An exclusive interview with Louder Than Love

Today is Music Monday and I have an exclusive interview with Vancouver’s own Louder Than Love. A few weeks ago, I contacted Paul Lambert (the lead singer/guitarist of Louder Than Love) and asked him if he could grant me an interview on exclusive for Hummingbird604.com. I asked a few questions I thought you might enjoy reading and thus here it is. I am also giving away a set of their two CDs to one lucky reader.

Dan is the keyboardist for the band, Nate is the rhythm guitarist and back-up vocalist and I’m the lead singer/guitarist.

1. What could be possibly louder than love? Why did you decide on a name as enchanting as “Louder Than Love”?

Dan Okano: The name was inspired by a documentary of the same name about the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, Michigan in the late 60’s and early 70’s. The Grande Ballroom was one of the first places that would take in acts that were outside of what was mainstream at that point. Led Zeppelin, Janis Joplin, Pink Floyd, The Grateful Dead, Jeff Beck, Cream and The Who were some of the bands that played there during that time. It started a movement and was the breeding ground for creative bands on the cutting edge of what rock and roll would evolve into during that decade. I think we all are inspired to be a part of a band with those type of intentions.

2. What is your main inspiration, who/what inspires you?

Paul Lambert: I am personally into classic writers. I grew up listening and studying everything from Miles Davis to Pink Floyd, Metallica to Bob Marley. I also find a lot of inspiration in non-musical activities like Ping Pong…The minute frame of time one has to decipher what kind of counter spin to apply to an oncoming ball, then successfully deliver a slam leaves no time to worry about the daily troubles of life that generally kill the creative process. It really is the best time to compose… after an intense Ping Pong match.

3. Being such a multi-faceted band whose styles encompass anything from hard rock to vocal harmonies, how could I define you? What makes Louder than Love who they are? What is your style?

Paul Lambert: We are at heart a rock band but like a lot of the bands of the classic rock era, we do not have boundaries when it comes to experimenting with instrumentation, song writing, and production. For instance, our first album “Dark Days” had an incredibly intricate and layered production style featuring complicated songs and instrumental parts reminiscent of Pink Floyd. It also featured a lot of songs with completely different styles ranging from singer songwriter stuff, to hard rock, to bluesy rock. Our latest EP “Coming Around” has a much more unified sound. We went in a much different direction in the treatment of the songs favoring a more direct and stripped down approach to highlight the story telling nature of the lyrics.

4. Being a Vancouver-based band, what is one particular characteristic that you have noticed when you play for a Vancouverite audience?

Paul Lambert: We have had some incredibly supportive and vocal audiences in Vancouver. We’ve seen everything from the entire bar singing along to the chorus of Dark Days (our first single), to guys crowd surfing and doing vampire shuffles (don’t ask). We really started noticing it a lot more when we began touring and were able to compare crowds in different cities to home. For instance, Seattle seems to have a really active scene but people are so conservative. You’ll be lucky if they raise their fist in the air once! Nothing beats home.

Nate Parsons: We have always had extremely supportive and energetic crowds in Vancouver. The biggest thing we’ve noticed is the wide range of people that come out to shows. We’ve got the young guys who really dig the heavier stuff, but we also have a ton of female fans who love singing along. We had a friend just yesterday say, “My mom has your CD in her car and can’t stop listening to it.” That might not sound like the coolest thing in the world, but it’s a really awesome feeling to look out from the stage and see what a wide range of people really enjoy our stuff.

5. Where can we hear you next? Tell me a bit about your next gigs.

Dan Okano: We are currently embarking on our second Canadian/U.S tour and will be playing Kelowna, Kamloops, Nelson, Nanaimo, Victoria, Whistler, Seattle and Portland. Our next local hometown shows will be at the Biltmore Cabaret on Feb 7 and the Shark Club in Vancouver on March 12. We are also doing a really fun rock band clinic for the grade 9 students at A.R. MacNeill Highschool on Feb 17th!

6. I like grunge (yeah, weird as that sounds). Tell me about your grungiest tune. What inspired it?

Paul Lambert: I don’t think it’s weird at all! Our grungiest tune would probably be Bad Apple from our first album “Dark Days”. The refrain of the tune is “Bad Apple poison to yourself, you can’t replace that shattered life that’s on your shelf, Bad Apple what are you going to do? When the whole damn world is falling down on top of you…” This song can be taken quite personally as most people have told me. I think everybody has known a Bad Apple at some point in their lives. Somebody who is on a reckless pursuit of self destruction. It can also be taken many other ways which I think is the beauty of song writing. Everybody has their own idea of what a song means.

7. Are you romantics (yeah, ALL of you) 🙂 and does it manifest in your writing and songs? (don’t be shy!)

Nate Parsons: I’ve been with my now-fiancée for 3 and a half years, and she’s the most incredible girl I’ve ever met. If you asked her, I’m not sure if she’d say I’m the most romantic guy, but I know she loves it when I try. I proposed to her at a rock concert at the Gorge in Washington, with the Kings of Leon tune “Immortals” blaring in the background. It’s a story she loves to tell people, so I guess I get a passing grade on that one! Writing romantic tunes is easy, its sharing that intimate part of yourself with others that’s tough. Writing is like therapy. Write songs for yourself first, and if other people enjoy it, all the better!

Paul Lambert: I would rate myself 11 out of 10 on the romantic scale. I often find myself serenading my girlfriend with the aforementioned song “Bad Apple” over a candle lit dinner. It works like a charm!

Dan Okano: Ha! Well romance definitely has its place and its time. And we are certainly striving to make a connection with our listeners, which is sort of romantic! But otherwise to all you readers out there…no, I am not romantic and I do not like long walks on the beach…

Louder than Love plays on February 7th (tonight!) at The Biltmore Cabaret. You should totally check them out! And for one lucky reader of mine, I will be giving away one set of the 2 CDS of Louder Than Love. All you need to do is check their website, sample a few songs and let me know which one is your favorite (or which one you find most intriguing). I will draw a winner on Valentine’s Day, February 14th at 5:00pm

You can also earn an additional entry by posting the text below on your Twitter stream:

Entered to win a set of @LTLBand CDs. I listed my favorite Louder Than Love song here http://tinyurl.com/4t8u2gf You could win too!

As any smart music band is doing, Louder than Love is on Facebook, on Twitter and obviously on MySpace.