Bay Area hardcore stalwarts Loma Prieta‘s newest album I.V. is now available on Deathwish Inc.. For a band formed back in 2005 with numerous self-released records under their belt and extensive touring experience in the US, Mexico, Canada, and Japan, it’s hard to believe I.V. is their first release for a bigger label. Even after one listen, though, it’s easy to see why Deathwish pulled the trigger on these guys — the guitars crunch and grind every note, the song arrangements are ambitiously twisted, and the throat-ripping screaming surprisingly melodic. With I.V., Loma Prieta have crafted a powerful statement of purpose worthy of the national stage.
Check out my recent e-mail conversation with guitarist/vocalist Brian Kanagaki, where we discuss the band’s recent Australian tour, the Bay Area hardcore scene, and more.
The Bay Bridged: Loma Prieta just finished an Australian tour. What’d you think of the land down under? How’s the scene? Play with any exceptional local bands?
Brian Kanagaki: Touring Australia and NZ was great. Val and I had toured Australia before and we all have a lot of friends down there so it really feels like a second home. I really like how cozy the scene is – the actual part of the country that you can tour is so small that you end up playing the same cities 2 or 3 times and you stay in the same house with the same people for a few nights. I really like it. It’s half tour and half summer vacation. There are a lot of good bands from Aus that I like. We were able to play some shows with our friends band – they are called Shit Weather. They are an awesome power violence band from Melbourne.
TBB: You guys have been touring around the Bay Area since 2005. What are your favorite venues or show spaces?
KB: As far as venues and stuff in the Bay Area, I would say that Gilman is up that at the top of the list. It’s always fun and packed. Our friends have a show space at
TBB: I believe this is your first release for a bigger record label — is there anything you did differently as a band for this record than your previous LPs?
KB: Yeah, this was our first record on Deathwish, but we didn’t know that they were going to put it out until after it was already written and recorded. A lot of people that think we wrote this album to be a certain way because we were on Deathwish, but we just wrote it like any other record and it actually sat for a few months before Deathwish came along and emailed us. We knew that we wanted to do something different but nothing had come up until they contacted us. Tre and Jake at Deathwish have been awesome and have let us do everything that we wanted with the record. This release comes with a huge art poster and the production is really high. We are really happy with how it came out.
TBB:The press release states describes the album as “written during a time of great personal suffering and transition for the band.” Can you talk a little more about these “transitions” and how they affected I.V.?
KB: The record was written at a time where there was a lot of transition for the three of us. Its kinda of hard to speak for the rest of the band but for me this record was a response to me growing up and forcing myself to accept myself for who I am.
I had been on tour for a huge part of the year and when you are in the van doing 10+ hour drives a day, you have a lot of time to be alone in your head and figure things out. We are all human, we are all the same, it wasn’t anything special. Everyone has gone through this transition or will at some point at least.
TBB: What other Bay Area hardcore bands do you think are worth checking out if readers like I.V.?
KB: I’ll just give a run down of all the other bands that we are in: PUNCH, BEAU NAVIRE, LIVING EYES, and COMA.
—
For a taste of Loma Preita’s raw, high-energy live show, check out the new black and white music video for “Trilogy 4 – Momentary” below:
Upcoming Tour Dates:
03/02: Santa Rosa, CA @ Transient Lounge
03/03: Portland, OR @ PSU Food For Thought Cafe
03/04: Tacoma, WA @ The Red Room
03/05: Seattle, Wa @ Black Lodge
03/06: Boise, ID @ The Venue
03/07: Idaho Falls, ID @ The Wax House
03/08: Salt Lake City, UT @ The Underground
03/09: Denver, CO @ Blast-O-Mat
03/10: Omaha, NE @ The West Wing
03/11: Minneapolis, MN @ TBA
03/12: Milwaukee, WI @ The Paper Trail
03/13: Chicago, IL @ TBA
03/14: Grand Rapids, MI @ The Division Avenue Arts Collective
03/15: Cleveland, OH @ Now That’s Class
03/16: Schenectady, NY @ State Street Presbyterian Church Gym
03/17: Burlington, VT @ TBA
03/18: Hamden, CT @ The Space
03/19: Haverhill, MA @ Anchors Up
03/20: Boston, MA @ TBA
03/21: Amherst, MA @ Dad City
03/22: Montclair, NJ @ The Meatlocker
03/23: Bethlehem, PA @ House Show
03/24: Brooklyn, NY @ Acheron
03/25: Harrisonburg, VA @ The Blue Nile
03/26: Greensboro, NC @ TBA
03/27: Charlotte, NC @ TBA
03/28: Nashville, TN @ Cafe Coco
03/29: Louisville, KY @ The Chestnut House
03/30: Indianapolis, IN @ Hoosier Dome
03/31: Braddock, PA @ Square One
04/01: Providence, RI @ The Met
04/02: Baltimore, MD @ Otto Bar
04/03: Syracuse, NY @ Lost Horizons
04/04: Ottowa, ON @ Ritual
04/05: Montreal, QC @ La Tulipe
04/06: Toronto, ON @ Mod Club
04/07: Lansing, MI @ The Loft
04/08: Chicago, IL @ Reggies
04/09: Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop
04/11: Richmond, VA @ Kingdom
04/12: Washington, DC @ DC9
04/13: Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
04/15: Jacksonville, FL @ Burro Bar
04/16: Orlando, FL @ Will’s Pub
04/17: Tampa, FL @ Transitions
04/18: Miami, FL @ The Talent Farm
04/19: Mayagüez, PR @ Dom Pepe
04/20: San Juan, PR @ Nuestro Son
04/21: Ft Myers, FL @ Cool Hand Luc’s
04/22: Birmingham, AL @ The Firehouse
04/23: New Orleans, LA @ Siberia
04/24: Houston, TX @ TBA
04/25: Austin, TX @ Slam-a-lot
04/26: El Paso, TX @ TBA
04/27: Phoenix, AZ @ The Fixx
04/28: San Diego, CA @ TBA
04/29: Los Angeles, CA @ TBA
04/30: Long Beach, CA @ TBA
05/01: Santa Barbara, CA @ TBA
05/02: SLO, CA @ TBA
05/03: Fresno, CA @ The CYC
