We recently had San Francisco native rockers Loquat sit down with our contributor extraordinaire Aaron Blumenshine, for a revealing interview. Later that night, when the band was on stage Aaron shot a nice live video of them to cap off the feature.

IRR: What were the reasons behind the name “Loquat”?

When former Loquat guitar player Earl Otsuka and I started making music together, we realized that we both had this strange attachment to loquat trees. We used to climb them (Earl when he was a kid, and me when I first moved to CA at 18). Apparently, Earl and his other bad-boy friends used to throw loquats at the nuns at his school. The most devious thing I did was climb loquat trees in the middle of the night on my college campus. However, I once got drunk in front of a convent, so I guess we both owe apologies to nuns.

IRR: What are your plans for “Loquat”?

Our plan is to write and record music that makes us happy and play it for people who are happy to listen to it. We’ve made a few EPs and two full-length albums so far and played a lot of shows over the years. But the best feeling is writing a new song that excites us. We’re in the midst of recording our next album with the Rondo Brothers, who produced our last one, and we’re having a pretty awesome time doing it. We hope to be done by summer and tour some more. And in the meantime, we recently collaborated Mexico’s Nortec Collective (I sang on a song from their upcoming album), AmpLive from Zion-I, and Junior Sanchez (the latter two did remixes for us).

IRR: I know being an artist is difficult, how do you deal with the difficulty and cultural bias towards artists!

I used to think it was difficult, but that’s a perspective you can choose to have or not. Over the years, there have been victories and defeats, but our goal has never been to make a lot of money and play stadiums. We all have other interests, so we don’t put all of our eggs in one basket, so to speak. That said, we have made some sacrifices to be in this band. I really love snowboarding, and I haven’t been in three years. I think we need to play a Lake Tahoe show!

IRR: How do you stay creative and how do you approach writing a song?

I think the best way to be creative is to not over-think it. The biggest culprit of writer’s block is putting too much pressure on yourself when you’re writing. You can give yourself some guidelines, like, “I’m going to write an upbeat song with acoustic guitar and crazy, thick synth sounds,” but I generally don’t even give it that much thought. I am inspired by other music, art, books, sightseeing, etc., but when it comes down to writing a new song, I usually just pick a tempo, record a quick beat loop, and then just do whatever comes to me. It might be a guitar part, a bass line, a synth part, chirping birds, a hand clap, or a vocal line, but I just follow the song where it wants to go, as if I’m getting instructions from an unknown man behind the curtain.

This is my favorite video about creativity:http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/elizabeth_gilbert_on_genius.html

It also helps to have bandmates who write. Earl and Ryan (our former bandmates), helped write a couple songs that will be on our new album. And Chip and Coop (the new dudes), have given me ideas to work with, too. And when we’re fleshing out ideas in practice, Anthony, Chris, and the rest of us make suggestions and try not to let our egos get too involved in the process. The key is being open-minded. One song we’re working on, called “Walk Out,” was something I wrote on acoustic guitar, and Anthony was like, “What if we change these two chords, so they resolve in a different way?” I was hesitant at first, but it made the song quite a bit better. I think it’s best to honor everyone’s ideas. You can always use your veto power if you think something doesn’t work.

IRR: What do you think of the music industry in current times?

I’ve heard that it’s the Wild West, and it kind of is. We’ve hopped from label to label over the years, and now, in 2010, we’re completely in control of our own catalog of music, which is great. Without the support of a label, physical distribution is more difficult, but physical distribution of CDs was a pain in the ass anyway. I’m glad to see digital downloads increasing over the years. There’s an endless supply of digital albums on iTunes and other online music stores, so people can always find your music. I remember being disappointed many times as a kid when I couldn’t find the album I wanted in a record store. Now it’s super-easy to find even obscure bands. And that evens the playing field just a little. It at least gives everyone a shot at building an audience.

IRR: What are some of your favorite bands?

That is a question that could have me staring at the ceiling for hours. There are the bands and artists I loved that my parents introduced me to as a kid, like Steely Dan, Hall & Oates, Roy Orbison, Sade, Gerry Rafferty, Anita Baker, and João & Astrud Gilberto. And then there are the bands that I discovered in the last couple of years: Empire of the Sun, Mew, Metric, MGMT, The Whip, Does It Offend You Yeah?, Silversun Pickups, The Black Ghosts, Sebastian Tellier, Miike Snow, Simian Mobile Disco, Grizzly Bear, Santogold, Zion-I, Nortec Collective…. And then there are thousands of bands/groups and solo artists that I’ve loved in between. I am going to move pretty soon, and I can’t even fathom how I’m going to get all of the CDs and vinyl out of here.

IRR: What are the major influences for “Loquat”?

I’m hesitant to say because I’ve talked a lot about some ’90s bands that I love and have been influenced by, and I think I’ve said it too much. All the sudden people were calling us a ’90s band. It’s not like I stopped discovering new music and haven’t been influenced by music in the last decade. It’s just that I do have a special place in my heart for Björk and The Cardigans.

IRR: Do you have a favorite venue?

In San Francisco, Great American Music Hall is gorgeous. The Independent has amazing sound. Bottom of the Hill is a rad place to hang out and see a show. And Café du Nord is sort of my home away from home; it’s also where I met my band mate and husband, Anthony.

IRR: Do you have any funny stories about the band?

There are lots of funny stories, which is one reason we keep making music together. The latest one is from last weekend. Right after we did a photo shoot with IRR, the band went to check out the house that Anthony and I are hoping to buy in the Oakland hills. If we move in, we want to one day convert the basement into a recording and rehearsal studio.

There’s been a bit of a mystery about this house. We’ve had our suspicions that it used to be a “grow house,” that it was a big weed-growing operation. There were some clues that led us to believe that because there are eye hooks with cut rope everywhere in the lower levels of the house. And it looks like someone took a sledgehammer to the basement wall. There’s a giant hole, and inside, more eye hooks and rope. So Coop, Chris, and I were in the sauna (yeah, seriously, a sauna) looking for evidence to support our suspicion. Finally, we found a bud of weed. Then more. Then handfuls. We felt like detectives making the big discovery (although it looks like the DEA beat us to it). Anthony came down and started combing through the rocks in the sauna. More handfuls. It was hilarious.

IRR: Who is your favorite super hero?

Well, for me, it’s gotta be Wonder Woman. I always wanted to have her evil-deflecting bracelets. Also, Lynda Carter’s outfit was awesome.

IRR: What is your favorite city?

I have lived in San Francisco for a long time. It’s hard for me not to have a special place in my heart for it. When I’m walking to my car, I still find myself suddenly catching a view of City Hall or Alamo Square or whatever, and I count my blessings. There are a million beautiful views in this city. I also like that it’s small. You run into friends on the street all the time.

Visit Loquat

Here is a great Throwback video to one of the 80s great and sometimes overlooked bands. Fun times! Read the full story

Stream “Planets of Old” here!

CD:
1. Cayman Tongue
2. Retina Sees Rewind
3. The Redtrail
4. Air Escapes

DVD:
1. Luminance
2. Retina Sees Rewind
3. Moral Eclipse
4. Juggernaut
5. Dark Driving
6. The Red Trail
7. Cayman Tongue
8. Trepanning
9. Air Escapes
10. Summit Fever
11. Vicious Circles
12. Big Riff
13. Inflatable Dream

Cave In Live!

w/ Trap Them and Narrows
November 19th The Knitting Factory Brooklyn, NY
November 20 First Unitarian Church Philadelphia, PA
November 21 Club Hell Providence, RI
November 22 The Middle East Downstairs Cambridge, MA

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You Me & Iowa pulled up to the Bionic Ear studio on a perfect sunny day. Every one of the guys were in a cheery mood and that vibe helped to create a great song that you can download right here. While you are here take a look at our pictures with them and check out our video interview as well.

You Me & Iowa – Bionic Ear Recording

(click to play, right click to download)

Credits
Photos: Ryan Finck
Video Interview: Ryan Finck
Recording Engineer: Noel Paris
Mixing Engineer – Mark Arnold