Interview With The Lunatic

The Lunatic is a Utah band (the first band i’ve interviewed outside of California) who is influenced by the great 90s bands like Pavement, Weezer, Ozma, The Smashing Pumpkins, and Hum.  Their two main members, Jack Mergist and Martin Michalek met eachother on a Weezer board and – well, the story is in the interview.

Their first release, “The White Demo” can be downloaded here and they plan on releasing an album, Maria and the Ivory Face this winter and another sometime next year.  It consists of two original songs, “Attention! My dear friends…” sung by Michalek and “Elmo Castrado” sung by Mergist.  Don’t be fooled by the “demo” tag however – these songs are in great studio quality and wonderfully produced.  They also have a song titled “Comprehension” up on iTunes so be sure to give that a listen.

I contacted them for an interview and they (very) gladly obliged.  Their answers were extensive and descriptive, but I assure you it’s a great read.

Links: Myspace/Official Site/Youtube page

Nick Reviews: What are your musical roots?  How and why, individually, did you start writing music?

Martin: My first guitar was a bass guitar for my tenth birthday.  Eventually I started playing an electric guitar so I could learn “Say It Ain’t So”.  I didn’t decide to write songs until I first saw Weezer live.  Since then (right around my 15th birthday) I’ve written songs non stop.

Jack: I wanted a guitar my whole life.  I grew up taking piano lessons.  I played clarinet in the school band.  When I was 15, I finally got a little classical guitar.  I taught myself how to play by listening to the blue album.  The first song I ever played though was a little fruit tune I wrote with chords that I made up.  I guess I always wrote music, I can’t remember what made me want to start.  I’ve wrote music consistently until I was 19, then took a break for a few years, writing a few songs here and there for school.  In the Summer of 08′ I started writing again, and have been ever since.

NR: Your myspace page says that you met eachother on a Weezer message board.  What made you decide to meet in person, and then eventually write music together?

Martin: I was in Detroit and was coming out to Utah for school and I didn’t know anybody in the whole state.  And then one day about a month before I head out there Jack joins the board and starts posting his myspace.  The location was right by where I was going to school so I sent him a message and let him know.  We started talking and exchanging demos and we decided he’d show me around when I got out to Utah.  For about a year we really didn’t do anything musically.  I’d show him demos and he’d show me demos, but when we hung out we just went to guitar stores or to record stores.  It wasn’t until after I finished my first year of school and came home for the summer that we considered doing music together.  We both really wanted to play shows.  Jack thought he couldn’t get people to play his music so he figured he’d call it a Weezer cover band and then sneak his and my own songs in there.  I didn’t even want to cover Weezer so my plan was to convince him to just do original music.  Once I found out that’s what he wanted we just started rehearsing our own songs and eventually collaborating.

Jack: Martin pretty much summed it up.

NR: What is the inspiration behind the title of your album, Maria and The Ivory Face, and what was the writing and recording process like for that record?  Did you both write songs together, or did each of you bring in your own songs, or a combination?

Martin: Maria and the Ivory Face was written entirely by Jack.  The very first demos for a lot of those songs (like Elmo Castrado and Lost at Sea) were sent to me way back in July 2008 and those were the very first songs for the album.  The whole time I was there the first year Jack was showing me the demos and he’d keep me updated on each new change.  Finally, he sat down to record the album and at this point we’d both decided to be in a band so I just happened to be on board.  We both had albums that we wanted to do and we both didn’t want to sacrifice them.  Especially Jack’s because his is a really cohesive concept album.  So we just decided we’d record them both and call it a “double album”, even though they’re pretty separate.  Because honestly, the albums are about the same thing.  The album title came to Jack in a dream one night.

Jack: Yeah, Martin’s presence alone had a big influence on the record.  There are certain songs that wouldn’t be on there were it not for his input.  When writing the album, I always wanted it to be for a band, not a “Jack Mergist” solo album.  I soon realized that at the time getting a group together to write and record was tough.  So I changed my plan to recording demos of the songs and showing them to different guys to see if they wanted in.  The recording process was finished just recently, with a few touch ups here and there.  The songs were all recorded in my home studio.  The subject matter of the songs and album is very personal to me.  The concept kind of documents the last few years of my life when I wasn’t writing music, and some of the personal searching I was doing at the time.  I think the details of the themes found in the album will need to just be interpreted by the listener.  A lot of the music and images are based on things I saw in(and out of) dreams.

NR: What are the biggest influences on your music, and why?

Martin: Well, Jack and I were hit by different fads and influences because we both grew up a few years apart on complete opposite sides of the country, but what makes it so easy to write music is that we both are into the same ‘suburban’ stuff.  Star Wars, comics, and space travel occupies a lot of our conversation that isn’t about music.  And most of the music we like and talk about sort of revolves around those things: Smashing Pumpkins, Ozma, Pavement, Hum, and to an extent Weezer.  Although I really can’t get into Raditude.

Jack: Everything Martin said.  Time has had a big influence on what I write.  I don’t like to force anything, but when the inspiration comes, it usually sums up what I wanted to say pretty well.  Rather than be inspired by other bands however, I tend to get inspiration from images.  I see something and it stays in my head.  I think the music though aural, ends up being very visual because of it.

NR: Speaking of influences, Daniel Brummel (of the band Ozma) expressed his approval of two covers you did of two of his songs.  How did it feel to hear that he enjoyed those covers, being the big Ozma fans that you are?

Martin: I was in class when the emails came and couldn’t get signal on my phone, so right when I walked out of class I got those two emails that he heard and enjoyed the songs and it was probably one of the coolest things that’s ever happened to me.  I went nuts.  Daniel Brummel is our John Lennon, so hearing those kind words was something I never thought I’d hear.  I didn’t even think he’d check them out.

Jack: Yeah, at first I didn’t expect him to listen.  So I didn’t get my hopes up.  I worked really hard on the HOMiE album with Ryan, and was pretty bummed that Rivers didn’t even listen to it(as far as I know).  So when I saw the message from Daniel I was very very grateful and excited that he took the time not only to listen, but write such a nice response to us.  Brummel is such a great guy.  I remember being on a phone call at work when I first saw the message.  I dropped the call and sent Martin a text.  So so cool.

NR: What are your goals in music?  Do you want to be famous, or just have a loyal following, or do you want to be obscure?

Martin: We want to get a following going.  If we can just get people to listen to the music and come see us play then it’ll feel worth it.  At the same time, I wouldn’t feel disappointed to get really big off of this and ‘set right’ what I think has been wrong with music the past ten years.

Jack: Like Martin said, I would love to have an influence on other musicians, but the ultimate goal for me is for us to get to a place where we can support ourselves off of our music and gain a loyal following.  That would be so cool.

NR: You guys have played live a few times – how were those shows recieved by the people watching, and what have been your favorite songs to perform?

Martin: We’ve been received extremely well, but I think it’s because what we’re doing is really different from what everyone else does in Utah.  Most people look at the kids that got signed and it was The Used or these really soft, boring singer songwriters.  So you get a lot of copycats with that.  If we go play an open acoustic night we seem to be the only uptempo people up there, much less the only ones playing solos and harmonies.  I think it’s a nice change of pace.  By far, my favorite night was the Daniel Brummel cover night.

Jack: Brummel night was tops for me as well.  The venue was great, and the people there really appreciated the music being played.  But yeah, we play solos and slide guitar and stuff.  Harmonies too.  People seem to respond well to it.

NR: What have your favorite records been lately?

Martin: I think the only album that came out this year that I’ve really gotten into was Humbug by Arctic Monkeys.  I’ve almost exclusively listened to Ozma, SP, Hum, Pavement and bands like that.

Jack: Hmmm…  Hmmm… As far as new album go, I really liked Built to Spill’s latest, There Is No Enemy.  Lately I’ve been listening to The Flaming Lips new album, and Pavement’s Brighten The Corners.  Uhhh and uhhh…thats about it for the last few months.  Oh yeah!  Brummel’s Montsro demos have been on as well.

NR: Since you met on a Weezer message board, what is your opinion of the band’s latest album, Raditude?

Martin: the album leaked the night of Jack’s halloween party, so I burned a copy and took it over to his house.  My first listen was in the car ride over, but I only got through the first three tracks.  Jack and I gave it a listen at his place and it was really wrong.  There were other guys there that love Weezer and they felt kind of betrayed.  That might be a dumb word for it.  At least Jack and I knew what was coming.  I’ll always like Weezer, and I’ll be interested to see what happens with Album 8, but I think Raditude is forgettable and phony, and no one will remember it in two months.

Jack: I heard it once.  It blows.  I liked “Prettiest Girl” though.  I guess.  I still call myself a Weezer fan though, and will listen to future releases.  Weezer, had been in my life too long to just leave them be.

NR: Do you have any shows coming up in the future, or anything else that you would like to promote or tell your fans?

Martin: We’re playing a show on 12/3 at Muse Music.  Our first full set.  I’d just tell anyone who listens to us thanks and we’re really glad people actually want to listen to us.

Jack: What Martin said.  We’re really excited for the show on the third, and really grateful to all the people that have taken the time to check us out.  We have big things planned for 2010.  All my thanks and glory goes to the immortal soul of my dead dog Gus, and the Ancient Mormon Space Gods of course.