LIT Lighting It Up
Orange County is nestled deep in the recesses of Southern California’s richest suburban
enclave- as far away as humanly possible from the crime, pollution and gridlock of The
Big City. Despite the mostly rich, mostly white, mostly conservative bent of the
community, over the last decade the Orange County music scene has proven, somewhat
surprisingly, to be one of America’s most sure-fire producers of cutting-edge rock acts.
From the Offspring to KoRn, the area has become world-renowned for its ability to crack
out bands with a decidedly different perspective on the contemporary music scene.
With all that in mind, along comes a band called Lit- a hard-rocking yet eminently eclectic
four man group seemingly destined to add et another exciting page to Orange County’s
already-brimming rock and roll history book. As proven on their major label debut, A
Place In The Sun, vocalist A.Jay Popoff, guitarist Jeremy Popoff, bassist Kevin Baldes
and drummer Allen Shellenberger have created raucous, rowdy, yet eminently listenable
style that makes them as a potential force in the late ‘90s music world. And while they
proudly call Orange County home, this road-tests hard rock act quickly dismiss any notion
that they’re carrying on their area’s noble rock and roll traditions.
“We grew up in Orange County, but I don’t think it would be right to say that we were
really influenced by much of the music that went on there,” said Jeremy Popoff. “We’ve
probably been more influenced by bands like Iron Maiden and Elvis Costello then anything
in Orange County. We have had out own warehouse in Anaheim where we practice and
write our songs. We’ve never worried about what other bands are doing, or what might be
viewed as the ‘hot scene’ at any given time. We just focus on Lit.”
These four guys have been focusing on the task at hand for the better part of the last
decade. First formed in 1990, Lit took their diverse influences and seemingly boundless
energy and put them to work in clubs throughout the So Cal area. Creating an image as a
high-stylin’ unit (both of the Popoff brothers tool around town in vintage Cadillacs), Lit
soon emerged as the most popular attraction in the area- a fact that eventually allowed the
group to record their debut album, Tripping The Light Fantastic, for an indie label in 1997.
That disc’s heavy rhythms and eminently angry attitude garnered rave reviews from both
critics and college radio programmers, but that wasn’t enough to turn the album into
anything more than a marginal commercial success. Still the commotion created by their
debut album was enough for a major label to step forward and off the Lit boys a deal.
“We didn’t want to be any sort of ‘buzz band’,” said A.Jay. “We didn’t want ten labels
liking us- we just wanted one to love us. When we first met the people from out label, we
knew they were the ones. They understood us.”
Apparently the understanding between label and band was so great that Lit actually agreed
to enter the recording studio to begin work on A Place In The Sun even before the ink on
thier deal was dry. Featuring suck tunes as ‘My Own Worst Enemy,’ ‘Down’ and‘Quicksand,’ the album may not be quite as bang-your-head heavy as their debut. But
through its expansive use of instruments (there is actually a horn section on ‘Happy’), the
group has managed to explore new rock and roll horizons while maintaining their
decidedly hard-hitting style. And perhaps even more importantly for the band, with the
appearance of their second disc they know it’s time to return to the road, where Lit’s
always-exciting live show has already won rave reviews from coast to coast.
By: Robert Carter- Hit Parader '99