| Roadburn Magazine 03/30/2003 |
| URL: View Actual Article |
LAZERWOLFS - GET MAD
Lazerwolfs debut album, entitled "Get Mad" has received much praise from both fans and critics alike. Lazerwolfs deliver straight forward rock heavily flavored with groove. The songs are givin' way to lenghty quasi-atmospheric passages that allow guitarist Jimmy Rolle to strech out.
"Get Mad was not something that was approached as an album project", says Chris La Tray. "We didn't sit down and say, "Okay, we are going to make an album, and we are going to record these songs, and we are going to call it 'Get Mad.'
"It really came as a result of a couple different sessions. Lazerwolfs existed from November of 2000 with the current rhythm section and a different guitar player. That guitar player bailed in July of 2001, a couple days after we played with Bottom, and a couple weeks before we were slated to play with Spirit Caravan."
"Our current guitar player, Jimmy Rolle, was a friend of ours, and he rose to the occasion to fill in for us. Initially we felt it would be temporary [though he was the guy Bubba -drums and I had wanted all along] because of all the other obligations he had.
"But once we started playing, it was clear there was a magic that happened when we all played together, at least to us. And judging from the response we got from people, it seemed it was noticeable to others as well."
"So in late August of 2001, we spent a weekend recording in the studio to lay down what we had been doing to that point. At that time we were playing some songs that Bubba and I had been doing with the original guitar player, as well as a couple songs Jimmy brought in.
"From that 2-day session, we ended up using 4 songs that ended up on Get Mad: Bonfire, FOTC, Ride, and Big Rig."
"From there we really started honing our sound, and evolving to what the band is today. We did some shows, opened for bands like Rival Schools, Cave In, and Fu Manchu, then went back into the studio to record a few more songs.
"Once again it was over a weekend, and in that 2-day session we ended up with 3 songs that would show up on Get Mad: Dissent, Elemental, and ORT."
"Even so, at this point there was no plan for an album, necessarily. We wanted to get some more new material together, but then life interfered and I had to move to Ohio for job reasons [though that is a temporary situation]. At that point we decided to take what we had recorded, get artwork done, and put out what we have as an album. 7 songs, 40 minutes that documented perfectly who the Lazerwolfs are.
We continued to do shows throughout 2002, but the main focus was on getting the album out, and we were successful. It's odd -- with the band members separated by 2000 miles, it was still far and away the most productive year we have had as a band as far as getting our name out there! So Get Mad is our invitation to the rest of the world to get to know what Lazerwolfs are all about -- straight up, high octane rock."
"With Get Mad out, and the band still separated by 2000 miles, we needed a plan for taking the next step. We are still doing shows pretty regularly, and are planning a short tour for early summer. We are also hoping to get on the bill at SHoD at the end of August.
"But what we really wanted to do was start working on new material. We have found that the best way to make Lazerwolfs music is to bring ideas and just jam on them."
"So Jimmy had some riffs, and I had some riffs and lyrics, and we decided to take a weekend and split our time between doing a show and doing some jamming in hopes of maybe getting a new song out of it.
"Jimmy and Bubba got together and bashed out some rough ideas around Jimmy's riffs, and I sat down with my 4-track, drum machine, guitar and bass and bashed out some rough ideas for my riffs. We exchanged MP3s so we wouldn't be riding blind, then I hopped a plane to Missoula."
"We got together on a Thursday [February 13] and rehearsed existing material in preparation for a show we had scheduled for Saturday [February 15]. The Friday in between was to be 'the day'.
"We hooked up around 10:00 AM and started rocking. We came out the other side with a demo recording of 5 songs: 3 brand new ones called Sugar, The Middle, and Pablo."
"We also recorded a cover of the Rush classic, Tom Sawyer, and a version of Pearl Jam's song Hail, Hail. It was exhausting and exhilerating, spending all day in the studio, except for a couple beer runs, getting pizza delivered, and roasting fingers and vocal chords in pursuit of Rock ecstasy."
"It was a great, great time to be a Lazerwolf! The 3 new songs in particular, while a little raw, really show how the band is evolving, and that is very exciting to us. We are eager to get the next album together, to take what we did with Get Mad to the next level."
"For your listening pleasure, here is a taste of the session -a session that will be known henceforth as The 13 Hours, 39 Beers, and Two Pizzas Session!- in the form of two songs; the first being: The Middle, and the second one: Tom Sawyer."
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