Lit Is Finding Their Place In The Sun

By Therese McKeon

I knew their music couldn't be restricted to any one genre. I knew their lookand attitude was all "Vegas, Baby!". But when I agreed to interview Lit'sguitarist, Jeremy Popoff, I didn't know that it would be so entertaining!

It all started when I first met Jeremy and A.Jay Popoff on March 12, 1999.Lit was opening for Silverchair in Philadelphia at The Trocadero Theatreand I was there to photograph Silverchair. Having missed Lit's entire set(blame it on the Delaware Water Gap - hey, it sounds like a good reasonanyway!), I had no idea what the band looked like. When I came upontwo tattoo friendly looking guys with gelled hair and rather polished attire Iknew I was on to something. It wasn't until Jeremy turned around to reveala braided goatee which was nearly a foot long (that's a good 30.5 some oddcentimeters to all you metric folks - I was a Math minor in college, very,very *minor*) that I realized - ah, ha! this must be at least two of those fourCalifornia, Cadillac loving, dice throwing, Lit men. Indeed.

And so my Lit journey began. I was able to finally see them at NYCKROCK's "Low Dough" show at Tramps and then again (with photo passin tow) at WLIR's "April Fool's Ball" in Plainview, NY. I have to say thatthe now annual WLIR event was held at a new *killer* of a club called TheVanderbilt (ever have a private party room/box/balcony at a rock concert?!- yeah, me neither, but damn it looked like it would be fun!). Lit didn't takethe stage until 12:45AM but they played like there was no tomorrow (eventhough it was already tomorrow). They ripped that crowd up and lit them up(cliche alarm!). You know how when you haven't heard a band's album yetand you don't know the words to the songs and you get annoyed and feellike a dork because you can't sing along? Well, Lit is one of those OTHERbands where you feel like you already know all the music and you want todance and jump around. Yes, they're THAT GOOD! <-- I am not eventaking bribes for this either, can't you believe it?! =o) Enough of myblathering.

I had the opportunity to catch up with Jeremy via telephone from Cleveland,Ohio on one of Lit's rare days off. He was a little sleepy, a lot giddy, andsomewhat talkative as rock stars go.

JNBC: First off, why don't you tell me about you and your brother and howthis whole thing started. I understand it's been nine years?

Jeremy: Yeah. Well, the four of us, we knew each other from theneighborhood. We grew up in the same area of Orange County and we alljust kind of knew each other. And then the whole band thing was organic -it just kind of happened. We were all into the same kind of music and we allplayed instruments and thought it would be cool to be in a rock band.

JNBC: Get all the chicks... feed all of you're confessed weaknessesperhaps? <laughter>

Jeremy: Sure. <laughter>

JNBC: Tell me about the Vegas thing. When did that happen? Did you growup with a Vegas influence?

Jeremy: Well, when we grew up… our grandfather had a house inLaughlin. It's kind of like a mini Vegas right on the river. And when we werekids we'd go with our parents. And you weren't allowed to step foot in thecasino. It was kind of like "forbidden territory" as kids and we'd be stuck inthe arcades. So I think there was a fascination early on - you know like -we were so "not allowed to be there". When we were old enough to go itjust… I don't know, the four of us, we just felt this connection with thatwhole vibe - the whole Vegas lifestyle. Especially the whole 1960s Vegas -the "Rat Pack", and all the big lounge shows and stuff. We're kind of into thewhole scene.

JNBC: Yeah, downtown with all the old neon signs. Any part of Vegasthat's your favorite? Any casino that's your favorite?

Jeremy: I like Binion's Horseshoe a lot for gambling. It's got that old schoolgambler's hall kind of vibe - there's no Disneyland "Pirates of the Caribbean"crap going on. And on the Strip, there's a lot of really nice places but it's alittle touristy. I like to stay there cause it's nice though.

JNBC: Have you guys played Vegas?

Jeremy: Yeah, we've played there a couple of times. We were there acouple weeks ago to do a radio show there. It was awesome. We playedthere a couple of months ago with our friends Zebrahead.

JNBC: Really? Cool band. Okay, so you have a Cadillac now. What wasyour first car?

Jeremy: My first car was a 1978 Toyota Celica. It was a hand me downand I drove the fuck out of it.

JNBC: So when did you start getting into Cadillacs?

Jeremy: Probably about five or six years ago. We kind of all had differentcars. I had a couple of trucks or whatever. I used to get pulled over all thetime. I drove kind of crazy and I thought maybe if I got into something moreof like a boat car - that then I'd be a little safer on the road. <laughter> Andthen about the same time I started really getting into Vegas. I'm also a bigantique collector. Not antiques in what most people consider antiques. Icollect all 1970's furniture and stuff like that.

JNBC: Wow!

Jeremy: It kind of ties in together, you know? <laughter>

JNBC: Yeah!

JNBC: So… you have a new album "A Place In The Sun" and you signedwith RCA. Were you guys romanced by different labels for a while?

Jeremy: Yeah, we'd been talking to them for a few of months and doing theprivate showcases and all that.

JNBC: Really?

Jeremy: Which, by the way, is not a fun game to play - at least for us'cause we had been there before. This is our second album and we'd kind ofbeen through the whole thing. A lot of bands really get into the whole "buzz"bidding war thing. But for us, we were really just trying to find the right placefor us. Trying to find the right people that we genuinely got good vibes from.RCA stepped up and we felt some great things from them and so far sogood. It's kicking ass.

JNBC: So you mentioned a first album. When did you guys record "A PlaceIn The Sun"? Is this a re-release of old material or a new recording?

Jeremy: No, it's all brand new material. All recorded in October andNovember.

JNBC: I understand you have your own warehouse?

Jeremy: Yeah, we have a thousand square foot warehouse in Anaheimwhere it's like our studio. It's all pimped out with couches. Cool shit in there.It's kind of where we hang out. We have parties there. We write songs andwe practice there.

JNBC: When did you acquire that?

Jeremy: A few years back. We got tired of the whole rehearsal hallsituation - tearing our gear down and paying by the hour. So we thought it'dbe cool if we had our own place.

JNBC: Interesting.

Jeremy: But they don't allow bands in there, you know. So we said we hada musical instrument repair company. <laughter>

Jeremy: So that they wouldn't say anything about us lugging our stuff backand forth.

JNBC: <laughter> Oh, no. I better not publish that, huh? They'll come findyou out! "Lit Undercover"

Jeremy: <laughter> Well, they don't know where it is!

JNBC: Okay, so enough of the undercover stuff. Let's talk about yoursound. This album has a whole mixed bag in terms of sound. I know it'sbeen beaten to death already with you guys just taking off. But to what doyou attribute your variations in sound? I hear some almost punk stuff inthere, some old 50's influence, alternative, and I hear heavier stuff. How doyou categorize yourself?

Jeremy: We don't like to. I mean, it's categorized as alternative in a lot ofplaces. It depends on what record store you go into or what trade magyou're looking through. But for us, we just consider ourselves a rock band.We have so many different influences. We're all in our mid-twenties so wegrew up in the 70's listening to pop and top 40's stuff. Kevin got into KISSwhen he was a little kid. Al was listening to Led Zeppelin and stuff. And A.Jay and I got turned on to Iron Maiden. That was our first concert we wentto. A.Jay was 8 and I was 10. Our Dad took us to this concert. That wasthe turning point for us where we got way into the whole metal thing - reallyinto Maiden, Judas Priest, Ozzy, Metallica, Motley Crue - you know… allthose bands we were into in the 80's. Also, our Dad is a Top 40's DJ on theradio in L.A. so we've always had pop music around us. Later on down theline we got turned on to cooler, poppier, rock shit like Elvis Costello andThe Cars. So, yeah, our CD collections just run the gamut. Please we'realso huge Frank Sinatra fans. I don't really hear any of it in our music but…with us it's kind of weird. Our sound isn't derived from "a band". As a guitarplayer, I'm not really influenced by other guitar players. I'm more influencedby lifestyle. I'm more inspired to play my guitar when I'm going to Vegas, orwhen I'm in my Cadillac. I write a lot of my music when I'm driving in mycar.

JNBC: How do you do that?

Jeremy: I come up with melody lines or a lyric or whatever ideas in myhead. I'll write either them down or I'll call them into my answering machine.Actually, there's a song on the record called "Zip-Lock". That's actuallygoing to be our next single.

JNBC: Great tune!

Jeremy: Thanks. We were on our way home from pre-production. It waslike our second to last night of pre-production for the album. We weredriving home and I had that idea. The idea for the music and for some of thewords and I didn't want to forget it so I called my answering machine athome and left it on there. I had forgotten about it! So the next day we wereat pre-production and we were kind of going over all the shit we were goingto do. And I said, "Oh, wait. I think I got this idea." And I ran in the officeand checked my messages. We finished the song right then and there.

JNBC: That song has some catchy lyrics "keep it in my pocket". I like that.

Jeremy: Yeah, you know, it's a little sappy but… you know.

JNBC: Tell me about "Miserable". That's another great tune I love. It's gotsome guitar effects or something you're doing there.

Jeremy: Yeah, it's a cool - it's kind of slow. That's another one that thechorus came from driving. Most of the songs on the record have to do withevery day shit that we know about. They tend to be about girls,relationships, problems, and cars, gambling and all of that. <laughter> That'sthe one about girls. Or it could also be about an addiction or something.

JNBC: Tell me about this braid. How did that start?

Jeremy: Oh, you mean my goatee?

JNBC: Yeah!

Jeremy: I don't know. I started growing it one day and that was five yearsago! <laughter>

JNBC: How do you maintain that?

Jeremy: Oh, you know, it doesn't take a whole lot.

JNBC: You braid it yourself?

Jeremy: Yeah. I do it myself. I wash it in the shower. Blow-dry it. Just likehair.

JNBC: <laughter>

Jeremy: I used to have long hair. And when I chopped off all my hair aboutfive and half years ago that's pretty much when I started growing my goateeout.

JNBC: Umm…<laughter>

Jeremy: Pretty interesting, huh? <laughter>

JNBC: <laughter> Yeah, I figured maybe there was another significance forit or something.

Jeremy: You thought what?

JNBC: I thought maybe there was another significance for it. You know,like… it holds all your strength or… it's good luck or… whatever. Youdon't want people approaching you like Samson trying to snip it off orsomething. That wouldn't be a good thing.

Jeremy: They better hope they kill me!

JNBC: So, you guys have a single out called "My Own Worst Enemy" and avideo which I just saw which it pretty interesting with the whole bowlingtheme.

Jeremy: There again is that whole 50's and 60's Americana influence. Youknow, bowling was so popular then. There's something cool about wholebowling theme. Yet over the years, it's kind of taken a weird turn. Bowlingalleys are this breeding ground for a really interesting group of people. Wejust thought it would be kind of cool to go in there and make a little fun ofthat. We had fun getting into our costumes and dressing up like creeps.Actually the bowling alley that we shot it in… we had been there a couple ofyears before at this industry Christmas party. We were sitting there andthere was a lounge in the back that people were doing karaoke in. And I gotthe idea for the video. While we were sitting there bowling I thought "itwould be kind of hilarious if we were out here bowling and we heardsomebody doing karaoke to our song". Imagine if we walked in there andended up singing karaoke to our own song. It kind of stemmed from that.

JNBC: <laughter> That's so funny!

Jeremy: We're really into every aspect of the music. The videos, makingthe record, to making the album artwork, and just everything that's involvedwith Lit we all are very into and very interested in. Videos are reallyexpensive to make and we'd like to, if possible, really get creative and makethem something cool to watch - not just, "Oh, here's the band. It's blurry.Now it's in focus. Now it's blurry!"

JNBC: Sounds like a candidate for Total Request Live on MTV.

Jeremy: Hey, that'd be cool. We need everybody to vote on the Internetbecause that's where the votes come from. The phone lines are always busyand they only open them up for like a half hour.

JNBC: Speaking of the Internet, you guys have a great web site.

Jeremy: Thanks!

JNBC: Can you tell me about that? You have The Poker Room, TheMartini, The Copa Room…

Jeremy: It's LitLounge.com (http://www.litlounge.com). The idea behind itis like you're going into our lounge or a casino kind of thing. You walk into acasino they have a poker room, and the bars have different themes. Theymight have a Tiki Bar. The Copa Room is where - it's kind of like ourscrapbook. The Copa Room was theme of the room that the Rat Pack usedto perform in at the Sands. You know, it's just another sort of "Ode to LasVegas". We have a computer out on the road with us and we havecomputers at home and we go on the Internet and stuff but none of us arereally like…computer geniuses or anything like that. We knew that we didn'twant just some lame, basic web site. We wanted people to go in and hangout there for a while and check out different stuff and sort of be stimulated alittle bit.

JNBC: Very cool theme. The album as well has artwork that goes alongwith that same thing. And I notice that each one of you has your own themeas well. Was this something that just came about in terms of you being"Martini"? <laughter>

Jeremy: All the symbols could be used for every one of us really. We justsort of picked them. Actually, the dice used to be more of mine but I justkind of wanted the role of martini. We're, all of us, all of those things. It's thecross between the Vegas symbols and the traditional tattoo vibe with thehorseshoe. We just went a little crazy with the whole thing!

JNBC: You guys could be a board game!

Jeremy: Actually, our guy Brett, the art director at RCA. He did a killer jobon that CD. That's what's great about our people. Our guy Nils, who doesour web site, really out does himself on a daily basis. He really just goes offand he's updating it and making it cooler. It's cool when you get goodpeople that have a good handle on what the band is all about. They go offand create something that's their representation.

JNBC: So, you guys toured with Silverchair. Now you're out with Eve 6right now. How's that going?

Jeremy: It's going great. Eve 6 - they're good guys. We have a lot incommon with them. We know a lot of the same people. We're on the samelabel and we're both from Southern California. So, they're cool. It's a lot offun being with them. Last night we played in… <thinking> … played in…oh, boy!

JNBC: Ohio?

Jeremy: Cincinnati, right, Cincinnati! Just a little blurry here. <laughter> Sowe played Cincinnati last night and afterwards around one in the morning weall found ourselves at this bar down the street. And we ended up takingover. There was a guy playing acoustic guitar and singing current hits orwhatever. Before you knew it we had members of Lit and Eve 6 up theredoing 80's rock ballads. <laughter>

JNBC: <laughter> What did you do? Did you sing?

Jeremy: Max and John… all of us were up there! We did some Skid Row,some Bon Jovi, Poison. We were busting out all the big hair hits.

JNBC: <intense laughter>

Jeremy: And we're all feeling just a *little* hung over!

JNBC: <trying to wipe away the laughing tears> What a night!

JNBC: Of all the places you've played - the types of venues and crowdsyou've seen - what have been you're favorite venues or cities so far?

Jeremy: Wow! <thinking> There have been so many cool ones! A couplethat stick out right off the top of my head… The Ogden Theatre in Denverwas awesome.

JNBC: What made that great?

Jeremy: Well, we headlined there. We did a radio station there for KTCLand they just were so cool to us. They treated us really cool. The place wasjust jammed packed. The kids were out of control and it's a nice place toplay. We just had a great time. In Chicago - we had a great show inChicago at The Vic Theatre. We just played this place in Long Island calledThe Vanderbilt - very, very cool! Every night there's always somethingabout different cities that you remember. It's hard sitting in front of a motelroom TV. They all look the same. The inside of our RV looks the same. Soyou notice things more like the way the venue's laid out, the kind of peoplewho are working there, and the kind of people that are in the crowd. So fareverybody's been really great. And of course, home is always awesome.

JNBC: Yeah, what can you tell me about that. What's the reaction you'regetting at home?

Jeremy: We had been playing this club called three six nine (Club 369) andit's in Fullerton - and that was kind of our stomping ground. We did ouralbum release party there. And we showed up at like 7:15. The doors wereopening at 7. We wanted to go on around 8 or 8:30 or whatever. So we gotthere at 7:15 and when we walked up there were probably about four orfive hundred people in line outside. We thought, "Wow, this is cool man!This place is going to be fucking packed!" What we didn't know was theclub inside was already totally full and sold out. So the 500 people outsidewere waiting to see what was going to happen. So we said that we woulddo another show. We played, did that show, we hung out, people boughtthe record, and then they left. Then the new people came in and we did thewhole thing again!

JNBC: Are you guys heading to Europe at all?

Jeremy: Yeah, the first week in June we'll be in the U.K. and then we'll goback there again in the summer probably and play some more shows.LitLounge.com should have all the info soon.

JNBC: Okay, so any last words on Lit?

Jeremy: I think everybody should go buy the album because it's a goodrock and roll album. It cost us a lot of money to make and it's only going tocost you ten bucks so it's a fair trade! <laughter> And buy it now while it'sstill on sale because I've gotten word that it's going to go up by a couple ofbucks. That's my sales pitch. There's my hard sell. And everybody vote andcall MTV for the video for "My Own Worst Enemy" - see if we can knock98 Degrees off there!

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