We were fortunate enough to catch up with the superb New York-based band Lost Like Lions, for an interview. They have released their infectious indie-rock single ‘Enemies’ on 15th May 2020. Check out our interview below!
Tell us about yourself?
Lost Like Lions is an Alternative Rock band from Buffalo, NY. The band was started in the Spring of 2014 by singer/guitarist Derrik Schiersing, and started off as a side project for his current band. Sadly, the band never did much. During the Fall of 2018 was when the band was revived. The band lineup was filled out, we began playing out in our local Buffalo area, and began the process of writing new songs. Some of those songs ended up being our upcoming ep ‘The Devil That You Know’ which is getting released in June!
What is your songwriting process?
We’ve found that the songwriting process that works best for us is I (Derrik) come to practice with a skeleton of a current song idea that I am working on. From there, we hash out our ideas and figure out what works best to take a song to its finished product. Our current single ‘Enemies’ was a song that we rewrote the chords to the chorus at least 4 or 5 times before settling on the current, finished version.
Tell us about your latest release?
Our upcoming ep ‘The Devil That You Know’ is a three-song ep that began in the Fall of 2019 with a recording trip in Brooklyn, New York. We then finished up the ep (drums and bass) in our hometown of Buffalo. New York at a studio called The Music Lab. We were originally going to put out a larger ep, but have decided that three songs seem to work best when putting out a piece of music nowadays. At least for us, as it allows us to try and keep listeners engaged, and not forget about us. We have plans to record another three-song ep this Fall, but the current situation we are in may threaten that.
What message do you think your music conveys to your fans?
Honestly, I think if there is one message we want to convey to anyone who enjoys our music, is that we just want to write relatable music. We’re a band who really enjoys what we do, but we also don’t want to take ourselves too seriously to the point where we aren’t having fun with what we are doing. We all have day jobs and a pretty scheduled routine with our lives, so we aren’t out there trying to be ‘The Next Big Thing’. At this point in our musical careers, we just want to have fun with what we are doing, and get our music into as many ears as we possibly can. And I think that’s what’s most important to us at this point.
Who are your musical influences?
I know that all of the guys influences are all over the board, but for me (Derrik) personally, my favourite bands are Death Cab For Cutie. Third Eye Blind, and Jimmy Eat World. But I do like all types of music, depending on my mood. If I want to chill out a bit, I’ll throw on a Tycho playlist.
Who are your non-musical influences?
This sounds cliche, but my non-musical influences just include my friends and family around me. I love seeing my friends succeed, and seeing their success fuels me wanting to succeed as well.
What’s the best gig that you have ever played?
I don’t know if it’s the best gig we ever played, but my favourite show we played recently was in the Fall of 2018, it was our first show with our current lineup (and only the 4th LLL show ever), and it came after a pretty lengthy break from music for me. Almost four years. Our first show in four years ended up being a part of The Ataris 15th year anniversary show in Buffalo for their classic album “So Long, Astoria”. This was super cool for me because I remember purchasing that album as a young kid and playing the hell out of it. So that was definitely pretty neat.
What is your funniest gig moment?
I don’t know if it was funny at the moment, it was pretty irritating! But we had a show in downtown Buffalo, and the venue is right next to the Sabres hockey arena. Well, we had to be at the venue for a five o clock load in, I left work at 4:15 to head straight to the venue, I thought I would be totally fine until our drummer Jim texted me and alerted me to the crazy traffic that was going on down there. A comedian had a five o clock show starting at the arena, so traffic was a nightmare. First off, five o clock on a Saturday for a start time? My mind was blown. Needless to say, I was late for that load in and had to park on the very last floor of a parking garage across from the venue. I immediately had to crack a beer when I unloaded my equipment haha.
What do you think are the biggest obstacles for bands/artists today?
I say this all of the time when the topic is brought up, and I use the same example every single time. I have a two-year-old daughter (who I love immensely), I tend to put her all over my Instagram and Facebook because she is just the cutest thing ever haha. But I put a photo of her up or a video, and it gets all these likes and interactions. I put anything music-related up, and it’s crickets. Now. I am not complaining. I get it, my daughter is cute ha, but dammit, I spent a lot of time effort and energy into these songs. We all do, and as artists, we just want to have them heard and get some feedback. Whether it’s positive or negative. Not only that, once you gain a fan, I feel like you have to try super hard to keep them engaged. The casual fan has access to so much new music so effortlessly, and they can chew you up and spit you out almost immediately if you aren’t doing things to keep that listener engaged. So when you have someone who loves your music, I think you really need to go out of your way to try and keep that fan and that listener, because they aren’t easy to come by.
What advice would you give to other bands/artists starting out?
I’m in no position to pass on advice, but if I had to give one piece of advice to younger artists who are starting out, I would just say enjoy it. Don’t get caught up in trying to be the biggest artist in the world. I am not saying that’s a bad goal, but I think if you get too caught up in that, you overlook the small accomplishments you’ve made along the way.
What are your hopes for the next two years?
The next two years are going to absolutely fly by because that’s life, sadly. But I think the next two years for us will consist of a pretty consistent schedule where we began recording a new ep every fall, releasing it in the spring, and then playing shows all Spring/Summer. If we can get our music into new listeners in the meantime, I consider that a pretty big success. I’m fairly lucky to have a lineup of guys that we just seem to click where it’s just easy to play music. There are no egos, very minimal disagreements. We’re just enjoying that we can be writing and playing music on a regular basis. And that’s what this is all about.
FVMusicBlog May 2020
https://www.instagram.com/lostlikelions/
Twitter: @lostlikelions
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