One of Prog Rock’s hidden talents, Lucid Fly, is gearing up to release their new album in 2016. After a successful Indiegogo campaign, the band are ready to take the world by storm in the coming months. Here is this week’s Indie Band Of The Week, Lucid Fly!
Who are you and what is your role in the band?
I am Nikki Layne and I am the lead vocalist in the alternative/progressive/rock band Lucid Fly, based out of Los Angeles, CA.
How did the band get started?
The band started back in Orlando, Florida in 2000. Doug Mecca (the guitarist) and I formed the band after he found my Musician’s Classified ad in the (now defunct) Jam Magazine. I was looking to join or start a band – I had never been in a band, but I knew I had a voice and I wanted to see where it all lead. I didn’t want to have any regrets… and here we are all these years later – still making music!
What does the name mean?
For me, Lucid Fly represents life experiences, contrast and balance, and overcoming obstacles. The name “Lucid Fly” is from a headline in a newspaper that read “Lucid Flies into the Record Books, about the female astronaut Shannon Lucid who spent 188 days in space, aboard Mir, the Russian space station. Her stay was not expected to last so long but her return was delayed twice (once due to a hurricane!), extending her stay by about six weeks…so as a result, she held the record for the most hours in orbit by a non-Russian and most hours in orbit by a woman.
Who are your influences and how do they play a role in your sound?
As a band, we have very eclectic taste, we like a lot of different kinds of music. We all really appreciate anything that is technical but groovy and has great melody. Some bands that I would say have had an impact on our style would be A Perfect Circle, Karnivool, Katatonia, Dead Letter Circus, Tesseract and most recently, Leprous.
We like to take the interesting elements from the music we love and try to incorporate, twist and push the envelope, with each of our musical instruments. For me, personally, I love a singer that has power, but can still be emotional and vulnerable. Some of my all time favorite singers are Maynard James Keenan, Ann Wilson, Steve Perry, Pat Benatar, Ian Kenny, Daniel Tompkins – to name a few 😉
What has been your most meaningful experience being in this band so far?
Getting the support and seeing our fan base grow over the years has definitely been the most meaningful and rewarding experience! Because of the internet and social media, we have been able to connect and reach such a diverse and wide audience. Making life long friends and hearing how our music has touched people’s lives has made it all worth it!
Favorite memory from a show you’ve played or a place you’ve travelled?
So far our favorite memory from a show would have to be our first “international” gig. We were chosen by Mike Portnoy as one of the bands to perform on the New Millenium Stage at the Progressive Nation at Sea cruise in the Bahamas back in 2014. We got to perform and vacation alongside amazing bands like Animals as Leaders, Periphery, Riverside, Devin Townsend, Jolly, The Dear Hunter, Anathema, Jon Anderson and many more!
What do you hope to accomplish with your music?
With our music, we ultimately want to create memories. You always remember the time and place when you heard a specific song, and we want to do that for people. We want to be able write, record, perform, tour and share our music with the world…and touch people’s lives.
Something about you that no one knows?
The very first song that we jammed when we were “auditioning” each other to see if we had musical skill and chemistry was Tracy Bonham’s “Mother Mother” – I still love that song!
What is next for the band?
Well, a month ago we successfully funded an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign to help finish our first full length album, called Building Castles In Air! So, this past week we headed back into the studio to start putting the finishing touches on the recording. We will be releasing the album in early 2016, and we definitely plan on touring in support of the new album! We are excited to get the new music out into the world and to also perform them for the first time liveJ
Anything else you want to add?
Doug and I are hosts of a monthly radio show called NegativeSp8ce on Lucky Star Radio where we showcase 8 bands from all over the world (on the firstTuesday of each month at 5pm PST). It’s been a great way to introduce fans to music we discover, believe in, and that inspires us! Our next show airs on Tues. 12/1/15 at 5pm PST – we hope you’ll tune in J You can find us here!
Also, you can still Pre-order our new album ‘Building Castles In Air’ – here!
I want to thank RockRevolt Magazine and all the fans for supporting our music and for helping spread the word about Lucid Fly! Music is discovered and shared best by word of mouth – We couldn’t do any of this without you guys!
