Lit Interview

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....................... ...........2003

Official Music Publication on The Web Representing The Bay Area

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Lit Rocking the USA!

..... The band Lit are back and have announced a string of west coast tour dates beginning November 16 in Idaho. The band have been in the studio for the last several months recording their 2004 release . Lit's album A Place in the Sun has sold 1.3 million copies to date. The band named A Place in the Sun after the nickname of the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas, which was frequented by their idols the Rat Pack. The band's lineup has never changed once, after 12 years as a band. The guys were friends before they were bandmates. The band owns a warehouse in Anaheim, where it produces & writes its music. A.Jay, Jeremy, Kevin and Allen have decided to perform the tunes out on the road and ask their fans to help them pick which ones should make it on the new album. Lit still plan to release an album in the spring, after offering three or so more songs online between now and then. Of course, the Orange County rockers will closely monitor the number of downloads on their site and may alter that strategy. Some of the contenders for the new release include, Over It, Times Like This and Throw Away. Lit will also re-launch their www.Litlounge.com website on October 27 with a special area that will allow fans to purchase three of the new songs via digital download. The download offerings will include Looks Like They Were Right, Too Fast For a U-Turn and the chilling pop ballad Lullaby which was written by guitarist Jeremy Popoff for his son Jake.

Interview with A. Jay Popoff

Q: Hey, last time I checked you guys out you played at the Greek Theater in Berkeley. You opened up for Live I think.
A: No Doubt it was.
Q: You've got a good memory.
A: That was like the worst show of the whole tour. Funny you had to catch that one. Sorry you had to catch that one.
Q: Why do you say that.
A: I just think it was just like definitely one of those you have on nights and off nights and that was definitely an off night. Actually it stands out. Anytime someone mentions Berkeley at that show, I just cringe. Hopefully we don't have to many of those.
Q: The lighting was okay. I got some great photos that night.
A: Oh cool. It's nice to remember the lighting was good (laughter).
Q: I think a lot of people should understand that when you're on the road you're going to have night like that. I'm always amazed when you're going from one place to another, that it's like I'm too tired tonight. Or I've got the flu.
A: Yeah, that's why when you're having a great time that night and there's a bunch of people around that involves drinking, you've got to remember that the next day, you've only got one shot to make an impression on the next city. People forget. Maybe I forgot the night before on accident.
Q: I think a lot of people misunderstand. They think these guys can sleep in for another ten hours. No, they have to go to radio shows, record store appearances and then travel to the next place - sometimes it's what 8 - 10 hours.
A: Yeah, well what really sucks is when you've got to fly and you're at an airport and you're breathing in that airport air and get sick. Yeah, it's a rough life. It's not like I'm complaining about it.
Q: I know there's good and bad. Now, I heard three songs from your latest cut on your website. You've got a really nice website. That's cool how they set that up.
A: Yeah. Glen knew we needed to change. It's a lot easier to use. It's real basic. I think the other one was kind of a little wacky.
Q: Is that a Marshall or Mesa Boogie amp in the background?
A: No, I think a Marshall that they used as a backdrop.
Q: I know Jimmy Hendrix made those famous by having double stacks of those on stage.
A: Yeah. We did a tour where we had stacks, there's a company name Carvin that just made walls and speakers for us, so just to get that old Reno rock look we were lugging around mass speakers, like three high and about five wide. A little bit ridiculous for our crew. Our crew was a little bummed.
Q: How does that work when you fly somewhere your and your equipment doesn't go with you. I guess your guitars probably do. Then what do you do, do you just rent stuff when you get there?
A: Yeah, they have rental backups. Any band I think prefers having their own gears. Any time you have rental gear you knows there's going to be technical hell.
Q: Billy Idol the other night had a fit when something wasn't right and he threw the microphone off the stage. But he can do that; he's been around for a while.
So, I guess the most common question people are asking is what have you been doing for two years?
A: Well, a couple of us have kids - I have a one year daughter and my brother has a two year old son, so that's kind of what's taken part of the time. And then we've been ... a couple of us bought houses and so that there's been a little domestic influence in the last couple of years and then we've been writing. We have our studios about a half a mile from where we live, so we've just been spending a lot of time going there and getting back to basics and just we've written a shitload of songs. So, we're still doing that. We're still on a row as far as writing goes. And we've definitely got a good album and half worth of materials. But it's really stupid to stop writing, because a lot of times you go through lulls where you don't write anything for a couple of months and then something will inspire you and you'll get back in the flow. But we've definitely been a pretty good flow for a while, so we'll wait till that leaves.
Q: Is it basically still the same band lineup?
A: Yep. The same band. Same guys.
Q: I like your new song Lullaby on your web site, it's a nice contrast to your heavier beats.
A: Yeah, Lullaby is definitely attributed to becoming fathers. It's definitely owed to the kids and I mean even if you don't have kids, it's more about having to go somewhere and leave someone behind. It can make you feel a little guilty about being gone. Anybody who travels a lot.
Q: This is one wild tour you're on. Are your going to Spain from here? A: It's actually the island of Trinidad, but it's a few miles off the coast of Venezuela or whatever. It's definitely out there. It'd be across from the Caribbean islands.
Q: It that known for bands to play there?
A: I'm not sure. I had never really heard about Trinidad just through beauty pageants. But there's definitely a music thing going on there. They asked us to come and play at a festival type of thing. So who could pass up a Caribbean trip. Go there and play music and hang out. Q: Well it'll be nice if you can enjoy some of it. I know sometimes when I'm interviewing some of the bands they say "man I was in Europe and I didn't even see it."
A: Yeah. I know, you get to pass through a lot of cool places.
Q: Are you guys working on the single for the next album or a video?
A: Not quite yet. Even the songs that we're throwing up on our web site, right now they're still or unmastered and a lot of them are unmixed and some of them may even be completely re-recorded. So a lot of this is to keep people clued in on what we're doing and let them hear some of the new stuff and get real feedback and meanwhile we're still writing and we're still going to be recording a lot more stuff and we're looking at probably a March/April release. So, in the meantime, we know what we want get out and get this tour under the belt and let people hear some of this stuff live and actually that's the best way to sort of feel what people are thinking on the new stuff - is to play 'em live and have a roomful of people that actually kind of ... the energy from a live crowd is a whole lot different from having a few opinions through via email or what have you.
Q: That's a good point. You're probably going to play some of the old songs from the record Place in the Sun.
A: Of course. We wouldn't want to bore people with a bunch of new songs that they've never heard. So I'd say it's about 30 to 40 percent new and the rest are from the other records. Try and mix it enough. I remember, as a kid going to see my favorite bands and they'd bust out like five new songs in a row and you'd be like man falling asleep. So we'll try to keep it mixed up.
Q: The song My Worst Enemy was an awesome hit for you guys are there a secret to making hits?
A: Yeah. It did really well. Those are the kind of songs that you can never predict or try to write a song like that. It happens and it's a good thing.
Q: That's what I was going to ask you next. That's funny how that works, you may think the Place in the Sun might the hit and all of sudden that's the one the radio stations are going crazy with.
A: Yeah. You just never know. We didn't know then how to write a hit song. I guess if you could come up with a formula that's a guaranteed hit, there'd be a lot of extremely rich people in the world. We've always just written songs to fill a spot in the set list for a live show. It's always been about what kind of songs will be a good energy for a certain part of the show. If it happens to be a hit song, then wonderful.
Q: That's always a big plus. How long have you guys been together?
A: About 14 years. It's been a long haul.
Q: Are you still LA based?
A: Well actually Orange County. We grew up together high school mates.
Q: There is a good music scene there. It would be hard if you were struggling somewhere in Texas and there's five cowboys watching.
A: In a way, Orange County it's so spread out. It's spread out to the po
int to the point of having no scheme really at all. Back when LA had a little bit of a scene. We're too far to really be a part of anything like that. It's a matter of trying to find a cool place to play that allows all ages. I think back when we were getting our start, that's why we had to throw a lot of parties. We used to do our own warehouse parties instead of playing at clubs. That always worked out really well because we'd bring in like 5 kegs of beer and block off the parking lot of our warehouse complex and that's pretty much how we got our start.
Q: With the music you're doing now, do you feel like you've changed your style of music?
A: I don't think we've changed our style. I think the style may be evolving. I mean it's always evolving. If you listen to our first record, "Tripping the Light Fantastic" and compare it to "The Place in the Sun" you'd be like "what." I think we're changing as people. What we're writing about is changing. It's always changing and our priorities are changing.
Q: It's a good idea anyway. If people hear three albums in row and which they want to know which ones the most recent because they all sound the same.
A: Not to mention all the people that you have to keep it fresh because there are plenty of bands that are constantly borrowing people's styles. You hear songs on the radio all the time and it's like huh. That's a good line.
Q: I know they had a little thing here they were doing. Like when everybody is introduced to a band, they go well they sound like this and they sound like this. And they had like five bands that they said you sound like - Blink 182, Third Eye Blind, Hoobastank and Good Charlotte and Incubus.
A: That's funny because about half of those came out after we did.
Q: That's true.
A: You mean we all sound like rock bands. Yeah, you're right, when you're trying to describe a band, try and figure out of they are combination of this band, that band, and that band. People pretty much have to do that with anything if you're going to refer to the band. I find myself doing that, as much as I hate to be compared to other bands, I find myself doing the same thing when I try to explain the band.
Q: I don't think it's really an insult. Everyone wants to sound different obviously.
A: Yeah I know we're not reinventing the world. I mean how many rock cords can you actually play.
Q: San Francisco alone here there are 10,000 bands that are trying to play at the clubs alone and there's like about 5 clubs. I think that's quite an accomplishment for you guys to be able to take some time off like this too. Sometimes when a band takes time off, people are saying where are they? What are they doing?
A: Yeah, I guess what people don't really understand is that a band comes out with a new record and they put out a few singles and you hear the songs on the radio and you may see that the band comes through town a couple of times within that couple of years or whatever, but what they have to understand that a band that's touring for two years straight, what is puts you through physically and emotionally a lot of times you have to come home and kind of ground yourself and get back to ... I'd hate to hear what kind of shit we'd be writing about if we were to write the second album right off the tour. We'd be writing about killing each other. Or songs about suicide or whatever. Maybe that could have been a good idea.

Check Lit's new web site at http://www.litlounge.com/default2.htm

By Randy Cohen

........This is the Official Rock Publication Web Site All photos and written material courtesy of Rock Publication

A. Jay Popoff (vocals), Jeremy Popoff (guitar), Kevin Baldes (bass), and Allen Shellenberger (drums).