Rock and roll is supposed to be raw and full of power and emotion. In today’s industry, there are lots of artists being thrown into the rock category that lack those key elements that were established by so many great bands before them. Did those previous bands set the bar too high or maybe the industry has become complacent with what a lot of people are willing to accept as rock? Well, there is a large part of consumers who are tired of being spoon fed what radio is shoving down their throats and they are hungry for some real rock and roll.
That brings us to a band from Athens, Georgia called Lullwater. Yes, the same Athens, Georgia that brought us R.E.M. and the B-52s. Lullwater captures that great sense of musical creativity associated with the Athens area, but they add a 90’s element of Seattle grunge to it. Those elements have combined to form a sound that’s as raw as passionate as some of their best predecessors, and that is why we are ecstatic to name them as our Indie Band of The Week!
I caught up with lead vocalist/guitarist John Strickland recently and we talked about that raw sound of theirs that’s winning audiences over everywhere.
Lullwater is: John Strickland (Rhythm Guitar & Lead Vocals), Brett Strickland (Lead Guitar ), Joseph Wilson (Drums & Vocals), Roy Beatty (Bass & Vocals)
Hey John, how’s everything going buddy?
John Strickland: Pretty good man, we’ve been traveling a little, but we grabbed a hotel room to get some sleep and we’re all just waking up and getting everything going. We have a show tonight that we’re really looking forward to.
I say an off day like that really happens when you are on the road.
Well, every now and then it happens and we really don’t know what to do with ourselves. We usually just sit around, hang out and play poker or something.
I wanted to start off by asking when your self-titled CD actually came out because I’m getting conflicting dates on it.
Yeah, it’s been a mess trying to get this CD out; we actually recorded it in December of 2011. So, for us, it’s not a new record at all and we’re dying to get back in the studio and do another one. We released it in September of 2013 and we’ve been touring on it or about a year now. It’s old for us, but it’s new for a lot of people who are just now hearing about it, which we’re really excited about.
What do you think took so long for people to gravitate towards it?
Honestly, it was on our end. We didn’t want to release it without having our team together on our end. We went through people before because we didn’t think it was being handled the right way, so we just hung onto it until we thought it was the right time.
You had an album before this one in 2011 entitled Silhouette, right?
Yeah, we had that one and some other older ones, but we pretty much consider those records demos for the most part. It was a weird time for us where we were still trying to figure ourselves out as a band. We don’t really play a lot of that stuff live anymore and we’ve taken down some of the stuff on Silhouette, some of the links down to it. We’re going to go in on this next record and re-record some of it, some of those older songs. Those older songs that weren’t really complete are now done because we’ve got Joe Wilson in the band and he just adds a different life to those songs. They’re new songs to us, even though we’ve been playing them for a long time, because of who’s playing them and how we’re playing them.
Has Joe been the only new addition along the way?
We started out in Athens, Georgia playing college bars and frat gigs to pay rent and stuff like that. We went through a drummer, a guitar player and three bass players before Ray (Beatty). We shifted and changed a bit until we found the right members that we have now and Brett and I have been there since the early days. The four members that we have now is what I wish we would have had back in 2007 because this is what Lullwater was meant to be.
It’s like putting a puzzle together; you can force the piece in there and make it fit, but you know something’s just not right.
That’s the case man, it was a growing period for us and trying to figure out who really wanted to be in the band and who had it. You know, those are just the growing pains of being in a band.
Speaking of Athens, why did you guys pack and your bags and leave that scene?
To me, the late 80s and early 90s grunge era was this mythical place that all of my favorite bands came from. We wanted that sound, but we weren’t really finding it in Athens, which is such a great music town with so many different types of music and musicians who come out of it. For us, we wanted to get out of that and bring Athens to Seattle; we wanted to put our mark in another location and studio and I think we achieved that. We went there to record this latest record and the team there was just amazing. Jonathan Plum was our producer and engineer on the record and did an amazing job. The move was also to get us away from the distractions of Athens as well. We wanted to get away and get isolated so that we could totally focus on the record.
Lullwater – Tug of War Official Music Video
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Was that intimidating walking into London Bridge Studios given all the magic that’s been created there? That’s one of those places that’s kind of like Abbey Road, you know?
It was definitely intimidating from the very first day that we walked in there. You have this sense of history behind it and you can feel that history throughout the building. You look on the wall and you see Pearl Jam’s 10 , Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Mother Love Bone, Blind Melon and so many more. You kind of get that ‘we’re out of our league’ feel, but it makes you push yourself and keeps you on your toes.
What did you take away with you from those sessions when you left?
We came away with a connection that we didn’t have before and I think you get that from working with a great group of people and succeeding with what you meant to do. You work ten to fourteen hours a day with these people and not only are they your best friends, but they’re also your band mates and you’re creating something special together. I think we solidified our sound after Seattle; we came out of there with a sense of pride and accomplishment in what we had done.
What was it like going into the tour with Flyleaf? I would think that it might now be your typical Lullwater crowd.
We had different feelings about it leading up to that first day of the tour. We’ve played to a lot of different types of rock fans before, especially heavy drinking crowds which has normally seemed to be our fan base. This crowd has been a little different as far as that goes, but the energy is still the same. The people who are there to see Flyleaf are there to see a show and take something away from it. The crowd has really embraced us as a band and they’ve embraced our music as well and it’s been really great.
The social media responses that I am seeing from people who went to the shows has been pretty impressive.
Oh yeah man, our social media has been blowing up since the tour started. It’s really refreshing to hear what the fans have to say to us after the show. They’ll tell is that they didn’t know who we were, that they were coming to see Flyleaf and really didn’t care too much about us, but after the show it’s pretty much a 180 for us. They end up buying a shirt or a CD and helping the band out financially. It’s a good feeling for us because we didn’t know how it was going to affect us as a band or them as fans. To have someone come up after the show and say that we’re their new favorite band, you know, we’re here to connect with the people and I think we’re doing it.
I think you guys are tapping into a market that isn’t getting satisfied with their musical diet that they are hearing. They’re hungry for music with more substance to it that they can feel and connect to and not what radio is shoving down their throats.
Tell me about it man; I could go on a tangent about this forever. I think it is time and I think people are getting tired of the same old washed up bullshit that keeps coming out of the radio. There’s going to come a time when people are just fucking tired of it because it isn’t rock and roll. There’s so much of it that’s just manufactured formula from both the radio people and from labels. They’re going to shove a 3:30 song down your throat 100 times a day and this is what they’re going to call rock music, but it isn’t. For us, we’re just playing the music that we love and that we want to play. We don’t have a record label telling us that they love this song, but we need to shorten it here, take this bridge out, add a big backing track here and then they’ll call it a single. We don’t want to do that and we’re not going to do that. Hopefully, by sticking to our guns and sticking to our passion and what we believe in, hopefully we will help things to change. I’m glad you mentioned that man because we’re hearing it a lot. Our band always looks at it when we’re going into the studio and I’m telling a story with lyrics that are open and honest about myself, what would Eddie Vedder or Dave Grohl think because those guys are the greatest of all time to me.
What lies ahead for you guys once these dates with Flyleaf are over?
We’re going to work our way back home and maybe pick up some dates along the way. We’ve got Thanksgiving coming up and we’re going to spend some time with our families and then December is rehearsal month. We’re going to get the new songs ready to roll and hopefully be back in the studio come January. Keep your eyes open man because we’re trying to get a new record out as soon as possible.
Capitalize on that momentum and keep it rolling.
That’s it man!
When you pack for the road, what are your three personal tour essentials?
I’d say Gold Bond, cough drops and wet wipes. Gold Bond is a life saver for me because you never know when we’ll get the chance to shower (laughs).
Is there a “beard required” clause in your contract to be a band member?
(Laughs) That’s great man! Everybody in Lullwater has a beard and it varies as far as how big or small they are. On our last tour, Ray had the biggest beard and it was this gnarly, huge beard. You don’t necessarily have to have a beard, but we just do because we can so I guess we’re going to keep them.
What are the best and worst road foods?
Worst road food is definitely McDonalds because it’s just horrible for you. As for the best road food, at least for me lately, it’s been granola bars and power bars because those things really save us. We really don’t have a lot of time to go out to a nice restaurant and eat. We wake up, we drive, we eat when we can, we load in, we have sound check and we work pretty much from the time we wake up until we go to sleep.
Well John, I see we’re out of time. It’s been great talking to you man. Is there anything you’d like to close with?
This has been cool man and we really appreciate you wanting to talk to us. We hope you guys dig the record and I hope fans feel what we’re doing and appreciate the music that we’re writing and playing and what we’re all about. We hope they open their minds and get back into real rock and roll. If you’re tired of the status quo, then dig a little deeper and you’ll find other bands like us out there.
