Yes most members
of Livids have been in some super fantastic bands in the past. Truthfully, when investing your hard
earned beans on some vinyl, does this really matter to you? The fact is the proof has to be in the
pudding you got in front of you.
Livids not only delivers the evidence quite adequately but also rams
that pudding straight down your craw!
Fun, fast, melodic Rock ‘N’ Roll punk out of Brooklyn NY that leaves a
scorch marks like an 88 mile an hour DeLorean ran over your face! Here’s hoping they get a chance to
unleash the fury on the rest of America soon, because we can certainly use more
bands like this here. No politics,
no preaching, no agendas, just a good time. The way rock n roll music is supposed to be!
Interview by Jay
Castro
Who’s answering the questions here?
Daniel Kelley
Eric Davidson
Who is in the band and what instrument do
they play?
Jami Wolf –
Guitar/vocals
Gregory Collins
– Drums
Joi Lacour –
Bass
Eric Davidson –
Vocals
Daniel Kelley -
Guitar
With all of you having such impressive
resumes (New Bomb Turks, Zodiac Killers, Complaints, Paper Bags, Radio 4) how
did you all come together for this project?
Daniel: I had
moved to NYC about two years ago from San Francisco and before I left I was
playing in something ridiculous like 3 bands at the same time. Coming to New
York I didn’t have anything lined up in terms of a band so I started asking
around. Adam Caine (Radio Reelers,
Paper Bags) and my friend Mike Longshot both told me to get in touch with their
old pal Jami Wolf, and told me we gotta start a band! So after a few days of
being in my new city I got in touch with Jami. We met up for some beers and just shot the shit for a while
talking about music and boom! Next thing I know we’re in a rehearsal spot with a
drummer, a bassist, and Mr. Eric Davidson. Eric, myself, and Jami have always
been the core members and we’ve had a revolving door of drummers and bassists,
but in the past year we have solidified our lineup with Greg and Joi.
Eric: I moved to
Brooklyn from Columbus, OH, in about 2004. I’d known Jami from Shop Fronts
shows. They’d been done for maybe a year and a half, and I saw her at a local
bar in early 2011, we were chatting, she mentioned that her and Alessandra
(Shop Fronts bassist) were thinking of starting a new band, and I was like,
“Can I join?!” Jami seemed kinda surprised, maybe because I hadn’t played in a
band since the Turks, or started something in NYC yet. I never really thought
I’d get in another band, but Jami and I were becoming good pals, Alessandra is
an awesome, gal, and I figured it’d most likely be a trashy band that could get
going quickly, it’d be fun and not too serious. But as things went on, and
especially once Joi and Greg joined up, things just got stronger musically, and
it’s weird thinking this lineup has already been together more than a year. But
that’s it! If I ever do something else, it’s going to be a Lou Reed thing where
I hire ringers to come in and play exactly what I tell them!!! Oh wait, that
would require money…(har, har).
What influences did you have in mind when
starting the Livids?
Daniel: Our
influences are really over the place in the band, but one thing we can
definitely agree on is that we all enjoy ice cold light beer!
Eric: What he
said. The influences weren’t that all
over the place – essentially we all seemed to make quick reference jokes to
Killed By Death-style forgotten punk, some be-booted Oi! and pub rock from the
mid-70s, and modern garage-poonk combos. But mainly, yes, cold light beer.
Living in Brooklyn New York with so much
going on it that city, do you find other, non-musical influences seeping into
the Livids music?
Daniel:
Definitely, but I’m not sure I would credit the city for my other non-musical
influences. We’re all big into movies and books, and I think a lot of that has
a big influence on me personally.
Eric: I’ve
noticed things seeping into my pants lately, and I’m getting a little worried…
But yes, I think the general always-hustling-for-rent-money mood, and running
all over town on trains, and knowing that on any given night I could go saunter
through The Met, The Whitney, MOMA, et al, or see another scuzzy band at 4
different bars in 4 different corners of the 5 boroughs makes for a constant
nagging feeling that there’s fun to be had, so we may as well throw our gloves
in the ring. It ain’t perfect by any means, and I can already hear the distant
echoing mantra that “all the cool clubs are closing.” But there are a million
things to influence/inspire you, even just some pizza joint, the view of the
Statue of Liberty from Red Hook, the animatronic puking guy at Coney Island, or
whatever. Anyway, every town has it’s cool inspiring stuff…
You named Little Richard as an influence.
One of my absolute favorites as well!
Do you find it vital for musicians playing any form of rock to visit the
roots?
Do you feel Rock ‘N’ Roll can still be a
vital and influential force for kids in such a disposable age?
Daniel: Yeah, I
do think that Rock ‘N’ Roll is still a very vital and influential force for the
“kids”. Nowadays everything is so
much more accessible, for better or worse, and it’s just so much easier than it
used to be to find out about lesser known music. It’s so easy to find great music, both new and old, that I
don’t see how it can’t still be an influential force to kids and adults alike.
Eric: Yeah, it
kind of amazes me when you meet a young music “fan” who only knows about the 13
latest “blog bands.” Like, if you’re savvy enough to troll 25 blogs, your
Twitter, Facebook, Vine, your emails and texts, and whatever other fuckin’
brand new social network site every morning before you take a proper dump, how
did you NOT stumble on Little Richard or the Saints or the Stooges at some
point. I have zero patience for people who claim to like music but don’t know,
seriously, 1,000 bands, because it would take you about 9,000 seconds to look
up 1,000 bands, which if my math is right, most people could do before the age
of 14. “When I was a kid” (he says in gravely old man voice), it took me 17
years to find my first Saints LP. 99 cents, sealed, at a mall closeout!!
Although, I
should add that all that creepy aggregating shit that goes one, where clicking
on a few things directs you to sites and sounds you “should” like probably
leads to people stumbling on the same kind of shit over and over again. Pretty
weird, when you think about it. We play Pandora at my job, and Queen pops up on
every single station.
You guys have been releasing a steady
stream of 7” s on Oops Baby, Slovenly, Twistworthy, and Goodbye Boozy
labels. What made you guys go with
these particular record labels?
Daniel: Well we
went into the studio with our pal Phil Palazzolo and recorded a whooping 15
songs in about 2 days at Seaside Lounge in Brooklyn. Everything went really smoothly and we were really excited
about how the songs came out, but we weren’t entirely sure what would do with
them all. We started asking labels we liked to see if they were interested in
doing a single, and we ended up getting responses from people who wanted to do
stuff with us. So we ended up
doing a bunch of singles with some really awesome labels and we couldn’t be
happier with how it all turned out.
Eric: A few
labels wanted to do a whole LP, which seems to be a trend, I think, as I think stores
are getting a bit reluctant to order every 7” that comes down the pike. So
what’d we do? We figured a ton of 7”s would be the best idea. Ha! But
seriously, it was just nice that cool labels we liked asked us, and we thought
getting a bunch of tunes out there on different labels from all over (even
Goodbye Boozy in Italy) would maybe help spread the word in a fun fashion. We
just all love singles too.
Is it difficult working in a city as
large as New York to get noticed and get your name out?
Daniel: I’m from
Los Angeles and I lived in San Francisco for a good while too, and I really
don’t think it’s any different being a band here than it is in a big city in
California. The only difference to
me is that on any given night there could be 5 really awesome shows going on at
the same time. So, it can be tough competing with other shows sometimes, but
all in all I don’t think it’s any different than anywhere else except for maybe
Boise, Idaho. It’s probably totally
awesome being in one of the 3 bands in Boise!
Eric: Yeah,
sometimes it’s annoying how no matter how hard you plan, there is always
another cool show or movie or something going on the same night you’re playing.
I considered skipping a Livids show the other night to go see OBN IIIs!
Otherwise, we are not really into the whole, “We wanna get noticed and get big”
vibe. We’ve all been in numerous bands of moderate “success,” so for now, we
just want to try to write some fun songs, get good local gigs going, and maybe
do a few regional shows. Well, technically this is Joi’s first real “working
band,” but she’s young and hot shit, so she’ll get her chance at that brass
ring. Expect her to soon be the bassist in Savages or something.
You recently opened up for The Hives in
New York? How was that experience? Was that one of the biggest audiences
the Livids have played for?
Daniel: Opening
for The Hives was really fun. We showed up to load in and they were in tuxedos
with top hats doing a meet greet with a bunch of people from their fan
club. It was kind of surreal to
say the least. They were really
nice guys and they were cool enough to all come up to us and introduce
themselves. It was definitely the
biggest show Livids has played. Although we played the Fat Wreck Chords
showcase in Austin and there was a pretty big crowd for that. Still though,
playing a sold out show at a place like Irving Plaza was pretty rad. Plus
Handsome Dick Manitoba was there!
Eric: Yeah, it
was great! I’ve known the Hives for awhile, and they are super swell fellows.
They genuinely love what they do, nice guys, the whole 9 yards. And I thought
we played great that night, the Hives were a ball, and the crowd was really
active and nutty (screw the people who say NYC crowds are stiff and spoiled.
They’re just going to see stiff, spoiled bands.) So, yeah, a great night all-around!
50 years ago people used to buy music and
get their water free; now people pay for water and get their music free. How do
you think this affects the music industry?
Daniel: Obviously
it turned the industry on its head. I think there are a lot of positives and
negatives to take from the current state of the “music industry”. While music has become so much more
accessible it sure is hard to make any sort of living off it. As Billy Bones
from The Skulls would say, “punk rock does not pay the bills.”
Eric: The cat is
out of the bag, and everyone is out of litter, so the shit is flyin’, pal!
Where can people hear the band or
purchase Livids music or merch?
Daniel: You can listen to us on our Facebook
page and our Bandcamp page. If you want to buy singles and such you can do that
through the various labels that have put our singles.
http://livids.bandcamp.com
labels:
slovenly-http://www.slovenly.com/
twistworthy-http://records.twistworthy.com/
bigneck-http://www.bigneckrecords.com/
oops baby-http://oopsbabyrecords.com/
slovenly-http://www.slovenly.com/
twistworthy-http://records.twistworthy.com/
bigneck-http://www.bigneckrecords.com/
oops baby-http://oopsbabyrecords.com/
What’s next for the mighty Livids?
Eric: We should have some t-shirts and records, future shows. Oh, and we will
play at them too, with crazed opening acts, and you- should you want to travel
to them, will have the night of your lives.
Livids - Nerve Wrecked from Moos Plutzker on Vimeo.
