LOCATE YOUR LIPS – The 80s Power Pop survivors
4 min read
Interview with Jim Eannelli
1. How did you decide to baptise the band “Locate Your Lips’?
Kenny and Andy already were playing out as a duo of just bass and drums called Locate Your Lips. I had nothing to do with the naming of the band and at the time thought that it was a rather strange name.
2. Do you remember when you first joined the band?
We got together in Andy’s basement on a cold, wet spring night in early 1984. We all knew right away that there was some super-chemistry among us. We probably wrote 4 songs right on the spot.
3. What it was like playing your music during the mid 80s?
Kenny and I had just come back from Hollywood and we really wanted to carve out some new musical ground. We had seen and experienced a lot of the same old ideas from signed bands who wanted to be “safe” and do what the record company wanted them to do. With no one looking over our shoulders our passions just seemed to ignite without restriction and I believe we had something to prove after coming back from LA with our tails between our legs. We didn’t really care about what other bands were doing. We just felt we had to do SOMETHING…louder, faster and bigger. Punk had kind of peaked by then and we were still coasting on it’s energy. It was a mission!
4. What is the main story behind releasing your album after all these years?
Mainly, before the band broke up, we had recorded a full length album in a “real” recording studio. The band was able to take a deep breath and EXPERIMENT with the musical direction. As a hard-hitting live band there was not always room for any kind of subtlety. The recording studio grounded us and allowed us to shine in an entirely new light. I remember being so excited to record with Andy and Kenny…we just “clicked”. So years after finishing the album and with only memories of the band i would time and again stumble across these recordings and think to myself: “someone’s got to hear this!”. I then brought the old tapes to sound wizard and old friend Gary Tanin (at Daystorm Music) and he masterfully restored them. At that point there was no turning back…the music had been reborn for the world to finally hear.
5. Can you remember the concert that was broadcasted on WQFM and became part of your album?
The live recording was broadcast on WQFM rock radio one night, They had a van loaded with what was essentially a recording studio on wheels. The van was parked outside the rear door of the club (Cafe Voltaire, Milwaukee)…wires and microphones everywhere. Then the “man” said “your on in ten” and BOOM…it just happened…no room for mistakes. Playing live is one thing…playing live on the radio is another…I could feel the hair on the back of my neck standing up that night.
6. Is your featured live recording the original material or did you add any overdubs?
The live material on the CD is untouched…no overdubs. It is the performance we gave that night as a 3-piece band…pure and proud…guitar, drums, bass, and 2 voices…rehearsed and “READY FOR FREDDY”. We strived to be like the great Vaudevillian performers…when the curtain went up YOU THREW THE SWITCH…there was no turning back…and it felt like there was always that guy behind the curtain with “THE HOOK” that was ready to drag your ass offstage if you messed up. That performance was meaningful to the band. It showed us that we had something special…the sonic ability to pull it off live as a trio.
7. Do you still have unreleased material from the early days of the band?
I have a pile of cassettes of live performances of the band from 1984-5. I also have some basement rehearsal tapes of the three of us putting together songs. Some of these recordings are interesting, funny and primitive at the same time.
8. Do you have any plans for the continuation of the band after Kenny Baldwin’s death?
In my mind there can never be another LYL without drummer Kenny Baldwin…he was so much the passion, center and fury of the band…absolutely irreplaceable. My apologies to drummers everywhere …“IT JUST AIN”‘T GONNA HAPPEN!.
9. Are you still active with any other music project?
I am currently producing/recording (singer-songwriter) Peggy James’ 5th release for Happy Growl Records. I am also playing live gigs with folk music great Lil’ Rev. We sometimes do a trio with world renown blues-harp master Jim Liban.
10. How do you adjust yourself to the current status of the music industry?
That’s a good question. I, (like any artist that strives to be relevant in this day and age) try to look at what is going on around me in order to stay in touch but at the same time totally tune out the music industry in order to find my own sacred space where my creative ideas can grow. If we are so influenced by what has just occurred it is more difficult to create what is to “be”. I find it boring to paint landscapes. I would much rather splash and twist paint onto a canvas in order to make something that doesn’t exist….then stand back and ask: “what just happened here?”. Definitely more fun.
Photo Credit: Deone Jahnke
Information: https://www.facebook.com/LocateYourLips
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