The Livids

     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

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Livids/268753126513652

labels:
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.

Follow @AAmmunition

Scorpion vs. Tarantula

This is not your timid 20 something’s on stage staring at their sweat beads on the ground.   SVT bunch play earsplitting, express train punk Rock ‘N’ Roll the likes of which The Valley of the Sun has never seen before.  A singer that prowls around the stage in Blade Runner Replicant makeup programmed with Bon Scott venom and Joan Jett strut and a guitar player that was in one of the best garage punk bands of the mid 90’s, The Chinese Millionaires.  What more can a fanboy ask?   Grab on to something load bearing, I hear the air raid sirens, and the house is beginning to rumble.  Behold, the Scorpion vs. Tarantula Rock ‘N’ Roll hurricane is about to plug in.

Interview by Jay Castro

Who’s answering the questions?

Jay Bennett, guitar

Who is in Scorpion vs. Tarantula and what instrument do they play?

L. Hotshot, vocals. Tana Satana, bass, Michael “Cappy” Renfroe, drums.

I noticed you have had quite an assortment of drummers.  Do you think your busy schedule has something to do with this?  You seem to play quite a bit.

Drummers are the most difficult band members to find and they are the most difficult to retain. Ours have come and gone for numerous reasons, but we're happy with the one we've got right now. He's been with us since September 2012.

Band members seem to be from different places around the country, how did you end up in AZ?

L. and I moved here from Chicago in summer of 2005, and we originally are from Michigan, also the home state of Tana. L. and I had been in a band together during our Chicago years. It wasn't until summer of 2008 that we got the notion to get another project going.

What is the origin story of Scorpion vs. Tarantula? 

L. and I put the band together in June 2008 with a drummer called Notah in his house in Glendale. We played our first shows that December. We recorded our first album in the summer 2009 with a friend of Michigan playing bass. Tana joined the band in November 2009. Notah split the band in May 2011 to pursue outside interests. For a while, we had five people. It's been the four of us since February 2012. We made our second album in March 2012. We just recorded our third record a few weeks ago.

Like I said before, you play around the Phoenix Metropolitan area quite a bit, have you taken the Scorpion vs. Tarantula show on the road much? 

Two trips to California is all that we've done. But there will be more, if people will have us.

What are some of the earliest musical influences in your life, when first discovering music as a child that set you on a path to want to start/join a band?

I decided I wanted to play music in the early 1990’s after hearing the early singles and first LP by New Bomb Turks, the early LPs of the Devil Dogs, and the many, many records made by Billy Childish. L. is into much of the same kind of music as I am. Tana likes some of that stuff, in addition to bands like the Muffs, Distillers, and Urge Overkill. I don't know about the drummer. I barely talk to him. He does wear a Descendents T-shirt a lot.

With some of you guys being from the Midwest, I think it definitely shows in the songs,  they have that Motor City toughness to it.  A sound that is pretty indigenous to that part of the country.  Phoenix/Tempe seems to have a large horde of metal fans and the “punk” that is out there, seems to lean toward the hardcore variety.  Although it does seem to be getting better, has it been difficult for you guys to carve out your niche here?

I just really like music from Michigan and the Midwest, and I listened to it most of my  life. Just like people from here are real proud of the musicians that preceded them in Phoenix and Southern California.

As far as carving out a niche, I don't know that we have carved out anything. We've played a lot of shows, seen some good bands, and met some really nice people along the way. I'm not sure what else you can ask for at our level.

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 industry and especially musicians?

I haven't figured out, and probably never will figure out, the best way to apapt to the changes in the music industry. I was in a band in the late 90’s that was lucky enough to have three different national and international labels want to put out various singles and an LP. The LP sold over 3,000 copies, and I even received a royalty check. Three-thousand doesn't sound like a lot, but the idea of selling 3,000 copies now is inconceivable. In a lot of ways, it was all luck and we happened to meet the right people and have them say nice things about us. I don't know how to capture lightning in a bottle again, unfortunately.

As far as getting music for free, that's the way it has evolved, probably to a point of no return. Our music is on Spotify, which for a band at our level, is an excellent service. On one hand, it's frustrating to see that we're getting paid fractions of pennies for the work we've done. On the other, I'm thrilled that a surprising number of human beings are listening to the music I helped create. It's surprisingly given that we have no label, no publicist, no radio exposure. All we have is a Facebook presence and maybe some local word of mouth.

I have followed Scorpion vs. Tarantula on Facebook for a while.  Whoever does the posting seems to have a formidable knowledge and love of pop culture.  What, aside from music, influences you?

Thanks for following us on Facebook. L., the singer, does the majority of the posting because she's really good at it. She has a great sense of humor and a knack for finding good stuff on the Internet. It's the best way to keep in touch with people who may have an interest in the band and what we do. The people in this band generally like all the usual stuff every other white, middle-class, suburban-raised, 1970s and 80s kid grew up with. So let's just say the baseline for everything we do is Kiss and Welcome Back Kotter.

Where can people hear the band?

Spotify, Bandcamp, iTunes, our Facebook page, CD Baby, Amazon. You can buy physical copies at The Record Room, Revolver Records, and Stinkweeds. You can see us at Yucca Tap Room, Chopper John's, Palo Verde, Hollywood Alley, the Ice House Tavern, the Lost Leaf, and numerous other venues.

What’s next for the mighty SVT?

We just recorded our third album. It will be available in the fall. We probably will wind up writing a bunch of new songs and shoot for making a fourth record next summer. We will continue to perform as demand dictates. Hopefully, we will be able to make some out-of-town trips and perhaps even do a weeklong tour or something. 

Follow @AAmmunition