 | Interviewer: Melaine Schweighardt LOYAL UNTIL DEATH started in 2012 by Nik, Greg and Matt (their old drummer). They were all in the band A NEW BELIEF together and basically wanted to go in a different direction musically and lyrically. They recruited Damon and Steve, who were in SOCIETYS FAULT at the time., they parted ways with Matt and brought in Lance and basically "beat, hammered and shaped the sound that we have today.” South Florida’s hardcore at its best has a loyal following and it’s well deserved. I have seen 40-year-old men start a circle pit and drag the kids in. This is the band that will get you on your feet. Like them on Facebook, find them on ReverbNation and keep your eye out for them. |
| MMK - What type of band are you Greg Lebeau - Hardcore. MMK - Describe your sound and your style. GL - Our sound is heavily influenced by a lot of the old NYHC bands. | |
MMK - Who is coming up with the music and the lyrics?
GL - Nik and I write the lyrics, and Lance and Nik write the music.
NR - Yea, that’s pretty much how it goes. It’s crazy. Lance and I can be in the warehouse for 5 minutes and write a song. We write very well together. I mean, we literally wrote 8 songs for the new record in like 2 weeks.
MMK - When you compose a song where do you get your ideas from and how does a song evolve?
GL - The ideas for lyrics come from all the fucked up shit going on in the world and all the assholes in it. The songs evolve from just jamming in the warehouse.
NR - I write the music in one of 2 ways. I either come up with some riffs at my house using a drum machine and just piece it together, then I email it to Lance and he writes his own drums to it and we iron it out at the warehouse together, or I come up with a riff at the warehouse while we are practicing and we see if we can write off of it. We always record it with our phones and if we can’t write from that riff, it will usually get placed into another song. Those 2 processes have been working well for us so far.
MMK - What tracks do you guys most enjoy performing live and why?
GL - Personally I like performing “Can’t Stop“, the best one cause it kicks the show off.
NR - I like them all.
MMK - Anything new in the works?
GL - Nik and Lance are ALWAYS writing new music!
NR - Well, we have 3 new songs that we recorded last October. 2 of them got put on a killer compilation that was put out on Eulogy Recordings, and 1 of them is going to be on a compilation being put out on Old School Cartel Records, that is going to be available for free downloads. It’s being released for S.E. Asian kids that are heavily into hardcore and punk, but can’t afford to buy the music. Besides that, I have been writing a lot lately. Pretty much since Lance joined the band last April or so. We have more than enough material for a new record that we will be putting out this summer. It’s going to be the hardest, heaviest shit that LOYAL UNTIL DEATH has put out yet.
MMK - How do you promote your band and shows?
NR - I do most of the promoting. Mostly through social media like Facebook. We pass out fliers when they are available.
MMK - What advice would you give to fellow bands?
GL - To just love what you’re doing, write music that you love, not what other people want to hear.
NR - Yea. Just play what you love and want to hear.
MMK - When did you start playing / singing and writing music?
GL - Just started doing vocals about 5 or so years ago when I joined Nik’s last band A NEW BELIEF, but Nik and I have been jamming since the early 90’s with him playing drums or guitar and me playing bass or guitar. I have had a love for music for as long as I can remember.
NR - I pretty much picked up a guitar 27 years ago and haven’t put it down yet. Started out by learning Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden songs, then just started to write my own music. Created my style and here we are
MMK - Who are your musical and non-musical influences?
GL - My musical influences have been the same for 20 plus years, Agnostic Front, Madball, Biohazard, Black Sabbath, Sick of it All, etc. As far as non-musical, my biggest influence has to be my sister Nicole who got me into Hardcore and Punk at about age 10.
NR - Pretty much the same bands. Sabbath, Crowbar, AF, Judge, Strife, Entombed, Maiden, SOIA, Biohazard. That’s probably why it’s so easy for us to write lyrics and music together. We all have basically the same influences as far as bands are concerned. And I think that really helped to create our sound.
MMK - Who do you consider the most influential band / person that inspired you to become musicians?
GL - Again my sister Nicole, if it wasn’t for her, I never would have gotten into this Hardcore thing I love. And seeing Roger Miret and AF when they were young was fuckin sick!
NR - For me, it has to be Black Sabbath. Definitely the most influential band in my life.
MMK - What has been your best Rock Star moment so far (with this group or previously)?
GL - I’ll let you know when it happens!
NR - Haha. Exactly!!! Or maybe when we actually got a free bar tab at Area 7 one time. That made me feel like a rock star.
MMK - You’re putting together your headlining tour, what 5 bands are playing with you and what venue are you playing at?
GL - Agnostic Front, Madball, Sick of it All, Biohazrd, Terror, and since this is hypothetical it’s got to be CBGB’s.
NR - Crowbar, Biohazard, Agnostic Front, Strife, Judge. Any festival in Europe!
MMK - Do you have any other interests besides music?
GL - My other interest besides music is my daughter Haley who takes up all my time.
NR - My other interests are working out, cooking, eating, and spending time with my fiancée and my cats.
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