READ THE ARTICLE HERE:
http://www.cmj.com/homepage/2011/02/sonicbids-spotlight-mister-loveless/
Here are my answers to the questions they asked me for the article:
* How did Mister Loveless get started?
The band was formed by our bassist, Charlie Koliha and myself in 2003, while still in High School at Las Lomas in Walnut Creek, California (a small suburb approximately 25 miles East of San Francisco). Well, actually, Charlie was doing independent study at that point and I had just taken the California High School Proficiency exam to withdraw so, we weren’t really in high school anymore, but we were at the age of typical high school students.
We wanted our friend and classmate, Sean Gaffney, to join our band after witnessing him destroy a microphone and bleed profusely all over his guitar when he performed at the Las Lomas High School, “Battle of the Bands.” Though Sean did leave UC Santa Cruz to move back to the Bay Area and join our group, it wasn’t until after Charlie and I had written and recorded our debut full length, My Share of Losing with then drummer, Ed Melendez.
When Sean joined Charlie and me in the song writing process, the musical direction of the group really changed. We parted ways with Ed and recruited Rachel Travers for the recording of our sophomore effort, Two Words EP and a 7″ single for “In Wonder.”
In 2009, per his request, we played a show at Nick Clark’s birthday party. When we found out he had been playing drums for most of his life and was an all around swell guy, we asked him to join our band for the writing and recording our latest release, Three Words EP, and for as long as he shall live. Now, the four of us live happily together in Oakland, California.
* How would you describe the band’s sound?
We draw heavily from the post-punk movements of the late 70′s and early 80s specifically, what was happening in Manchester at the time. I don’t think we’re necessarily part of that “post-punk revival” because a lot of the 90′s alternative rock we grew up listening to ended up sculpting our sound and we just love pop music. The last time we went on tour, the music we brought spanned the gamut. Everything from Wire to Fleetwood Mac. I remember thinking at the time that spoke volumes about the sound of the band.
* Is the band still based in Oakland? Has it ever toured nationally?
The band recently moved to Oakland and we love it, so, yes, we’re still here. Prior to moving in together, half of us were in San Francisco and the other half in Berkeley. I guess we just decided to meet halfway. No national tour, yet. We have done quite a few runs up and down the West Coast, though.
* Is there going to be a national tour in the future?
Absolutely. We’re going to try to play all over the country this Summer, even abroad if everything goes as planned.
* What is the band working on now?
Right now, we are writing and recording our forthcoming album entitled, Grow Up. We’re going to step out of the studio next month to play some of this new material live at a couple shows in Los Angeles and San Diego, but for the most part, finishing the record is our priority.
* What is the band’s songwriting process?
We’re as collaborative as a rock n’ roll band can be, I think. We write all the music together, while I write the lyrics and vocal melodies on my own. Sometimes, songs are derived from spontaneous jams at rehearsals. Other times, I’ll bring a skeleton of a song like a progression and vocal melody to the guys and they’ll begin composing their parts to it. Then, we’ll just bounce ideas off one another about the arrangement. Sometimes, I just have a strong idea of how I think the music should move from start to finish and we’ll just try to get there by trial and error.
* Are there any plans to rerecord older songs, or is the band writing new songs?
We tend to write so much that revisiting previously recorded songs, even if we weren’t necessarily happy with how they turned out, usually doesn’t happen. At the moment, we are recording all new songs for our next record entitled, Grow Up.
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