Home Music EXCLUSIVE: lespecial’s Luke Bemand Talks New Music, Never-Ending Touring, Returning To Their...

EXCLUSIVE: lespecial’s Luke Bemand Talks New Music, Never-Ending Touring, Returning To Their Home Turf

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lespecial is one of a handful of bands from the Northeast beginning to make some serious noise on the touring circuit. Formed in Connecticut, the power trio has been hitting the road relentlessly over the past few years. Blending a foundation of progressive rock with what they describe as “future groove” and “death funk,” the band has carved out a sound that is highly original. Not only are they highly respected by their fans, but they’re also highly respected by their peers.

As they get ready to embark on their 2019 spring tour, Live For Live Music sat down with bassist Luke Bemand to talk about the upcoming shows, the band’s history, and what fans can expect when they go see lespecial live in concert:


Live For Live Music: lespecial is getting ready to embark on their spring tour, titled Season of The Vampire Jackalope. You’re kicking it off with back-to-back dates at The Acoustic in Bridgeport, CT on March 22nd and The Mercury Lounge in NYC on March 23rd. How well do you know these rooms?

Luke BemandSeason of The Vampire Jackalope baby! Rolls right off the tongue. Those will both be great kickoff shows for the tour. It’s always fun playing in our home state of CT, and The Acoustic is usually pretty rowdy. We played at BRYAC for a couple years and then, when it started to get really packed, we moved down the street to The Acoustic. But make no mistake, we still get lobster rolls at BRYAC before the show. As for 3/23, we usually play in Brooklyn when we’re in NYC, and we’ve had some amazing “lespectacles” there, but we wanted to shake things up a bit this time so we’re going to Mercury Lounge. We’ve never played there before, but our old stomping ground was Sullivan Hall—and before that, when it was Lion’s Den—so we’re excited to bring it back to Manhattan. I was born in the East Village, so I love getting back there.

L4LM: The Northeast is home for lespecial and you guys have cultivated a solid fan base in the region. What makes some of these cities and venues special to you?

LB: In the winter, we were mostly in the Southeast, with a few shows in Colorado earlier on, so it’s always nice to get back to our home turf in the Spring and play places like NYC, Boston, New Haven, Bridgeport, etc. We get to stretch a bit more, show people the new music we’ve been working on, and get extra weird because our fans there expect it. When you really stretch on something, say some freeform swing, certain people in say, Jupiter, FL, look at you weird. Not that that’s anything new for us.

L4LM: How long have you been doing regional tours like this?

LB: We’ve been playing together since we were kids and started hitting the road in 2011, but we really ramped up our touring over the past three to four years. We break them up by seasons, but it’s really just kind of perpetual, maybe a couple weeks off here and there. We have a joke, “how’s tour?”, we ask each other because it’s kind of never-ending. We love to joke around.

L4LM: Have the crowds steadily gotten bigger over the years, or can you remember a time and place stand out as a turning point?

LB: We blew up after the cheen memes. No, not really, it’s been more of a steady growth. We’ve been putting in leg work getting to new cities the past couple years, so it’s kind of staggered depending on where we are in the country. And there are a whole lot of places we haven’t been yet, so unless we really hit it big with that next new meme, we’ll keep trying to get to new places in the country and hopefully beyond in the near future.

L4LM: You’ve obviously seen a lot of bands come and go over the years. How does it feel to play a few shows alongside bands like Twiddle and Papadosio that have continued to flourish over the years?

LB: It’s great! We have a lot of respect for both of those bands. To achieve the kind of success they have, and continue to, by staying true to their own music and vision is super inspiring to me. We definitely hear about more bands on hiatus or breaking up in the “scene” than ever these days. And to musicians, it is very understandable. It takes a certain kind of magic, or some unseen universal force tugging you along, to be able to continue a band. Those shows will be a lot of fun, we’re looking forward to some unique sit-ins and collabs. And to get Billy [Brouse] from Papadosio his keyboard stands back. He lent them to us in Asheville and we’ve had ‘em for a while. Very sturdy.

L4LM: Your band has been playing shows and touring non-stop over the past few years. What makes this tour stand out to you? Why should fans be excited to come out this time around?

A: We’re constantly working on new music. While we’re playing on the road, and then in our time off, we’ve been getting together and writing and recording. People know that the best place for them to hear what we’ve been working on, what the next sound that we do is going to be, is at a live show. We feel we’re making our best music yet. We’re excited about it, so I think that’s reason enough for the fans to be also.


Check out theposter below for a list of upcoming lespecial tour dates. For more information and ticketing details, head to the band’s website.lespecial

The post EXCLUSIVE: lespecial’s Luke Bemand Talks New Music, Never-Ending Touring, Returning To Their Home Turf appeared first on L4LM.