Lo-Pan Interview with Jesse Bartz: Living a Good Time Fast
Posted in Features on July 23rd, 2013 by JJ Koczan
This Saturday, Lo-Pan will take the stage as headliners at The Eye of the Stoned Goat 3 in Brooklyn, New York. Sharing the bill with the stalwart Ohio road dogs is a litany of heavy rockers worthy of repute, some labelmates on Small Stone, others up and comers playing with a similarly fuzzed, riff-minded style. All told, The Acheron plays host to one of the sickest lineups of the year on July 27, with Lo-Pan at the top alongside Gozu, Supermachine, Black Black Black, Borracho, Wizard Eye, Lord Fowl, Geezer and Wasted Theory, whose own drummer, Brendan Burns (interview here), is responsible for booking the fest.
The Stoned Goat gig comes as the latest in a series of righteous happenings for Lo-Pan,
whose considerable touring is beginning to pay off with — what else? — more touring. Making their way into Brooklyn as the final in a set of four dates with Gozu, Lo-Pan have been using July as a vehicle for long weekenders, first with Indianapolis-based rockers Devil to Pay, then a handful of shows including last weekend at StaVentfest in Pennsylvania with D.C.’s Borracho — also playing in Brooklyn — following a couple weeks off after spending the first half of June on tour with Torche and KENmode. All this is ostensibly to support a vinyl reissue through Small Stone of Lo-Pan‘s landmark 2009 sophomore outing, Sasquanaut, which also got a CD revisit in 2011 (review here), but really, it’s just Lo-Pan continuing to do what they do best, and that’s hand-deliver some of the finest fuzz being produced in the US, or anywhere else for that matter.
Since this is all going down even as the band continues to write and road test new material for a follow-up to 2011’s will-still-put-you-on-your-ass-two-years-later third album, Salvador (review here), it seemed to me a prime time to get on the phone with drummer Jesse Bartz (not for the first time) for a brief check-in about the band’s latest doings, how they see the effort and time they’ve put in starting to result in shows like those with Torche or with High on Fire last fall, the timing on when they’ll look to put the next record to tape, and much more. Bartz — joined in the band by guitarist Brian Fristoe, vocalist Jeff Martin and bassist Scott Thompson — was forthcoming and realistic as ever about the work Lo-Pan has done to this point and the work they still have ahead of them.
So, with The Eye of the Stoned Goat 3 this weekend, a tour with Weedeater next month, the Sasquanaut vinyl out now and their focus geared toward a European tour in support of their next album in 2014, you’ll find my quick Q&A with Jesse Bartz after the jump.
Please enjoy:
