Interview: Louisville Based Rock Band Light Treasons Discusses Their Newly Released Album "Fortunes"

Light Treasons is a Louisville based rock band who recently released their debut LP entitled "Fortunes". We connected with the guys (Clay Nevels, Jared Howell, Joel Eichenberger, Rob Diver, Zack Pennington) for this Q&A to discuss the new album, find out how it compares to their self-titled EP from 2015, learn more about the music scene in Louisville, and much more.

After reading our exclusive interview with Light Treasons, be sure to follow the guys on their social media streams and more importantly, support them by purchasing "Fortunes" ASAP.

How did you guys come together to form "Light Treasons"? How was the band name decided on and does it have a special meaning? 

Zack and I had been on a fairly long hiatus from any musical projects and both kind of got that bug again.  Zack knew Rob from college.  Clay lived out of town at the time, but I hadn’t really done anything musically without him and we knew we wanted him involved if he ever moved back (he did).  Jared was the last to join, but he is someone we have all known for years and has long been a close friend of Clay’s.  As for the name….it is a reference to the one thing all five of us agree on: Arrested Development.  We added the ‘s’ to the end of Light Treason because we liked the way it looked/sounded better  Other Arrested Development themed names discussed but ultimately discarded: “Pop Pop & the Attics”, “Her?”, and “I’m Oscar (dot com)”.

Tell us about how your new album "Fortunes" came together. How long did it take to record and were there any songs that did not make the cut? If so, do you plan on releasing them at some point?

Fortunes is a concept album that (sort of) came together by accident. We wrote and recorded it over the course of two years. When we wrote & recorded the first two songs, we didn't know how we would be releasing them. We wanted to release them as singles with individual art pieces. My amazingly talented wife, Erin, agreed to draw up some ideas. She actually came up with the tarot card idea for those two which eventually expanded to a full concept album, with each song telling a different story. Though we discussed releasing the whole thing "progressively" by writing and releasing them one at a time, in real time, we ultimately decided to release together, as a completed concept. That said, we did record them in 4 different sessions spanning roughly 18 months, which presented its own unique challenges. As for additional songs, we decided early on that we wanted Fortunes to be 9 songs. We definitely had some songs that were scrapped along the way, but they were more rough ideas than completed songs. I'd say it's doubtful any of those pieces would ever see the light of day, but who knows?!

How would you compare "Fortunes" to your self titled EP which was released in 2015? 

Prior to Light Treasons, Zack, Clay, and myself (Joel) were in a band called Hark the Herald. The EP is really kind of the conclusion of that band in a lot of ways.  Some of the music were songs that we had written in Hark but never released and it kind of was a way we could end that band on our terms.  Fortunes, on the other hand, was really the five of us in LT finding our own sound and Rob (vocals) really finding his voice. The EP certainly holds a special place for me, but on Fortunes we really find our own, unique identity, in my opinion. 

Stream/Download: "Light Treasons" EP

What are your thoughts about the music scene in Louisville, especially for rock music. Would you say that the locals generally support acts native to the area?

Yeah, Louisville has a fantastic, often underrated, music scene. The rock scene probably isn't quite as large as the metal/hardcore scene, but what it lacks in quantity, it makes up for in quality. Seriously. And yes, there is not much Louisvillians love more than supporting their own.

Will/are you guys touring in support of the new album? If so, will you be stopping for a date in Raleigh or the Triangle area?

We are definitely planning on hitting the road as much as possible in the fall in support of the album but we are likely to keep it pretty regionalized for now.  We all have full time day jobs and families, so getting out for more than a weekend is hard.  We would love to make it down to Raleigh soon, though no current plans to venture that far.

What are your goals musically for the remainder of 2017?

For the rest of 2017, we are trying to get these songs out to as many people as possible.  We have a couple local Louisville festivals coming up, and as previously mentioned, are planning on spending a lot of weekends in the cities and towns in our region.  If you are reading this and want to come see us play, send us a message, let us know, and we will do our best.  If you like these songs, if you like our band, please share it with your friends, on Facebook, etc. We really can't express how much it means to hear from people who enjoy what we do, and how much it means to us when people share it organically with the friends. 

Stream/Download "Fortunes": Apple Music | Spotify 

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