L.A.X Interview: SXSW 2010

Started as a side project by the leader of a metal/hardcore outfit, Austin, Texas-based L.A.X have grown from a guy, a girl and a beat machine playing house parties to a six- (sometimes seven-)piece electro-pop band that is making the world its dance floor. Spinner recently chatted with vocalists Erin Jantzen and Yadira Brown – with interjections from songwriter/vocalist Andrew Collins straight from the recording booth – about their band, their origins and a picture of one very large sex toy.

How did your band form?

Erin Jantzen: Rory Phillips, who plays guitar for us, also records and produces bands, and he was recording [Andrew's now-defunct prior band] At All Cost in 2005. They were looking for female vocals, and somehow Rory and I were talking about it, and he was like, "Well, come try it. And if it works, it works. If it doesn't, it doesn't." And so I did, and it worked out. Then I got a call from Andrew a couple of weeks later, and he said he had this side project that was kind of an electronic thing, and would you be interested in being a part of it. So we just started rolling with house parties.

Yadira, when did you, Rory and the other guys join the band?

Yadira Brown: Our official first show together was last year, Valentine's Day. Andrew and I had collaborated on some things for my solo stuff and written a couple of songs. And he invited me to write a song with him for L.A.X and be featured on it.

Describe your sound.

EJ: We typically say electronic pop, but it's very eclectic. There's a huge mix of influences, so it's kind of hard to label it at all. But electro-pop seems to work. It's dancey s---, mostly.

What are your musical influences?

EJ: For Andrew, I don't know if he necessarily has a musical influence, per se. When he started doing L.A.X, I think it was a kind of Daft Punk-, kind of Zoot Woman-type feeling. But I think he mostly attributes his influences to just life in general, and everything is really based on a feeling for him. We all have people that we listen to and really love, but [Andrew]'s kind of just a genius.

YB: Andrew produces all of the beats and all of the music. We all collaboratively write the vocal melodies and arrange them and structure them together and bounce ideas off each other a lot.

How did you come up with your band name?

EJ: This is a very frequently asked question and a question I often feel is the hardest to answer because it didn't really come from anything specifically. I think it was kind of Andrew sitting down and trying to find a good band name for this side project and throwing around some ideas with friends. And L.A.X just kind of stuck. He says he was flying into LAX [airport in Los Angeles] at one point, and he really liked [the name], and it just stuck. Seeing that sign just stood out to him. So, it doesn't really have a meaning, per se. Visually, to me, it also makes sense because when I think of electronic music, I think of hard-hitting ...

YB: Lasers! EJ: Yeah! And geometrical shapes. And because there are no soft lines in L.A.X, I think it works. I'm a very visual thinker.

You guys are in the studio working on the 'A' CD, the follow-up to the 'L' EP, and then you will be completing the trilogy with the 'X' album.

EJ: Yep, that's definitely the plan. It's been interesting because 'L' was just me and Andrew. And then even a couple of the songs that are 'A' are just he and I that we recorded at the end of 2008 that we still want to get out there. It's kind of interesting, Yadira and I have talked about it, how 'L' was Andrew and I, and then "A" is a little bit of [Andrew and me] and a little bit of all of us, and then 'X' is just going to be full-blown everybody, everything all the time.

What's your biggest vice?

EJ: As a band? I would probably say weed [laughs]. I don't know if that's actually a vice. It could be ... a hobby? I don't know about a vice.

YB: Personally, I would have to say cigarettes.

EJ: Oh, yeah. But I think we're the only two smokers in our band. We're the sinners.

Who was your first celeb crush?

EJ: Joey from New Kids on the Block.

YB: The Karate Kid [Ralph Macchio]. I was, like, five or six. I wanted a little boy that I could hang out and do ka-ra-te with.

AC: Jessica Rabbit.

What's your musical guilty pleasure?

EJ: I would say any female '80s/'90s, like ridiculous s--- that you could go roller skating to. Sheila E or something random like that. That's always the stuff I'm kind of embarrassed about a little bit because it's so female-poppy, dance style.
AC: Citizen Cope.

Beatles or Stones?

EJ: Beatles.

YB: Beatles.

AC: Pink Floyd.

YB: Hold on, I want to change my answer to the Stones. Yeah, I'm going with the Stones.

What's the craziest thing you've seen or experienced while on tour?

YB: There's this classic L.A.X picture from way before I joined the band. Erin's sweaty, with a mic in her hand, and straight to the left of her face there's this huge dildo in the hands of ...

EJ: It was Jack, the bass player from the Bright Light Social Hour. I introduced myself to him this past year because they got to do ACL [Music Festival], and at a show, I said, "Congrats on ACL ... I'm Erin, I'm in L.A.X." He said, "Yeah, I know who you are. Do you know that picture of you with the dildo over your head? I'm the one holding that dildo." Keep in mind, I had about a bottle of champagne before we played, so I wasn't myself.


Ben Beach is a contributor from Seed.com. Learn how you can contribute here.