Robex Lundgren virkblogg.

Have any of you played in other bands? Yes. We've all played in several bands over the years and usually have multiple projects going at once.

Have you had other previous members? No. Lobo started with the exact lineup we have today. We considered the possibility of adding another person early on when we were still figuring out what the band would be but we had a natural chemistry and things took off quickly. The band felt complete.

Did you make music even when you were young? Yes, we all started very young.

Where are you from? Brandon is originally from Louisiana. Alex was born in California but has lived here in Tennessee since early childhood. And Sam is from here because of course he is.

What year did the band form? It came together in late 2012. Our first show was Halloween of that year. 

What's your style of genre? We blend elements of metal, blues, sludge, psychedelic rock, and prog rock. We try to experiment and go a lot of different places without making our music purposefully inaccessible. 

How often and where do you rehearse? We try to rehearse at least two or three times a week. We have a tiny little practice room in a quaint little town about 60 miles outside of Nashville, located between a carwash and a drive-in theater.  

Are you looking for a booking agency, and what are your thoughts around that? We work with people on a show-by-show basis, but we manage everything internally. It's certainly not a bad idea to get third party help once things are busy enough though. 

Are you looking for a label, and what are your thoughts around that? Record labels are a bit of an anachronism at this point. In a lot of ways, the internet brought about the decline of the record industry but simultaneously offered bands new ways of reaching their audience on their own, without the help of a label. At some point a working band will need outside help of course, but there's no reason that all has to happen under one roof. Since records aren't really a mainstay of rock bands anymore, there's no real reason to sign one big contract to a record label. Instead, a lot of bands handle their needs in a more compartmentalized way, having separate contracts or business arrangements with different companies for their various needs: merchandise, distribution, promotion, etc.

Unsigned bands who've never even been played on the radio are putting out records to a large fan base and touring in various parts of the world with no help from a label. And major bands that spent most of their careers doing things the more traditional way are now dropping their record labels. 

What are your songs about? For the most part, our songs deal with some pretty familiar subject matter, though we keep things sort of vague so the listener is free to attach their own meaning to it. 

Who does the composing and writes the lyrics? We do everything by committee. A lot of the music comes about in free-form jam sessions that we later organize into song arrangements. We'll try something several different ways before agreeing how it should go. We'll then make some kind of crude recording of that arrangement and whoever happens to have some inspiration for lyrical ideas will take the lead in that department.  

Do you start with the music or the lyrics? It's always been the music first. But that's not to say it could never happen the other way. It would be an interesting experiment. 

Do you compose in a certain environment? Always in our practice room. Though we each flesh out our individual parts in more detail at home, on our own time as well. 

Have you done any covers live? Yes, we've covered many songs by other artists.

What language do you sing in? Half-assed English.

What are the least and most people to attend one of your gigs? We've played in front of almost no one and in front of several hundred people.

What ages are most of your concert attendants? Probably in their 20s and 30s.

Do you always play the same songs live, or do you vary? We like to change it up as often as we can.

Do you have a regular place you play live often? We have in the past but we deliberately try to move around more now. You don't want to wear any one place out. Diminished returns and all that.

What was your first gig like? Our first gig really set the tone for what Lobo would be. It was a Halloween show and we went all out with props and costumes. That became something we were sort of known for doing even though we only did it on certain occasions. 

What was your latest gig? It was actually October of 2014. We just recently returned to the stage after a three year long, uh, spirit journey.

Have you had to cancel a gig? Luckily, no. It's important to us to follow through on all of our commitments. 

Where have you played live this year? Our first live performance of the year will be in Louisville, in April. 

Where do you plan to gig the coming year? Anywhere and everywhere. There will be plenty of hometown shows but we're also making an effort to get out to some other cities in the surrounding region this year. 

When did you start to sell merchandise, and what do you have for sale? we had merchandise pretty early on. We will have t-shirts very soon and a few other items after that.

Where can people buy your merchandise? Only at upcoming shows right now, but we'll be setting up an online store soon.

What do you think about people downloading music instead of buying records now a days? How do you  think the music industry has changed because of this? Well it's certainly changed the game a lot. It used to be that a band could support themselves mostly, if not entirely on album sales. The Beatles quit touring in 1966, that was a year before the Sgt. Pepper album came out, and they only continued getting bigger after that! A band could never do that today. You have to tour relentlessly and sell merch to keep things afloat. A lot goes into making an album, especially a good album. And you need to put out good albums on a regular basis in order to be successful, but they're almost not cost-effective to make. As easy as it has become to get music for free, it means a lot when a fan chooses to buy an album. That said, even if you prefer to download it rather than have a physical copy, there is still usually an option to pay something for it. If you like good music and want your favorite bands to keep doing what they're doing, buy their albums.

 

What do you think of my work? So far, so good! We really appreciate anyone who supports the music scene and helps us get our stuff out there, so thank you!

How do you think and know that this interview will help you in the music business? There's no way to know for sure. At the very least, we hope a few of our fans might enjoy reading it.

Is it easier to find inspiration from older bands, or bands that are more active today? Both. We like a lot of rock music going all the way back to the beginning. If it seems easier to find inspiration in the past, it's only becuase rock n roll has been around so long there's just that much more of it from decades gone by. 

What have been your biggest obstacles? For a while we struggled to find a decent practice facility. We had a long stretch a while back where we just kept playing shows in order to stay sharp on our material because we had no way to rehearse regularly.

What advice would you give other bands or artists? Just make the music you want to make and present it the way you want to present it. You'll never be as good at anything else.

How do you get psyched for a gig? Cocaine... kidding, kidding.

Do you have any new material? Yes. We're always working on something. We're pretty excited to get some new tunes on the stage this year.

What are your web sites? You can find us at Facebook.com/lobolosers. There you will find links to our other social media pages.

How can people reach you? Contact us on Facebook or at [email protected]

What are your plans for the future? Hopefully an album in the very near future and many more after that.

Do you have something to add? Just thank you for the questions, and thank you to anyone reading this.