Interview: Birmingham, AL Band Lady Legs Talk About Their Latest Album "Off Days"
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““Off Days” was written with more collaboration between band members. Everyone individually helped craft each song and different genres and soundscapes were explored.”
We're blown away by your latest album "Off Days"; congratulations on its completion and release. Tell us about your creative process for the album's 14 songs.
GG: Thank you so much. These songs started coming together around the time our first album was wrapping up recording. It was a combination of the type of spontaneous writing that comes about during practices and hanging out, and isolated writing when we were on our own. Some of them were fresh ideas, some were old ideas that resurfaced from years ago and had finally found their place with the new.
I think we were all in a place where we could be really expressive but also productive. It was a period of change and we were all in it together.
How would you say that "Off Days" is different from your first album "Holy Heatwave" from a conceptual and sonic standpoint?
JS: “Off Days” was written with more collaboration between band members. Everyone individually helped craft each song and different genres and soundscapes were explored. We also experimented with a lot of saxophone with help from our friend Chris Spies (who's currently playing with Marcus King) and used more synth and piano than we had on the previous record.
“Holy Heatwave” was recorded fully analog to tape whereas “Off Days” was recorded digitally giving songs the freedom to evolve in the studio without the constraints of working with tape.
Lady Legs was formed in Auburn, Alabama; how did you all meet initially and then decide to form the band?
GG: John and I knew each other a bit from high school and were taking the same curriculum in college. After recognizing each other in a class we went out and took a smoke break and started talking music. I showed him some rough recordings I’d made of my playing, and from there we started writing, just me playing guitar and him playing drums, which was when we first started writing songs.
EB: John knew me from high school, and Seth from the Auburn music scene. He got us all together, and when we started playing, something definitely felt right. But the band formed in a very organic way. We never explicitly decided to organize or advertise - we just loved playing music together, and we’re lucky enough to have opportunities start to come our way.
Tell us about the experience of playing in Austin for SXSW 2017.
GG: SXSW was dope. We drove all the way from AL, crammed in the car with our gear. We got there and our label, Communicating Vessels, had rented out a space and we were staying with all the other bands from the label.
Ended up sharing a stage with Meatbodies, The Parrots, and Turquoise Jeep, amongst others. We met Martin Courtney from Real Estate, who ended up adding us to the guest list, which I think was actually his grocery list, for a Birmingham show that was like 6 months out . Super nice guy. And a bunch of other ridiculous stuff happened that made it one of the most memorable experiences I’ve ever had.
It was hard to leave, but we’re looking to go back the next chance we get.
How would you describe the music scene in Birmingham? Are there a lot of venues to perform at and are locals generally supportive of homegrown talent?
JS: There are a lot of talented musicians in Birmingham and the local music scene has always been there to support them. Even if you aren’t playing a big stage, almost every bar and brewery hosts shows for local bands. There’s a tight knit community of bands here willing to share bills together and collaborate.
A lot of the groups here share the same members so it’s always nice to see different musicians' talents highlighted in whatever projects they might be working with.
With "Off Days" released, what are the band's goals musically for the rest of 2021?
GG: We want this record to be heard, so we’ve got some shows in the works and are looking to play some festivals.
On the creative side, we are all currently working on solo stuff since social distancing has made collaboration a little tougher, but once we’re able to get together again that collaboration is gonna pick back up.
Read our review of “Off Days” HERE
Stream and Share “Off Days” on: Spotify | Apple Music
Connect with Lady Legs: Instagram