An Interview with Eric Lovold of the Alarmists on 6/9/09
By: David Rachac
 |
How Was The Show: When did you get started playing music? Did you take organized lessons or are you mostly self-taught?
Eric Lovold: My parents gave me my first guitar when I was 13. It was a Fender Mexican Stratocaster. I still have it, customized with a bunch of humbuckers now. It's pretty much the heaviest sounding guitar ever now! I took some lessons in guitar and piano, but became frustrated with it. I really got into playing guitar in college. I learned how to play A.M. by Wilco and after that I wanted to play all the time.
HWTS: Who were the bands that influenced you the most when you were first starting out?
EL: Smashing Pumpkins was the band that made me want to play music. I grew up listening to 60s and 70s rock, so The Beatles and Pink Floyd were huge influences. I've always really loved the middle Floyd albums: Wish You Were Here, Animals, The Wall. Radiohead and Spoon are probably my favorite bands making new albums now. Wilco is one of my all time favorites.
HWTS: How did the original members of The Alarmists first get together?
EL: Joe and Ryan and I went to high school together. Joe and I shared a love of pretty much all the same bands. We were listening to all these bands like Placebo and Kent in high school, Sparklehorse and Radiohead and My Bloody Valentine. We felt like we could take a shot at music. For a couple of years, the three of us just sat in my parents’ basement and worked on songs. It was just what we did for fun. Then we made the Detail E.P. in our rehearsal space, and since then we've been doing music almost non-stop.
HWTS: Many reviews of The Alarmists’ music exclusively mention “Brit-pop” and bands associated with that sound – is it a fair comparison to make?
EL: We never set out to be a 'Brit rock' band. I guess when you consider the bands that we really like, it makes sense, but I remember being a bit taken back by that association at first. We love a lot of American bands and we are American -- so doesn't that mean we're American rock? It's a good label, regardless. I think it helps people categorize and gives them a basis for comparison.
HWTS: The Alarmists had an amazing amount of initial success – recognition from the Star Tribune for one of the top records in the Twin Cities Critics Tally in 2006 & 2007, winning City Pages “Picked To Click” in 2006, and many high-profile shows. What was it like to receive so much attention in a relatively short amount of time?
EL: We weren't really expecting much with the first E.P., so it was definitely something that caught us off guard. I'm glad that we spent a lot of time preparing in the rehearsal space before we released that CD. We were ready to play live and were comfortable together. I remember being completely terrified the first time people actually showed up to see us. We were playing the Kitty Cat Klub and I came up from the basement and there were over 100 people there. And I was thinking, "Shit! WE have to play??" But after that it was just one show after another, and we got comfortable and just had a blast.
HWTS: And now you have a new CD called The Overhead Left – what are the biggest differences between your previous works and this CD?
EL: I think that this album is kind of like the third part of a trilogy. We've had a different lineup on each album, and each album has been pretty different. This is the album that I'm most happy with. I think it's a nice balance between what we went for on each of the previous albums.
HWTS: I noticed there were large-scale changes to the band lineup again.
EL: Yeah, we had some members leave during the recording, and that gave us the opportunity to ask Joe to come back. Each album we've done has had a different cast of players, though Ryan and I have been on all of them. Our new live lineup is Joe and Ryan and I, and Mark Schwandt on drums, Brian Gruidl on bass, and Randy Tomes on keys. This lineup expands us to a six-piece. It's been pretty interesting working on new live arrangements.
HWTS: Your CD release party for The Overhead Left will be Friday, June 12th at the Varsity Theater. What are we going to see there?
EL: This is the first time we've played in six months in town, so we're pretty fired up. It is also the first time the new lineup will hit the stage together. The supporting bands for this show are amazing. We're really excited to play with all of them. Our friends The Championship from Milwaukee are really a great band, so we're excited that they are returning to Minneapolis. And we've never had a chance to play with Coach Said Not To or The 757s, so that's pretty great also!
HWTS: What are your plans for playing out this summer?
EL: We have a couple of local shows planned. Highland Beer Dabbler is on July 18th. Outdoor, beer, live music -- that's my favorite kind of afternoon.
HWTS: Thanks for taking the time to answer all these questions. Any final comments?
EL: If you come to the CD Release on Friday, you will get access to a webpage where you can download our album for free. We will have CDs available for purchase, for people who like having art, but we want everyone who comes out to support us to have the album.
The Alarmists CD release show will take place at the Varsity Theater on Friday, June 12th, with special guests The 757s, The Championship and Coach Said Not To. $10
Artist Info: The Alarmists
Share this story:
Article comments powered by Disqus