LACE

How would you classify your music?

Thats a hard one! All of us in the band have very different tastes in music and it serves as a basis for our sound. I’d like to think that if Sylvan Esso, tUnE-yArDs and Tom Misch worked on a project together we would be the product of that collaboration.

Who are some of your musical influences and how did the band Lace form? 

Apart from the ones we’ve mentioned above we are hugely influenced by Hiatus Kaiyote, Jordan Rakei, Sarah Vaughan and Raphaelle Brochet.

As for how Lace formed, Sidhant Jain, Navneet Rao and I have been long time collaborators. Our partnership began in India in 2013 with our first band ‘Chandbibi and the Waste Candidates’ and by some fortuitous turn of events we ended up in LA studying Music at different institutions. Connor Coram Joined us in September 2019 and we have been making music ever since.

What do you want fans to take from your music? 

We see ourselves first as story tellers. We love to experiment and work with soundscapes when we make music; all of it to build a world that our fans can experience and get lost in for a while.

How’s the music scene in your locale and has it influenced your style? 

We’ve had the privilege of experiencing and being a part of two scenes one in India and now in Los Angeles. While both scenes are so different we have always found musicians to look up to and collaborate with. Performance for up and coming musicians is always a struggle and we have been blessed to find a supportive community.

How did your release Liar’s Notebook come together?

‘Liar’s Notebook’ started as an experimental performance at the Roy O Disney Concert hall in CalArts Valencia. Our song ‘Liar Liar’ was the song that drove the rest of the music to tell a story.

What do you like most about playing live and how have you adapted in these times ?

We have such different attitudes about playing live in the group. I, for one have huge amounts of performance anxiety while Sidhant is in his element when on stage. All said and done though there is nothing like it. We love to improvise and so much of our music comes from spending a huge amount of hours playing together. When we’re on stage it’s our time to show the crowd what’s on our minds. It’s a time to be open, vulnerable and to connect.

Performing to us is so much more than the time on stage, it’s the soundcheck, working within the limitations of the venue, the long, excruciating wait between the time you get there to when you perform, meeting your fans, the list goes on! The whole experience is always new and always challenging. We also take it a step further and end our performances with an improvised jam where we take suggestions from the audiences and make music together. It’s just such an overwhelming and humbling feeling to know you connected with total strangers through your music.

As for how we’ve adapted it’s a challenge like any other. We launched our EP on Instagram live and that was an interesting experience. We have lined up a few virtual shows and we are trying to figure out how we can use technology to make our shows more of a listening experience rather than a standard performance. While so many doors have closed new ones have opened and we want to learn how we can make use of them.

Is there a song on your latest CD release here that stands out as your personal favorite, and why?  

Funnily enough its the interlude to ‘Bird’ Lima. The piece is so short but it encompasses everything that makes us who we are. It’s intimate, fun and experimental. It’s so hard to pick though, It’s like choosing a favourite paragraph from a short story. When you pull it out and read it out of context it doesn’t make sense anymore. We are so attached to listening to the whole EP straight through so we stay involved and follow the story.

How have you evolved as an artist over the last year? 

It’s interesting that you ask us this since we have all been in music school these last few years and our journey has been a continuous evolution of who we are as artists. We’ve been blessed with some incredible teachers and peers that have helped us grow in ways we never imagined. We see music as a way to unpack our feelings and make sense of the world around us. Things are tough for everyone, the music scene is one of those things that could be the last to recover and yet the whole world is turning to artists to get through this. Putting out work is such a struggle but that is just helping us understand our voices and be more aware of our message. Some part of me hopes that we continue to evolve as we grow into ourselves and our ever changing world.

What’s next for you? 

We are currently working on an album and have finally figured out a structure that works for us. We cannot wait to put out new material both sonically and visually!

End of Interview