An hour into FYF- meaning two and some odd hours in or around the festival itself and Laurel and I are on our way to meet up with Will and Abe from Lower Dens (Jana Hunter, Geoff Graham, Abram Sanders, Will Adams) post their performance!

We didn’t fully realize exactly how many people were indeed AT FYF fest until we found ourselves on a wayward scavenger hunt looking for a turquoise shirt and orange hat.  So over a hill and through umpteen million people later they spotted us, and we wandered off into the heat in search of some kind of shade- which we were lucky enough to find under a tree near the merch tables.

The four of us sat ourselves down on the grass (this is apparently becoming routine for me now- but let me remind you- you can take the girl out of the city, but…) and got to talk about their upcoming cross country adventures, and on the road calorie counting!

BNB:  Hey!  So we’re sitting here with…

LD:  Will & Abe

BNB:  From Lower Dens!

BNB:  How was it being onstage just now – hotter than Dante’s Inferno?

LD:  Umm, it wasn’t SO bad!  There was some shade, a little breeze…

 

BNB:  So we’re here at FYF!  First fest you’ve played or are you seasoned veterans?

LD:  Well, we played a festival in Baltimore mostly with local acts but there were some touring bands, some L.A. bands – Narwhalz Of Sound played.

BNB:  So how does the FYF scene compare?

LD:  Well, the festival in Baltimore is a whole DIY festival- it’s all volunteers, in like rented parking lots and like big warehouses- umm, there’s maybe a little bit more people here- but almost the same!

 

BNB:  Now if you guys had to go ahead and classify yourselves as a genre of music- what label do you think you’d subscribe yourselves to?

LD:  Hmm….I mean I think that we’re a pop band- there’s a lot of weird stuff- but song structure is kind of the main thing.

 

BNB:  If you could collaborate with any other artist- who would you choose?

LD:  Living or dead, or just living?!

BNB:  Well this is YOUR fantasy, so lets go with either.

LD:  Hmm….Neil Peart!  It’s extremely Peart-inent!  Hmmm….or maybe Susan Alcorn- do y’all know her?  She’s an experimental musician who does pedal steel guitar.

 

BNB:  Main influences behind your music & songs?

LD:  Ohhhh- I think a lot of it comes from just playing together a lot.  I mean there’s a lot of bands we’ve been listening to and a lot of things that we’ve thought about.  Mainly we just play music…and enjoy it!

 

BNB:  Festival you’d love to play- aside from FYF?!

LD:  Umm…WAIT- living or dead!?

BNB:  I’m not going to limit you’re fun!

LD:  Ok, I think it would have been really fun to play some the underground Pop festivals that happened in the late 80s early 90s- Olympia, Washington- my favorite bands came from out of there.

 

BNB:  Where can your friends and fans catch you next?

LD:  Well we’ve had about five or six California shows so far- we’re gonna cross the South and we’re gonna play in Phoenix, and then several shows in Texas- which I’m excited about, because me and some other band members are from there!

BNB:  Hey!  Laurel (fellow BNB.com-er and festival partner in crime!) is from Texas as well!

LK:  Yeah I’m from Texas- we’re y’all playing in Texas?

LD:  We’re playing in Dallas, Austin, and Houston!

LK:  Where in Dallas?

LD:  Actually it’s in a suburb called Frisco!

LK:  At Oysterfest?!

LD:  Yeah, yeah exactly!

LK:  You need to check out Via Audio!

LD:  Really?  Great!  Then we’re gonna work our way back home, then we’re         gonna cross the country one more time this year with a band called Bear In Heaven – and then we’re going to Europe for November and December!

 

BNB:  And what would you do for a Klondike bar?

LD:  Well, I’d love a Klondike bar- but I had a cherry Garcia this morning.  Gotta watch my Kcal intake when on tour.

 

BNB:  Closing remarks?

LD:  We’re gonna have ourselves a great time!

Though the self-subscribed “pop” band do have certain upbeat elements- I’d go ahead and venture to assign a little folk rock to that title, with their effortlessly calming music and relaxing tunes.  Their onstage serenades could successfully manage to calm even the most irritated of FYF goers (who undoubtedly just found themselves inside the gates after an infinite amount of time in line) and have them ready to chill with a ridiculously expensive, but well worth the cost beer in hand- which would have them jumping head first right back into festival mode!

The LD crew will be touring nonstop this Fall, so make sure you catch them at one of their shows- as the folk/rock/pop is a little different than anything holding the heavy rotation on the radio title these days!  Check out their sweet tunes and tracks at www.myspace.com/lowerdens!