Interview: The Lemurs [Tonight at the Mohawk]

What's the story behind Michael Kingcaid (What Made Milwaukee Famous) joining the group?

After so much success with What Made Milwaukee Famous, he was poking around Austin looking for a fixer upper. The Lemurs ended up being just the sleazy, beat up, '78 Firebird Michael wanted to paint red, put flames on the side, and cruise around Red River looking for hot young bartenders in. Honestly, after Davy quit the band, and left a hole where a black polyester suit and turquoise guitar used to be, Michael was our first choice and easily the best fit for where we were headed musically. We've been friends for a long time, he's been on our records, and has joined us a bunch on stage in the past, usually drunk as hell.

He's a wonderful songwriter too - will his addition change the sound of the Lemurs that we've come to know and love?

His talents had already been a huge asset for us in arranging and in pulling off parts we had struggled with in the past. As far as influencing our direction..., we have already seen evolution and hope the music will continue to change to reflect the part he is playing. We collectively hope that his decision to be a part of our project will make the outcome of both The Lemurs and What Made Milwaukee Famous records and live performances better.

What's next for the Lemurs? You're due for a full-length, aren't you?

We are over-due and we've been recording and writing at our studios. Everyone is feeling like the music we are working on right now is better than anything we've done before, although we still of course, talk a lot about how to improve. The September 10th and 17th Mohawk shows will give us a chance to try out some of that new material and tighten things up before we take off for a couple of short tours and immerse ourselves in recording. We're shooting to have the full length out around SXSW and follow it up with a bunch more touring next year.

After years in the Austin scene, what advice do you have for young kids aspiring to your status?

Well, we're not sure what our status is exactly, but we can take a stab at advice for people who want to get something out of playing and recording music. Top 5...

1) Find people who are willing to work at music and the personal relationships in the band equally. Those two things work closely together.

2) Listen to more music than anyone you know. It takes knowing a lot of music to mask all of the influences hidden inside of your own.

3) Have a good drummer. Your band is absolute shite without one. Seriously. Shit.

4) Never rent anything by the hour.

5) The people who negatively criticize music are largely people who want to play music but for whatever reason can't. Remember that, and their harshness will make more sense. Also, always consider that they may be right about what a shitty job you did at something.

Where do you want the Lemurs to be in a year or five from now? What defines success for you guys?

We define success as when each musician gets to be nothing but a musician all the time and we're working hard to make that happen as soon as possible. No sandwich shops, computer labs, new age resorts, or whatever other job we may be doing that distracts us from our passion. We realize only a few people get to have that life, and we aren't counting on it, but we'll bust our ass to give ourselves the best shot possible.