by Unemployed Lloyd

I met Sam (left) about two years ago in Bushwick, Brooklyn, at a makeshift art gallery. It was one of his first shows and until that day I had never heard of his band. Their name was Led Er Est, they were unpolished, gritty, messy and like nothing I’d seen or heard before. It was those things that made them stick out amongst the other bands. Their sound was dated (very early 80’s cold wave) yet refreshing. A guitar, two keyboards and a drum machine was a far cry from the over-produced music of now, but it worked.

Later on I would run into Sam a lot. Mostly at parties and occasionally at the bar he worked – where he would hook up drinks whenever he could. Our conversations varied from nightlife, to DJs, girlfriends and even the $20 Reeboks we both wore and swore by. However, without fail we always ended up talking about music and why the Led Er Est album was taking so long to finish. So last week when I heard their album Dust on Common had come out I was beyond stoked and figured it was as good-a-time as any to interview Led Er Est.

So how did Led Er Est come about?

In 2007 Shawn had a weekly party that he DJ’d in Brooklyn, and Sam met him through Speculator who eventually produced a handful of early tracks. They began recording soon after, and when the emphasis shifted from recording to live, Owen, (who played music with Shawn in college) joined.

Explain the name.

Currently it stands for light emitting diode error establishment.

What sort of things (not just music) influence your sound?

Chrome, Ensemble Pittoresque, John Carpenter, Klaus Shulze, Tangerine Dream, Nirvana, Hunters & Collectors, Solid Space, Pink Floyd  Iowa, Texas, Alaska, the ocean, forests, wasted spaces Pam Anderson, Yoko Ono, Amelia Earhart, Dana Scully,  P.G. Wodehouse, Diana Kennedy, Science Fiction, Beverly Hills Chihuahua

Now that the album is done what can people expect from Led Er Est?

We plan to do some touring in America and Europe in 2010.  For the next album we are working with a live drummer.  We have a bunch of other current projects, Further Reductions, Hobbits, AND collaborations with other people involved in the scene here.  We hope to get to Australia soon.

Yeah, me too. So Sam how are your Reeboks treating you?

The Reeboks lasted way longer than I thought they would, though I’ve since moved on to wearing steel-toed mountain boots.

Nice!

Led Er Est’s Dust on Common is out now on Weird Records



Tags: , , , , ,