It’s been a whirlwind few years since Lions At Your Door rose from the ashes of the now defunct Pinky Tuscadero, casting aside the more punk influenced side of their former band and embracing the indie-dance sound that has drawn attention from DJs across the world. They’ve had their music played in clubs as far afield as Brazil and New York, toured Japan off the back of their Myspace presence and released a debut self-titled EP.
With plenty of touring under their belts, and perhaps a little fatigue setting in, the band have spent the past few months working on their debut album, and as Music Feeds found out when we talked with guitarist Dirk and vocalist Marihuzka, there’s still plenty of surprises in store for fans when they play MUM at World Bar this Friday night.
Music Feeds: So let’s start off nice and easy. If you had to describe Lions to someone who’d never heard you guys before, what would you say?
Dirk Jonker: LAYD are a strange six-headed beast, with some seriously varied personalities and influences coming from all over the place. We started out doing more of the indie-dance thing, but over time we’ve kind of evolved into a sort of epic-pop thing. We’re about to release a new track to radio called ‘Records’, which is an upbeat tune that sounds a bit like if The Ronettes were transported into the future in a flying Delorean. We are following this one up with a proper single in a few months called ‘In A Sea’, which is a big epic track loaded with strings and is the best thing we’ve ever done in our opinion!
MF: Now, I know it was a while ago now, but I can’t seem to find any conversations on the ‘net with you guys talking about your Japanese trip in 2008. How was that?
DJ: We had such an amazing time in Japan – we toured with two amazing Japanese bands Lillies & Remains and Psysalia Psysalis Psyche. We played in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya with those guys and they were some of the best shows we’ve ever done. The kids really dig their rock n roll over there.
MF: Do you think being aware of the attention you’ve been getting overseas (in NY and Brazil also) has influenced your approach to the music? Have you, for instance, started considering other international tours, or looked into international distribution deals more so than you would have otherwise?
DJ: We are definitely considering international tours and releases, this is a path we’d love to take in the near future. It hasn’t really affected how we write music though – we’ve found that the best songs come from just writing what we wanna hear. When you start being to influenced by outside sources it can start sounding really contrived.
MF: What’s the hardest thing about being in an independent band?
DJ: The hardest thing is probably that we still have to do loads of the work ourselves – we wanna sit back and let someone else run around for us worrying about things!
MF: Do you think the indie scene in Sydney is a supportive one, or is there a lot of competition between bands for gigs and festival appearances?
Marihuzka Larenas: I think in general the scene is pretty supportive. We’ve always found somewhere or someone that will put us on a stage and let us do our thing. Local bands are really supportive too. I guess it depends on your scene and who you want to get in with. For us it’s been a pretty positive experience, anyway. It might be different in the dub-step scene.
MF: Alright, let’s get a bit heavy. Are you guys gunning for a major label deal, or are you happy to be in the position you are, with total creative and financial control? Does it ever get difficult to keep everyone financially secure?
ML: Wow. That is an intense question. We’re all quite opinionated and like to do things our way, so indie suits us creatively. We pretty much fund everything we do by playing shows and working day jobs. It’s not ideal but I think these days even people on major labels struggle financially. We’re poor, but at least we get to do shit the way we want to do it.
MF: When can we expect the new material? I take it you’ll be playing some new stuff at your show at MUM this week. How much will the punters have a chance to hear?
ML: We’ve spent the past few months working on new stuff and we’re quite stoked with what we’ve come up with. We will definitely be playing a bunch of our new tracks at the Mum show.
MF: Any further touring plans in the near-future, or are you guys waiting for the album/EP release before you start locking that sort of thing in?
ML: We’re keen to get back out on the road. We’re aiming / hoping for the next couple of months with or without a release.
Lions At Your Door play MUM at World Bar this Friday, 28th May. We’ve got our hands on an exclusive download of their new single ‘Records’. Click here to listen.
