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We recently introduced you to the great punchy alternative rock sounds of Lever from Chicago. Now we would like to bring you our interview with this rising band so you can get to know them better.

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Music Junkie Press: Thank you so much for taking the time out to talk with us here at Music Junkie Press. We are loving the new single, Who Cares. Can youtell us more about the song?

Jeff: Thanks! Well, I came up with the guitar riff probably a couple of years ago or so, and kept it in my back pocket. I showed it to Mike one day at practice and we just started working on the structure of the song. It was actually one of the first songs that we wrote with Jon when he first joined in early 2014. Out of nowhere he just started singing, “The clocks are ticking in my mind, I wish that I could turn back time”. The song pretty much came together right away as soon as we all jammed it out a few times.

Music Junkie Press: You guys are truly bringing back our love of analog withyour upcoming new release, Hover Bored. Can you share with everyone where andhow you recorded this album?

Jeff: We recorded it at Treehouse Records in Chicago, IL. It’s a professional analog recording studio. I was listening to the LumberJerks “First Three E.P.” and I absolutely loved the sound of it. It had such a real and raw sound that I’ve always imagined for Lever. So, I found out where they recorded it and was actually referred to Treehouse by Dan LaMantia, the lead singer of the LumberJerks. Our friends Delta 88 recorded their album there as well, so we knew that Treehouse was the place to go. We basically recorded all of the tracks live with maybe a couple of guitar overdubs. All of the guitar solos were done live as well. So, if the take was going well and we messed up the solo, we’d have to do the whole song again. The vocals were overdubbed last. We didn’t use a click track either. We wanted it to sound as real and honest as possible. We basically wanted to capture our live sound with this album. Barrett Guzaldo was the recording engineer and he was great and super easy to work with. Barrett had a very similar mindset as us, which made the process that much smoother. They even have the same model tape machine Nirvana used for In Utero, which was pretty crazy. The album took about 3 or 4 days to finish, and we couldn’t be happier with how the album turned out.

Music Junkie Press: Do you have a release date for the new album?

Jeff: Most likely sometime in May. We don’t have an exact release date just yet. Soon though.

Music Junkie Press: You definitely bring a great punk edge to your alternativerock, whom might be some of the bands that most influenced you and your sound?

Jeff: Thanks. We all collectively have different influences, which makes our sound pretty bipolar sometimes. We like that though. Some influences would have to be Nirvana, Silverchair, Wavves,The Vines, White Stripes, Alice in Chains, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Smashing Pumpkins, Misfits, Sex Pistols, Snake Apartment and The Beatles. Our influences could go on and on though.

Music Junkie Press: We understand that you have been working on new music videos, can you tell us about what is in store for all of us?

Ariel: As per usual, we’re very hands on with any aspect of the band. We’ve got one video that’s going to be very do-it-ourselves with some friends. Let’s just say there’s going to be newspaper involved in this first video. Like, a ton of it.

Otherwise, the other video we’re working on is with John Wesley Norton, who has directed several films including Doctor Spine. John works with a lot of alien, horror genre films, which will be perfect for Nickels & Dimes because that song gets pretty out there. Even with the two videos in the works at the moment, we have our eyes set on making two more music videos, one of which will include Lucky.

Music Junkie Press: You have a lot of upcoming shows in Illinois, do you have any plans for touring out West soon?

Jon: It is definitely our hope to make it out West this year. There’s a few things that must be taken into consideration, and it needs to be sorted out, but we’d love to come out that way this summer.

Music Junkie Press: If you could put together your dream lineup, what otherthree bands would you like to tour with?

Jeff: Ume, Speedy Ortiz, and Wavves
Ariel: Slaves, Fidlar, and TigerCub
Jon: Brian Jonestown Massacre, Wolf Alice, and Alvvays.
Mike: Smashing Pumpkins, Foo Fighters, and Jack White

Music Junkie Press: If we could peak into your Ipod, what artist or song mightbe most surprising to find in there?

Jon: The Drifters
Mike: Creed
Ariel: MF Doom
Jeff: Kriss Kross

Music Junkie Press: We could all use some advice, if you could go back to your 14 year old self, what advice would you want to give to yourself?

Jon: Buy a telecaster.
Jeff: Learn to change guitar strings the right way you amateur.

Music Junkie Press: With the celebration of Record Store Day, what would you say is your favorite vinyl you own?

Jeff: Nirvana “Bleach”
Jon: The Beatles “Live at the Hollywood Bowl”
Ariel: Led Zeppelin “IV”
Mike Queens of the Stone Age “Songs for the Deaf”

Music Junkie Press: With so many changes in the music scene and a push to geteveryone back out and enjoy LIVE music, what can you tell people is something they can look forward to when catching Lever perform live?

Ariel: People can look forward to an honest performance. We don’t practice rolling around on stage, or running into each other, or jumping around. There’s no choreography; when we play, we’re playing earnestly, passionately and the most key factor of the elements: all of us are having fun on stage. Every show is spontaneous and different, but the high energy remains the same every show. We’re also very engaging. If you’re moving around and having fun, we’ll be joining in the chaos. If you somehow manage to be sitting by us while we play,
we’ll sit down with you too. My favorite idea of us live is the definition of a lever: to induce or compel a force upon something else. I feel like our performance lives up to that definition.

Music Junkie Press: Lastly, is there anything else you would like to share withour audience and your fans?

Jon: We have a healthy list of upcoming shows, an album on the way, and some interesting opportunities are on the horizon. For right now, thank you friends who have taken a liking to us, who have been coming to shows and who have been supporting our will to be weird.

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Check out their new single, Who Cares which is off their upcoming full length album, Hover Bored:

Their new album, Hover Bored was recorded at Treehouse Records by engineer Barrett Guzaldo in Chicago, IL. The album brings back our true love of analog as it Treehouse Records is a professional analog recording facility. ‘The tape machine used was the same model used for the Nirvana masterpiece In Utero. Most of the album was done live with vocal overdubs, and a few guitar overdubs. Even most of the solos were done live.’

Check out their upcoming shows and make sure to visit their social media sites to stay up to date on their latest news.