The Luyas
WL 361 - Sunday, April 29 – 11pm
Purveyors of: A Beautiful White Light, Alright?

Sometimes bands are like that killer slice of pizza you find yourself mowing down on at 3 a.m. after a night of heavy drinking: warm, filling and topped with an assortment of different flavours from a variety of sources. It is my humble opinion that The Luyas are like this life affirming late night treasure. The Luyas includes some of my favorite hard working, taste sensation toppings like Bell Orchestre Onions and SS Cardiac Spicy Sausage bits. With that in mind, for the love of all that is holy, please put these kids in your mouth because they sound delicious.

A prelude by Pietro and Jessie: We tried to answer this interview as a two piece because Steffy put out his lower back. He is at his home being awesome. However, he is immobilized. The thing is that our answers were both critical and mostly boring. We called him for inspiration. This is what he said.

Name/Roll Call/Favorite Ballad

The Luyas/Stef Schneider, Pietro Amato, Jessie Stein

Jessie: Which ballad do you like, Pietry? Mikey Feuerstack is Pietry’s final answer. We’ll call Stef and ask him. I like ballads by Cyndi Lauper, “Time After Time” specifically. They’re not really my favourite ballads but I think that the Toronto youth will cheer if I say Cyndi, and I would cheer too because she really is great. Maybe not as great as some other ballad composers.

STEF-o-phone: The ballad is so encompassing… I like something like “Rosie”… is “Rosie” that Tom Waits one from Closing Time… there’s another name of a girl that’s on that same album that’s not Rosie. Can you just Google that? Yup yup.. “Martha”. I love Tom Waits ballads… maybe its better to go with artists. Tom Waits, Low, M. Ward has some nice ones, Nick Drake… you know. It’s a kind of exciting genre. I haven’t thought about them for so long. It kind of makes me want to make a mix CD.

With all the talk of Montreal Scene this and Montreal Scene that. What can you say about that oh-so-familiar buzz term?

Jessie and Pietro: The Montreal scene is a coffee-drinking club just like the Toronto scene, except more famous this year, because of Arcade Fire and Wolf Parade, who actually get to go around the world and stuff. They can afford bus fare. It’s nice.

Stef: I agree with the coffee thing and yeah it’s a bit more on the map because of a couple of bands, but yeah what you said sounds fine to meee.

Describe your sound using only movie references.

Piet: Remember when Chewy met the Ewoks on the forest moon of Endor?

Stef: Um, ah. Lets see. Um. I need more time to say something honest and not stupid.

All y’all are or were in a lot of different bands; how has that influenced you in the merry music making?

Jessie and Piet: Our pasts have been erased. We don’t know what you’re talking about. We are not familiar at all with the logistical nightmare of being busy with multiple projects. Does not compute.

Stef: Um. Well, it just made me happy to be in a group where like three people do they want to say something about us and our attitude? I’ve been in other bands where its crazier dynamic wise. It’s made us realize how rare it is to have a band full of whatever we’re full of. What are we full of? We’re not a band of monkeys? Suddenly with Jessie added its not like two monkeys and a cheetah or whatever you are. Its like two little monkeys from Bell Orchestre and suddenly we’re three Ewoks or … you know what I mean?

Please explain the origins behind the horrific mask featured in your pictures.

Stef: Do you guys know Simon Wilcox? That’s kind of beside the point. I was friends with him and this girl Michelle in high school, and I bought a mask like that in high school for Christmas for Michelle. Maybe it wasn’t Christmas. I ended up giving it away but I was in love with it and never stopped thinking about it. Then I saw a twin of it a few weeks ago; had to buy it. It’s the fourth member of the band.

Dead people who inspired you include...

We like these dead people: Stravinsky, Salvatore Amato, Trevor Darwent, Arthur Russell, Dostoyevsky, all those drunk Beatniks, Dennis Brain, John Lennon, Stein’s childish light, the person (not the music) of Frank Zappa, the music (not the person) of Syd Barrett, Camus, Maurice Richard, Ghandi, Patañjali, Jessie’s Zaida, Nicolas Slonimsky, Rumi.

Your favorite inanimate objects are....

Jessie and Piet: French horns, guitars, drums, keyboards… god we’re so boring. We probably dig other obvious things like bicycles, soccer balls, chocolate bars, wine, whiskey, cacti,

Stef: Besides cacti, oh, um, “The Reach Easy.” You know my grandmother’s massager? It looks like a huge vibrator. Write “The Snailhouse.”

By Matt Thomas