Lit Is Finding Their
I knew their music couldn't be restricted to any one genre. I knew their look and attitude was all "Vegas, Baby!". But when I agreed to interview Lit's guitarist, Jeremy Popoff, I didn't know that it would be so entertaining!
It all started when I first met Jeremy and A.Jay Popoff on March 12, 1999. Lit was opening for Silverchair in Philadelphia at The Trocadero Theatre and I was there to photograph Silverchair. Having missed Lit's entire set (blame it on the Delaware Water Gap - hey, it sounds like a good reason anyway!), I had no idea what the band looked like. When I came upon two tattoo friendly looking guys with gelled hair and rather polished attire I knew I was on to something. It wasn't until Jeremy turned around to reveal a braided goatee which was nearly a foot long (that's a good 30.5 some odd centimeters to all you metric folks - I was a Math minor in college, very, very *minor*) that I realized - ah, ha! this must be at least two of those four California, Cadillac loving, dice throwing, Lit men. Indeed.
And so my Lit journey began. I was able to finally see them at NYC KROCK's "Low Dough" show at Tramps and then again (with photo pass in tow) at WLIR's "April Fool's Ball" in Plainview, NY. I have to say that the now annual WLIR event was held at a new *killer* of a club called The Vanderbilt (ever have a private party room/box/balcony at a rock concert?! - yeah, me neither, but damn it looked like it would be fun!). Lit didn't take the stage until 12:45AM but they played like there was no tomorrow (even though it was already tomorrow). They ripped that crowd up and lit them up (cliche alarm!). You know how when you haven't heard a band's album yet and you don't know the words to the songs and you get annoyed and feel like a dork because you can't sing along? Well, Lit is one of those OTHER bands where you feel like you already know all the music and you want to dance and jump around. Yes, they're THAT GOOD! <-- I am not even taking bribes for this either, can't you believe it?! =o) Enough of my blathering.
I had the opportunity to catch up with Jeremy via telephone from Cleveland, Ohio on one of Lit's rare days off. He was a little sleepy, a lot giddy, and somewhat talkative as rock stars go.
ARW: First off, why don't you tell me about you and your brother and how this whole thing started. I understand it's been nine years?
Jeremy: Yeah. Well, the four of us, we knew each other from the neighborhood. We grew up in the same area of Orange County and we all just kind of knew each other. And then the whole band thing was organic - it just kind of happened. We were all into the same kind of music and we all played instruments and thought it would be cool to be in a rock band.
ARW: Get all the chicks... feed all of you're confessed weaknesses perhaps?
Jeremy: Sure.
ARW: Tell me about the Vegas thing. When did that happen? Did you grow up with a Vegas influence?
Jeremy: Well, when we grew up… our grandfather had a house in Laughlin. It's kind of like a mini Vegas right on the river. And when we were kids we'd go with our parents. And you weren't allowed to step foot in the casino. It was kind of like "forbidden territory" as kids and we'd be stuck in the arcades. So I think there was a fascination early on - you know like - we were so "not allowed to be there". When we were old enough to go it just… I don't know, the four of us, we just felt this connection with that whole vibe - the whole Vegas lifestyle. Especially the whole 1960s Vegas - the "Rat Pack", and all the big lounge shows and stuff. We're kind of into the whole scene.
ARW: Yeah, downtown with all the old neon signs. Any part of Vegas that's your favorite? Any casino that's your favorite?
Jeremy: I like Binion's Horseshoe a lot for gambling. It's got that old school gambler's hall kind of vibe - there's no Disneyland "Pirates of the Caribbean" crap going on. And on the Strip, there's a lot of really nice places but it's a little touristy. I like to stay there cause it's nice though.
ARW: Have you guys played Vegas?
Jeremy: Yeah, we've played there a couple of times. We were there a couple weeks ago to do a radio show there. It was awesome. We played there a couple of months ago with our friends Zebrahead.
ARW: Really? Cool band. Okay, so you have a Cadillac now. What was your first car?
Jeremy: My first car was a 1978 Toyota Celica. It was a hand me down and I drove the fuck out of it.
ARW: So when did you start getting into Cadillacs?
Jeremy: Probably about five or six years ago. We kind of all had different cars. I had a couple of trucks or whatever. I used to get pulled over all the time. I drove kind of crazy and I thought maybe if I got into something more of like a boat car - that then I'd be a little safer on the road.
ARW: Wow!
Jeremy: It kind of ties in together, you know?
ARW: Yeah!
ARW: So… you have a new album "A Place In The Sun" and you signed with RCA. Were you guys romanced by different labels for a while?
Jeremy: Yeah, we'd been talking to them for a few of months and doing the private showcases and all that.
ARW: Really?
Jeremy: Which, by the way, is not a fun game to play - at least for us 'cause we had been there before. This is our second album and we'd kind of been through the whole thing. A lot of bands really get into the whole "buzz" bidding war thing. But for us, we were really just trying to find the right place for us. Trying to find the right people that we genuinely got good vibes from. RCA stepped up and we felt some great things from them and so far so good. It's kicking ass.
ARW: So you mentioned a first album. When did you guys record "A Place In The Sun"? Is this a re-release of old material or a new recording?
Jeremy: No, it's all brand new material. All recorded in October and November.
ARW: I understand you have your own warehouse?
Jeremy: Yeah, we have a thousand square foot warehouse in Anaheim where it's like our studio. It's all pimped out with couches. Cool shit in there. It's kind of where we hang out. We have parties there. We write songs and we practice there.
ARW: When did you acquire that?
Jeremy: A few years back. We got tired of the whole rehearsal hall situation - tearing our gear down and paying by the hour. So we thought it'd be cool if we had our own place.
ARW: Interesting.
Jeremy: But they don't allow bands in there, you know. So we said we had a musical instrument repair company.
Jeremy: So that they wouldn't say anything about us lugging our stuff back and forth.
ARW:
Jeremy:
ARW: Okay, so enough of the undercover stuff. Let's talk about your sound. This album has a whole mixed bag in terms of sound. I know it's been beaten to death already with you guys just taking off. But to what do you attribute your variations in sound? I hear some almost punk stuff in there, some old 50's influence, alternative, and I hear heavier stuff. How do you categorize yourself?
Jeremy: We don't like to. I mean, it's categorized as alternative in a lot of places. It depends on what record store you go into or what trade mag you're looking through. But for us, we just consider ourselves a rock band. We have so many different influences. We're all in our mid-twenties so we grew up in the 70's listening to pop and top 40's stuff. Kevin got into KISS when he was a little kid. Al was listening to Led Zeppelin and stuff. And A. Jay and I got turned on to Iron Maiden. That was our first concert we went to. A.Jay was 8 and I was 10. Our Dad took us to this concert. That was the turning point for us where we got way into the whole metal thing - really into Maiden, Judas Priest, Ozzy, Metallica, Motley Crue - you know… all those bands we were into in the 80's. Also, our Dad is a Top 40's DJ on the radio in L.A. so we've always had pop music around us. Later on down the line we got turned on to cooler, poppier, rock shit like Elvis Costello and The Cars. So, yeah, our CD collections just run the gamut. Please we're also huge Frank Sinatra fans. I don't really hear any of it in our music but… with us it's kind of weird. Our sound isn't derived from "a band". As a guitar player, I'm not really influenced by other guitar players. I'm more influenced by lifestyle. I'm more inspired to play my guitar when I'm going to Vegas, or when I'm in my Cadillac. I write a lot of my music when I'm driving in my car.
ARW: How do you do that?
Jeremy: I come up with melody lines or a lyric or whatever ideas in my head. I'll write either them down or I'll call them into my answering machine. Actually, there's a song on the record called "Zip-Lock". That's actually going to be our next single.
ARW: Great tune!
Jeremy: Thanks. We were on our way home from pre-production. It was like our second to last night of pre-production for the album. We were driving home and I had that idea. The idea for the music and for some of the words and I didn't want to forget it so I called my answering machine at home and left it on there. I had forgotten about it! So the next day we were at pre-production and we were kind of going over all the shit we were going to do. And I said, "Oh, wait. I think I got this idea." And I ran in the office and checked my messages. We finished the song right then and there.
ARW: That song has some catchy lyrics "keep it in my pocket". I like that.
Jeremy: Yeah, you know, it's a little sappy but… you know.
ARW: Tell me about "Miserable". That's another great tune I love. It's got some guitar effects or something you're doing there.
Jeremy: Yeah, it's a cool - it's kind of slow. That's another one that the chorus came from driving. Most of the songs on the record have to do with every day shit that we know about. They tend to be about girls, relationships, problems, and cars, gambling and all of that.
ARW: Tell me about this braid. How did that start?
Jeremy: Oh, you mean my goatee?
ARW: Yeah!
Jeremy: I don't know. I started growing it one day and that was five years ago!
ARW: How do you maintain that?
Jeremy: Oh, you know, it doesn't take a whole lot.
ARW: You braid it yourself?
Jeremy: Yeah. I do it myself. I wash it in the shower. Blow-dry it. Just like hair.
ARW:
Jeremy: I used to have long hair. And when I chopped off all my hair about five and half years ago that's pretty much when I started growing my goatee out.
ARW: Umm…
Jeremy: Pretty interesting, huh?
ARW:
Jeremy: You thought what?
ARW: I thought maybe there was another significance for it. You know, like… it holds all your strength or… it's good luck or… whatever. You don't want people approaching you like Samson trying to snip it off or something. That wouldn't be a good thing.
Jeremy: They better hope they kill me!
ARW: So, you guys have a single out called "My Own Worst Enemy" and a video which I just saw which it pretty interesting with the whole bowling theme.
Jeremy: There again is that whole 50's and 60's Americana influence. You know, bowling was so popular then. There's something cool about whole bowling theme. Yet over the years, it's kind of taken a weird turn. Bowling alleys are this breeding ground for a really interesting group of people. We just thought it would be kind of cool to go in there and make a little fun of that. We had fun getting into our costumes and dressing up like creeps. Actually the bowling alley that we shot it in… we had been there a couple of years before at this industry Christmas party. We were sitting there and there was a lounge in the back that people were doing karaoke in. And I got the idea for the video. While we were sitting there bowling I thought "it would be kind of hilarious if we were out here bowling and we heard somebody doing karaoke to our song". Imagine if we walked in there and ended up singing karaoke to our own song. It kind of stemmed from that.
ARW:
Jeremy: We're really into every aspect of the music. The videos, making the record, to making the album artwork, and just everything that's involved with Lit we all are very into and very interested in. Videos are really expensive to make and we'd like to, if possible, really get creative and make them something cool to watch - not just, "Oh, here's the band. It's blurry. Now it's in focus. Now it's blurry!"
ARW: Sounds like a candidate for Total Request Live on MTV.
Jeremy: Hey, that'd be cool. We need everybody to vote on the Internet because that's where the votes come from. The phone lines are always busy and they only open them up for like a half hour.
ARW: Speaking of the Internet, you guys have a great web site.
Jeremy: Thanks!
ARW: Can you tell me about that? You have The Poker Room, The Martini, The Copa Room…
Jeremy: It's LitLounge.com (http://www.litlounge.com). The idea behind it is like you're going into our lounge or a casino kind of thing. You walk into a casino they have a poker room, and the bars have different themes. They might have a Tiki Bar. The Copa Room is where - it's kind of like our scrapbook. The Copa Room was theme of the room that the Rat Pack used to perform in at the Sands. You know, it's just another sort of "Ode to Las Vegas". We have a computer out on the road with us and we have computers at home and we go on the Internet and stuff but none of us are really like…computer geniuses or anything like that. We knew that we didn't want just some lame, basic web site. We wanted people to go in and hang out there for a while and check out different stuff and sort of be stimulated a little bit.
ARW: Very cool theme. The album as well has artwork that goes along with that same thing. And I notice that each one of you has your own theme as well. Was this something that just came about in terms of you being "Martini"?
Jeremy: All the symbols could be used for every one of us really. We just sort of picked them. Actually, the dice used to be more of mine but I just kind of wanted the role of martini. We're, all of us, all of those things. It's the cross between the Vegas symbols and the traditional tattoo vibe with the horseshoe. We just went a little crazy with the whole thing!
ARW: You guys could be a board game!
Jeremy: Actually, our guy Brett, the art director at RCA. He did a killer job on that CD. That's what's great about our people. Our guy Nils, who does our web site, really out does himself on a daily basis. He really just goes off and he's updating it and making it cooler. It's cool when you get good people that have a good handle on what the band is all about. They go off and create something that's their representation.
ARW: So, you guys toured with Silverchair. Now you're out with Eve 6 right now. How's that going?
Jeremy: It's going great. Eve 6 - they're good guys. We have a lot in common with them. We know a lot of the same people. We're on the same label and we're both from Southern California. So, they're cool. It's a lot of fun being with them. Last night we played in…
ARW: Ohio?
Jeremy: Cincinnati, right, Cincinnati! Just a little blurry here.
ARW:
Jeremy: Max and John… all of us were up there! We did some Skid Row, some Bon Jovi, Poison. We were busting out all the big hair hits.
ARW:
Jeremy: And we're all feeling just a *little* hung over!
ARW:
ARW: Of all the places you've played - the types of venues and crowds you've seen - what have been you're favorite venues or cities so far?
Jeremy: Wow!
ARW: What made that great?
Jeremy: Well, we headlined there. We did a radio station there for KTCL and they just were so cool to us. They treated us really cool. The place was just jammed packed. The kids were out of control and it's a nice place to play. We just had a great time. In Chicago - we had a great show in Chicago at The Vic Theatre. We just played this place in Long Island called The Vanderbilt - very, very cool! Every night there's always something about different cities that you remember. It’s hard sitting in front of a motel room TV. They all look the same. The inside of our RV looks the same. So you notice things more like the way the venue's laid out, the kind of people who are working there, and the kind of people that are in the crowd. So far everybody's been really great. And of course, home is always awesome.
ARW: Yeah, what can you tell me about that. What's the reaction you're getting at home?
Jeremy: We had been playing this club called three six nine (Club 369) and it's in Fullerton - and that was kind of our stomping ground. We did our album release party there. And we showed up at like 7:15. The doors were opening at 7. We wanted to go on around 8 or 8:30 or whatever. So we got there at 7:15 and when we walked up there were probably about four or five hundred people in line outside. We thought, "Wow, this is cool man! This place is going to be fucking packed!" What we didn't know was the club inside was already totally full and sold out. So the 500 people outside were waiting to see what was going to happen. So we said that we would do another show. We played, did that show, we hung out, people bought the record, and then they left. Then the new people came in and we did the whole thing again!
ARW: Are you guys heading to Europe at all?
Jeremy: Yeah, the first week in June we'll be in the U.K. and then we'll go back there again in the summer probably and play some more shows. LitLounge.com should have all the info soon.
ARW: Okay, so any last words on Lit?
Jeremy: I think everybody should go buy the album because it's a good rock and roll album. It cost us a lot of money to make and it's only going to cost you ten bucks so it's a fair trade!
Place In The Sun
By Therese McKeon