We sat down with a friend and fan favourite of Overtone a couple of weeks back, the mighty LessDMV, just before the launch of their brand new album. Join us as we chat about it, their future plans and the community they’ve built!
P.S sadly both my audio and video wasn’t great so you may have to deal with this exclusively written interview, hence why it took a while!
So about an hour before this, I’d just sat down and reacted to your latest single. Absolutely loved it!
Lovely, man! It was such a pain in the ass to shoot that one, it’s a crazy story. But we did the very best that we could and we are so happy with it! And the guy that produced the record who was doing all of the arrangements, Oscar, is my brothers best friend since a long time ago, said it was the best LDMV video that we’ve ever done. I just really love it! It’s very nice to see that you like it too.
It seemed a little heavier than some of the solo tracks we’ve had. Is that more like what we’ll get on the album or is it a mixed bag?
That’s a great question! I think that one of the things for LDMV is that we really do like to be versatile, we like to just do whatever the hell we feel like to that specific song. From the very beginning to the very end of the record it’s a journey through some sweet melodic, romantic moments into some of the heaviest bars that I’ve ever written. ‘In the Dark’ is the sort of track that summarises the LDMV journey throughout the decade. For when it comes to the record you’re really gonna get such different things, just like Epitaph one. The album is dropping in 13 days (at the time of recording) and I cannot fucking wait to see what you guys think! It’s very exciting, you’re gonna get everything, man!
It’s going to be very very sweet because there are slower songs that are pretty dark as well. You’ve got ‘Summer Rain’ that is very Nordic. Then some is more atmospheric, like ‘Insanity’. I think it’s a very atmospheric record. You’re gonna get these in-between tracks that enrich the experience so it’s a whole journey. We’re very very happy about it.
What’s the writing process like for you guys? Do you work on stuff together or individual?
It’s very crazy and organic how all of this project has come to life. At the very beginning me and my brother were playing together in a previous band and I had this overwhelming feeling like everyone around me had a plan B. Different kinds of priorities etc. So I organically started doing it as a solo project, but over the last couple of years my brother has jumped full time into this. I couldn’t be happier about it, we are doing pretty good things together! W
hen it comes to the writing process, all these songs that I’ve done is something that I just grab my guitar and mess around and come up with these things. I show him and am like ‘what do you think?’. He’s known me a pretty long time…
Charles: since forever!
Exactly! But he studied philosophy, and was in the music university. We collaborate quite a lot when it comes to the artwork, for example. When it comes to the first ideas we have with this conceptual world, that is when he jumps more and has helped so much to enrich this part. It’s just about letting each other do the best the other can do!
Lacrimas is pretty active as well, is it difficult to separate the two in terms of writing?
That’s a very interesting one! At the very beginning it was hard to come up with my own things and separate them both. In LDMV it’s full on, there’s nothing watered down, I just do whatever the hell I want to do in that moment, whatever that comes. When it comes to Lacrimas there is so much more involved in that. What I try to do with Lacrimas is I try not to influence it too much for it to end up being LDMV. It just wouldn’t make sense! And of course art is a huge part of Lacrimas so Oliver creates these instrumental parts and ideas. I feel like I’m trying to help him to achieve his visions beyond the boundaries he had before. People might be kinda surprised that he wants to try a lot of different things. I was recording a song a couple of a days ago and he was filming through the vocal booth and he was like ‘wow, that sounds pretty new!’. It’s morphing into something really crazy. But it’s very important for me to keep the essence of what Lacrimas is. So in LDMV it’s just us. I’m going to utterly obsess over three seconds and stuff like that. While in Lacrimas it’s a very different process. I have learnt to switch between them both!
I imagine you have quite the busy year in terms of shows?
Yeah! What we have been doing for a couple of years, it has literally just… it has all gotten so surreal and crazy. We have barely got time for other things. Like just yesterday we ended up going out just to get eggs, and ended up coming back to the house at 1am. Sometimes you just need to break things, to break that schedule and just live in the moment. We improvised our whole day!
It’s so busy man. We do have The Sanctuary, which is coming on the 31st of May. We’re gonna be playing this very special acoustic show that we play once a year. My best friend is gonna be there, it’s a very intimate thing. I’ve been thinking the last couple of days, with LDMV at this point I don’t care if it’s a band or musical project, I just see it as close friends internationally, a family almost making something. Whether it’s creating or spending times and moments together that we enjoy. We fly out to Germany in a couple of days to start getting ready for the gig. After that we do want to make a little tour but schedule wise it’s so hard to make anything work! So honestly I’m trying to look forward, I know the plan for next month and overall what I want, but I need to be realistic and know at which point I have time and I’m not going to kill myself!
You touched on it a little bit about the family you’ve gotten but it feels like it’s the same with the fans, you’ve built this incredible community too!
It’s been something so special! The other day I was streaming and someone happened to mention that they had been with me like a family. If you don’t know too much about the history of all of this I left home a long time ago; I’ve been working on this the longest time. That took me to get so far away from the people that I know. I think that’s a feeling everyone can understand at some point. You’re in an unknown environment just trying to make that one dream come true. Now, thanks to everybody, the community, I have been able to reconnect more with my brother. We lead all of these great things. When I am left with nothing, these people around the world and online that believe in what I do and investing themselves into this story we have built together, they turn into such an important part of my life.
Some people don’t get it. They are constantly telling me ‘you have too much content with your people’, ‘how is it possible you’re spending so much time streaming or answering messages’. For me I feel so grateful to have people being interested in what I do, to have a part of their hearts with me. I think that they have felt that. I think people know that. Now that they know my brother more and that we are doing it alone with a couple of friends, I think it’s created a vibe that works. I think it’s created something beautiful and I’m very happy to have it in my life.
Even I’ve seen it, seeing the same names popping up on the comments of the reactions or reviews… it’s a really supportive environment!
It is, man! I think that we talk very often about how many people around our community are sometimes uncomfortable going out socially or certain things. But through this project they have gotten more comfortable to go out of their comfort zone. The right amount of pushing somebody to discover new things… it’s wonderful!
Do you have a dream tour lineup you’d want to be part of?
For me personally, I’d love to do a tour with Avenged Sevenfold, with Slipknot! But let’s see what happens! Right now we are just so happy with everything that’s going on. I don’t overly obsess about the results. I do have my plans and my ambitions but one of the most important things in my life is to spend time with people who listen to what I do, and with my brother and my family!