When you first hear about Phoenix-based Lisa Savidge, what comes to mind? Solo female folk guitarist, perhaps?
Wrong, but don’t worry, you’re not the only one that thought that.
Lisa Savidge is actually a group of dudes creating a late-’90s-rock-meets-Explosions in the Sky sound. (Yep, sounds pretty epic already.)
The band has just finished working on its latest full-length album and is rather excited with the way it turned out.
DPJ talked with lead singer Dan Somers about the new record, touring, psychedelic lights and the people in life that go unnoticed but make a world of difference.
Somers, Ellery Keller, Nick Gortari, James Krehbiel and Patrick LaMaide formed about three years ago to complete Lisa Savidge but it wasn’t always a five piece.
“Basically, Ellery and I had started a band,” Somers recalls. “I don’t know, back in ’95 or ’96, back in high school. It was bad. It was awful.”
The band’s history includes all sorts of wackiness: Somers going to the army, band members leaving and Somers meeting his brother, Patrick, for the first time.
Their bass player left because of creative differences, which left the band incomplete.
“We needed a new bass player and [LaMaide] said that he could learn the bass,” Somers says.
Once the band was complete, the only thing they had to tackle was their sound.
In the past, the band had fallen into the punk and grunge genres, but after jamming around they found their sound.
Every member in the band listens to something different, from metal, to Pink Floyd, to indie, to shoegaze, which created their unique sound.
“We started working on this record once we found out what we wanted,” Somers says.
The 12-song record took about three years to create with the help of a dear friend, Jalipaz of Audio Confusion, a Mesa recording studio.
“A lot of the writing got done over email,” Somers explains.
Keller would perhaps write two minutes of the song then send it to Somers, who would write two more minutes and send it to the band members and they’d write the last two minutes.
Somers says the context of the entire album is much more powerful than each song individually, which led to the idea of playing the entire album for their release show.
Expect to watch an hour full of pure raw, loud, hypnotic jamming with a nice surprise for your eyes.
A hint?
“We’re going to be making use of projectors and a huge screen,” Somers reveals. “We plan to take full advantage of that.”
Lisa Savidge plays tonight at The Rhythm Room with locals Dry River Yacht Club and The Necronauts.
And, just a bit more news from the Savidges: The band is playing South by Southwest in Austin. It seems like this is just the beginning for a great local band on the road to success.
The show starts at 8 p.m. and is $10. Admission price includes their CD.
The Rhythm Room is located at 1019 E. Indian School Rd. in Midtown.
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