Hosannas [rank: 1818] based on users subscribed

Hosannas are brothers Brandon and Richard Laws from Portland, Oregon. They are a refreshing swirl of keyboards, guitar and strikingly beautiful male harmonies. They will surprise you.

[ira]

Bandega Interview with Richard Laws of Hosannas (February 2011)

People from Indiana have 37 words for pizza.

Q: Talk about recording a live version of "King Crow" in a cave. Please.
A: I've been developing an obsession with resonant acoustic spaces. We recorded quite a few songs in that cave with the nice folks at Into The Woods. The plan was to sneak into this enormous lava tube in the dead of night and play music and also to have these huge torches we made. "King Crow" was the only one we did a cappella. The song originally had some guitar and banjo and synths and whatnot, but we decided to try and sing it with just vocals so we could take full advantage of the sound of the cave. I was actually really nervous about that one because I had never been inside the cave before, and I knew that if the acoustics weren't good it would totally ruin it for me. The sound inside was incredible though, so the experience for me was a great success.

Q: How did the barefoot pedal manipulation come about (Can we use the acronym BPM)? We noticed that at your New Parish show in Oakland, CA. It was pretty great.
A: Brandon has been playing synthesizer with his feet for almost two years now, and yes, I think BPM is an appropriate acronym to describe this; and yes, it is pretty great. He wears shoes during normal life, but takes them off during performances because it is easier to play that way. Playing bass lines with your feet while you play guitar is not an easy task. The synthesizer is a Moog Taurus II, and was first produced in 1979.

Q: How have your shows changed over your incredible 2010 voyage of touring? Is your perspective on performing live different now?
A: Yeah, it has been a pretty long road, but we love to play. We are reworking the way that we perform now. We realized that if we are going to be playing so much, we had better try to make our shit rule pretty hard. So I think that you can expect some new and interesting things from us in the future.

Q: Describe the most memorable live show you've played.
A: We have played so many unforgettable shows. It is insane. One time in Indiana we played this weird mini-music festival inside a coffee shop. It went on for maybe 8 or 9 hours. If I were to make a rash generalization about people from Indiana it would be that they are frequently drunk, and that was certainly the case here. There were people doing whip-its like it was no big deal, and there was tons of inappropriate nudity. In particular one big fat guy was naked throughout the second half of the show, doing frequent hand-stands and speaking his own bizarre dialect where every word was just a description of pizza. The weirdest part was that the coffee shop itself seemed to have no affiliation with anything that was going on. There was only one employee, and the poor guy had to work until maybe 5 in the morning. It was like a gang of crazy party dudes had somehow conquered the coffee shop and it was their own sovereign city state now, so they were going to do whip-its naked until their minds were destroyed. It was incredible. One of the best.

Q: What venue do you consider to be your "home", where you feel most comfortable, with the crowd and the place itself?
A: Mississippi Studios in Portland. They are located right in between Brandon's house and mine. and our houses are only a mile apart. Also, they have really great sound.

Q: Describe the most enjoyable show you've ever experienced as a fan.
A: Brandon and I went to see Dungen play last year and it was crazy good. I had this idea that they must be playing like Led Zeppelin played when they were at their most phenomenal. Except i like the music more. They are destroyers. It is incredible to see a rock band that can play with that level of fluidity.

Q: You guys believe strongly in playing at least some of your shows at all-ages venues. What's the story behind that?
A: All-ages shows are great because they include young people, and young people have enthusiasm. In particular, they are enthusiastic about music. Additionally, we have been trying to increase the number of free shows that we play. We want our shows to be the kind of thing that we would want to go to. Since Brandon and I are both very poor, we have been turning down shows in Portland that charge money to get in. Unfortunately, we can't really do this on tour though because that would be insane.

Show Reviews for Hosannas

Date & Venue	Reviewed by
Dec 4, 2010 - New Parish	ira

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