sandiegopunk.com

Interview with Jon Lowe, Devin Shclichting, and Anthony Mendeola of Larger than Life by Monica de Leon.

Monica: Ok, let’s talk about your lyrics. What’s the overall theme of your songs? Jon: Um, overall theme? A lot of it has to do with just, being stuck in different situations. Like, some of the songs I wrote like,

um, "Some Kind of Wonderful," is just kind of like a tongue and cheek about not having a place to live, being homeless, like just past experiences of mine. “This Day and Age”,I wrote that about drug addiction, another past experience of mine, and like stuff my friends have gone through. Um, stuff like that, and then some of the songs are just, you know, a couple of the songs on the “If Tomorrow Never Came” are your basic, love and lost types of songs. But um, yeah, but we also write other songs that deal with like, drug abuse, losing friends, and just like growing up shit, basically, ‘cause that’s what we’re all kinda dealing with. Um, I dunno, so that’s what we write about a lot.
M: So you write most of the lyrics?
J: Oh, I write all the lyrics, yeah.
M: Oh yeah?
J: Mmhmm.
M: Oh, ok.
Devin: You wanna take some Vikaden? Drink some alcohol, dude? Ha, that can kill you.

J: Yeah it can kill you. Chuck is uh, Chuck just got in an accident and now he is on pain killers ‘cause they got in a car wreck yesterday with Roland.
M: Oh really?
J: Yeah.
M: Is he gonna be okay for tonight?
J: Yeah, yeah, he’ll be OK We actually played without him yesterday. We were gonna cancel the show yesterday, and um, then we called the guys, and they were like, “You know what, these kids are really cool here.” ‘Cause I lost my voice and I’m still sick. I got an ear infection, and I was just like “You know what, they got in an accident, I’m sick, let’s just not play the show.” We talked to the guys from Limit Point and they said the kids up here were really great, and so we just said you know, “Fuck it,” so Roland played bass for us and Devin played guitar, and um, I sang like really raspy, which I gotta go into tonight, but it was fun.
M: Yeah, that sucks. Where did you guys play last night?
J: Uh, up in LA in a town, I don’t remember the name.
Sabrina (LTL Merch Girl): Lacanada.
J: Where? Lacanada.
D: I thought it was Lacañada.
J: Lacañada? But whatever, that’s where we played.

M: Oh OK Um, what do you want your music to say to listeners? J: Umm... M: Like, what message are you trying to convey? J: Um, we write like um, a lot of our songs are open-ended, uh, by that I mean like, I don’t ever write or put someone’s name in,

and I try to stay away from saying like, “she”, or “he”, so that way whoever’s listening to the music, can kinda take what they want out of it. It depends on what they’re going through in their lives. Like, some people tell me like, they’ll listen to a song, and they’re like, “Man, I totally understand what you were talking about, like you meant this, or you were talking about like, some girl breaking up with you.” And I’m like, no, that’s not actually what the song was about for me personally, but it’s cool that that’s what they got out of it. As long as they’re able to listen to something and say, you know what, I kinda understand what he’s saying there, or that like, relates to their life. I like it when that happens, and I don’t care if like, it relates to their life in a different way that I didn’t like intend it to, I think that’s like the best thing ever. When a song can do that, whatever mood you’re in, or like it depends on what you’re going through in your life, you can kind of take that song, and have it be like your theme.
M: Oh I see, that’s really cool.
J: So yeah, you know. We also like to write just like fun stuff, like stuff that’s just fun to listen to. We don’t try to get all like, terribly emotional ‘cause we’re a punk band. Um, and I think that comes across, especially in our live shows, it comes across that you know, we’re not just sitting there, standing there, like crying or something like that. We’re out there basically having fun, and really concentrating on not having it be a show where we’re the performers and they’re the audience, but like have everything be like, just one thing, like you know- interaction. And just not be like, we’re the band on stage and there’s the audience. We’re just like people and everybody’s there to make the show. Like, everybody chips in- the audience and the band, like, just does it all together. That’s what’s like the most fun.

M: That’s a good way to look at it. So you wrote “Blind, Deaf, and Dumb”, right?
J: Yeah.
M: OK, it seems to be about anti-American patriotism.
J: Mmhmm.
M: OK, did you write that before or after 9/11?
J: That was way before, that was a few years ago. Um, that was when we recorded The Easy Way Out. So that was actually before. But actually, you know, after 9/11, a lot of people started writing in about that song. And yeah, it was like written way before.
M: OK, yeah, that’s what I was thinking.
J: But I wrote it basically about my friends who went through the Army , and who just didn’t have very good experiences, and my views like on military, and like my views on U.S. Government.

M: I see. OK, well you previously completed your video for “Last Summer”, right?
J: Yeah, we completed a video for “Last Summer”, and another video for “If Tomorrow Never Came.”
M: Yeah I saw the “Last Summer” video last time you played here at the Scene.
J: Yeah, yeah.
M: It was a good video, it seemed like you guys had lots of fun.
J: Oh yeah, we had a fucking blast. It was just weird, you know, we’ve never acted or that before, and it wasn’t really acting.
D: Except for me.
J: Uh, you know, we had to play roles and stuff like that, so it was kind of weird. But um, it was cool because they would say, “Cut”, and I’d be sitting in my chair, and then like someone would run up to me and put a jacket over me, and like, bring me a glass of water, or something like that. And I was like man, I’m getting treated all cool.
M: Superstar treatment.
J: Yeah, so it was a lot of fun. The coolest thing was that it was like, all friends. All the extras were all friends of ours. Actually Sabrina’s cousin was the one who shot the video. It was just like hanging out for three days with a bunch of friends, and you know, making a video. And I had no idea how good it was going to turn out. It turned out awesome. I was so happy.
M: Yeah it was awesome, I liked it a lot.
J: Yeah, and that will be going on a Drive-Thru Records compilation.

M: Oh are you guys signed to Drive-Thru now?
J: No, no, we’re not signed to anybody.
M: Oh, really?
J: Yeah, we do everything ourselves. But like, we talked to a few people, Richard from Drive-Thru saw the video, and you know he’s putting out a video compilation of different Drive-Thru bands I guess, and he asked if we would be on it and we said, 'Sure.'
M: Do you have hopes of being signed to any particular record label?
J: Um, right now, what we’re basically doing is we’re really concentrating on just getting another album out. We have yet to put out a full length. We put out Easy Way Out, which is a demo, on like low budget. We put out If Tomorrow Never Came, which was basically on like, no budget, and that was an EP. So we haven’t put out a full length yet. We’re writing a lot of new material, we’re playing all the time. So we’re really excited about putting out a full length, we just don’t have the money to do it. So, for those purposes, we are talking to a few labels. Right now, we’re working with a label, here, based out of LA, but they work with bands here. They’re called Galactic Pop Records, like The Classified is on Galactic Pop, The John Sparrow Project, which is the old drummer from Fenix TX- his new band. Um, and then, we’re also working with them. They’re actually helping us put out a full length right now. We’ve been doing pre-production work the past couple of weeks with Will from Fenix TX- the lead singer. He’s been working with us, and helping us arrange songs and things like that. So it’s really been cool, and they’re actually going to put us up in a studio in LA.
M: Oh that’s cool.
J: Yeah, so we’re crossing our fingers and hoping that maybe a full length will be out by summer, and be ready, ‘cause we’re touring this summer.
M: Yeah, with the Dropkids, right?
J: Yeah, with the Dropkids, and we’re probably going to do some other things like maybe some more tour dates, and we’re just gonna try to stay on the road, like the whole time.
M: Well, you just toured parts of Arizona and California, right? You just got back from that?
J: Right, yeah.

M: Um, How did you like the touring life?
J: We love it, it’s so much fun. We have such a blast, we get all gitty. Anytime anybody takes a car trip with their friends, it’s the same kind of feeling.
M: Yeah, like a road trip with all your friends.
J: Seeing new faces, like being in a new town, it’s really cool. All the kids we meet everywhere, they’re like, the coolest fucking kids. And our fans are really great, everywhere. The kids are so cool.
M: So the out-of state fans accepted you just like the hometown fans do?
J: Oh totally. We were kind of worried about that. We were going to these places we had never been before, these small towns in Arizona, things like that. You know, I didn’t even know if anyone had ever heard of us. I think we were playing at the Nile in Arizona, and we were co-headlining that show. I was like, man, there aren’t gonna be any kids ‘cause no one knows us. And a lot of kids actually showed up, just cause of like, our fans from the internet, so all these kids showed up from all around Arizona. It helped us out ‘cause they bought merch. And stuff. We were like flat broke, and we didn’t even know how we were going to get back to San Diego, but then all these kids bought T-shirts and stuff, so that gave us gas money to get back home. They were really cool, it was cool to see that.
M: That’s awesome.
J: It was totally unexpected, and I was really happy to see that.

M: OK Well since you’ve been touring...and you’ll be touring with the Dropkids this summer. What are your anxieties or hopes for this upcoming tour?
J: OK, I’m worried about the RV, personally. Uh, the RV, it’s been running great so far. I love it, but taking it across the US and back...they all break down somewhere. I’m really scared of it breaking down in some shit town in the middle of America, with like no money, and no place to go. The only good thing is that at least we have beds, so we can sleep in here if we break down. So I’m worried about that mainly.
M: Any hopes?
J: Hopes- Our hopes is that everything just goes smoothly and that we don’t kill each other, I don’t think we will. I think it will be a good time.

M: Well you guys are all pretty good friends, right?
J: Well the thing is, the band didn’t start out as a friendship. I answered an ad when I moved down here. Everybody else answered ads too, so we all didn’t know each other previously. But we get along pretty well. But with anybody you spend enough time with, you’re gonna get at each other’s throats sometimes. But we have a good time, and I think we’ll have a good time on the road. The only [other] hope that I really have is that uh, that we’re out in the east coast, and we’re able to reach these kids. We have kids write in on the Internet all the time, ‘cause the Internet is so amazing with getting music out to people. And they write in, and they’re like, “When are you coming here, and when are you coming here?”. They think like, we’re this huge touring band, and that we have all this money, and that we’ll be flying to Europe and playing a tour out there, it’s kinda of funny. I just hope that we can actually get out to these places and that these kids can actually come out and see us and come out and hear us, so...

M: Well, when I first saw you play, like I think it was the last time you guys played here, you guys seemed really comfortable on stage and you guys knew how to work the crowd, which I was really impressed with. Like, what do you have to do to get yourself prepared for a big show? Or does it come naturally?
J: Anthony has to drink.
Anthony: Bring out the booze!
J: Ever since Anthony turned 21, he’s like Mr. Alcoholic, he has to drink before shows. Um, to get ourselves prepared for shows...um, we’ve played so many shows...
A: We just pretend like we’re good.
J: We’re so comfortable here in San Diego, that I don’t know. Like, everybody here is so rad, all these kids that come out are so fucking cool, and they’re so supportive, that really, it makes it easier for us. It’s not even like, people looking at us, like I said. It’s just kind of like this thing, we’re hanging out with our friends and we’re just playing our music.
M: Yeah.
J: We used to get nervous a lot when we were first starting out, and I’m sure there are going to be times when we play in different situations where we’re going to be nervous again. As far as the show that we play right now, like you know, clubs like the Scene, ‘Cane’s, Epicentre, um, the clubs last night in LA, there really isn’t that much nervousness. Just because we’re not really concentrating on that, we’re just concentrating on having fun. It’s not so much nervousness as it is excitement. Like, I wanna play really bad, and I can’t wait to play.

M: That’s awesome. Um, OK, well your sound has been compared to New Found Glory, would you take that as a compliment or not?
J: Sure. Um, the weird thing is that um, I don’t listen to much new music. I’m now just starting to listen to new CD’s, and getting in touch with what is going on. I had my bands set in stone when I moved out here. I listened to all these old bands, but I didn’t actually go out and buy new CDs, and all these kids started saying, “You sound just like the guy from New Found Glory.” And I’m like, Who the fuck is New Found Glory? The I hear their song on the radio, they have that “Hit or Miss” song, and I’m like oh yeah, Oh my God, yeah, they’re right. We didn’t actually listen to New Found Glory and say like, “Let me make my voice sound like him,” or “Let’s try to sound like them”- but it’s cool. We had the opportunity to meet those guys, they’re really cool guys, and if people say that we sound like them, that’s fine with me. I don’t have a problem with it.

M: Well, like, what band would you guys compare yourselves to- sound wise?
J: Sound wise...band I would compare myself to...I always hate this, I don’t know why, but it’s hard. We like playing like, some poppy stuff, but we also like playing hardcore stuff too. MxPx does a lot of that, they do that kind of stuff. Like, they’ll play catchy songs and then they’ll play like some rockin’ songs and hardcore songs. We’re also starting to mess around with more acoustic stuff, and actually fusing together different instruments. Umm, the more and more we play together actually...I don’t think Larger Than Life has quite found their sound yet. "Easy Way Out" is nothing compared to "If Tomorrow Never Came," in my opinion. "Easy Way Out" was when we were just learning how to play together and it was really like a straight forward kind of skate punk, pop-punk album. "If Tomorrow Never Came" I thought was a little bit more aggressive, and I liked that. I think with the new album and all the stuff that we’re writing, it’s going to be different again. Well the bands that we look up to and listen to are like: MxPx, Good Riddance, um...we listen to a lot of older stuff like Screeching Weasel, stuff like that. So bands like that I guess.
M: Yeah.
J: I guess I would just say we sound like them just because those are the bands that we listen to. Those aren’t the only bands that we listen to, but I don’t know. Fuck, I don’t know...
M: OK, so you compare yourselves to those bands right now...
J: Well, maybe our sound, but not us.
M: Well yeah, what bands would you like to compare yourselves to once you guys have reached your full potential?
J: Man. When we’ve reached our full potential? I hope to not have to compare myself to like, really anybody. Uhh, like, I want you to be asking questions to some other band, and [have them] say, “Yeah, we sound like Larger Than Life,” I think that would be fucking cool. I don’t know what we’re gonna sound like, but...I dunno, once stuff gets recorded, I’ll have a better idea. Like the stuff that we’re writing now is a little bit more, uh...it’s not just like you know the straight up (makes fast beat thumping sound with hands), like every song, because that gets a little old. So we’re trying to do like, different guitar parts , and maybe concentrate a little bit more on drums this time, and do a little bit more on bass too. You know, do different parts. We really are focusing on trying to get every song to sound unique. And um, we’re even doing slower songs, like a ballady-ish type song. (Jokingly) Makes girls cry...That’s why I wrote it, so I could get into girls’ pants...No... So when we do reach our full potential, I would like to sound like...I don’t know. That’s such a lame answer, but I don’t know. I hate it when bands do that, and I’m one of those guys.

M: Well, alright, it’s OK Is there anything else you’d like to say to conclude the interview? To the fans or to sandiegopunk.com?
J: To sandiegopunk.com, um, that’s the Internet site this is going on?
M: Haha, yeah.
J: Ha, you’re right. I was like, oh OK, oops, what the fuck? I don’t have a computer, so I’m kind of computer illiterate. Uh, I would just say, you know, thanks for all of your support San Diego, so far. It’s really cool, you know, we’re having a good time, and we’ll see you at the shows...

M: Oh wait, whatever happened with that ‘Cane’s show with Lucky 7?
J: Oh, oh! This is what happened, we were supposed to play with Sloppy Meat Eaters, Lucky 7, Showoff, and Never Heard of It. This is what happened: First, Lucky 7 drops off the bill.
M: Oh that sucks.
J: Yeah, so we thought we’d just get a fill-in. Then we get there, and we find out our friends Sloppy Meat Eaters, from Georgia, their van broke down in like, Texas, I think. They called Pam a few days ago, and were like, “We broke down, we’re going home, we can’t make the tour, we can’t make it to ‘Cane’s.” Then they said that they would be in charge of like, telling all the bands [that the show was canceled], but we never got a message from them. So we get there, and find that the show was canceled. So we were like, “What the fuck?”. So we called Pam, and I guess there was confusion, because Sloppy Meat Eaters thought that Pam would tell us, Pam thought Sloppy Meat Eaters would tell us, crap like that. But, we didn’t drive that far. I guess a band came out from Arizona and had to find out that the show was canceled.
M: That sucks.
J: I’m like, shit, that sucks! Um, but, that’s what happened with that. I guess Showoff dropped off the Sloppy Meat Eaters tour, like really early, and we were supposed to take their place, but then we started working here, in San Diego and LA on recording. We were going to pick up the Sloppy Meat Eaters in Texas, which I guess is a good thing that we didn’t because we would have went out there, they would have broken down, and we would have been stuck. That’s what happened with that show, just a lot of crap. But I think it’s being rescheduled, because I talked to Pam about it and they owe her a show, so we’re going to reschedule it.
M: So, you guys are going to be playing another show at ‘Cane’s, eventually?
J: Oh yeah, yeah, definitely. I think Pam’s booking us right now for like, the end of April [or] beginning of May, that’s what she’s booking now. We try to play a couple San Diego shows at least, a month. Now that we have our RV, we’re trying to get out of town as much as possible. Before we never had transportation to get out of town, so we were always playing San Diego. We just don’t want to overplay San Diego...Even though our fans are so fucking crazy and so cool. They come to like, every single show, I don’t even know how they do it. I wouldn’t come to every single one of our shows. Even though they do that, we want to try to play out of town and play San Diego a couple of times a month.
M: Yeah your shows are pretty crazy. Last time I was here, they had a pit going for you guys here at the Scene, which is pretty crazy. I was like, ‘Whoa’.
J: Yeah, kids like to have a good time, and I like to see them have a good time. It’s cool, that’s what I love.

M: Awesome, yeah, you guys have great stage presence and you know how to work the crowd. What do you like best about performing live?
J: Umm...
M: Like, the crowd?
J: The crowd is a big part of it. When the audience is into it, we feel that much more comfortable, and we can get that much more into it...It’s not hard work. You basically have a half an hour to just go crazy and have fun with it, and um, I think that’s what kids want to see. I don’t think they want to see a band that just stands there and doesn’t interact with the audience. They pay good money to get into shows and you should at least look like you’re enjoying what you do.
M: Exactly.
J: I always get mad if I go to a show and the band doesn’t look like they’re enjoying what they’re playing.
M: Yeah, yeah, it’s a real turn-off.
J: I know, I’m like, “Why do you even play music if you don’t enjoy playing it?!” So our thing is just to go up there and have a fucking blast, because that’s what we look forward to all week, is you know, large shows on the weekends.
M: That’s awesome.
J: Yeah, it’s pretty fun stuff.
M: OK, well that’s all. Thank you very much for meeting with me.
J: No problem, thank you, my pleasure, my pleasure.

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