Can a band rock and chill at the same time? That was the question I had when I heard Lazyeyes‘ first EP. Now that I’ve listened to their entire catalog and seen them live. The answer is a big YUP!
Songs like “Wait” and “Daydream” will let you take a ride down the rabbit hole, while “Islip” and “Mindseye” will get you ready to rage. This Brooklyn band is classified in the shoegaze, dreampop world, but at the end of the day they’re ready to straight up rock you.
We were lucky enough to have them come in and play for us as well as answer a few questions at the Jukely HQ in Brooklyn! Listen or read the transcript below.
You’re characterized as a garage, shoegaze, dreampop band… Do you agree and why?
Jason Abrishami: There are some elements in our music that is similar to iconic bands such as My Bloody Valentine, Sonic Youth, etc. We don’t really put ourselves in any specific genre, we just play rock.
Sam Maynard: Shoegaze is not a genre.
Jason: It’s not a genre.
Sam: That’s my only thought.
Jeremy Rose: Characterizing bands and categorizing them is doomed to fail. I feel like, it’s just hard to get that right.
Sam: But, we totally sound exactly like My Bloody Valentine.
Jeremy: I feel like that’s a very kind comparison.
Sam: To both us and them, in a weird way.
Jeremy: Mostly to us.
Your East Coast tour kicks off April 15th, what are you most excited about?
Jason: Just to get out of New York for a little bit. We’re revisiting a lot of states that we’ve played before. Hopefully we will be seeing some familiar faces. And mostly I enjoy just the long drives.
Sam: Yeah and the markets.
Jeremy: I’m super stoked about the markets.
Sam: Playing with Surfer Blood is going to be fun though, seriously. I like them.
Favorite venue to see shows and favorite venue to play in the area.
Jason: Rough Trade all the way for me. I don’t know about these guys. Rough Trade’s awesome.
Jeremy: I was thinking about that the other day. That’s my favorite one to play at. For sure.
Jason: Great room. Great sound.
Sam: Yeah, I like playing there. I like playing at Alphaville too.
Jeremy: That’s probably my favorite one to go to.
Sam: I don’t go to concerts anymore.
Jason: Likewise, not as much as I used to.
I saw you were on a Japan tour. How did that happen and how did you set it up?
Jason: 2670 records hit us up. They really liked our first two EPs and offered to release it. So we said, why don’t you just release both as a Japanese exclusive album, and they did.
Then they followed up two months later and was like, do you want to come on tour? And we thought it was a joke at first, like really? I guess, we started panicking about 30 days before because we had to figure it out. But it was pretty wild and cool.
For tonight’s performance you’re a three-piece, but usually a quartet, right?
Jason: We were always a four-piece. This band started in 2012, and it was me and the drummer, and our friend Paul and our buddy Alex. Since then, there’s been some lineup changes but very happy with the lineup right now and it’s sounding better than before.
You just wrapped up recording 12 songs for your album in January, what can you tell us about it?
Jason: I don’t know when it’s coming out, we’re still sorting out some release details.
Sam: I would expect 11 songs, at best.
Jason: Probably. We recorded with Ben Greenberg, he’s a good friend of ours, he plays in Uniform. He’s worked with a bunch of amazing bands, I don’t even know how many great records he pushes out a year. But recorded that at Strange Weather, and it was a great experience. We did five days straight and just blasted them out.
And finally, the most improv question ever. Anything you want to share with the Jukely community as a whole about yourselves, about the band, about anything?
Jason: Everyone that supports Jukely is doing a great cause, you guys are awesome. Clearly have a great organization, great shows, we love Jukely. What more can we say? Thank you for having us!
Sam: What more can we say, really?
Right on, thank you very much!
Catch the boys with Surfer Blood on their East Coast tour starting April 15th in South Carolina. And don’t worry Brooklyn, we’ve got a few tickets for their 4/20 show at Music Hall of Williamsburg to close out the tour.
Go out tonight, and any night. Jukely is a concert subscription that gives members guestlist access to hundreds of music events – for one price. Whenever you want to go out, you’ll always have something to do. Learn more and sign up at jukely.com.
