Loveless Effect

Catch up with Arizona based blues-rock band Loveless Effect's Seth Loveless and Forest Towers and look for their forthcoming debut EP to be released soon.

What brought you all together?

Seth: Forest and I have known each other since we were 5 and 4 years old - that was when we first met - but we didn't start playing music together until we were about 13 and 12. I was 13 and I started playing guitar and was learning Johnny Cash and AC/DC songs and Forest was interested in the guitar so he picked it up a bit, but then he figured out that he liked bass better; he started playing a lot of Red Hot Chili Peppers and funky bass stuff like that. We didn't meet Justin, the drummer, until I was a freshman in high school and then we started playing music together when Justin and I were sophomores and Forest was a freshman in high school - he was a year behind us. That was when we all started and we didn't really get serious until later.

Forest: Yeah, at first it was just a hobby; we'd get with our friends and make a lot of noise.

How did you decide on your name, Loveless Effect?

Seth: Well, they thought that my last name had a cool sound to it. It was actually their idea and Forest thought of the band name. We wanted it to be Loveless something, so we were writing down a bunch of ideas and then Forest came up with Loveless Effect and we liked the way that sounded; it kind of reminded me of Hendrix Experience or something when he thought of that, so I thought that was cool. We kind of joke, saying we hope that our music effects people in a good way [laughs].

Which musicians have you been influenced by, individually or as a group?

Seth: I've listened to music since I was young and my favorite guitarist is Chet Atkins; he was a finger style guitarist and he played all sorts of types of music like jazz and classical and country and he's my greatest guitar influence. I also listen to a lot of classic rock music and, growing up, I loved AC/DC and Aerosmith and Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin and guys like that. I also really got into Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson, so some of the older country acts and classic rock and Chet Atkins, those are the guys that influenced me.

Forest: A lot of people.

Seth: That's a lot of people [laughs].

Forest: For me, it was Iron Maiden. I love Iron Maiden, Steve Harris' bass lines are amazing. And Red Hot Chili Peppers; Flea is one crazy guy. That's about it for me [laughs].

What's in your playlist now?

Forest: We've been listening to a lot of Led Zeppelin lately.

Seth: Yeah, the Led Zeppelin 1 album.

Forest: A lot of Led Zeppelin.

Seth: In general [laughs].

How would you describe your own sound?

Seth: Our own sound is an amalgamation of all these influences we have. Forest does a lot of melodic bass lines and he gets that from Iron Maiden and stuff and then I do a lot of fingerpick guitar on the acoustic and electric and then Justin, the drummer, he really likes Rush, so he does a lot of cool drum solos and drum grooves. My voice is raspy, so there's a kind of soul thing going there. I would say a little bit of Fleetwood Mac, a little bit of Led Zeppelin, a little bit of blues - there's definitely a blues element in there. So, a lot of classic rock influences you can definitely hear in it, but we also really like Foo Fighters and they're more alternative and punk rock, so there's a little bit of that edge, especially in the newer stuff we've been writing.

You're heading out on tour with American Young and Sasha McVeigh, do you have a favorite song to perform on stage?

Forest: With Sasha, I like "Someone To Break My Heart". I like to play that one a lot.

Seth: I like playing her song "Hot Mess" because I get to do a lot of lead guitar on that one [laughs].

Forest: Of our own songs, I like "Street Corner Jim".

Seth: Yeah, he likes "Street Corner Jim" off the EP. Off or our EP, my favorite song to play would probably be "Black Smoke Rising".

Forest: Yeah, that one's pretty cool.

Seth: I like to jam and there's an instrumental jam at the end of that one, so it's my favorite one to play.

Could you tell us more about that EP?

Seth: Well, you can definitely expect to hear -

Forest: Variety

Seth: A variety, that's for sure, 'cause each song is different from the other. You'll definitely get a variety, you'll definitely hear those influences we talked about in the music. There's a lot of guitar work, fingerpick guitar and lead guitar, and heavy hitting drums and some cool bass grooves, so that's what you'll be hearing. We hope that you like it [laughs].

Forest: [Laughs] That's true.

How would you sum up your debut EP in one sentence?

Seth: It is a good EP [laughs]. Let's try a good one, I'm just messing.

Forest: I don't know, I guess that works [laughs].

Seth: It will take you on a musical journey. 

What do you want your listeners to be able to take away from your music?

Seth: When I listen to music I definitely get lost in it and I guess I would like our listeners to listen to our music and get lost into it and forget about any troubles they could be having. They just turn the songs on, they get lost in them, and they jam to them, and they forget about any other troubles they have going on and, if we can do that with our music, then that's pretty cool. That's what I hope our listeners would take away from our music.

Forest: That'd be pretty cool. For me, I think as long as it makes them happy and I can see smiles on faces when I'm playing, that always makes me feel better, about myself even.

Is there anything you'd like to add?

Forest: Look us up on Facebook.

Seth: Look us up on our social media. We have a Facebook and Twitter and a website.

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Gideon's Army

Catch up with New York-based southern-infused rock collective Gideon's Army and look for their forthcoming album King of the League to be released later this year.

How did you all meet?

Rob Bray: The process started kind of how it happens for a lot of musicians; we were all one degree of separation away from each other, so I knew a musician who knew a musician who knew a musician who knew a musician [laughs] and, pretty soon, we all came together.

Where does your name 'Gideon's Army' come from?

I've liked the name Gideon for a long time. I was dating a girl who had a best friend who was dating a guy whose name was Gideon and I remember, when I was in my early 20s, saying that's such a cool name, if I could name a kid or name myself, Gideon would be a cool name. I was brainstorming band names and I said Gideon's Army out loud - I don't know how it came about [laughs] - but I said it out loud and I was like, 'yeah, that's a bad ass name for a rock and roll band'.

How would you describe your sound?

I would definitely describe it as southern-infused rock and roll, strongly and heavily influenced by blues music and country and southern rock and rock 'n' roll and rockabilly musical influences. We get a lot of our sounds from the sounds of the South, and that doesn't necessarily mean that the band's from the geographical location, but even bands like The Rolling Stones that came out of England, they're a southern rock band; the music they were listening to and getting inspired by had roots in the southern United States. You can throw gospel into that too, but I definitely say we're southern-infused and I definitely say we're a rock 'n' roll band. I know a lot of bands from the classic period in the 1950s kind of dropped the 'roll' from rock 'n' roll, but I think the roll is important, I consider our sound to be more rock and roll, for sure.

Which musicians have you been influenced by?

A lot of the southern rock bands like The Rolling Stones, The Black Crowes, The Allman Brothers, Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, Kings of Leon. I grew up in New Jersey so I'm a big Bruce Springsteen fan, as well. Growing up, I was getting inspired by a lot of the '90s alternative rock bands, as well, but my musical influences are varied; pop, rock, soul, hip hop, RnB. I get inspired by all the genres, there's good stuff in all genres. 

Speaking big picture, the southern rock bands, the rock that was coming out in the 1950s, and I'm inspired by a lot of blues artists, too; guys that can sit down with their guitar and are able to create a full sound with just them, their guitar, and the vocal.

What was the inspiration behind your latest single, "Don't Mind"?

"Don't Mind" is definitely coming out of that tradition of southern rock songs that feature bravado and swagger. I'm a huge fan of songs like "Hard To Handle" by The Black Crowes and The Stones' "Sympathy For The Devil" and "Street Fighting Man" and any number of Johnny Cash songs, Elvis Presley, and "Pickup Truck" by Kings of Leon; so, it's definitely coming out of my appreciation of that kind of song.

That's off your forthcoming album, is it indicative of the sound we can expect to hear on King of the League?

There's a lot of variety on it; I'm really proud of the variety that we're going to showcase on this upcoming album. You definitely have this hard driving rock and roll song, some rock, some twangy country songs, some soulful ballads; there's a lot of variety on the album, for sure.

Could you sum up King of the League in one sentence?

[Laughs] In one sentence? It's a collection of rock and roll influences from traditional rock and roll to southern rock, through all the genres of rock and roll that have come since - alternative rock, indie rock, rock - and modern country and contemporary southern rock, as well.

What do you hope listeners are able to take away from your music?

I hope they get a burst of joyful exuberance. The music was written in joyful exuberance and I hope they can see it that way and when we play live, we feed off the audience as much as possible, so hopefully it's a mutual exchange of joyful exuberance; that's what we're hoping to give whenever we put a record out and whenever we play live shows for people.

You're heading out on tour for this album, do you have a favorite track to perform live?

It definitely depends on my mood and the feeling I'm getting from the audience. Things happen in people's daily lives and people come into the shows in different moods on different days at different times, so getting a sense of how your audience is feeling, how you're feeling as a band, and how I'm feeling personally, definitely affects what song I love the most. I love all my songs equally; at the time I was writing it, that was the song and emotion I was living in at that moment so, as I go through life, my emotional life changes, and my favorite song changes as a result of all those factors..

Is there anything you'd like to add?

Ultimately, we're a good time rock and roll band and we're out to enjoy ourselves and give the audience a good time, so if you want to kick back and really let your hair down and really let loose and forget about your daily problems [laughs], come to a show, move your feet, and hopefully get moved.

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The Flux Machine

Photo by Kevin Whittaker

Catch up with The Flux Machine's Luis Accorsi and see what the band has in store for fans with their forthcoming album Louder!, set to be released February 26.

How did you and Raphael meet?

Luis Accorsi: I have a recording studio and, before this band, I had a - this sounds nuts - a psychedelic Latin band. So, I had this band and we played all over the place and that was not taking traction the way I wanted it to and my girlfriend back then, she goes, 'Luis, you just need to get somebody that you like to work with and that knows how to run vocals,' because I'm super creative and super all those things, but I don't even know how to press record [laughs]. So, we put an ad on Craigslist and various people answered and I interviewed them and in walks this kid with the funniest hair cut and the nicest disposition and just an overall ultra positive attitude and I said, 'I wanna work with him'. 

I have a younger brother who, unfortunately, passed away from ALS just last year and Raphael was the music director for the music that he did; he worked with Ricardo, my little brother. So, I loved him and then, after that nightmare was over, he just came over and I would play the songs for him, sitting on the couch, and I would be like, 'okay Raphy, what would you do with this?' and so I'd hand him the guitar and, within twenty minutes, he would have these structures made for them that were incredible and, from this idea, he'd turn it into a verse, a chorus, a bridge - all these things that me, growing up in Venezuela, I'd never thought of. He structured and brought things to perfect fruition. In one day we would write a progression and then the next day we would lay the voice down and he would fix all that up and, within three days, we'd have the song and, with the whole record, that's how it went. It was just magic.

He's like my younger brother or son or call him what you will and we've made a lifetime friendship. We just met, not like we were sitting in some nightclub, just plain old Craigslist; my ad was real rigorous though, the way it was written, so only the best applied, and he really is the best. I give him credit for the structure of the songs and the professionalism of them. I'm an inspired person who's had a very interesting life and he really knows how to capture all that and make it sound the way it's supposed to sound. Then, we had Taylor Larson master the work and that took it to another level and now we're going to get ready to release a vinyl February 26 at Arlene's Grocery. 

Where does your name, The Flux Machine, come from?

I can't remember exactly which song it was - I think it was one called "Louder" - but Raphy had this cap on that says 'loud' and we start the song in the morning and we're hitting it hard, then I go and I sit on my couch again and I hear him finishing it in the little studio that I have and - this is going to sound crazy and people laugh at me - and I felt an energy go through me. A flux is something that is in change, it's always changing, so I felt this change happen in me and I was like, 'holy cow, this stuff is completely moving to the very, very core of my existence'. I just felt this electrical energy go through me and there's that flux, that energy that is always changing; in our lives we're always evolving and always developing, even to the last day, and so that's what happened. I went up to him and I said, 'Raphy, the name is The Flux Machine,' and he goes, 'I love it'. It's not a modern, modern name, but this is a little bit retro. It's the positivity of electricity through our bodies that causes a change in our spiritual disposition to reality. 

All I can say is, in this tiny little existence that we have as human beings, I'm not doing it for myself, I just want people to like it and it really comes from the heart; so much of reality is farce and hype and belief perception, but this is the actual real deal, there's no fakeness about what we do.

How would you describe your sound?

There's a lot of things that have educated our body of work. The frustration of reality is very real to me, you're here, you're stuck in your body, you're trying to get out there, you're trying to express something, and since your language is music, you need to know the language; I know music language really damn well and Raphy knows it incredibly well. We take from everything. I would almost call it glam punk, but it's not really punk, and people have said that I'm a combination of Iggy Pop with Mick Jagger with T.Rex with New York Dolls, that kind of thing. Everybody else is just heavy hitting and I'm in the front, prancing around like a wacko [laughs]. I would say the portal for true legitimacy in an art form that is developed and already mature - like rock n' roll - is so small to fit through and be real and that it's really hard coming up with something brand new. So many bands take a formula and do incredible stuff with it, but it sounds exactly like something else, but then, once in a while, you get a band that does something really different that you can't put your finger on, and I think that's what we are - I know. Whether the world will know, I can't tell you [laughs]. 

We're a complete amalgamation of punk - it was taboo to have a lead in punk but we do and, meanwhile it's still going 140 bpm and there's tempo changes, which is taboo for punk, yet it still is heavy, some of it almost goes into metal and then some of it just goes into truly romantic, heartfelt, melodic punk. All of it is referential because I think it was Plato that said 'nothing comes from nothing' so you can't totally invent it and you have to have a reference. I love Leon Russell, you throw on an early Leon Russell record and it's really punky, fast, with this crazy piano and this guy yelling over it; there's a guy that is important to me. I even like guys like Joe Cocker, that guy can really push it out. Of course, there are the newer bands, but we call it glam punk. We're an attitude making, hard-hitting, romantic rock band - something like that [laughs].

What was the inspiration behind this last single, "Love and Affection"?

In essence, many times you will have a person that really loves you and really cares for you - for me, it's gone both ways, me loving and somebody loving me - and you just fail to recognize how valuable that is and if you don't appreciate things, it truly is like a plant, it will wither and die if you don't nourish it. The failure to nourish the receiving of love and affection from somebody or you giving love and affection and it being scorned or not properly appreciated is the idea of the song. The first part is 'I must have been dreaming when you came to me and told me that you loved me, you took me for granted' and the second is 'you should've just told me you were hurt inside, I could've done so much better, but you didn't'. Even though it's gone, there's a powerful cleansing energy to receiving and giving undistilled, pure love and affection and recognizing when it comes to you.

It's not something goofy, love and affection is very real, we need this. Our lives would wither without it and people search for it and some of it is organic and biological, but the other part is intellectual and I think the right statement is, don't waste your love on somebody who won't pay attention to it. People hurt each other all the time and we shouldn't do it. Self respect means respecting other people, if you're going to be with somebody, you must truly love them and if you receive affection from somebody, don't take it for granted because you'll hurt yourself and you'll hurt the other person.

Could you tell us more about your forthcoming album, Louder!?

The album goes almost from A to Z of rock 'n' roll styles, which is confounding to some people, but in the tradition of a vinyl album, it was never just one song. Yes, you wanted to have a single hit, but in the history of vinyl, you'd get the record, you'd roll up a big fat doobie, you'd look at the trees, and play it. Then, you'd stare at the cover while you felt totally alienated and you'd be like, 'what are these guys trying to tell me?' and every single time you'd find something else in there. An album, to me, is like a book: different chapters all have to create an emotion in you, they do not all have to be the same emotion and they shouldn't be the same emotion. It goes from ultra, ultra heavy duty, like the song "Mess You Up" - it's thrash heavy, almost metal - to just straightforward, scrappy Stooges-sounding rock and roll to ultra sophisticated.

I'm pretty much a barker; I can sing a melody, but I wouldn't want you to hear it, but I can definitely deliver emotion and Raphy has this angel voice; he can do three part harmonies and, all of a sudden, I hear him in context with me and I get goosebumps.

So, to synthesize, The Flux Machine's Louder! is like a book: it has chapters, each song is a chapter, and each one is designed to evoke a slightly different emotion than the last one, which confounds the listener, but if you have the patience, this album will do a lot for you. It has its beginning, then you're really pissed off when you're listening to "Mess You Up", and then you finally realize that you're going to forgive and you go into "Believe", and the conclusion is "Jack, Jim & Johnny" which is about, everybody wants to travel, but you don't have to travel that far, all you have to do is get drunk, have a fantasy, send your head to the cosmos, and you're back where you were sitting. When you're done with this record, you need to have felt a gamut of emotions from really angry and frustrated to really faithful and loving, we have everything in there.

What do you want listeners to be able to take from this album?

I want them to feel the inspiration of living and really appreciate that. When somebody spends three and a half minutes of their life listening to a song, I don't want them to think that they've wasted three and a half minutes of their life, because it's not wasted. It's an edifying record. This record is designed to fortify you, it's a powerful record. You'll want to say, 'damn, that's really real, I stand behind this'. That's what I want them to take away, that they have not wasted their time on it, they're going to get something from it.

Besides the album, we do this insane live show jam-packed with energy and people are like, 'oh my gosh, how do you do that for an hour?' because I hop around a lot and it's a little loosey-goosey but tight at the same time; Raphy's head looks like it's going to fall off with his hair and then the second guitar player, Asher, is just a total wacko and really damn good and the bass player, Leo, is a tremendous player and the drummer, Jeremiah, is just a monster.

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Kendall Lake

Catch up with Los Angeles based singer-songwriter Kendall Lake then listen to and download her new single, "Rolling Stone".

Could you tell us what first got you interested in music?

Kendall Lake: Music has always been a huge part of my life, my parents were huge music buffs and introduced me to musicals, Barbra Streisand, Etta James,  Björk and Janet Jackson at a very young age. It wasn't until a few years ago I started writing and singing professionally, but I've always sang.

Do you remember the first song you wrote?

I actually wrote a song when I was 4 or 5, it was about Christmas presents I wanted, needless to say I didn't receive these gifts. It took me a long time to recover from that incident. I wrote my next song five years ago, I was fortunate enough to work with a dope producer who helped guide me in finding my voice as a songwriter. I'm still really shocked and flattered people like the songs I write.

Which bands or artists have you been influenced by?

My musical library is pretty extensive. Linkin Park, Tool, Madonna, The Dixie Chicks, Lenny Kravitz, Jason Mraz, Elvis, etc. etc. Honestly, the list goes on and on. I listen to everything and I'm inspired by it all. I love music and how people make it! I hope I can one day inspire people, especially future musical artists.

If you were to make a playlist for your listeners, what three songs would you have to include?

If I were to make a playlist for my listeners I assume it's of other artists. I would have to put "Two Princes" by the Spin Doctors, "Passenger" by Deftones, and "Break Stuff" by Limp Bizkit. A song to dance to, fight to, and have amazing sex to.

How would you describe your eclectic sound?

I would describe my music as anti pop/pop/rock. It's a bit dark, sad, melodic, genre blending but you can sing along and relate to it. I'm not really into boxing myself in, I don't write songs based off the genre, I just do and say what I feel how I feel it. Everyone else seems to want to explain it and put it in a box, I just want to sing and share my music with the world.

What was the inspiration for your latest single, "Rolling Stone"?

"Rolling Stone" was inspired by my need to explain to myself that I'm not a victim. That I'm the reason why I was were I was in life without beating myself up. Too many times I think we overly justify things or think "why me", but "Rolling Stone" is my taking complete responsibility for the choices I've made. Which is so hard to do, I hate being responsible.

Is there anything you hope your listeners and fans are able to take away from your music?

I want the people who listen to my music to know they aren't alone. I want to connect with them. I'm a twisted, weird girl who just so happens to make music. I'm no different than anyone else, we all go through crazy shit and struggle in our own way. I'm making real music about real feelings and experiences. I hope everyone digs it.

What can we expect next from Kendall Lake?

I plan on continuing to share my music with the world and I'm looking forward to touring this year!

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