So, anyway. I didn't technically close up shop here until June. I had already listened to so many records by then. It would be a shame not to drop (at least) one more year end list. The funny thing is that I have listened to more records this year than I have in recent years. All told, I ended up listening to around 125 new releases this year. I kept pretty detailed notes about most of them. I could have easily turned that into reviews or content. I would have stopped listening to new records had I done that though. Turning my enjoyment of music into a thing was a mistake. Anyway. Here is the list. It's 40 records. A good amount of these are jazz. Just be aware. If you're looking for dope punk rock records, this probably won't be the list for you.

In alphabetical(ish) order:

Alice Sandahl - "Bright & Blue"

Alison Shearer - "View From Above"

Alvvays - "Blue Rev"

Angel Olsen - "Big Time"

Anthony Coleman & Brian Chase - "Arcades"

Barrie - "Barbara"

The Beths - "Expert In A Dying Field"

The Bogie Band & Joe Russo - "The Prophets In The City"

Camilla George - "Ibio-Ibio"

Chicago Soul Jazz Collective - "On The Way To Be Free"

Dave Gisler Trio - "See You Out There"

David Hillyard & The Rocksteady 7 - "Plague Doctor"

Georgia Harmer - "Stay In Touch

High Alpine Hut Network - "727 / 16 EP"

Jeanines - "Don’t Wait For A Sign"

Jobber - "Hell In A Cell EP"

Julieta Eugenio - "Jump"

Kate Bollinger - "Look At It In The Light"

Kit Downes, Petter Eldh, James Maddren - "Vermillion"

Kristine Leschper - "The Opening, Or Closing Of A Door"

Lisa Ullén, Elsa Bergman, & Anna Lund - "Space"

Little Low - "Reasons To Grow"

Lupe Fiasco - "Drill Music In Zion"

Marta Sanchez - "SAAM (Spanish American Art Museum)"

Mary Halvorson - "Amaryllis" / "Belladonna"

Melissa Aldana - "12 Stars"

Nectar - "No Shadow"

The New York Second - "Music At Night"

ORD - "Hemligheter På Vägen"

Otoboke Beaver - "Super Champon"

Perennial - "In The Midnight Hours"

Potsa Lotsa XL & Youjin Sung - "Gaya"

Quelle Chris - "Deathfame"

R.A.P. Ferreira - "5 To The Eye With Stars"

Renata Zeiguer - "Picnic In The Dark"

Tender Slit - "Tender Slit"

Tomberlin - "I Don't Know Who Needs To Hear This..."

Walking Cliché Sextet - "Micro-Nap"

Westbound Train - "Dedication"

Widowspeak - "The Jacket"

I've included that Spotify playlist. It has stuff from most of these records, and some other stuff. Maybe I'll throw something up in 2023? Who knows. It's what it's

La Luz - Strange World

Alice Sandahl - Winters

Off of Bright & Blue.

From the album cover to the vibes of the music and songstress stylings, we are delving fully into pop-jazz, so sweetly reminiscent of bygone 60′s sounds. Nice.

Music Monday: New Music Roundup April 15, 2024

Here's a quick rundown of some of the hottest music news for today, April 15, 2024! We've got new releases from La Luz, Hollow Coves, Alex Nicol, Jessica Wilde, and Goat Girl, plus tour announcements! La Luz - 'News of the World' I'll Go With You, Good Luck with Your Secret, Dandelions and Close Your Eyes, that's just a small number of songs that come to mind if I was to make a selection based on suggestion. I haven't heard if La Luz before but her album News of The World is tantalizing and heralds a change in the lineup after the departures of Lena Simon and Alice Sandahl and arrival of new member Audrey Johnson  Listen  https://soundcloud.com/sptracks/sets/la-luz-news-of-the-universe/s-qrTlUAYnl2y?si=5227f7e26751414aa86acd90377cc0bf&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing HOLLOW COVES - Return with Feel-good "Milk And Honey"  Announce UK + European Tour Dates for 2024 Previously we had Photographs, and now we have the next one Milk And Honey. So far Hollow Coves have put together some really good tracks so it's not too difficult to find something positive about them. You can catch them currently on tour  STREAM ON ALL SERVICES HERE WATCH OFFICIAL VIDEO HERE https://youtu.be/pWGvey8N2js?si=yoWXCjA2d-soNzu9 - Hollow Coves - UK + European Tour 2024 - March 26 - Gebäude 9 - Cologne, Germany  - March 28 - Muziekgieterij - Maastricht, Netherlands - March 29 - TivoliVredenburg, Ronda - Utrecht, Netherlands - March 30 - Zeche Carl - Essen, Germany  - March 31 - Uebel & Gefaehrlich - Hamburg, Germany  - April 2 - Columbia Theater - Berlin, Germany - April 3 - MEETFACTORY - Prague, Czech Republic - April 4 - Simm City - Vienna, Austria  - April 5 - Technikum - Munich, Germany - April 7 - Magazzini Generali - Milan, Italy - April 8 - Komplex 457 - Zurich, Switzerland - April 9 - Les Docks - Lausanne, Switzerland - April 11 - halle02 - Heidelberg, Germany - April 12 - Opderschemlz - Dudelange, Luxembourg - April 13 - Le Trabendo - Paris, France - April 14 - AB Ballroom - Brussels, Belgium - April 16 - O2 Forum Kentish Town, London, United Kingdom - April 17 - Brudenell Social Club - Leeds, United Kingdom  - April 18 - Academy 2 - Manchester, United Kingdom (early + late show) ALEX NICOL - Reveals tender "Song For Franz" today Final teaser of "Been A Long Year Vol.1 & Vol.2" out now Not heard much from Alex Nicol in a while so for me Song for Franz is a nice little number to hear. I enjoy the softness of his voice, he just glides through the song blissfully. It's as though he's whispering in your ear and it just relaxes you. Beautiful number  "SONG FOR FRANZ" WATCH VISUALISER HERE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjFhCCi-RG4 STREAM HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION - website - Instagram - Facebook - Tiktok - YouTube Jessica Wilde turns the heat up ahead of forthcoming new album with soulful and soaring single 'FADE'! I am just going to say it, I have heard quite a bit of Jessica's music and I have yet to hear a bad song from her. Fade is a med/fast paced single about learning to let go of addictions and finding inner strength to just move on. The rasping of Jessica's voice suites the mood of the tune. Listen  https://open.spotify.com/track/6xf9xJI08Cv4qeN2mCsTAq?si=52c9f2068829491c Watch https://youtu.be/a8Mzc_Of_1g?si=BzTLMP3xTIpqSBDG GOAT GIRL ANNOUNCE NEW TRACK “MOTORWAY”  Never heard of this band before but after hearing Motorway I am interested in them and am looking forward to checking out more. I quite like the video as it's not what I actually thought it'd be but gives a good introduction to what the band's about. You can check them out on tour this Summer going into Autumn  WATCH HOLLY BLAKEY DIRECTED VIDEO HERE https://youtu.be/1fZ-l1Ri1ik Single FFM motorway Album FFM Below The Waste NEW UK TOUR DATES BELOW OUTSTORE TOUR - 7th June – Kingston – Banquet - 8th June – London – Rough Trade East - 9th June – Nottingham – Rough Trade Nottingham + Bear Tree Foundry - 9th June – Sheffield – Bear Tree - 10th June - Leeds – Crash Records - 11th June - Bristol – Rough Trade - 12th June - Brighton – Resident Records NEW TOUR DATES EU - 8th Oct - France Paris Point Ephémère - 9th Oct - Belgium Brussels AB Club - 10th Oct - Luxembourg City Rotondes - 11th Oct - Germany Nürnberg Pop Festival - 12th Oct- Germany Cologne MTC - 13 Oct - Germany Berlin Privatclub - 14th Oct - Netherlands Utrecht Ekko UK - 21st Nov - Leeds Irish Centre - 22nd Nov - Edinburgh La Belle Angele - 23rd Nov - Birmingham the Castle & Falcon - 27th Nov Southampton Papillon - 28th Nov Brixton Electric, London For Music Related more updates visit here Read the full article

Hey L.A. ! Happy to announce my 1st show of the new year ! Saturday March 11 at 7p.m. at The Love Song Bar in The Regent in DTLA ! Come hear songs from the new album & some oldies too ! With Alice Sandahl ( from @laluzband ) & Generally Pleasant from S.F. - - - Can't wait !!! Sat. 3/11 @ 7 p.m. / $10 / 21+ - - - see ticket link below - Love, ( Songs by ) Thom p.s. : a proper record release show to follow shortly ... https://www.eventbrite.com/e/generally-pleasant-alice-sandahl-songs-by-thom-tickets-559075478807 #songsbythom #alicesandahl #generallypleasant #thelovesongbar #theregent #livemusic #indierock #lofi #tweepop #guitar #janglepop https://www.instagram.com/p/CpJDByiP02M/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

LA LUZ @laluzers #SurfNoir #DooWop #California #Psychedelia #WatchingCartoons #OfficialVideo

LA LUZ has always been a band with vision…  The discography of the premier  Los Angeles surf noir band LA LUZ  — founded in 2012 by Shana Cleveland, drummer Marian Li Pino, Alice Sandahl, and original bassist Abbey Blackwell — is a study in balanced harmonies and melancholic lusciousness.  On their self-titled fourth album, La Luz unflinchingly lunge into a new sphere of psycho-emotional…

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Shana Cleveland - Full Performance (Live on KEXP)

La Luz singer / guitarist Shana Cleveland perfroms a solo session live in the KEXP studio. Recorded April 10, 2019. Shana Cleveland is a singer-songwriter based out of Los Angeles, California, USA. She is best known for her work fronting surf rock band La Luz as lead guitarist and vocalist.

La Luz are a indie rock / garage rock band from Los Angeles, California founded in 2012 consisting of Shana Cleveland (Guitar), Marian Li Pino (Drums), Alice Sandahl (Keyboards), and Lena Simon (Bass).

Setlist

Intro

Face of the Sun

In Another Realm

Interview

Don't Let Me Sleep

Invisible When the Sun Leaves

Links: Facebook |  Site

KUCI’s music show: Ladies Of Voice Entertainment & Music  2018 several playlist August 7 to September 11th.

Show Name:   Ladies Of Voice Entertainment & Music DJ Hosts:        dj #6 and dj CK Date:              2018 September 11th Show Time:     6am to 8am. Show Playlist Blog: https://newsfromthequillpen.tumblr.com/ UC, Irvine KUCI 88.9FM www.kuci.org Playlist Format: Artist Name – Song Title – CD or LP Name – Genre – Website Links *** New Releases. dj CK Playlist

dj #6 Playlist Breatrix Players {Amanda Alvarez (cello), Jess Kennedy (piano, vocals) & Amy Birks (vocals)} — Lady Of The Lake — Magnified — Folk, quasi-classical baroque chamber — https://beatrixplayers.bandcamp.com/ Breatrix Players — Ophelia — Magnified — Folk, quasi-classical baroque chamber — http://www.beatrixplayers.co.uk/ Breatrix Players — Roses — Magnified — Folk, quasi-classical baroque chamber — http://www.beatrixplayers.co.uk/ Beau {Heather Golden and Emma Rose} — Oceans — That Thing Reality — Folk, Electronic, Synth-Pop — https://www.numero.com/en/music/beau-band-kitsune-EP-Heather-Golden-Emma-Rose Beau {Heather Golden and Emma Rose} — Soar Across The Sea — That Thing Reality — Folk, Electronic, Synth-Pop — https://www.discogs.com/Beau-That-Thing-Reality/release/9224744 *** Shannen Moser — Baby Blue — I’ll Sing — Folk, Blues — https://shannenmoser.bandcamp.com/ *** Shannen Moser — Your Window Seat — I’ll Sing — Folk, Blues — https://www.facebook.com/shannenmoserphl/ *** Ciive {Jacqui Hunt} — Bleed Your Love — My Giraffe — Electronic, Jazz — https://www.chaoscontrol.com/ciive-interview-my-giraffe/ *** Ciive {Jacqui Hunt} — Stay — My Giraffe — Electronic, Jazz — https://www.facebook.com/ciive/ *** Anna Calvi {Anna Margaret Michelle Calvi} — Away — Hunter — Indie Rock — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Calvi *** Anna Calvi — Eden — Hunter — Indie Rock — http://annacalvi.com/ Nina Nastasia — Regrets — Run To Ruin — Folk, Indie Rock, neo-Gothic — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nina_Nastasia , https://pitchfork.com/artists/3003-nina-nastasia/ Nina Nastasia — On Teasing — Run To Ruin — Folk, Indie Rock, neo-Gothic — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Run_to_Ruin La Luz {Shana Cleveland, Marian Li Pino, Alice Sandahl, and Lena Simon} — Call Me in the Day — Damp Face — Surf Music, neo-psychedelia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Luz_(band) , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shana_Cleveland , https://laluz.bandcamp.com/album/damp-face

Show Name:   Ladies Of Voice Entertainment & Music DJ Hosts:        dj #6 and dj CK Date:              2018 September 4th Show Time:     6am to 8am. Show Playlist Blog: https://newsfromthequillpen.tumblr.com/ UC, Irvine KUCI 88.9FM www.kuci.org Playlist Format: Artist Name – Song Title – CD or LP Name – Genre – Website Links *** New Releases.

dj CK  Playlist Opera Arias: 1.   "Trumph March", from Opera "Aida"\ 2.  "Un bel di" from opera "Madam Butterfly" 3.  "Love Duet" from opera "Madam Butterfly" 4.  "Sempre Libra"from opera "La Traviata" 5.  "Brindici" from opera "La Traviata" 6. "Vissi d'arte, Vissi d'amour" from opera "Tosca"\ 7.  "Merry Widow Waltz" from operetta "Merry Widow"   dj #6 Playlist Angel Olsen — Woman —  My Woman — Folk, Indie Rock Angel Olsen — Sister —  My Woman — Folk, Indie Rock *** Beach House {Victoria Legrand & Scally} – Dark Spring – 7 – Dream Pop, Indie Rock – http://www.beachhousebaltimore.com/   *** Beach House {Victoria Legrand & Scally} – Last Ride – 7 – Dream Pop, Indie Rock – http://www.beachhousebaltimore.com/   Jennifer Castle — Tomorrow’s Morning — Angels Of Death — Indie Rock Jennifer Castle — Tonight the Evening — Angels Of Death — Indie Rock Jennifer Castle — Rose Waterfalls — Angels Of Death — Indie Rock   Tiffiany Austin — Resolution — Unbroken — Jazz Jesca Hoop — Memories Are Now — Memories Are Now — Indie Rock Jesca Hoop — Songs Of Old — Memories Are Now — Indie Rock Gabriella Cohen — Music Machine — Pink Is The Coluor Of Unconditional Love — Indie Rock Gabriella Cohen — I Feel So Lonely — Pink Is The Coluor Of Unconditional Love — Indie Rock

  Show Name:   Ladies Of Voice Entertainment & Music

DJ Hosts:        dj #6 and dj CK

KUCI Intern and aspiring KUCI DJ: Daniel

Date:              2018 August 14th

Show Time:     6am to 8am.

Show Playlist Blog: https://newsfromthequillpen.tumblr.com/

UC, Irvine KUCI 88.9FM www.kuci.org

Playlist Format: Artist Name – Song Title – CD or LP Name – Genre – Website Links

*** New Releases.

Daniel’s Playlist:

Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions - Liquid Lady - Until the Hunter

Lights That Change - Happy Space - Rainbow Over Your Shoulder (EP)

Tamaryn - Sugarfix - Cranekiss

Cocteau Twins - Iceblink Luck - Heaven or Las Vegas

Panda Riot - Ghosting - Infinity Maps

Dubstar - Love Comes Late - One

Owl Eyes - Closure - Nightswim (EP)

Boy Harsher - Country Girl - Country Girl

Be Forest - Wild Brain

 dj #6 Playlist

Fear Of Men {Jess Weiss, Daniel Falvey, Michael Miles} – Island – Fall Forever – Dream Pop, Indie Pop – https://fearofmen.bandcamp.com/

Fear Of Men {Jess Weiss, Daniel Falvey, Michael Miles} – A Memory – Fall Forever – Dream Pop, Indie Pop – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear_of_Men_(band)

Beach House {Victoria Legrand & Scally} – Depression Cherry – Space Song – Dream Pop, Indie Rock – http://www.beachhousebaltimore.com/ , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depression_Cherry

  Show Name:   Ladies Of Voice Entertainment & Music

DJ Hosts:        dj #6 and dj CK

Date:              2018 August 7th

Show Time:     6am to 8am.

Show Playlist Blog: https://newsfromthequillpen.tumblr.com/

UC, Irvine KUCI 88.9FM www.kuci.org

Playlist Format: Artist Name – Song Title – CD or LP Name – Genre – Website Links

 *** New Releases.

Love Spirals Downwards – Misunderstood (I‘ll Always Love you remix)  – Temporal – Goth Ethereal

Love Spirals Downwards – Above the Lone – Temporal – Goth Ethereal

Love Spirals Downwards – Subsequently – Temporal – Goth Ethereal

Cello {Maureen McDermott, Sachi McHenry, Caryl Paisner, Stephanie Cummins} – Eleanor Rigby (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) – Cello – Classical

Cello {Maureen McDermott, Sachi McHenry, Caryl Paisner, Stephanie Cummins} – The Visionary (Jeff Beal) – Cello – Classical

Gabriela Montero – Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 2 in C minor Op. 18 (Moderato) – Gabriela Montero: Rachmaninov – Classical – Sergei Rachmaninov composer

Gabriela Montero – Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 2 in C minor Op. 18 (Adagio Sostenuto) – Gabriela Montero: Rachmaninov – Classical – Sergei Rachmaninov composer

*** Helena Hauff – Qualm – Qualm – RPM {Electronic Music}

*** Helena Hauff – No Qualms – Qualm – RPM {Electronic Music}

Joy Donner – Caught In Your Spell – Radio Dreamer – Rock

Joy Donner – You And I Coollide – Radio Dreamer – Rock

Les Poules À Colin – La Volerie – Morose – World French Pop

Les Poules À Colin – Belle Exodina – Morose – World French Pop

*** Snail Mail {Lindsey Jordan} – Heatwave – Lush – Indie Rock

*** Snail Mail {Lindsey Jordan} – Stick – Lush – Indie Rock

*** Emily Donahue – Mistakes – Melancholia – Indie Rock

*** Emily Donahue – It Doesn’t Matter, I Love You – Melancholia – Indie Rock

Julia Botelho – Bigger Than This (Acoustic) – Brazilian Vernal Equinox – Folk  

Julia Botelho – I Need Shelter – Brazilian Vernal Equinox – Folk  

Sarah Borges – I’m Going to Live the Life I Sing About in My Song – Silver City – Country

La Luz - Watching Cartoons - Neue Single La Luz haben die neue Single “Watching Cartoons” veröffentlicht und ein neues Album angekündigt. Das neue Album heißt “La Luz” und erscheint am 22. Oktober via Hardly Art. Es wird das vierte des  Surf-Rock-Trios, bestehend aus Gitarristin und Songwriterin Shana Cleveland, Bassistin Lena Simon und Keyboarderin Alice Sandahl, sein. Laut Sängerin Shana zeugt es von […] #LaLuz #ShanaCleveland https://www.musikblog.de/2021/07/la-luz-watching-cartoons-neue-single/

Surf Rock

The discussion of punk continues to extend, and the offshoots are noticeably dialed back, yet still providing us with strong guitar sounds and powerful lyrics. While it can be difficult to decipher between the subcategories under whatever ‘punk’ means to you, the greatest difference between indie and surf lies in the dreamscape-y vocals and wavier, if you will, undertones. 

Skinny Girl Diet, with evident punk roots and influences in the riot grrrl movement, began in 2010 originally as a trio, which dwindled down to a simple duo in 2017. 

These highly feministic influences can be seen right off the bat in the band’s name, which is meant to be a sort of “critique of the dieting industry”.

The girls inevitably hold strong female-empowerment viewpoints similar to their riot grrrl sisters, yet still bring us smooth vocals that have a tendency to stray from typical lo-fi surf rock.

“They have been vocal about addressing the lack of female musicians that still exists in today's music industry, as well as other issues of equality under a contemporary feminist context.”

While they have these aggressive background influences, messages, and a punky aura in the music itself, they still manage to bring the smoother, funkier, surf-rock vocals in to balance out the groove.

L.A. WITCH paints us the exact dreamscape picture I’m aiming for when explaining surf rock. Not only do they provide an accurate depiction of surf-vibes, but they come to us as yet another female trio; an apparently prevalent trend in this scene. 

“Album opener “Kill My Baby Tonight” is the perfect introduction to the band’s marriage of ‘60s girls-in-the-garage charm and David Lynch’s surreal exposés of Southern California’s underbelly. Sade Sanchez’s black velvet vocals disguise the malicious intent of this murder ballad, with the thumping pulse of bassist Irita Pai, the slow-burn build of drummer Ellie English, and Sanchez’s desert guitar twang helping beguile the listener into becoming a willing accomplice to the narrator’s crimes.”

Hailing from Los Angeles, and presenting themselves in 2011, the women have killer vocals, yet don’t actually participate in any witchcraft, contrary to their title; yet their ability to conjure a specific time and place through their sound does suggest a kind of magic. 

La Luz is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California, like L.A. Witch, and was founded in 2012. Deviating from the trio-trend, La Luz comes to us in fours with Shana Cleveland, Marian Li Pino, Alice Sandahl, and Lena Simon. 

“La Luz is known for their "surf noir" style with layered vocal harmonies. Their energetic live shows often include Soul Train-inspired dance contests and crowd surfing.”

With vocals that almost remind me of a more haunting Shannon Shaw, of Shannon and the Clams, La Luz is the mellow, lost-in-my-bedroom, garage band quartet we never knew we needed. 

Ex Hex brings us more fast-paced tempos, yet mellow vocals, to pump up the surf party, starting in 2013.

Inspired by previously discussed glam rock and punk, Ex Hex, born in Washington, DC, throws us yet another power trio, whose name has appeared on a Coachella lineup in recent years, as well as playing in the Panorama music festival over this last summer in New York City. 

“The group played a handful of shows and a couple of months later, in the spring of 2014, headed into the studio. Working furiously, they recorded over the span of two weeks in North Carolina with Mitch Easter (Let’s Active) and in the basement of Mary’s home with frequent collaborator Jonah Takagi. Bobby Harlow (The Go, Conspiracy of Owls) was tapped to mix because of his unique take on making rock records.

What results is Ex Hex Rips, twelve songs about underdogs, guys stealing your wallet, schoolyard brawls, and getting bent. The record happens pretty quickly, so don’t blink.”

“Drums, bass, guitar, P90s, searing leads—this is unapologetic rock ’n’ roll spat out in the discipline’s mother tongue.”

The Surfrajettes found me today, upon my further digging into female groups that we may not be familiar with. Deviating from our expected trios, The Surfrajettes are a ‘60′s-esque quartet that actually don’t use any lyrics in their songs at all. 

An all-instrumental all-female group that sounds like summer? Absolutely. Bring it on. And they do. 

The girls, hailing from Toronto, Ontario, fit an extremely Austin Powers vibe, and their style is cohesive.

I’ve never hung looser than I did when this video introduced itself to me. A cover of a classic Britney Spears song, the strictly instrumental version brings to the surface a completely new sound, especially for 2017. Amazing.

Interview : La Luz

La Luz after our interview at Le Romandie, though my Olympus Trip 35.

About 2 years after their concert (and our interview!) in Geneva, I was very happy to learn that the girls from La Luz were back in the French part of Switzerland for a show at Le Romandie. I was even happier to learn from their friendly manager Malko (who is also tour managing Fai Baba) that the band was down for another interview with me, and that they even remembered me!

So a few weeks ago, I met Shana, Lena, Alice and Marian a few hours before their show at Le Romandie for a little chat. I ask them about their lives in the US - some of them have since moved out of L.A. - , we talk about their new album Floating Features, the Monkees, Carnivals, the past, the future, and much more.

Many thanks to Malko, La Luz, and the team at Le Romandie for their kindness!

Firstly, I wanted to catch up with you a little. Are you still living in L.A.? I read in an interview that some of you moved somewhere else?

Marian Li Pino: Yeah, Alice and I still live in L.A. together, in the same apartment as before.

Shana Cleveland: I moved out to the country. So I’m living down a dirt road with a bunch of whirl-land now.

Lena Simon: And I moved to Florida- Jacksonville Florida.

Wow! Is it ok when you want to rehearse together?

Lena: Yeah! It’s pretty much the same.

Marian: We’re very far away from each other, but we just rehearse a couple days before a show or before a tour.

I also wanted to know, since it’s not your first European tour, what was your favourite country to tour in? You don’t have to say Switzerland! (laughs)

Marian: I like so many of them! I actually really like going through each one. I don’t think there’s one I don’t like. I don’t have a favorite!

Shana: I think it's different reasons for each country. I really like being in Switzerland because the food is always good, and people are really nice. But that’s kind of true everywhere- I feel like Europeans are really nice in general, they’re very welcoming. The hospitality in Europe is a little more elevated than in the United States.

Lena: Yeah, and that will make us feel more appreciated and respected, like this is our job to move around the countries or whatever.

Marian: They have better social skills! They’re better at interacting and asking questions, being friendly.

La Luz live at Le Romandie, this time with my old canon.

Thank you! (laughs) I’d like to talk a bit about Floating Features as well, if you’re ok with it. How did you decide which songs you would play live? Because when I heard the first song, Floating Features, it sounded like an intro, and I could imagine you playing this song at the beginning of your set.

Marian: Good job, yeah! That’s what we do! You win! (laughs)

Shana: We pretty much play all of them live, except for one that we couldn’t figure out how to play live... before it was time to go play the songs live. (laughs) I’m not saying we’ll never do it! But yeah, we pretty much worked out all of them live. We added a couple things, Lena is doing some extra percussion like tambourine with her foot, and there’s a sampler. Alice was normally playing two keyboards on this tour, but the airline lost one of them. So it’s just little ways that we’re trying to fill it out live.

Marian: I think it’s actually a lot when you put it all together. Because the album has so much extra going on in it, that it would have felt like we weren’t doing it justice if we didn’t try to do it live. I wouldn’t have known what to do. Lena was the one that programmed Alice’s keyboard, worked out the sounds for it. She got the sampler pad, and she basically added so much extra that we needed for the songs to sound as good as they sound on the album. There’s only one song we can't play live, which I wish we could- Lonely Dozer. We can’t play it on this tour because she’s missing some stuff.

Aaaw I liked this one!

Everyone: Aah, we’re sorry! (laughs)

No it’s okay! It’s my second favourite!

Marian: What’s your first favourite?

The last song on the record-

Marian: Don’t Leave Me on the Earth?

Yes!

Lena: We’ll play that one!

Nice! I also wanted to talk about the video for Mean Dream. Was it your idea, or did you work with someone else for the concept?

Shana: Both, I think we had the idea of doing a video that made the cover come to life, so that was the beginning of the idea. And then we worked with Ryan Browne, who directed the Cicada video too. He had this idea- there's this video in the Monkees’s movie Head - one of the best movies of all time in my opinion – there's a scene where Davy Jones is wearing black, and the background is white, and it goes back and forth.

Aaah I haven’t seen it yet! I love the Monkees! I’ve watched the TV series but not this movie.

Shana: Urgh, you’re so lucky you haven’t seen it! You’ll get to experience it for the first time! I’ve seen it about a zillion times! But this video is so great, it’s called... Daddy’s Song! (laughs). It goes back and forth between black background and white suit, black suit and white background. So Ryan was like, “I was thinking of doing this thing from Head”, and I was like “Oh my God, yeah let’s rip off that video!”. And it’s different, because it’s got all these props that we used on the cover that were designed by this artist, Lauren Corden in Oakland. We shot the cover, and we shot that video on the same day. A reeeally long day!

Can we talk about my favorite song Don’t Leave Me on the Earth then? I read in several interviews that in some songs the lyrics were about Shana’s dreams, but I haven’t read much about this one.

Shana: Yeah, that one... it wasn’t really a dream that I had, but to me – and I don’t know if it comes across at all in the song – it was set at a night-time carnival. That’s one of my favourite places to be because it just feels like you’re on a different planet, with all the lights, the smell of fried foods and the music... It’s just sort of loosy and dreamy. So in my head that song was set at a carnival, waiting to be taken away by aliens. (laughs)

I now have a deeper question. You started back in 2012- Now that you have more experience being musicians, that you have toured a lot, moved places and got older, what would you tell yourselves from back then if you could meet them?

Lena: Phew... That is a deeper question!

Shana: I feel like I wouldn’t want to ruin anything for my younger self. My first thought was “Maybe I could tell myself that we ended up recording an album with Ty Segall, or that I became friends with Shannon and the Clams!”. Those are things that would have made me really excited, but I also don’t want to ruin any surprises. As far as advice though, I don’t think there would be anything because I feel like it’s been pretty cool.

Alice Sandahl: I would tell myself, “what the fuck are you doing, keep practicing!” (laughs)

Shana: Yeah, I remember the first couple of shows, you played with a phazer all night!

Lena: Yeah, we were like “Alice, get cooler gear!” Well, you have gotten cooler gear. We all did actually! I don’t think there are a lot of regrets or mistakes that we’ve made, so it’s hard to think about advice that we would really give.

Marian: I would tell myself to freaking practice with a metronome more, to calm down during recording- because all of the recordings are way fast because I was stressed out. I would have told myself to smoke weed during the recordings! (laughs) I always play slower when I’m stoned, so that would have helped. I can’t listen to our past recordings, but with Floating Features I can listen to myself. And it’s because I was stoned! (laughs) The producer made me really stoned the whole time! He was always giving me weed.

I can imagine you in the booth, and then there’s this random hand giving you a joint!

Marian: But that’s what he would do! He would just show up and be like, “okay, here!” So that’s why I would tell myself to do that.

What can we expect from La Luz in the future?

Shana: Hopefully onward and upward! We’re focused on this album. When it’s in the middle of a long tour, it’s hard to think about the future further than the current tour.

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La Luz - Cicada

Cicada is the lead single from La Luz's new album, Floating Features, which is out on 11th May 2018. La Luz are Shana Cleveland (guitar), Marian Li Pino (drums), Alice Sandahl (keyboards) and Lena Simon (bass).