How long has the group been playing together? Robby: Well me and Joey have been together since June of 2019. We went through so many line up changes we were ready to call it quits a few times. Nicky: Then one day Robby messaged me on a Facebook post I had up like two years prior and said "hey man do you still play drums?" I came out to practice and he heard me drum. After that, we decided to put me on guitar to fill out the sound. That was in October of 2019. Joey: Then we kept losing drummers until finally we found JT one day and this current lineup has been together since March or April of this year. Where does the name come from? Robby: So Joey and I had a short list of names that we honestly just weren't into. Then as I was listening to one of my favorite bands, Huntingtons, I looked at their album cover for "High School Rock" and saw them all wearing the letterman jackets. So it was pretty much an impulse decision but, it fit so well that we even added the look into it as well as some subject matter. The new album is out on November 6th? How long did the writing/recording take? Did COVID affect it in any way? JT: Oh God! Let me take this one. Yes the new album is out on November 6th. It's being put out by Chicago based label "Punkhead Records". So the writing of this thing took Robby and Joey maybe two weeks for the skeleton, then took us as a band about two weeks to get everything tight. The recording of it took about three to four months because of so many factors involved and not even Covid. Just studio mess ups and scheduling errors. Thankfully with these dudes the process was completely painless! What influences you in the songwriting? Joey: so there are a lot of things that influence us musically. Everything from 50's doowop to the 90's "Ramonescore" scene and it shows in the songwriting as well. A lot of material has to do with love loss or having a crush and not having the words to explain it which really shows our appreciation for doowop where 90 percent of the songs were based around those same ideas. We just convey them in a more boisterous fashion showcasing punk rock. Robby: Yeah I mean Joey pretty much hit the nail on the head. I try to keep most things to a basic idea rather than a real life event that has happened. Everyone has had a crush, Everyone has dealt with heartache, therefore everyone can relate. But we make sure to keep it upbeat musically and throw in a fun song about anything here and there to keep things fresh. "Surf's Up" is a great example of that. I heard about the shoot for that. Hope to see how that turned out soon. Heard it got chilly that day on the beach. How is the relationship with Lettermans fans? Robby: Well it would be cliché to say that our fans mean the world to us but, they really do. After every show we like to go mingle about and say hello to the fans, grab a drink with them at the bar and just strike up conversation. So we would say our fan to band relationship is pretty solid. The way we see it our fans are our friends. I can see that. I met Nikky just outside Bar XIII before your show and he immediately came off as a chill dude. Biggest challenge as a band so far? Robby: Keeping Members. Joey: No Shit! HAHA! What artists are you currently listening to? Robby: Oh wow that is a huge list. Huntingtons, Kurt Baker, The Yum Yums, Dan Vapid and the Cheats, Jordan Jones, Jagger Holly the list goes on. Joey: But you can't forget about Ramones, The Beach Boys, The Replacements, Cheap Trick, The Cars, all the bands that influenced our influences. Can you share any funny stories from the road with us? Nicky: Wellllllllll there was this one time where we were out on tour with our past drummer Vinny and his jacket got stolen in North Carolina. We played a terrible show we were all mad and that put me over the edge man. I ran into the bar looking for the guy who took his jacket. I wasn't lookin' for trouble or nothin', I just kept telling the guys "I Just Want To Talk To Him" ... Really my intent was to kick his ass. But the guys said, "Nicky, Taco Bell!" and all my anger went away as i bolted for the van. Never ran so fast in my life. A buzzed Nicky and Taco Bell just go so well together. Robby and Joey: Accurate I'm more of a Denny's guy. Buzzed Joe loves some Moons Over My Hammy. Where is the best place for people to get the music and merchandise? Robby: Our music is available on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, Google Music, any major streaming platforms, and VINYL! Our merchandise is available through the "Punkhead Records" website https://punkheadrecords.com/merch JT: And of course we bring merch with us to every live show as well! So see us at a show and you can get merch and vinyl that way also. Since Halloween is coming I have to know the following: Favorite Halloween costume growing up? Robby: I was a ninja like nine years in a row. I just loved being completely covered and Mortal Kombat was one of my favorite movies growing up! Joey: I dressed as a Ring Wraith when i was around ten years old because it's so dark and non descript to get people to ask me what I was and then I could mouth off about how much i loved Tolkien. Nicky: I was Luke Skywalker for like three years. I was and still am to this day very into Star Wars. JT: My favorite costume growing up was Flash Gordon. Favorite horror movie? Robby: Either Child's Play or Scream. I think I like the Child's Play franchise a little bit more just because of the comedy infused in the horror. Like a little ginger doll running around with a knife is a little scary but, a little ginger doll running around with a kinife and a foul mouth is hilarious! Joey: John Carpenter's The Thing. I think it is the scariest of all movie monsters. There is nothing really scarier in life than the feeling of not being able to trust anyone. Also, the attention to detail on the monster itself was top notch for a movie from the 80's. Nicky: The Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. I don't know what to do against a guy that can kill me in my sleep, I sleep all the god damn time! JT: Dead Alive. I love how over the top cheesy those older horror movies can be compared to the movies of today. Some damn good picks there. How would you die in a horror movie or are you a survivor? Robby: I honestly think I would die but, in a totally avoidable way. Like if I make a noise on accident and get discovered or like if I went to go play tough guy with whatever I was up against whether a spirit, killer, alien, zombie or whatever. That dude that plays a hard ass in the movies always dies! Joey: In a slasher flick or paranormal I would probably live but, in a zombie movie or anything like that I would be killed in the midst of doing the right thing i.e. (finding/creating a cure of sorts). Nicky: I would probably survive just because I'm not an idiot. People hear a noise in the basement and are like "I'm gonna go check it out" meanwhile I'm like "Fuck that I'm leaving the house" JT: I KNOW I would survive in a horror movie because unlike everyone else I would hoard every weapon I find instead of chucking it after one use. You seem to easily fit in with groups playing “horror punk”. You’ve been booked on several shows by Horror Punks USA. Why do you think that is? Robby: So we actually got booked on our first HPUSA gig by the lovely Steph Infection and the always spooky Ronin James at a small corner bar in West Philly, Halloween of last year at the last minute due to another band dropping off. Oh yeah. Century Bar, right? I like that little place. Yeah. After that night Ronin and Steph came up to us and said how much they were into it and truth be told we were pretty surprised. We didn't think that they would hate it, we just didn't know how much they would be into it. Nicky: Yeah and ever since then they have been constant supporters of ours. We got to record our debut LP at Astromonster which is HPUSA Recording/Live Show Studio. With the help of Ronin, Steph, our Recording and Mixing Engineer "Zero" , and Mastering Engineer J. Powell we were able to make an album that we really enjoy and just know our fans will as well. We are very thankful for HPUSA. Well I've heard what Zero did on the Dickie Devil EP and it's top notch. Your album should be in good hands. He's a hell of guitar player too. Thanks fellas. I'll be seeing you sooner than later. You can find the lads of Lettermans on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Go like and follow them so you can see where they are playing next. Keep live and local music alive by supporting them at shows. Buy their merch and music whenever you can. Tell your friends about them. It's one big happy family. Comments are closed.
|