KJZZ has been taking a listen to local bands across the Valley for our Tiny Desert Concert series. This week we hear from Strange Lot, a three-piece psychedelic band with a hint of garage rock based in Phoenix.
Strange Lot came to the KJZZ studios to chat about their music and play a few songs, "Walk of the Sun" and "Fiction."
The Show spoke to bassist Dave Dennis, singer and guitarist Dominic Mena, and drummer Tim Lormor.
Strange Lot will be playing Friday night at the Yucca Tap Room in Tempe.
Full conversation
DAVE DENNIS: What we've found in Phoenix so far is there's, there's so much variety of what's going on, and there's, there's pockets of certain genres and scenes and stuff, but it's, I guess, our idea is to kind of go past that and just, we just want to play the music we love to play. And we're not just if we fit in, we fit in. If not, then we'll see where else we can fit in.
STEVE GOLDSTEIN: You know, it's relatively early in the day, so I'm not asking for too much profundity at this point, but the psychedelic sound. Could you define that? We're going to hear a little bit of it, of course, but based on just describing it, what does it sound like to you?
DOMINIC MENA: To me, psychedelic just means just taking left turns and or music that morphs, I guess, I guess I just see it as like, not straightforward music, because it could be anything psychedelic.
Could mean anything at this point in time, with all the technology and even electronic music, can be psychedelic, but I think as long as it has that weird twist here and there, that's what makes it psychedelic.
DENNIS: There's some sort of like trance elements, not trance, but like, you just kind of lose yourself in what's going on, and then snap you back into reality, all of a sudden.
GOLDSTEIN: Alright, let’s hear a tune.
(Music)
GOLDSTEIN: OK, what was that about? Let's talk lyrics.
MENA: I don't know well. I mean, the way I write lyrics is a very stream of consciousness, so I like things to come naturally. I don't like to force it or think about it too much. So I'll just, with that one I am with every song, I just close my eyes and sing whatever images pop into my head, and it seems to have this overall mood/feeling. So with that one, I mean, the first lyrics are “people run, lost inside,” so it's just like a proclamation of how everyone's just not really sure where they're going. But yeah, yeah.
GOLDSTEIN: Are your lyrics influenced by how you feel on a certain day? If you're feeling a little more up, do you feel like, maybe that's not a day I should write lyrics? What influences you when you want to write lyrics?
MENA: I don't know. I mean, I take influence from everything, but, I mean, that's the beauty of a dream, of consciousness, is that you don't know where it's coming from. You just, you, your mind and your subconscious takes over, and you allow it to speak whatever you're feeling. And yeah, it can be whatever I'm feeling that day, but I'm not consciously aware of it and forcing it out.
GOLDSTEIN: With a three-person band like this, can you guys cover all the sound spectrum you want to? Because there are different bands that have four and five guys, and you've got three. How does that work for you?
MENA: I think it works great. Because Tim, I mean, to me, his style is also very tribal, because he puts together lines of drums. It's not just a standard kick, snare ride. So I love that. But also, I mean, I use effects on guitar to fill out that sound. And I mean, you have the bass and that's the low end, so that covers it. So I think, yeah, we have a very nice, well rounded sound.
DENNIS: Yeah, that's what, what brings us to the same page, I think, is we, we all come from other acts and come from other things, where, for whatever reason, it didn't seem to go somewhere, or it just we lost interest in it.
And I think this is something we're all, we all want this to go somewhere. I mean, for a short time, as we've been together, it was, it was funny, the first practice we ever had, first time we had ever, I had ever really met him, and we just, we sat down and played the songs through. It was so immediately clicked, immediately clicked. It was nice. It was very cool.
GOLDSTEIN: What's the next song you play for us?
DENNIS: We'll do “Walk of the Sun.”
(Music)
If you’re in a band or know of one you’d like to hear on air, send us a note at [email protected].
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