INTERVIEW WITH LACERDA

What began as a solo electronic venture for front man and lead vocalist Milenko has transformed to become the power pop punk quintet known today as Lacerda. Hailing from Toronto, Ontario the band is primed to solidify their presence on the scene with the release of their debut E.P. For Love and Hope. In the past year the band has been racking up stage time and creating industry buzz, having played the Ernie Ball stage at the Vans Warped tour as well as playing with noteworthy acts My American Heart, Evaline, Shotgun Rules, and Cain and Abel just to name a few. With their catchy hooks and heartfelt lyrics, the band calls to mind a later Mest (think Jeremiah Rangle’s vocals on Kiss Me Kill Me, circa 2005), Taking Back Sunday and Forever the Sickest Kids all in one. In a recent interview with the band I set out to discover how exactly a solo project turns into a band, and what is it that makes Lacerda a necessary addition to anyone’s playlist.

“I initially started Lacerda as a solo electronic project, but I decided I wanted to start writing poppier music; I thought that putting a band together would be the best way to go about doing that. I just happened to find the most dedicated and amazing people to help me. This is now as much everyone else’s band as it is mine. We’re all in this equally.” says Milenko. “We’re basically really good friends who happen to love the music we come up with and that’s what brought us together keeps us together” adds guitarist Jamie Watkins.

With each member contributing to the song writing process, the band works as a community, and holds no primary song writer. With various approaches to song writing, Lacerda is sure to keep things interesting, combining the various methods and producing quality material.

“Sometimes I’ll (Milenko) write a whole programmed backing track on the computer, complete with vocal parts and then I’ll bring it to the band and we’ll tear it up and make a complete song out of it .And then other times we’ll start with either a guitar riff from Jamie or Bryan and build a song off of that; we also sometimes re work old songs using their good parts and building off those”.

The title of their E.P. For love and Hope is particularly striking and fitting as it demonstrates the heart and passion Lacerda has for their music. “We never make it a specific goal to sound like anything different. As cliché as it sounds we play what we feel. We play what will sound good to us. We’re not one of those bands that claims to not have a “genre” and that claims to have a new revolutionary sound. That being said we do have our own sound and we try to do that sound justice.”A high caliber of musicianship is exhibited by the band on every song. The combination of heavier old school rock guitar on Table Tennis for Two, the pop inspired chorus and an electro backing track, renders the song the perfect addition to any break up soundtrack; Uppers and Downers is straight forward pop punk but it’s the blend between the vocals and drummer Brad Sharkey’s fills which give the song its punch.

The bands duties don’t end with their music.  Guitarist Jamie puts his organizational skills to the test and holds the title of band accountant, dealing with the bands finances. Dubbed the “sweetheart” of the band, bass player Mark can be found spearheading fan interaction and helping guitarist Bryan Baker tackle online duties. Milenko keeps himself busy dealing with motivation and keeping everyone on track. And finally, when it comes to Brad, Bryan says it best “ Brad…well he just plays drums.”

At a time in the industry where A& R and record companies have tightened their belts with regards to investing in new artists, many young bands are forced to do their own leg work and ultimately conform to their record company’s wishes. This can make it difficult for smaller bands to hold onto their golden ticket. But Lacerda is quick to point out they hold no romanticized vision as to what the record industry has to offer. They do however stand firm that their musical integrity is not up for grabs “We don’t have any delusions about how evil corporate sponsorship is. The fact is, it’s pretty inescapable. So we wouldn’t ever turn anything down based on something like that. But if someone asked us to change the style of music we play in order to fit another mold. I don’t think we’d do that” says Milenko “I mean we do have our limits if someone said “you get five grand to play a show but we’re a company that kills puppies”. We wouldn’t do it” adds Mark. And what of the ever looming “sell out stigma? Lacerda prides itself on not being afraid of the mainstream but rather embracing it “a lot of bands try to run away from the mainstream, we love mainstream music and I think we have a mainstream sound and we don’t try to pretend we’re something we’re not.”

In todays increasingly competitive market, the rapid turnover of artists is almost overwhelming. At every turn there’s a new band, a new hit genre or trend to be followed. It’s hard to find quality music that will stick and keep the audience coming back for more but Lacerda is most definitely ready for the rat race to the top .In in the words of their name sake from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas “what a race its gonna be.”

Check them out on MySpace at: www.myspace.com/lacerda

E.P. For love and Hope is available for download at: www.evelmerch.com and on iTunes

And now for all of you craving more…

What exactly is a Dirt Phoenix? Jamie’s got the scoop

When we played Warped Tour last year Bryan had a few too many drinks the night before and upon being offered some Mc Donald’s Breakfast, (that he asked for) he declined it saying that it was covered in all kinds of “Dirt Phoenix” which is why it is one of our song titles.

And now a lesson on scissor sleeping from Mark

We enjoy “scissor sleeping” together on long car rides. What is “scissor sleep” you say? Well I’m glad you asked. It is a sleeping process which requires at least two parties. They interlock legs in the “scissor” position, (commonly used as a lesbian sexual position) and proceed to sleep.