Lights Interview on Warped Tour '09

Interview: Lights
Date: July 10th, 2009
Venue: Arrow Hall, Toronto, Ontario
Conducted by: Brandon Allin


Brandon Allin, pit reporter for The Daily Chorus, had an opportunity to sit down with Canadian synth-pop powerhouse Lights before her performance on the Vans Warped Tour in Toronto, Ontario on July 10th, 2009. Lights' discussed how it feels to be a part of an event like the Warped Tour, her excitement at winning a Canadian music award for Best New Artist (pictured above), and the making of her forthcoming full-length release. Please read on for the interview:


I'm Brandon, and I'm standing here with the lovely Lights at the Toronto stop of the 2009 Vans Warped Tour. How are you today?

So, so good, and you just won me over with a bag of beef jerky. [Laughs] It's a trick; you got me all happy before the interview, and now I'm going to be all super stoked the whole time.

[Laughs] My pleasure. Now, unless I'm mistaken, this is your first time on the Warped Tour. Is that correct?

Well, I dropped in for two dates last year, but this is my first extended period on the Warped Tour, and let me tell you, it is good to be back in Canada.

Being from Canada, specifically here in Toronto, is this one of the dates you were most looking forward to?

Oh, yeah, for sure. It's so nice coming back home, getting to use all the loonies and toonies I have collected. It's strange when you cross the border.

Tell me about it.

[Laughs] It's definitely good to be home, even if it's only briefly.

You're out on the road all summer long playing to different crowds in different cities every day with so many diverse acts, so I've got to ask, how does it feel to be a part of such an established and well-respected event like the Warped Tour?

In short, it's incredible. I've obviously had the chance to hear some new artists I wasn't familiar with before, such as Innerpartysystem, and I'm learning a lot just watching them play. Not to mention, I'm getting to see a lot of my favorite bands from my past play, including Underoath, The Devil Wears Prada, NOFX, and Less than Jake. I'm a big fan of all of them. There are so many talented bands on this tour, it makes you want to be better at what you do.

With that said, which bands on the tour would you say are your favorites? Who have you had a chance to see so far?

I've seen a lot of bands already, and we're only just getting started. I think the top bands for me right now would be Innerpartysystem, The Devil Wears Prada, Underoath, and Canada's own, Shad. Also, I've really enjoyed watching Breathe Carolina and I Set My Friends On Fire play every day. We're all sharing the same stage, so we've all been really supportive of each other. They're all very talented guys.

How many dates deep into the tour are we?

This is the twelfth stop, actually.

Which cities have you enjoyed playing the most?

They have all been fantastic places to play but, naturally, I think Toronto is going to be the best. With that said, every town has had a handful of unique, cool things about them. For example, in Cleveland, there was a really, really lovely view, and in San Francisco, it was the perfect temperature. In Houston, I almost threw up after my set because it was so hot out. [Laughs] There are different advantages wherever you go, but I'd say the best date so far has been Dallas. I had no idea, but there were a lot of people who knew my music there, and I was really stoked about that.

That's great. Is it true you wrote your first song when you were only eleven years old?

Yes. Damn, you know your stuff. You must have been on Wikipedia. [Laughs]

Of course. I even have a quote pulled from there that I'm saving for a little later. You probably know what it is. [Laughs]

[Laughs] I probably do.

Alright, so you already have a Juno for Best New Artist under your belt. How exactly did it feel to win that?

It was not only a huge honour but, a huge surprise, as well. I was in a category up against a lot of major artists, who are really talented, and who all have full-length records out. My record hasn't even come out yet, I just have a six-song EP behind me. My record comes out later this year on September 22nd. With that said, I totally considered myself the underdog in that situation, especially because I've done everything independently. I don't really have the support of a major label backing me at all, so it's cool to know that someone doing something independently, and doing things the way they want to, can be recognized like that.

Well, congratulations. It was a well-deserved victory.

Thank you so much.

With all those awards behind you so early into your career as a musician, what's next for Lights?

Well, right now, we're really building up to the release of my record in September, which is obviously coming out a little bit earlier in Canada, because Canada is that much more special to me. But after I finish up Warped Tour, I'm going to be doing a bunch of dates across Canada with Keane in September. After that, I'll be doing even more touring throughout the fall across Canada and the United States. Also, get this, I am working on ten, two-minute episodes of semi-animated comics featuring my voice overs. My character is named Captain Lights, and all of my music will be integrated into the comics. I've been working with Marvel digital illustrator Tomm Coker. It has been so much fun putting together all the characters and developing the storyline. I think it's going to be a great way to accompany the record, especially because I'm such a comic fan.

Very nice. We'll be on the lookout.

Thanks. I'm very excited for it all.

With that said, you seem to be just as invested in the visual side of things as you are the music. Is that correct?

Absolutely. The art is just as important to me.

From what I understand, you did the artwork for your debut release. Will you be doing the art for your new record, as well?

Actually, the artwork for the new record is done. I've been working with Garnett Armstrong, who is a fantastic artist, and a very comic-style illustrator. It was my idea, but I handed him all the concepts and ideas I wanted to work with, and basically, it's Watchmen meets Sailor Moon meets 28 Days Later, and I think it turned out so well. I've released the cover art already, but that's just one of three panels of the actual art itself, so it will make a lot more sense when you see it. I'm so stoked on it.

Is that kind of creative control something you require as an artist, or how does that work?

Of course. It's not even so much something that I require, but something that is supported by everyone on my team. The more hands you have involved to draw things for you, or produce things for you, or write for you, the more diluted the artistry becomes. As long as I can keep everything coming from the same place, you know you're getting it all from the same artist. I mean, every time I write something musically, there is always something visually that goes hand-in-hand with it, which is kind of manifested in my videos. There is always some bizarre concept that goes along with the music. [Laughs] With that being said, I'm actually making a video for my new song the day after I wrap things up out here.

Is it true your new single will be unleashed in a only couple of days?

It's called "Saviour," and it has already hit radio in Canada, but I'm going to put it online on Monday.

I haven't had the chance to hear it yet, but I'm looking forward to it.

You'll hear it today if you watch my set.

I'll be there.

Awesome. I'll see you there.

Musically speaking, your debut EP had sort of an atmospheric, almost spacey pop sound to it. Is that sort of vibe what we can expect from the new record, or are you planning on trying some different things?

Well, I mean, just like anything, I've gotten a little better at what I do, and everything is a little bit older and, in some ways, a little bit darker. With that said, four songs will be crossing over from the EP to the new record, including "Ice," which has been remixed. There are thirteen songs on the record, and it's essentially more of what you heard on the EP, but there is a little more use of guitar this time around. Also, in real life, I talk extremely fast, and one of the things I've been learning to do is how to utilize that to my advantage, so there is a lot more lyrics packed into small spaces, and I'm really learning how to rhythmically-organize different lyrics in really cool ways.

That all sounds fantastic. Alright, so back to that quote I mentioned earlier, are you ready for this?

[Laughs] Here we go. Lay it on me.

If I've got this right, you said "when people hear my music, I want it to make them happy inside. Not like sexy happy, but apple pie happy."

[Laughs] That's the quote alright.

Can you explain that one a little further for us?

Well, there are definitely multiple different kinds of happy, right? I mean, I don't write about super-sexual things at all. In fact, I never write about that. [Laughs] With that being said, I don't even write about romantic things very often, if at all. For example, on the new record, I think there's only one song written about a guy. The rest of it is written about emotions, whether or not they spawn from a romantic situation. In fact, the eleventh song on my new record is all about World of Warcraft.
Interesting. I've heard you're a big fan.

Totally, but what I'm trying to get at is, I'm hoping it brings out emotions and feelings in those who hear it. But you've got to admit, when you go to your grandma's house and she has a hot apple pie sitting there waiting for you to have a piece, that's like the best feeling ever, and an entirely different kind of happy. That's not to be confused with American Pie, though. [Laughs] That's a different kind of feeling.

[Laughs] Absolutely. Well, I think that's all the time we have for today. Is there anything you'd like to add before we part ways?

Um, come to the set, sing along, and check out the new record on September 22nd.

Thank you very much for being here with us today. Best of luck on the rest on the tour.

Thanks so much. I'll see you later.

Lights' debut full-length release, The Listenining, will hit stores on September 22nd in Canada, and shortly thereafter worldwide. Be sure to catch Lights on tour in a city near you. For more information on Lights, please click visit IAMLIGHTS.COM or MYSPACE.COM/LIGHTSNOISE.

Furthermore, The Daily Chorus would like to send our utmost gratification to Linda Doyle and Kate Cafaro for their hard work in coordinating this interview.

All Time Low Shocks Everyone....Not Me

All Time Low's new album Nothing Personal debuted on the Billboard Top 200 charts and claimed the #4 spot. The Top 3 spots went to the new Maxwell album, Hannah Montana and the Now 31 album (who really buys those?). This surprised most people but not me or Alternative Press who gave them Band Of The Year honors in their February '09 issue (see picture to the left). ATL has a #4 album on Billboard because of their work ethic, their organic fan base, viral marketing, being real and the X Factor.

ATL is special. There are only a handful of bands that come around every few years that have that "specialness" or as I like to call it, the X Factor. But this didn't happen because they sold almost 63,000 copies of their new album last week. This X Factor has been around since I've known them in 2006 and longer. Most industry people didn't see it yet. But their fans and management did.

What is that X Factor? You really can't explain it. It's just that "something" that makes a band special. A good indication to see if a band has the X Factor is from their fans. You can see it in their eyes. You can hear every word being sung in the crowd. You can see the dreams of meeting the band dancing in their heads. Their fans are almost like zombies. Yes, most bands have a few fans like that. But a band with the X Factor has ALL their fans in the state.

But don't get me wrong. They aren't just riding the X Factor to success. ATL has busted their asses over the last 6 years to get a Top 5 album on Billboard. I was with the band on Warped '06 and Warped '07. These guys have the work ethic. They have the love for their fans. They put their time in and continue to. I remember when Jack Barakat (guitarist) would walk the line before doors on Warped '07 to promote their showtime every morning. Jack would come find ME to do it with him. I didn't have to motivate him to do it. He wouldn't make his crew do it. He wouldn't ask me to do it. He wanted to do it.

Does anyone remember the brilliant Twitter game they played amongst themselves, high-profile music celebs (Pete Wentz and Mark Hoppus), other bands and countless fans a few months ago? That lit Twitter on fire and everyone became familiar with the "nothing personal" (name of their new album) statement. That was viral internet marketing at its best.

ATL has built an amazing organic fanbase with the evidence of these album sales:

Nothing Personal (2009) - 62,922 copies sold first week (73,158 singles sold)
So Wrong, It's Right (2007) - 192,653 copies sold
Put Up Or Shut Up EP (2006) - 126,081 copies sold

How many of you even realized they sold that many copies of their past albums/EPs? Again, that's a sign of an organic base being built. Quietly, fans buy, buy and buy.

Yes, you might think I'm biased. But you have to realize that I do know a lot of bands because of touring and connections. But, to me, that's actually an advantage. I get to see if the bands are real behind-the-scenes. Most fake bands don't survive long-term (fans figure it out). It catches up to them. ATL are the most genuine, down-to-earth guys you could know. They are the jokesters backstage as they are onstage. You won't find many people saying anything negative about this band. And on that note....

All Time Low will be the Kings of Pop-Punk. Nothing Personal.

Bands, You Need A Plan B And Fast

As you look at the chart above (thanks to Alexa.com), you see that Facebook (blue) surpassed MySpace (red) in daily page views in mid-January and hasn't looked back. Does this worry anyone?

MySpace has fallen out of the Top 10 Websites in the world after coming close to making the Top 3 in 2008. Facebook users, on average, spend over 2 more hours on the site than MySpace users. According to Nielsen Online, Facebook's average time spent per user passed Yahoo and AOL to become the #1 Web Brand in that category.

The "clunkiness" of MySpace has really turned me away from it. I am tired of the slow uploads, the pop-up ads between songs, songs that never play and songs that quit after a minute or so and go to the next song. I find myself going back to my long lost music scouting site, Purevolume (anyone remember when Purevolume was the place to go for new music and not MySpace?).

Bands, you need to start thinking about Plan B. Most of you rely on MySpace for your fan interaction, label discovery and buzz. The first thing you need to do is go to GoDaddy.com and secure your band's URL before someone else does.

Instead of relying on MySpace to try to run your band platform, you need to create your own music platform on your own URL. All these other sites should feed off your home site. Give each site different exclusives but make sure everything points back to your home site. Host your merch store on your home site. Host a chat room. Host comments. Host an email list. Get a music stream box. Is that too much work? There are companies that can do most of this for you like Stagebloc.com. SB will even allow you to update your hub site AND social networks at one time!

The point is that MySpace is falling and falling fast. An article on DigitalMusicNews today says that MySpace is scrambling to find answers. But with a million sites popping up everyday, it might be a little too late. MySpace has been playing catchup to the other sites for the last year or longer. As the article states, MySpace is in "dire need of an overhaul."

Even if Facebook or another site creates an amazing social music platform, it does not mean you should rely on that new platform and stop your plans for your own music hub for your band.

Bands, I'm warning you, start Plan B now or you will be left in the dust of the collapse of MySpace as your music platform.

The Maine Does Def Leppard

Today is the day that The Maine's deluxe edition of Can't Stop Won't Stop comes out in stores and online.

What does this deluxe come with you ask? It comes with 15 songs, 2 videos and a 32-minute DVD called In Person.

The Maine cover Def Leppard's classic hit Pour Some Sugar On Me and surprisingly does the song justice. The reason why I say surprisingly is because John O's vocals shouldn't be able to sound like Joe Elliot's voice but does. And a lot of people see them as just another scene band with no talent. Not only are they talented but they can play this cover pretty damn good live.

Their 32-minute DVD In Person tells the story of each member's journey to joining the band and what its like to grow as a band. There are also plenty of live shots and special performances. This is a must for any fan of The Maine. You can actually watch the full 32-minute DVD on their MySpace for the next couple of weeks.

Their single Into Your Arms will be hitting the radio waves in the next few weeks and the video will get a run on MTV. I stated on The Daily Chorus that this album would do a minimum of 200,000 copies when it was released about a year ago. The album is approaching 90,000 copies and I still stand by my claim especially with Into Your Arms getting ready to unleash on the general public.

Thank You To 1 - 242

I just wanted to make a quick post and thank everyone who came to the blog yesterday. It was officially Day 1 of the new blog.

The blog had over 240 visits from 8 countries, 35 states and 124 cities.

Please make sure you subscribe to the RSS feed and email list in the left-hand column on the site. Also, bookmark the blog since I don't have an easy URL to remember!

Thank you!

Top 5 Songs This Week

Every week, I'll have my Top 5 most played songs for the week in the Amazon music player on the left side of this site. You can get a feel of what I'm jamming all week. The songs this week are:

1. Meese "Next In Line" - Comes from their debut Atlantic album Broadcast. They were on the unsigned band charts on The Daily Chorus in 2007. They will be on the road with The Fray and Jacks Mannequin in a couple of days. (Atlantic)

2. All Time Low "Weightless" - This band has come a long way. I remember the days of hustling CDs for them while they played on Warped '07. Selling CDs is not a problem anymore. The song is currently #12 on the iTunes Alt Rock singles chart and their new album Nothing Personal is sitting at #6 on the overall iTunes album chart. (Hopeless)

3. This Century "To Love And Back" - Talented band out of Arizona who just released their new EP To Love And Back this week. Rumor has it that they have sold almost 2,000 copies in two weeks from online and being on Warped Tour. (Unsigned)

4. There For Tomorrow "A Little Faster" - This band is headlining the SmartPunk Stage on Warped Tour this year. I can't get enough of this band's songs. Their cover of Ice Box is one of the best covers I've heard in awhile. (Hopeless)

5. Silversun Pickups "Panic Switch" - For all you fans of the 90's alt rock movement, we have found our band for 2009. This song is currently #16 on the iTunes Alt Rock singles chart. Panic Switch is not even the strongest song on the album but it's definitely a jam. (Dangerbird)

Click on the Amazon box on the left side of the site and hear clips from each song.

5 Ways To Get On The Billboard Charts

Did you know you only have to sell about 450 albums in one week to make the Billboard HeatSeeker Chart? Believe it or not, there have been many unsigned artists hitting the Billboard Charts in the last year. There are many ways for unsigned artists to sell their music online and even in retail stores. But is that all it takes to get you on the charts? No.

Here are the 5 Secrets To Hit The Billboard Charts:

1. Get a UPC code - Most CD duplication companies offer to put UPC codes on your CDs (some for free but most for a fee). It is worth the $30. You should not pay more than $30 for a UPC code. If a company charges you more than that, go to UPCexpress.com and get one for $29. You can give the CD duplication company your UPC code to print on your CDs.

2. Register for SoundScan - How does Billboard create the top album charts? Because of Nielson SoundScan. Every time you buy a CD at a store (most stores) or online, a computer system counts that CD purchase. At the end of every week, the top album sellers are released on Billboard. And if your CD does not have a UPC code, you don't qualify for Nielson SoundScan. But even having a UPC code doesn't automatically qualify you. You must register your CD and UPC code on the SoundScan site. Once you register, your online and retail CD sales will count towards the weekly charts. However, not all online or brick-and-mortar retailers report to SoundScan. Call or email the retailer to find out.





3. Set Up A Pre-order - What is a pre-order? It's a period of time (up to 8 weeks) where fans can buy your CD before it comes out. They receive the CD the week of your CD release. But all the sales up to the release of your CD counts towards your 1st week sales. For example, if you sell 300 CDs in a 6-week pre-order period and sell 200 the week the CD comes out, your first week sales will be 500 which would be good enough to hit the Billboard HeatSeeker Chart (usually 450 albums will qualify for the Top 150 on this chart).

When you register your music for digital downloads through Tunecore or another site, set the release date for a minimum of 6-weeks in advance to ensure your EP/album will be out in time to correspond with your pre-order. Otherwise, your first week numbers will not include both your physical pre-orders and first week sales numbers.

***Again, make sure you set your pre-order up with a company who reports their CD sales to SoundScan. This is crucial. Simply email/call the company and ask.***

4. Bundles - Because of the downloading trend, a lot of people get their music for free online or only buy singles. Labels and bands are starting to "bundle" up their CDs with merchandise. Bundle up your pre-order CD with a Tshirt (CD/Tshirt for $15 etc.) and offer the CD seperately. Give your fans choices. But don't only keep the bundle up during the pre-order. Keep the bundles up permanently! You can bundle up your CD with posters, autograph booklets, stickers, Tshirts and hundreds of other items. This will definitely increase your sales.

Websites that are good about helping unsigned bands set up pre-order bundles are SmartPunk.com and DistrictLines.com. And both companies report to SoundScan.

Give your fans a reason to buy your whole CD instead of just the singles.

5. Promote - I can't say this enough. You have to promote your music and don't stop. Reach out to as many webzines as you can to review your CD or just post about your pre-order. Post it all over your MySpace. Send out an email blast from your mailing list. Make banners and post it on all the websites that have your band profile.

Also, try to get front page coverage on sites like Purevolume during the week of your release. This extra exposure will definitely increase your sales. Offer these sites exclusive rights to stream a new song for a week in exchange for front-page coverage.

Other ways to help your 1st week numbers is to get your CD in your local Hot Topic stores during the week of the release. But you must coordinate this weeks in advance.

Use these tips and I'll see your band on the Billboard charts!