In a series of 4 weekly features, we’ve challenged some of our favourite creative artists to think about exactly why they pour countless hours of their time into the music scene that they have associated themselves with and just what it means to them. Why do they do the things they do, in the way they do them? You’ll see that whilst it has its highs, it’s certainly not all rosy and comes with its issues too but despite this, the people involved still keep ploughing on with the upmost optimism.
In this first feature, we briefly caught up with long standing Buffalo, New York trio Lemuria to get their thoughts on why they take the DIY approach to all the behind the scenes activities within music.
“The thing I value most with Lemuria is the creative control we have. We enjoy being able to release the music that we want to create without any restrictions. We control our own website, do our own mail order, screen print our own shirts and merchandise as well as staying active with responding to emails and on all of our social networking sites because we like to stay connected to the people who are listening to our songs.
Hearing the response to our music is inspiring for us. I’m not sure this actually affects our live shows or fan base but it definitely has developed a more intimate setting for both us as a band and for the attendance at our shows.
Without the music scene, I wouldn’t have made some of the greatest friends I could have ever asked for. We’re very lucky to have a supportive label like Bridge 9 who share similar values to us.
I’m certain that I could conjure up some of the drawbacks of being an indie band, but all those drawbacks would be eclipsed by the enormous drawbacks of doing things oppositely.”
‘The Distance Is So Big’ by Lemuria is out now on Bridge 9 Records.
Lemuria links: Website|Facebook|Twitter
Words by Tom Smith