PipemanRadio Interviews LASTELLE About Life In Silhouettes

Hi, you have done to censure? Wow, cray you young. Why come America, It's time for the Adventures of pipe Man. I'll W four c HY dot com West Pompeas is number one internet radio station. Here's your host, the pipe Man. This is the pipe Man here on the Adventures pipe Man W four c Y Radio and I am here with our next guest, who man. I love their music, their pre killer and they're from the other side of pond, so I like that too, because you know, I'm always going over there for download and bloodstock and it's just a cool place for great music. And even me growing up, I mean that was where I wanted to be, on the other side of pond, you know, because that was where it was at. And this band is where it's at. So let's, with no further ado, bring on with Stelle. How are you hey? Yeah, we're doing good, so thanks so much for having us. And you know, outside of the ponds, you're always welcome, come on over. Yeah. The only thing I hate about your side of pond is the weather. Yeah man. Yeah, it's torrentially raining right now, so well that's that's no surprise to me, you know. And the bipolar news is the problem. You know. It's like I'll be doing an interview that download, and for one interview, I have my hoodie on, and then the very next interview, I have to take it off, and then I have to put it back on. It's like, you know, every five minutes the weather changes. But I guess that's why there's great music there, because you know, you get to get out of the bad weather and make some great creativity. That's it inspired by that. It's all about layers there, it is. And let's talk about your other band member there. He's the face of the band, so we don't want to leave him out. So people aren't going, well, why is he there? Well, he's part of the band, except you know technology sometimes you know, it doesn't cooperate with the vocals. But he has to be there in spirit with us. So we were actually taught. I was saying before for the listeners that we were going to make a TikTok and you know, Freddie was gonna do the actual vocals and Mike would just mount it and you know, lip sync it just like a TikTok. Yeah, So that's the plan moving forward to the music as well as it's all going to be mined, right, none of it's going to be real. Yeah, in that direction, that would be Actually, how funny would that be if you just out like that. I'm just saying, like pop bands have been getting away with it for decades, so lazy too, right exactly. Well, you know it's funny you should say that because as a metal head from way back in the beginning, I do find that there are and you're not included in this list, but there are bands out there that are like taking the easy way out, like metal is supposed to be an algebraic equation that you just put this formula in, and uh, that's definitely not what you guys are, you know, and that that shows your true musicianship and love of music because you're not just making something, you're creating something. Yeah, hey, I appreciate that. That's I think we try and approach it from what when it comes to writing, what best suits the song, and that isn't necessarily trying to make something that's super complex for the sake of itself being complex. I think we'll try and write something in connect more with an emotional level of it. And you know that's some people like that, some people don't like that, that's okay. You know, we're not here to try and please everyone, but our approach to it is that we want it to be as authentic as we can, and that you can always tell as a listener or somebody that watches you live, you can always tell whether the band is authentic or they're just there for another reason. And to me, the best, longest lasting music is authentic because you're not You're not trying to do anything but be you. And I think that's also a message of your music because of the type of things that you talk about, is like, I think this world needs to start letting people just be themselves instead of categorizing them and putting them in a box and what they expect of them, especially music artists. Yeah, yeah, like musicians or you know, I think any sort of artistic expression allows you to really express who you are as a person. And that's that's what I think we will find really wonderful about the ability to write and perform music the way we do is that for that moment and within that, we're able to be authentic and be ourselves and hopefully that message like your Mike's muted, Hey am good at this? Aren't I Hey, there you go. Now we had you. That's the plan, wasn't it. Well, we're going to just do all your music from now on? Is all going to be you did? Oh yeah that's true. Actually yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. No. I just think I'm just just going back to it. I just think it's important to people. A lot of people don't feel comfortable to be themselves, and if we can help people in any way feel like it's okay to be who you are, then I think we've done our jobs. Really yeah, especially since I mean I think about people have expectations about how other humans are supposed to act, be, do whatever, And I think about it all the time. Who came up with these rules? You know, like like I think we're all individuals, we're all unique, and who came up with these rules of what we're supposed to be? And maybe, thank god, we're getting a direction where people can do exactly what you're saying and they can just be them and not have to follow any rules. Yeah, that's nice, that's nice, And I think we're moving in that direction. There's still a long way to go socisely, and depending where you live in the world, there's different different restrictions on who you can and can't be. But it's nice to feel surrounded personally by people who allow me to feel comfortable to be myself. And you know, that's why I think music's all about, especially in the metal community. You know, those that aren't familiar of what it's like to be in the metal community, that there's nobody that's in it. We're all in it, and there's no outsiders, there's no labels, there's no judgments that it's just we're one big family. And I think music is also a great outlet for people to be who they are. We were just talking about this in the last interview of When you sing a song, sometimes you're expressing things about yourself that nobody ever knew about you, because it's not something you could easily talk about, but a lot easier to sing about. Right, Yeah, maybe some people find that personally, I've always I've always been the kind of person that wears my heart on my sleeve anyway, So I feel comfortable to be able to communicate that with people and talk about who I am as a person. But at the same time, I also think sometimes there are certain things that are said much better when you take the time to write it down in a thought about way, and you take the time to figure out how to make your statement and say it in a concise way rather than just speaking purely off the top of your head, you know. So yeah, if you take the time to actually sit and process that song and write, then you can process that emotion in a maybe more thorough way. So in my mind, I feel like it's maybe a different approach to Neither one's wrong, but it allows you to process something and really have to take the time and sit and think on that emotion. It's the same with performing a song every night. You know, you have to sit on that emotion, and some song are harder than others. You know, some songs you maybe wrote when you're in a dark place. And this isn't necessarily just about our band, but this is about music in general. Right. If you wrote that when you're in a dark place and you're maybe in a better place now, but you're still performing that song, it's you're in a way you're never able to escape that, but also in a positive way, you're always reminded that that was a place that you were once and it allows you to not forget it, but just to remember that there was a time when things were worse. You know, those are all great points, especially for the fact that you made me think about. Okay, So, if I'm an artist and there's certain songs that, like, after you've been ours for a long enough time, everybody wants to hear and you have to play pretty much at every show. But then maybe you don't really want to play that song because maybe you were in a dark place that you don't want to revisit in that song itself, and you're getting emotional, or or maybe it doesn't even apply to your life anymore. So it's kind of weird to sing something that doesn't apply to your way of thinking or your way of life at that point in time. It's almost strange to you. Yeah, so you know, I think you can have that distance there. I'll feel this one at Mike and we'll see how his microphone's getting on. But Mike, do you think there's anything in particular in the set that you feel like perhaps was written we don't have to name names, but perhaps it was written by someone and now they no longer feel like that. Or do you think that all of the songs in the set are still relatively easy to play. See how this goes. Yeah, I think we have personally, we have songs that meant something at one time, but it also changes and evolves and means something completely different the next, like a cycle of say we'll do a talk to all, like something feels fresh and in the moment, but then you've like sat with something for so long that you then play the song again it means something a little bit different and then it brings me life to the song for me at least. Yeah, I don't know, No, I agree, I agree. We've got We've got several songs on the set that when they were when we were first playing them, they felt a particular way. But with any with any music, as anyone knows, like, it's always open to interpretation, right, So what we wrote the song about isn't necessarily what that song's going to mean to a listener. And what you find often is people might reach out and say, hey, this song really resonated with me because a person close to me passed away and I heard the song helped me get through that time. Now, we didn't write it about that person's family member or close friend who passed away, of course we didn't. But for them, it resonates and it means that to them every song is written and to every single person who listens to it it has you know, it means something different to every person who hears it. And I also think that goes as a performer. It can mean something different every time you play it, and some songs feel more hopeful and some songs feel more desperate when you're in a desperate place. So yeah, I agree, Mike. I think even as it all goes on a song, you can sit with it and then it changes its meaning for you every night. Sometimes that's a great point because I didn't even really think of that, because yes, everybody puts their own meaning to a song, but I never thought of also the artist that meaning changing different times that they're playing a song. So it's kind of cool because then to me, sometimes maybe that song has a different vibe or sound to it at one show than it does another. Yeah, I don't know if necessarily the sound would be too different from the way that we would perform it. However, when you talk about like a mind body connection, the way that your mind is getting super abstract, right, but like as a singer, your body is and your your whole body is your instrument, So any sort of tension you're carrying or stress is going to make your voice sound different to if you're more relaxed. So even just something as simple as that, the way you feel does affect how you're approaching This is a singer now, as a you know, when I'm playing bass, if I'm in a good mood or a bad mood, I'll be honest, mostly sounds the same. That's not too much of a difference there. But sometimes when Mike's in a in a really in a really you know, terrible mood, He'll hit a snare twenty harder and I'll come away twenty percent deathst So yeah, I know that cheer him up before next practice, you know, or or maybe that was a good sound, you know that the angry snare sound. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, we'll just be really horrible to him during the recording pro right, and that will go terribly and will allow him just as much ability to talk about how he's feeling as he's allowed right now when he's on mute. How does that feel like? Yeah, just a thumbs up. I love it. So now let's talk about the newest song. What meaning does that have? To you guys, life in silhouettes. So our approach to songwriting, like lyrically, is largely a collaborative process, so almost every time, sometimes it's led by one person or another, but most of the time we'll sit down together and we'll kind of work our way through a song and talk about maybe someone will bring forward an idea of a chorus or reverse or something, and then we take it from there and then we will all approach it together. So with this song, it was approached together. So but I so because of that, I can only speak as to like my personal take away from it, and as we just spoke about this idea that songs mean different things to different people, and when you're performing it or writing it, it can sometimes change its meaning. However, that said, the way that the song resonates with me personally, and I feel like my input into it was this idea of self discovery and being comfortable with yourself in the simplest terms, that's how That's how I could phrase it. Because there's a lot of people who don't necessarily ever go on that journey, don't ever learn about themselves. And I've had a lot of friends and family and people close to me who've gone on that journey of discovery and felt a lot better for it. So, if I could speak one message is to my point to be made with this song, it's that you know, to understand yourself and be more comfortable with yourself. I think that's a great message because there are so many people that are not, you know, and even people that think they are probably aren't and don't realize it some of the time, you know. And so again, as we were talking before, the song can have a different meaning for every person that listens to it, but it definitely has a message for everybody out there, and they I think everybody listening should check it out. And not only that, you guys are badass musicians, so you know, appreciate it. How do people connect to you? Guys on socials on the web? Had a check out the new song and all your other everything else they have going on merch all that. You can find everything at lastelleband dot com. That's our website. It's got all of our videos, links to all our music. All of our socials are generally at Lastelle Band, forward slash, Lastelle band wherever you are, and we've got all of our music currently released is on Spotify, Apple Music. These are places like that, so you can always find out what we're doing. Head of YouTube, you got all of our videos, post a lot of content on our Instagram and TikTok at the moment, and yeah, I think there's something, you know, depending how people consume music, there's a way to do it there. We're everywhere right nowadays. There is a way for everybody. That's an hard thing there, Like, you know, somebody wants to listen on one, but somebody else might want to listen on another, you know, and so there's something for everybody because we're all unique human beings that you know, have different needs and want and you guys, I think check all the boxes with this song. So everybody's gotta check it out. Do you have anything else you want to let the listeners know that you have upcoming coming out or anything that we haven't covered already. Yeah, Well, this is the point in the interview where Mike was going to give a three hour long speech, but unfortunately, due to the tech issues, he's not going to. So maybe Mike can just instead talk about we've got two shows in the books and just in an effort so that people don't have to hear my voice for the whole time. Maybe I could fill that one to mic. Oh, I'm back, but it sounds like ship. I'm so sorry. Uh. Yeah, we've got shows coming up. We spoke about Download. You love Download. We're playing the Wednesday downloads. If you've got rip tickets you can check us out. Uh. And then what else we've got Romania the Romania later in the year. That's Mad on Friday. Yeah, that's the two we've got in the box. Yeah. I think that's everything we've got planned so far. There will be more, and this will be our download interview. So there you go. Because I'm doing I'm supposed to be going, but something just came up recently that I might not be able to go. But I'm still going to do all the press coverage and stuff. So it's funny because if I don't end up showing up, I'll still do a bunch of interviews like this. And it was already a plan, which is why I brought it up to have you guys included in the download coverage. How many times have you played Download? This is our first time really, yeah, at home, So that's cool as hell. Yeah, it's it's been a kind of a bit of a bucket list one for us for quite a while. Actually, there's I mean it's it's been download for what like twenty years, and before that it was like Monsters of Rock and it's it's it's an iconic festival. It's like a known around the world, so it's uh, yeah, it's the most iconic in the world. I mean, like, if you're going to know one festival in the world, it's going to be download. As far as heavy music goes, it kind of sits right up there. So yeah, that's a that's a pretty good one to tick off the list. And it's not too far from home either. It's just up about an hour and north of us, so it's up near up near Derby and we're based around around Oxford area, so it's about an hour hour and a half, so nice and easy, go up. Play. Might even get to sleep my own bed afterwards, which is always right. How often does that happen? Well, that's it. That's the dream. You know, as much as I love slumming it in a tent or sleeping in a car, I'm here for I'm here for getting back into my own bed. You know. It's so funny because I was looking for a place to stay near download because you know, with all my equipment and stuff, I don't do the camping because where am I going to put the equipment and how am I going to charge it and all that. And there's literally airbnbs that are literally just tents that are charging like for the days at the festival, like a thousand bucks just so you can sleep in their tent. That's an awful idea. That is a thousand dollars you have wasted. Never dide it, right, Like, who's gonna do that? I'm looking at that like that's eliminade. Well I need to I could just post a tent anywhere. I think Mike has something to add to that. I'm an idiot and I end up doing that. Well yeah, one room, one bed, sleeps five, perfect right right, And I just want to clue everybody in that isn't used to going to festivals in Europe or the UK. You don't have to spend one thousand dollars to get in a tent because there's free camping. Just bring your tent. It's uh. I thought it was pretty obvious, but here we are. See there you go like and I'm sure somebody is going to reserve that thousand dollars tent. Hey, if it's not you, it's me right there it is, and I'll beat you to it. All right, Well, we could share it, we could make it. We can make the press artist tent like, we could promote it. A that's the new press area of download. Where are you going to charge your stuff? That's the issue. A very long extension cord that goes to the real press tent that download. Oh yeah, why don't we sleep in the press tent? That sounds much more comfortable. And I can charge the phone and they do. Yeah, you can charge a phone, there's Wi Fi, there's storage locker there. You know, it's perfect. I'm going to bring that up. You know what. That's a new way to do it. Forget camping outside there, just do it right in the press tent. Yeah. You getting to get the first scoop on everyone. You know, and like the first band that plays for the day, they get the camp out on the stage that they're playing on, so they just roll out of a tent and start playing. Well, that was our plan for this Romania festival. So we're opening up the stage and our plan is to get to the night before and set up tents on the stage just makes loading easier, you know, right, it's a bit less stuff to set up. Yeah, yeah, yeah, see that. That could be a whole new trend right there. The bands end at like three am, and I don't know if I could stay up that night on the stage. Oh well, there you go. There there's a little kink in the armor. It's quite common for euro festivals. Like I did a bit of digging, and some of those festivals don't finish till two in the morning. And I've got to be honest, I am, I am in bed well, you know, I'm for it. It's true because like I do heal Fest grass Pop and uh heal Fast. I remember the first time I went there, and okay, so it was over a round two, but it wasn't over because then there were bands playing in the campground. The rest of the night. There were shopping cart races that was pretty fun. Did you win? I just observed the first time, okay, uh, but it was definitely quite comical. But yeah, it was, I can tell you I did. I did the hell Fest that was after COVID where it was two weekends and like I didn't sleep for seven days. I love sleeping. Yes, catch you couldn't catch me doing that? Like yeah this, well there's this. There's this festival here near where I live called Okachobee Fest and it's twenty four hours a day for four days. Okay, so that bands that they're like reaching out to me, Hey are sets at two am? Can you do the interview at three? Did you agree to a Yeah? Unfortunately I did. There you go. You've only got yourself to blame. I know, right, Well, like the last band I was interviewing, their their song is a about people pleasing, So there, there you go, that's what I was doing. Sure i'll help you guys out worries interview at three. Sure you won't never catch us asking you for an interview at three am. I can promise you that. There you go, well, you know, and you dispel the rumor of like metal musicians just never sleep and just party all night long. So thank you for that, because it's not it's usually not even close to true. We are the least metal party you'll meet. Yeah, thank you. Bed buying one, I think that's the new thing, which is kind of cool. I think a lot of metal bands nowadays are straight edge because I come from the eighties Sunset strip scene where it was the exact opposite. You know, it's like, Okay, well we're gonna go over this dude's house and probably, uh, the party will be over in about two weeks, you know. So yeah, that's that's not that's not our style. We're pretty we're we're always up for fun, but we're pretty early bedtime kind of band. Well they go for a walk, have a picnic, you know, So what are you going to do when you're like headlining? Download, wake up, play, go back to bed? Because you know, I'm putting that out there because you guys are good, so you need the headline download. So now when the PR people download see this interview and hear this interview, they're going to know that you're gonna need to download and you're gonna need the headline very soon. Firstly, I appreciate that, and let's manifest it right. But also, like, the interesting thing with download is it's not that late. It's usually done by like eleven o'clock. It's kind of strange compared to like a lot of like mainland euro festivals are gone to two, like downloads pretty I think ye down and says because we have done this. Yeah, there's a lot of that. In the UK is a lot more like laws and stuff about like not being late, whereas in mainland Europe they have less laws regarding that, or they have specific licenses and get away with I don't know, well, like with heal fists, they basically own the whole town, so it's like we can do what they want, you know. But like here in the States, we have the same it's eleven o'clock. If a ban and eleven oh one, they get fined huge amounts of money. Yeah, you have to be done eleven period, end of story. So you can headline download then it's not it won't be too bad. Well again, like you said, we'll manifest it. But I think we've got enough time between now and then that we can figure out the hotel situation right right there, you go, you know, just work that into deal. Listen, if I'm headlining, I can't. I don't want camp. Let give us a give us a hotel. I want to be off stage at eleven and in bed at eleven o three exactly. I want to be in a bubble bath at eleven O three eleven. See and there again you're giving this good image of metal heads, like who thinks of a metal head in a bubble bath? Yeah? I mean, if people are now thinking of me and the bubble bath, I don't know what to say, but that's that's their progative. I can't stop them doing that. I'm here to tell you after doing radio for a long time, there's definitely people listening to this that are envisioning you in a bubble bath. And they probably don't even They might be just listening and not even watching and still look like, yeah, are you thinking of in the bath? And hear what that's all about. So we're we're pretty close as any band should be. All right, guys, Well, any final words you want to leave everybody with? Mike, you got your two hour speech ready? Or so? Here's the thing about airplane food that the end of your standard. They don't give it out anymore. There's no more airplane here. I've done, No you got you guys rock. This new song is badass. Everybody's got to check it out. And uh, man, keep making that great music and keep manifesting that headlining download and in the meantime, man, you're gonna have a sick ass set at download, So looking forward to here, looking forward to a lot more from you guys, and I hope you have a blast killing it at the download. Thank you so much. It's been it's been one on the bucket list for a while. So yeah, we just we just hooked that so many people are interested in what we're what we're doing, you know, we're able to get these opportunities to do things and go out meet people, connect with people, and that's really why we're doing it. So it's really really nice. It's a wonderful feeling, beautiful, love it and I love what you're about. Love your music, and thanks for being on the Adventures of pipe Man. Thanks Awder, thank you for listening to the Adventures of pipe Man. I'm w for CUI Radio.