Interview: A Lull

A Lull the percussion-driven, experimental Chicago-based band have a new EP, Confetti Reprise due out on August 16th with 4 tracks taken from the same sessions as their excellent debut album Confetti that was released this past April on Mush Records.

While on a short tour with the Cold War Kids leading up to Lollapalooza last week, multi-instrumentalist Mike Brown of the band took some time out to answer some questions about the tour, the album and their Jazz-heavy influences.

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Atlas and the Anchor: So you are currently on tour with the Cold War Kids. I think you guys are the perfect match to tour together with your rhythm-driven sounds. How has the tour been so far?

Mike Brown: We toured with them back in March of this year for a while and it was great. They are some of the most stellar dudes you’ll ever meet, including their crew. This weekend we just did a few dates around Lolla with them, which went very well. It was great to catch up and hang out. We love going out with them.


AA: What other bands or artists would you like to collaborate or tour with?

(MB): We love being on the road as much as we can be. I’d love to go out with St. Vincent. I really like her new stuff, and feel we’d fit very well. There are so many other bands we are into and would love to tour with too, but I wouldn’t even know where to begin.


AA: What have you been listening to in the tour van?

(MB): I listen to a lot of Fela Kuti, Talking Heads, Brad Mehldau, Paul Simon, Bola Sete, Miles Davis, Albert King, etc…



AA: Your debut album Confetti came out this past April and it is amazing! The way the vocals are used like another instrument on "Weapons For War" makes it my favorite song. What is your favorite song on the album and why?

(MB): Thanks! My favorite song on the record is Sidemen. I really like the female vocals at the end of the song done by our friend Dana Falconberry from Austin TX. As far as playing live goes, my favorite song is "Aytche". We do a much heavier version live with a lot more guitar.



AA: Your unique sound is kind of hard to pin down and you have been compared to some great bands but who and/or what do you say are your musical influences?

(MB): I am completely honored to be compared to some of the amazing artists we get compared to. I answer this question a lot, and as far as influences goes, I feel we are just inspired by other artists that can find themselves in their music. We strive to find ourselves and be musicians like that.



AA: You have a new EP, Confetti Reprise coming out on August 16th comprised of 4 songs that just didn't make it onto Confetti. You also had 70 songs written and recorded during the process; can we expect another full-length album soon?

(MB): We are in the process of recording all new material for a future release. As far as the rest of the Confetti sessions go, they will probably never be released or reworked. I feel we’ve grown a lot and the new stuff is a lot stronger.



AA: Do any of you have a solo or side project that we should know about?

(MB): None of us have any musical side projects, but we are always working on other sort of projects or art. A Lull takes up a lot of our time, and we put as much as we can into it.



AA: What one older and one current song do you wish you would have written yourself?

(MB): Man… I’ll just pick the first to come to mind, probably Bob Segar ‘Night Moves’ or Marshall Tucker Band ‘Can’t You See’.



AA: Not that you would want to, but if you had to, whom would you choose to replace yourself in the band?

(MB): John McLaughlin. What he did on Bitches Brew and in Mahavishnu Orchestra blows my mind.

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Download "Pot Luck" from the Confetti Reprise EP here: http://www.tellallyourfriendspr.com/singles/alull_potluck.mp3


For more info click here: http://www.alull.com/ and http://www.mushrecords.com/