rosemary on drums, and Andrew King
on bass. Andrew ended up getting asked to play guitar for the Crystal Antlers,
which turned us into a two- piece band. This also prompted the name change to
The Meka Leka Hi’s. After being a two-piece for a couple years we asked Johnnie
(a long time friend of mine) to play bass with us. Johnnie is a really good
guitar player, so when he picked up the bass he wrote some rad bass lines to
our songs! This really made our sound full. We recently (about six months ago)
got a new drummer, Loye Aubrey Jr. The first time he jammed with us I knew
instantly we found our dude! I feel like the band has never sounded better!
I had read that the original influences
were chicken nuggets, 1980’s cartoons, and Lucky Charms. Is this still true?
Judging by the song “Chicken Nuggets, Pizza Party,” at least chicken nuggets
still are.
Yes, chicken
nuggets and 80’s cartoons still influence us.
What bands influenced the Meka Leka
Hi’s? Dead Milkmen?
When I started
the band I wanted to sound like a cross between Link Wray and The Dead Milkmen.
Not sure if that’s what happened, but I’m stoked either way.
How are excited are you guys about the LP
coming out?
Super excited!
We did it all ourselves, except for the recording, our friend Ryan Foster (and
fellow band mate in Honey Badgers) recorded us at Johnnie’s house. We recorded
the vocals in my bathroom, ha ha.
This is going to be our very first release, so we decided to go big and
put out a full-length album. We probably have enough material to put out two
albums, but we’ll start with one.
The LP cover art looks to be a Josh R’s
painting? When your singer is an
up and coming artist, there is definitely no shortage of artwork.
Yes, I did paint
the album cover. I’m stoked to have my art on the record!
50 years ago people use buy music and get
their water for free, now people pay for water and get their music for free.
How do you think affects music in anyway?
I still buy my
music from record stores; doesn’t every one else do that too?
Where can people hear the band?
Best way to find
out about any upcoming Meka Leka Hi show’s is to check out our Facebook page.
There is also a link to our bandcamp on there too.
Facebook:
Bandcamp:
http://themekalekahis.bandcamp.com/
What’s next?
Shows! We are
ready to start playing a bunch of shows to support our album!
It would be nice to do a little west coast tour
too!
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