Susan Frances
09/12/08, 02:13 PM
Chains from the dance-rock outfit, Love You Long Time mentions that the band has signed a management deal with Stefanie Reines (co-founder of Drive Thru Records). The band has plans to release a new EP on September 30, 2008 called Party to the People. They will be releasing it independently with tracks produced by D. Baker, producer for MIMS Capitol Records debut). Chains tells, “We've been working our buns off to make things happen for ourselves.” You can be sure that AbsolutePunk.net will have a review up for the new release. In the meantime, check out Chains new interview with AbsolutePunk.net.
How was Warped Tour 2008? What were some memories from your shows that you shared with your friends when you got back home?
Chains: Warped Tour was a blast! We had so much fun and met the coolest kids. The Warped Tour fans are the bomb dot awesome dot radical dot net. The coolest thing that happened to us this year was having Soul Glow Activatur (from Family Force 5) come up on stage with us during our song "The Power" and get his booty shaking moves on. The FF5 guys are so nice and helpful to us and we've formed a little friendship with them. But it surprised us all when Soul Glow came bouncing up on the Ernie Ball stage to dance with us.
How are you preparing for your upcoming shows in Utah and Nevada? What have you discovered works well with audiences? What are some preparations that you are making to fine tune your live set?
Chains: After coming off of the Warped Tour we're totally prepared to play anywhere anytime. On Warped you get to play so much that it becomes second nature and we all get really comfortable on stage. It's really a lot of fun when everyone is doing what they should and the show goes well. One thing we're doing with our live show is adding a lot more vocal tricks. Sally Kat plays her keytar through a Micro Korg and we're starting to use the vocoder feature a lot. It's really cool and makes her voice sound awesome. MC Oz just got a talk box and that sounds really awesome, too. We're also doing a lot more crowd interaction. We have one song where MC Oz is in the crowd the entire time. We love our fans and we love being able to make them part of the show.
Do you practice or compose music on your down time, or do you only think about music when you are in the studio or rehearsing for a show?
Chains: We have no set schedule for composing music. We always have ideas and we turn them into songs whenever we have the time.
How did the band members meet each other? What brought you together and made you decide to take Love You Love Time seriously?
Chains: MC Oz and I met in Puerto Rico one summer when we were both working down there. We happened to be roommates and discovered that we were equally passionate about music. Sally Kat is MC Oz's sister. She and I met after I returned to Utah. We joined the band a few months after we got married. Professor Liam was in a band that we played with a lot and we asked him to join LYLT when our previous drummer quit.
Do you remember the first show that Love You Long Time ever played? Where was it and how did it go? What did you learn from that experience about yourselves?
Chains: The first show we played was at a college battle of the bands at it was terrible! I was so nervous that I barely moved while I was on stage. The sound was really bad too and I don't think the crowd could hear anything. But we had some of our friends there and they were having fun, so that helped. We didn't win.
There is a big gap in time between the release of your demo, Demonstration and your album, Party ‘Till You‘re Pooped.[/i] What was going on in the band during this time that caused the gap?
Chains: The gap between Don't Poop On My Party and Party Till You're Pooped was because of a few changes in the lineup of the band, and also taking some time to write the songs for Party Till You're Pooped.
Where did you get the song ideas for Party ‘Till You‘re Pooped? What inspired you to write these tracks? Is everyone in the band credited for the songwriting, or are there one or two people in the band who write all the songs?
Chains: The song ideas come mostly from our shared belief about how awesome this life is. We don't use the word "party" like most people do; we don't mean get drunk and stoned. When we say Party, we mean live life to the fullest. As a band one of the things we love is the outdoors. We love being in the mountains, we love going to the beach, we love band bike rides. And we don't let other people get in the way of our happiness or tell us that we can't accomplish something. We're all capable of doing so much good in the world. We like to write about that stuff.
How did the song “Showstopper“ come together? Who wrote the melody and what is the message that you want to communicate to fans in this song?
Chains: Our friend, Tyson Stevens, is an amazing beat programmer and we colab with him on most of our songs. He and MC Oz did the music together and then MC Oz came up with the melody and lyrics on a long drive from Idaho to Utah in a car with no stereo.
Where did you record Party ‘Till You‘re Pooped? How do you like being in the recording studio? Is the recording a tedious process or do you go in there expecting to have fun?
Chains: We recorded Party ‘Till You‘re Pooped in a home studio in Rexburg, ID with an awesome engineer and friend named Ken Dudley. The recording process is quite tedious for us. We come up with a lot of different ideas while we're in the studio and we end up changing the songs a lot. And we don't always agree on the changes so there's always some tension in there. But we're all good friends so we're able to work through it. By the end of the process, we were all really excited about the disc.
When you were putting the tracks for Party ‘Till You‘re Pooped together, were you concerned about how you would perform these song live, or did you think about that later? When you recording the album, what were some provisions that you outlined needed to be made?
Chains: When we're in the studio, we're never concerned about how we're going to perform a song live. We always figure out a way to make it awesome on stage, even if it's a little different than what we recorded.
After the album was cut and pressed, were you concerned about how you would market the album to audiences? Did you put together a list of radio stations and websites that would be interested in playing or mentioning your music?
Chains: We do most of our marketing through touring. We love getting out there and playing the songs for people and putting on a crazy show.
Have you learned any lessons about the music business from advice offered to you by other musicians or managers who have approached you?
Chains: The biggest thing we've learned from people in the music business is that they all talk BIG! If you're interested in making a deal with a manager or any kind of agent, take your time and do the research; make sure they can do what they say they can. Anyone can drop names, but you should demand to see some examples of real results. We've also learned from some friends in big name bands that you don't always need somebody else’s help to make success happen. With the way the internet is now, you can pretty much do anything that a label can. We try to do everything ourselves and just get help in the areas we need.
Have you set a timeline for the band by which if you don’t reach a certain point like getting on FUSE-TV or playing the Hollywood Bowl in Pasadena by a specific date, then you will call it quits for the band?
Chains: We definitely set goals for ourselves, but there's no talk of quitting the band if something doesn't happen for us. This band was started just to have fun. We've been amazed to see what else has come of it and we're having a blast playing shows, recording music, and finding people that like it. Everything so far has surpassed our expectations of what we wanted to do and now we're just enjoying the ride. And we're gonna ride this pony as long as we can!
What would you like fans to come away feeling about Love You Long Time after one of your shows?
Chains: We hope they say "those nerds really know how to have fun!". For real, that's what we want them to say and feel. AND, a few other things. Most of our songs have a positive message in them and we hope our fans notice that about us. We want them to feel like our friends, because that’s how we feel about them. We want them to feel the greasiness of MC Oz's hair. We try to bring people together with our hip-pop-electro-rock-easy listening tunes and hopefully our fans feel a sense of brotherly love when they come shake their rumps with us. We just want them to feel good about life for a minute a hopefully that carries over into other aspects of their lives.
What are your aspirations for the band? What would you like to see happen for Love You Long Time?
Chains: We all want to be on the show "Wipeout"!! That show is soooooo awesome and we all applied to be contestants. We also really want to tour as much as we can. We would love to get further out to the East Coast, do more of the Warped Tour next year, put out a full length record, I really want to get a shirt made with my face on it (I called next before Liam; Oz and Sally Kat already have theirs), and we want some new items on the Taco Bell value menu. If any one of those things happened, we'd be happy.
Which artists and/or bands do you think are making a difference in music today? Do they inspire your own music?
Chains: Justice is killing it right now. Chromeo is bringing their smooth jams to the streets. We love both of those bands. Justin Timberlake is another one. He's got the moves, the mouth, and the music; he's legit. We love Family Force 5's live show; hands down the best out there in the Warped world right now. Those are our main flings right now. Word to your mutha.
Myspace (http://www.myspace.com/loveyoulongtime)
How was Warped Tour 2008? What were some memories from your shows that you shared with your friends when you got back home?
Chains: Warped Tour was a blast! We had so much fun and met the coolest kids. The Warped Tour fans are the bomb dot awesome dot radical dot net. The coolest thing that happened to us this year was having Soul Glow Activatur (from Family Force 5) come up on stage with us during our song "The Power" and get his booty shaking moves on. The FF5 guys are so nice and helpful to us and we've formed a little friendship with them. But it surprised us all when Soul Glow came bouncing up on the Ernie Ball stage to dance with us.
How are you preparing for your upcoming shows in Utah and Nevada? What have you discovered works well with audiences? What are some preparations that you are making to fine tune your live set?
Chains: After coming off of the Warped Tour we're totally prepared to play anywhere anytime. On Warped you get to play so much that it becomes second nature and we all get really comfortable on stage. It's really a lot of fun when everyone is doing what they should and the show goes well. One thing we're doing with our live show is adding a lot more vocal tricks. Sally Kat plays her keytar through a Micro Korg and we're starting to use the vocoder feature a lot. It's really cool and makes her voice sound awesome. MC Oz just got a talk box and that sounds really awesome, too. We're also doing a lot more crowd interaction. We have one song where MC Oz is in the crowd the entire time. We love our fans and we love being able to make them part of the show.
Do you practice or compose music on your down time, or do you only think about music when you are in the studio or rehearsing for a show?
Chains: We have no set schedule for composing music. We always have ideas and we turn them into songs whenever we have the time.
How did the band members meet each other? What brought you together and made you decide to take Love You Love Time seriously?
Chains: MC Oz and I met in Puerto Rico one summer when we were both working down there. We happened to be roommates and discovered that we were equally passionate about music. Sally Kat is MC Oz's sister. She and I met after I returned to Utah. We joined the band a few months after we got married. Professor Liam was in a band that we played with a lot and we asked him to join LYLT when our previous drummer quit.
Do you remember the first show that Love You Long Time ever played? Where was it and how did it go? What did you learn from that experience about yourselves?
Chains: The first show we played was at a college battle of the bands at it was terrible! I was so nervous that I barely moved while I was on stage. The sound was really bad too and I don't think the crowd could hear anything. But we had some of our friends there and they were having fun, so that helped. We didn't win.
There is a big gap in time between the release of your demo, Demonstration and your album, Party ‘Till You‘re Pooped.[/i] What was going on in the band during this time that caused the gap?
Chains: The gap between Don't Poop On My Party and Party Till You're Pooped was because of a few changes in the lineup of the band, and also taking some time to write the songs for Party Till You're Pooped.
Where did you get the song ideas for Party ‘Till You‘re Pooped? What inspired you to write these tracks? Is everyone in the band credited for the songwriting, or are there one or two people in the band who write all the songs?
Chains: The song ideas come mostly from our shared belief about how awesome this life is. We don't use the word "party" like most people do; we don't mean get drunk and stoned. When we say Party, we mean live life to the fullest. As a band one of the things we love is the outdoors. We love being in the mountains, we love going to the beach, we love band bike rides. And we don't let other people get in the way of our happiness or tell us that we can't accomplish something. We're all capable of doing so much good in the world. We like to write about that stuff.
How did the song “Showstopper“ come together? Who wrote the melody and what is the message that you want to communicate to fans in this song?
Chains: Our friend, Tyson Stevens, is an amazing beat programmer and we colab with him on most of our songs. He and MC Oz did the music together and then MC Oz came up with the melody and lyrics on a long drive from Idaho to Utah in a car with no stereo.
Where did you record Party ‘Till You‘re Pooped? How do you like being in the recording studio? Is the recording a tedious process or do you go in there expecting to have fun?
Chains: We recorded Party ‘Till You‘re Pooped in a home studio in Rexburg, ID with an awesome engineer and friend named Ken Dudley. The recording process is quite tedious for us. We come up with a lot of different ideas while we're in the studio and we end up changing the songs a lot. And we don't always agree on the changes so there's always some tension in there. But we're all good friends so we're able to work through it. By the end of the process, we were all really excited about the disc.
When you were putting the tracks for Party ‘Till You‘re Pooped together, were you concerned about how you would perform these song live, or did you think about that later? When you recording the album, what were some provisions that you outlined needed to be made?
Chains: When we're in the studio, we're never concerned about how we're going to perform a song live. We always figure out a way to make it awesome on stage, even if it's a little different than what we recorded.
After the album was cut and pressed, were you concerned about how you would market the album to audiences? Did you put together a list of radio stations and websites that would be interested in playing or mentioning your music?
Chains: We do most of our marketing through touring. We love getting out there and playing the songs for people and putting on a crazy show.
Have you learned any lessons about the music business from advice offered to you by other musicians or managers who have approached you?
Chains: The biggest thing we've learned from people in the music business is that they all talk BIG! If you're interested in making a deal with a manager or any kind of agent, take your time and do the research; make sure they can do what they say they can. Anyone can drop names, but you should demand to see some examples of real results. We've also learned from some friends in big name bands that you don't always need somebody else’s help to make success happen. With the way the internet is now, you can pretty much do anything that a label can. We try to do everything ourselves and just get help in the areas we need.
Have you set a timeline for the band by which if you don’t reach a certain point like getting on FUSE-TV or playing the Hollywood Bowl in Pasadena by a specific date, then you will call it quits for the band?
Chains: We definitely set goals for ourselves, but there's no talk of quitting the band if something doesn't happen for us. This band was started just to have fun. We've been amazed to see what else has come of it and we're having a blast playing shows, recording music, and finding people that like it. Everything so far has surpassed our expectations of what we wanted to do and now we're just enjoying the ride. And we're gonna ride this pony as long as we can!
What would you like fans to come away feeling about Love You Long Time after one of your shows?
Chains: We hope they say "those nerds really know how to have fun!". For real, that's what we want them to say and feel. AND, a few other things. Most of our songs have a positive message in them and we hope our fans notice that about us. We want them to feel like our friends, because that’s how we feel about them. We want them to feel the greasiness of MC Oz's hair. We try to bring people together with our hip-pop-electro-rock-easy listening tunes and hopefully our fans feel a sense of brotherly love when they come shake their rumps with us. We just want them to feel good about life for a minute a hopefully that carries over into other aspects of their lives.
What are your aspirations for the band? What would you like to see happen for Love You Long Time?
Chains: We all want to be on the show "Wipeout"!! That show is soooooo awesome and we all applied to be contestants. We also really want to tour as much as we can. We would love to get further out to the East Coast, do more of the Warped Tour next year, put out a full length record, I really want to get a shirt made with my face on it (I called next before Liam; Oz and Sally Kat already have theirs), and we want some new items on the Taco Bell value menu. If any one of those things happened, we'd be happy.
Which artists and/or bands do you think are making a difference in music today? Do they inspire your own music?
Chains: Justice is killing it right now. Chromeo is bringing their smooth jams to the streets. We love both of those bands. Justin Timberlake is another one. He's got the moves, the mouth, and the music; he's legit. We love Family Force 5's live show; hands down the best out there in the Warped world right now. Those are our main flings right now. Word to your mutha.
Myspace (http://www.myspace.com/loveyoulongtime)