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'ILYSB' hitmakers LANY back in Manila
Pop-rock band LANY first performed in Manila at the Wanderland Music Festival in March. They were just one of several international acts on the bill that evening, but the Filipino crowd certainly made Paul Klein, Les Priest and Jake Goss feel like they were the biggest rockstars of the festival.
“We weren’t the headliners at that festival, but it kind of felt like we were, you know?” Klein said at the press conference at the Holiday Inn on Friday, August 4.
The band is back in Manila for a series of mall shows upon the invitation of the Ayala Malls.
“We’ve played at some shows were there was like one person in the audience, so to come out and play for that crowd, and everyone knew the words, it was amazing,” he added.
Just before their set at Wanderland last March, I sat down with the band for an interview and it was then when they revealed how a song comes together.
“Normally, it’s the three of us sitting in a room," begins Klein. "I might have an idea or a chord progression. We write and record simultaneously. And normally, lyrics kind of come last. We take a little more time with those. And we build the track simultaneously, punch out melodies and try to figure out what it is. Restructure the song and live with it and fill it in with words.”
How do they know it’s done?
“Good question,” Goss said.
“Um, I guess it just goes by feeling,”Klein replied. “You listen to it. And you think, oh this is missing something, or it needs something here. That lifts the chorus. (Pauses) Yeah I don’t know…”
After releasing a few EPs, the band finally came out with their eponymous debut LP last June. LANY the album, the band said, is filled with the very best LANY songs.
“It’s kind of the foundation of 15 months of songwriting on and off the road,” Klein said at Friday’s presscon. “It wasn't just a collection of our EPs. This represents the very best of what LANY is.”
Although the band refused to answer personal questions (the host tried to ask for their romantic situations), all three displayed good-natured goofiness that felt sincere and endearing.
They gamely recited the Filipino translation of their hit song "ILYSB" for the cameras (“Mahal kita…sobra”), revealed each other’s personal hygiene rituals (“I shower three or four times a day. Is that bad?” Klein said. “I think all my great ideas happen in the shower”), and Goss and Priest even hugged each other when the host asked how they would calm and console all their diehard fans.
And speaking of diehard fans, they're all out in droves for this weekend's mall shows.
The Friday show in Glorietta started at 7pm, but people were already camped out in the venue before noon.
In March, fans stalked them at their hotel before Wanderland and professed their love for the band online.
“Those hilarious memes that are so over-the-top about being in love with what we do,” Klein said last March about the sweetest thing fans have done for the band. “Just the funny internet stuff that people say, I really think that’s hilarious. Some girl did the whole spelling out the 'Pre-order LANY on iTunes' on cereal like on the floor, and said, 'Oh I dropped my cereal.' It’s just so funny. I love that stuff. It actually takes a lot of time.”
“And a lot of thought and love,” Goss added.
“And they’re pretty funny and really clever,” continued Priest.
It’s not difficult to figure out exactly why LANY has captured Pinoy hearts. Listen to their music and it’s an uncomplicated combination of dance-y, dynamic beats and carefree, youthful words. It’s music you want to listen to when you’re feeling happy and upbeat and which can also work to pick you up when you’re feeling the opposite. It works on the daily commute and as the ideal background on the treadmill. It’s party-with-your-friends music as much as it’s hanging-out-alone-in-your-room-music, which you can’t really say for a lot of other artists.
So if you haven’t already, I’d suggest you catch them this weekend. There are two more shows to catch today, Sunday, Aug 6: 3pm at Market! Market! in Taguig and 7pm at TriNoMa in QC.
Paul John Caña is a writer and live music geek. Check out his blog manontheotherside.blogspot.com. Email him at pjcana@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter and Instagram @pauljohncana
