In their own words

February 1st, 2020

 

Tru Rock Revival - Lea:  What/Who are some of your music influences:

Brendan:  We have so many.  It is nearly impossible to name just a few but we will try.  Where there is Pete Townsend, Edward Van Halen, Joe Satriani, there is also Leon Russell, Queen, The Allman Brothers, guitar juggernaut Shun Lane, Zakk Wylde, Dimebag Darrel, Elvis, Johnny Cash, Jim Croce.  Peter Frampton, Sly Stallone, Leslie West, The Beatles, Kings X.  The list continues forever, believe me.  We have a healthy eclectic taste in music, and we think that played a big part in developing our sound and style.

 

Tru Rock Revival - Lea:  How would you classify your music:

Brendan:  That is an interesting question.  I am not a big fan of categorizing music.  I don’t like labels of any kind and I do not like boundaries, especially in music, which is if there is anything sacred, it would be good music.  If I had to put our music into a category, or give it a brief description, it would be Alice Loves Alien.  I always loved musicians that make their own world of music where the only way to really describe them is by their name or their band’s name.  No other description needed.  For example, Alice in Chains… at the end of the day, their name says more than any other descriptions could.  

 

Tru Rock Revival - Lea:  Who is the primary songwriter in your duo?

Brendan:  I am more prolific of a songwriter.  I wrote 8 of the songs on our album.  Gina is a tremendous songwriter herself.  She contributed 4 songs to the album.  We both take great pride in our songwriting.

 

Tru Rock Revival - Lea:  Brendan, you pretty much wore every hat in the making of this album.  I can’t imagine how difficult that was.  Can you tell me about your thought process when putting the album together?

Brendan:  Madness would surely have to be acknowledged as being a strong part in the making of this album.  Haha.  Music and all true art are up to the interpretation and that’s the beauty of it.  There were countless obstacles in the making of this album, none of which deterred us from doing what we wanted to do.

 

Tru Rock Revival - Lea:  How did the album come to be:

Brendan:  That’s an entire book on to itself.  Basically Gina and I took 12 of our songs, decided to make an album and did it our way.  I produced, arranged and played most of the instruments myself.  We are very proud of the album and hope everyone out there takes the time to hear it.

 

Tru Rock Revival - Lea:  Gina, Do you have a favorite song from the album?  

Gina:  It would be a toss up between house of cards and dare to dream.  

Brendan:  Dare to dream I wrote even before I met Gina.  It’s hard for me to pick a favorite song, as I know each of them far far too well.  If you want me to pick a theme song for the album, I think Dare to dream is safe.

 

Tru Rock Revival - Lea:  I listen to the album a lot, and every time I do, I have a different favorite.

Gina:  Ha!  I know!  That happens for me too!

Brendan:  Thats a good thing.

 

Tru Rock Revival - Lea: Let’s talk about the album vs. the live show.  I was lucky to have a front row seat to both the first listen to the album  and also to the live show, as David and I shot the Album Release Party.  As soon as the music started… I stood there shocked.  I believe I mentioned this to you.  The album is pristine.  It is layered, multifaceted perfection.  I had trouble taking pictures during the first song…. I was like, What the Heck???  It was so crazy… Raw, strong, dynamic, I was blown away. You said it was going to be different.

Brendan: Yeah, well it has to be unless we had 20 people on stage with us.  It’s very different.

Gina:  When we play live, we feed off of the crowd’s energy, exchanging emotion with them, pumping out everything we’ve got.

Brendan:  So, as far as the rawness goes, I was always an advocate that the live show should not be, let’s just play the album because I think it’s boring.  I always felt ripped off as a person attending a show if that’s all we were seeing.  There was no extra there, there was no improvisation.  It should be live show without a net to some extent.  I am a fan of the Allman brothers…. They would go off on a 20 minute jam if they so desired.  It would be different every time they played it.  I actually like the bare bones of it, just everyone having to pick up the slack and fill in the should because we have more of a job to do.  I have to play rhythm and leads as well as keyboards and vocals… The drummer has to do percussion and drums, the bass player has to play rhythm guitar and base.  We all have an extra job to do and it makes us all work harder.  I would be bored if all I had to do was play the guitar.

 

Tru Rock Revival - Lea:  Brendan, you know I am a fan of guitar players, and I certainly have my favorites.  I must say, watching you play live was something to witness.  You are a beast on that thing!  It was as if you became possessed.

Brendan:  Yeah, I feel possessed quite often.  On stage I am allowed to express it or to show it.  More often than not I have to hide it.

TRR/Lea:  It’s absolutely incredible to see.

Brendan:  Why thank you.

 

Tru Rock Revival - Lea:  I didn’t see one cellphone out at your show.

Brendan:  Neither did we.  Yeah, we were looking out at the crowd, we didn’t see a thing.  We did everything we could to put on a good show.  There was something about the room and something about the energy in the room that united the people on stage and the people that were watching.  That’s what a rock and roll show is supposed to be and it is something that is kind of lost these days. Its supposed to be not so much a worship of the people on the stage, but a unification of the people telling the story and the people that are there to hear it.  We try to make it like a revival… like a traveling medicine show.  We want to leave the audience drained, but yearning for more.

TRR/Lea:  Well, you certainly grabbed everyones attention, because there wasn’t a phone lit.  All eyes were on you guys.

 

Tru Rock Revival - Lea:  Gina,  I never saw you perform before the release party.  At one point in the beginning of the show, I hear one of the members at the “rockstar table” say there she is, there’s crazy Alice. I looked up and your entire body / face changed.  Do you think that the Crazy Alice persona takes over when you perform on stage?

Gina:  Oh yeah. That is the monster that is underneath all the time.  It’s just that when she is there on stage, that is when she is able to come out.  Its not like she can come out and about scaring all the neighbors!  She is always there with me, but on stage…. that’s her home.  All of our lyrics are born from life experiences… and they are deep.  It’s a primal exchange of emotion.  That is when I get “That face”…. Crazy Alice.

 

Tru Rock Revival - Lea:  That brings us to you Brendan.  With the performance I saw, I have to ask, Are you an alien?

Brendan:  That is the rumor.

 

Tru Rock Revival - Lea:  I guess this explains where the name Alice Loves Alien came from!

 

Tru Rock Revival - Lea:  Are there any plans for a second album?

Brendan:  We will be recording an EP in the next few months and then pre-production for our next Alice Loves Alien album in the fall.

 

Tru Rock Revival - Lea:  Is there anything else you would like us to know about Alice Loves Alien?

Brendan:  We can show ya better than we can tell ya!