I got to pick the brain of front woman Lynz-z Riot of the band Misunderstood. If you like your punk rock old school and gritty you might want to check this band out and read her thoughts on the music industry and the future of the band. Make sure you check out the music at the bottom of the page.
You started music at a young age. What was the first song that you remember having an impact on you?
Lyn-z Riot: A lot more free shows or with cheap covers. Also, no pay to play venues or promoters or presales. We play out of town shows since our hometown and venues expect us to sell 50 tickets at anywhere from seven to ten bucks. If we drive an hour or two to play we spend a lot of money in gas. We shouldn't have to worry about selling tickets unless we have a solid fan base in that town. A lot of people will not pay ten bucks to see three to four bands unless they are really good friends with one of the bands.
 |
| Credit: Glenn Pine Photography |
You started music at a young age. What was the first song that you remember having an impact on you?
Lyn-z Riot: First song to have an impact on me would have to be Joan Jett's bad reputation. She taught me a girl can do what she wants to do and that's what I'm going to do. I hold them lyrics close to my heart. It was punk rock with a message. I took it and did exactly what she said I started a punk band no matter how many times people treated me like crap for it.
Classic punk rock has always had a gritty sound to the recordings. Do you think that high quality studio recordings damage the authenticity and aggressiveness of the music?
Lyn-z Riot: Sorta, I have recorded in two different studios. One was high quality and the tracks were too clean. The other studio they made us record pretty much live and it was too raw. There has to be a balance. You still want the raw sound but with good quality.
What's the biggest challenges your band faces in the music industry today?
Lyn-z Riot: Biggest challenges would be some venues not allowing us to play because of the genre we play. Also it's really hard to get people out to shows. No one wants to pay to see the little bands trying to make it. They would rather sit at home.
What needs to change with the way your local scene does shows in order to make them more successful?
Lyn-z Riot: A lot more free shows or with cheap covers. Also, no pay to play venues or promoters or presales. We play out of town shows since our hometown and venues expect us to sell 50 tickets at anywhere from seven to ten bucks. If we drive an hour or two to play we spend a lot of money in gas. We shouldn't have to worry about selling tickets unless we have a solid fan base in that town. A lot of people will not pay ten bucks to see three to four bands unless they are really good friends with one of the bands.
Describe the worst show you've ever had.
Lyn-z Riot: Worst show would be when we played a house show in Columbus ohio. They had us play last. By the time we played everyone was pretty far gone. So, we started playing and one guy threw half of his beer on me. It went in my hair all over my amp and guitar. I stopped playing. I didn't say anything, checked my guitar and amp just to make sure nothing was harmed, then started the next song. After a couple songs we played our fastest one, safety pin. Everyone was moving and having fun and in the middle of the song the same guy ran into my mic. It busted me in the mouth so my reaction was to Chuck the Mic at the guy. I looked at my band mates and said pack up we are not getting treated like shit. As we are taking our equipment to our cars the owner of the house came out screaming at us. He told us we wasn't punk cause we didn't keep playing. Im sorry. I'm not getting treated like shit at a show like that. It's not worth it. I love when people go crazy, mosh, dance but there is a point when you shouldn't disrespect a band while they are playing, no matter if they are on tour or local.
What's the one thing you want people to take away from one of your shows? (Besides Merch)
Lyn-z Riot: I want people to take away that everyone should do what they love no matter what. Be who you want to be. Stand up for what you believe in. Life is too short to not bust your ass at something you love. We have a song called "we are what we are". It says we will keep going no matter what. Everyone should be original and not waste your time being something you're not.
What's next for your band in 2014?
Lyn-z Riot: What's next for us, we plan on doing some tours, lots and lots of shows. Also, we plan on going back into the studio to record a full length this summer.
Make sure to follow Misunderstood on Facebook.
No comments:
Post a Comment