Friday, May 3, 2013

INTERVIEW + SHOW PICS: Lantern (from Philly)

Ok, folks...here it is, the very first Why Pick On Me? interview.  We sat down last night with Lantern after their show at The Subterranean.  Vice magazine recently called them "The Best Band In Philadelphia."  I don't know many bands from Philly so I can't confirm this bit of hyperbole, but these dudes have got to be in the top 10...at least.  They play raw, stripped-down, often Stooges-esque rock n' roll.  We talked about possums, Tony Hawk skate videos and The Watchmen...

WPOM: First off, who are you and what do you play?

Zachary Devereux Fairbroter. I play guitar, bass and sing.

Christian Simmons.  I play battery.

My name is Emily.  My middle name is "Christian."  I don't know, for some reason my parents thought my middle name should be a boy's name. [she plays bass, guitar and sings as well]

WPOM: So were you going be named Christian if you were a boy?

E: Well, actually I have 2 older sisters.  I think they wanted a boy.

Z: They definitely wanted a boy.

WPOM: Did they make you play tee-ball or something?

E: No...Well, its my Dad's fault.  Its always the guy's fault.  The guy determines the gender.

[laughter]

E: The guy determines the gender...biologically speaking.

Z: Possums have four babies and they're all the same gender.

E: Whoa...that's cool!

C: Is your dad a possum?  Where's the fourth girl?

WPOM: This is my first interview and I'm already capturing some gold...solid gold...anyways...So you're on tour with THE VEILS...how did that come about?

E: Um, well...Sofia [THE VEILS bass player] emailed us about a year ago asking for a song.

WPOM: For a compilation?

Z: No...it was a licensing thing.

WPOM: Oh.  So she hooked you up with some sweet moola?

Z: Nothing every came of it.

WPOM: Damn it.

E: We were out of touch for over a year and then, while we were on tour, she emailed us again and asked us to do some shows and we said "yes."

WPOM: How long have you been on the road together so far?

E: This is our first show playing together.  We played a couple shows in Cleveland and Bloomington before this.  It was more like a practice.  Our band hadn't played together since our last tour so it was nice to practice.

Z: We played some "rehearsal spaces."

E: Haha.  Yeah.  We got paid to rehearse.  We actually got like eleven dollars.

WPOM: Really?

Z: that's including our CD sale, right?

E: No. I think we made sixteen dollars...no wait...Zach gave away a cd so we actually made $16 minus how much our CD costs. [I'm guessing its $5]

Z: It worked out though.  I woke up this morning and the guy we gave the CD to "liked" us on Facebook.

E: Oh wow!...He was actually really cool.  He was skateboarding by the show and he heard us playing so he came in and listened to our set.

Z: We have an affinity with skateboarders...Our first band sold a song to a Tony Hawk video.  The same song was also on his Youtube channel as well as Thrasher's channel.  It was also featured on that show "Ridiculous" on Mtv.

WPOM: So what's up with this CD you guys are selling?

E:  Let's not call it a CD...It was originally released on Bathetic Records over a year ago.  That was the last thing we released, but we've been sitting on an LP for quite some time now.  We're putting it out on Sophomore Lounge- a label run by Ryan David in Louisville, Kentucky.  It'll be out in early July.  It's going to be called "Rock n' Roll Rorschach."

WPOM: Is that a reference to something?

E: Its from The Watchmen.  Its a graphic novel.

Z: I personally recommend striking every remark made for the last 2 minutes.

E: I'm not a comic book nerd, but its really good.  You should check it out.

WPOM: Will do.

***CLICK FOR PHOTOS***

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