*With the rise of interest in hardcore, it isn’t everyday that you hear a group of kids call their music “rock”. Tell us about your style, your influence, etc.
Lately we’ve been trying to let a lot of different styles of music influence our songs. We’ve been blending jazz, blues, Latin, and rock into new songs that we’ve been working on.

*How has the reaction been to your band over the last year?
I think we’ve had a really good reaction. I think that with the two new songs, “Scars and Sarcastic Remarks” and “The Street”, we’ve gained a lot more listeners. I feel like people have reacted well towards us so far and hope they continue to do so with the new songs we’ve been writing.

*Starting college has had adverse affects on many bands; has college affected The Northwood?
College has affected us a little. Its difficult to come back and forth from college to go to band practice but we all do it. We love making music and we’re willing to work around each other’s schedules to make it work.

*There are tons of bands out there trying to do what you guys are doing, so what’s going to make you guys stand out from everyone else?
I think that incorporating jazz, blues, and Latin into our songs will help set us apart from everyone else. There are so many bands out there now, we really want to use blend different genres to create a unique sound.

*You guys are currently unsigned, are there any plans to change that? If so, any idea where you want to go with that?
Right now we definitely have the goal of getting signed. We’re working on getting press kits out to a number of labels, so we definitely want to take it to that level.

*Where did you guys record the You Are Beautiful EP? Any plans for a full length any time soon?
We recorded the You Are Beautiful EP at Houndstooth Studios in Manchester, NH. We recorded with a guy named Casey Dowdell who was awesome to work with. We just finished recording two new songs “Scars and Sarcastic Remarks” and “The Street” at Nada Studios in New York. As of right now we don’t have any plans for a full length but have been writing a lot of new material, so keep an eye out for that in the near future.

*Based on your pictures it looks like you guys have a lot of fun. How does this affect the show?
We love playing shows! We all have a great time and we feel like that makes the show better for everyone. The more fun we have, the better we’re going to play. I think that having fun at shows, for us, definitely makes for a really good show.

The Northwood is:

Mike: guitar
Matt: keyboards/vocals
Billy: drums
Andy: guitar/vocals
Greg: bass/vocals

You can check the Northwood out on their home page, myspace, and on Purevolume.

-Lalz

*Give us the story about the name of your band.
Take sex appeal, flashy lights, and life experience and that’s where the name “The Neon Hookers” came from.

*You guys are recording your EP “Calling All Creeps!” at Outpost. Tell us a little about that.
We spent around 10 hours at The Outpost recording with James Siegel (Blood For Blood, The Suicide File, Blacklisted). It was an amazing experience. James Siegel is one of the best in the business. The EP sounds incredible.

*After the EP goes out, do you plan on touring at all?
We plan on doing shows anywhere, and everywhere we can. Hopefully, in May we can head down the East Coast.

*What can you tell us about Cabal Records?
Cabal Records is great. It’s a small indie label run out of Central Florida. Our label mates Bateman have an EP coming out in early February. Be on the look out for that.

*A lot of the bands you play with have the tough guy air that you guys are trying to stay away from. Why are you going about it that way, and what can you tell us about your style of music and its influences?
We love hardcore. Every kind of hardcore. Its awesome that you can have bands like Righteous Jams and Throwdown play the same show. That’s what hardcore is all about. The reason we try to stay away from that is because of the sound. We aren’t tough kids; we don’t act like tough kids. Why should we play tough music? If I see a band full of teenagers yelling about fighting and “keeping the scene violent”, I don’t think they are tough, I think they are a joke. We want a more Rock N’ Roll, Punk Hardcore sound. As a vocalist, my influence is life. Plain and simple. Musically, we take anything from Journey and AC/DC, to Bars, and Hatebreed. We have a sound that can no one can really put a finger on, and we love it, and that’s the sound we want.

*Favorite bands to play with and favorite places to play with?
Sharing the stage with our friends is amazing. When we can play a show with On Broken Wings, In Remembrance, The Confrontation and Death Before Dishonor it’s great. They are our friends and the feeling can’t be matched. We love the Tigers Den. What Kris, Colin, and Ronin have done is amazing. They built a scene back on the South Shore. Every Friday night there is a show. All shows are all ages, all shows start a 7 PM. You can’t beat it. If you’re not there on a Friday night, then you’re a nobody.

*What are the goals of the band for the future?
What any bands goal is. To get big, tour, and be rockstars. Anyone who tells you differently is a liar. I hate working construction. Bill hates Shaws. Sean hates Blockbuster. Jack hates his stupid Jewish Restaurant, and Brian already hates being unemployed. Touring, making CDs, and having a good time.

*You guys haven’t been a band very long. How has the response been to your music?
Our first show we played with Black My Heart, In Remembrance, and Ruining Tomorrow. Our reaction was alright. But every show after has been amazing. The last show we played was on Jan 6th with Death Before Dishonor, The Confrontation, and Hammer Bros and our reaction was amazing. Non-stop movement. No fights. Just good times.

*Here’s the open ended. Tell us anything you want us to know!
Basically, the EP comes out in March. No one will be disappointed. Check out Cabal Records (www.cabalrecords.com). Check out www.theneonhookers.com for shows and our Myspace The Neon Hookers

Thanks to Ian for taking the time out to do this interview!

-Lalz

Lannen Fall is a rock band from Boston, Mass. Their singer and guitarist, Jay Tagg, took some time out of his day to answer some questions about the band and their music. His personal disclaimer:

“These questions are going to be only my answers and do not reflect all of Lannen Fall. Because its Saturday morning after a late show last night with a little bit of partying and the other 75% of Lannen Fall is probably sleeping/hung over or a good mix of both. .”

*Okay, when did Lannen Fall form as a band?
Lannen Fall started in late May of 2005. Ryan, Matt and I had played in a previous band together and felt that we had a good musical chemistry so we thought it would be cool to start a new project with a sound that had a good mix of our influences. Also we decided that it was going to be a lot more serious than anything any of us had done previously.

*What is the story behind the name?
Our friend Mike Lannen died; it’s a tribute to him.
It’s a street name in Georgia.
Or I got to a party late and Matt, Ryan and our friend Josh had it written down on a napkin and said here’s our band name, and I said, “cool.”

*I know you guys were having a hard time finding a bassist to suit the needs of the band. Are you guys still a three piece or have you found your fourth member?
We are officially a full 4-piece band now. We just added Horse (Dave Horsman) on bass. We were working and trying out a few bassists and Horse ended up being the best fit. He is an amazing guy and a talented bassist; definitely brings a lot to the table.

*What do you guys plan on doing in the future? What do you hope to accomplish as a group?
We are going into the studio this weekend to mix and master our 3 song demo. We’re getting it printed up to pass out at shows. We’re planning on writing the rest of our EP in the next few months and in that time we’re still going to be playing 2+ shows a week and doing a 10 day mini tour.

We’ve [currently] got a 3-song demo that we recorded with Taylor Barefoot and Steve Foote from Big D. We’re going to use that for a while and finish writing the EP. Then around April we still start recording and have it ready by the summer.

Our goals for this year… I think we’d like to find an indie label to put our EP out for us (If we can find someone who wants to put it out, we’d be interested. If not we are planning on self-releasing it) and we’re planning a 1-2 month tour just to get our name out as much and as far as we can. I think that’s pretty much our mission. Get a ton of new fans, play a ton of shows and have a good time doing it…

*What is it about Lannen Fall that will set you apart from everyone else?
We have a very DIY attitude towards it all. Getting signed isn’t the most important thing to us right now. We want to get some touring under our belt first that way when we do start looking at labels we’ll have a little more bargaining power.

*What are the bands major influences?
Personally for me, Butch Walker. He’s a great mix of rock, passion and balls all in one. The guy can rip on guitar, he has an amazing voice, and he makes sure every single person in the audience knows he is there. I know Ryan was influenced a lot by Jim Adkins of Jimmy Eat World and I believe Matt grew up listening to Blink 182 and Travis Barker. Band wise, Jimmy Eat World, Hey Mercedes, Northstar, Marvelous 3, At the Drive in, and all the great local bands we have the pleasure of playing with on a regular basis.

*It’s really cool that the bands you play with influence you. Who are your favorite bands to play with?
A Hero Next Door, A Loss For Words, Annafair, Brand New Disaster, The Cadence, Daphne Loves Derby, Endway, The Fells, Francine, I Am The Pilot, Just Surrender, Letterday, Lucia Lie, Lucky Caderra, Lucy Grace, Medicated Kisses, The Midnight Renewal, My American Heart, The Northwood, On The Surface, Paramore, Sherwood, Signal The Escape, The Receiving End of Sirens, Therefore I Am, This Providence, Twelve.o.One, Vanna, and Whistler.

*Tell everyone a little bit about you as a front man.
Being a front man is weird for me. I was never a frontman, I’m slowly learning how to be one. If that makes sense. I can be pretty self-conscious at times, and I feed off the crowd. If the crowd is loud and crazy and singing along and into it, I’m stoked and I get a confidence boost. If we’re playing for people who don’t know us I tend to be a bit reserved and the problem with that is you want to impress them so they are eventually fans but its tough when your playing shy guy. Thankfully Ryan and Horse like to run around all over the place so that makes up for it…

*Where are your favorite venues to play?
My personal favorite, For the ALL AGES thing I’d say the ICC in Allston, or the Sons of Italy in Weymouth. For the 18+ crowd I’d say Scorz in Nashua, NH. Anytime we play there it just turns into one big party.

*As a closer, are there any shows you want to inform us of?
On February 9th we will be playing at Northeastern University opening up for the Receiving end of Sirens. The show should be pretty amazing. We have a show list on our myspace page so check that out as well. Lots of good stuff coming up over the next few months.

Thanks a lot to Jay of Lannen Fall for taking the time to do this interview. Be sure to check them out live and on their Myspace.

-Lalz