Experiencing Culture: The Light Blues
by Maddy Hamaker
This series features reviews of various cultural events — plays, art galleries, poetry readings, etc. — and interviews with people of interest.
“We’re trying to get somewhere, but we don’t know where we are going.”
Even at their young age, The Light Blues questions the world and writes meaningful lyrics from their heartbreak. Four boys came together to share their passion for music, immediately starting a band after they picked up instruments one night. They consider their sound to be a mixture of rock, classic rock revival, and indie rock. One could also say that they have an early Arctic Monkeys vibe. Their goal is to be something good that someone wants to listen to, not just a band that wants to market towards a certain age or gender group. They want to give each song a purpose. If their music could touch at least one person, they would feel satisfied.
The Light Blues is made up of four local boys who are great friends and love to be around each other, even if they have a hard compromise to settle. The four boys include Victor Montgomery (20), Jarrett Dreese (20), Cameron Conroy (18), and Clark Lumsden (18). Victor plays the rhyme guitar and sings, Jarrett plays the bass, Cameron plays the drums, and Clark plays the lead guitar. Cameron made it clear that they have learned how to deal with each other “better than they used to” when they are dealing with an issue. Clark explained that they all were guitar players, which was very weird, but thankfully, Cameron picked up the drum sticks and Jarrett picked up the bass.
An issue that they have ran into is their education. Cameron describes their daily lives as “school, work, and band practice.” Clark is still a senior in high school, but he is always ready to come home and play music with his friends. An important question for the guys that are still attending school was whether they would drop out if it became necessary. All of the guys agreed that they wouldn’t, and they would make sure everyone graduated. Even if someone isn’t in the mood to play, they try to use all of their free time to play music with each other. “Even when someone isn’t as passionate,” Clark began and Victor agreed, “We figure it out eventually.” They like to meet up around three times a week, or as much as they can.
At the time of the interview, their goal was to have an East Coast tour and to have songs that are recorded to show people their sound. They recently released audio of their first two singles, titled “Lovestrung” and “A World at Ease”, which you can listen to here.
What inspired you guys to start this?
Jarrett: Just passion for making music … I just like making music.
Cameron: For me, it all started with Bob Dylan. At the age of 13 or 14, he turned me onto being a musician. So, from there on out, I’ve always knew I wanted to be in a band.
Victor: I saw Modest Mouse, and I saw how passionately he played, and I said, “I could probably do that.” And then, a couple months later, I met him (Jarrett) and we started this. It was kind of like, saw this and said “hey, I could do that; it seems fun.” And then we started doing it.
Clark: For me, I picked up playing the guitar, and that’s when I started listening to a band called The Districts, and they’re from Lancaster. I guess something in me said, “well, I guess I can do that.” I started getting into the DIY garage rock and stuff like that. Just a bunch of guys in their basement or their garage playing music. I realized that I can do this. Since then, it’s been my passion.
If someone compared your band to another band, which would it be?
Cameron: Victor is the main head when it comes to music. I think, from a third-person perspective, he takes inspiration from Modest Mouse, Rolling Stones, and Led Zeppelin. A good trio.
Clark: For my sound, at least for my guitar, I use a lot of fox peddles and things like that. I take my inspiration from garage rock bands that have been around for the past decade.
Victor: I mean, we aren’t really a rock band, but we blend into the different genres of rock. Actually, someone compared us to the early Arctic Monkeys, like their upbeat stuff, like “I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor.”
What’s the process of writing a song with four guys?
Clark and Jarrett: Victor, it starts with Victor.
Victor: It usually starts with a cord progression, something simple. And then, I try to structure that into a whole song without any lyrics, like giving it its climactic points in the song. Then, breaking it down into verses and choruses and stuff like that. I’ll write lyrics and then show it to these guys. They write some pretty kick ass stuff around it that I couldn’t even think of. We had a song that I started playing one day, like some of these songs happened on accident. But, I started playing and then Cameron started playing, and then we showed it to Jarrett and he came out with an insane bass rift to it …
Jarrett: It happens pretty genuinely, I’d say.
Clark: Being the rhyme guitarist, I try the best I can to create the basic rhyme and basic parts of the song and try to work from there.
Where do you see yourself in about five years?
Victor: I don’t plan on stopping until we have gotten somewhere …
Cameron: Yeah, this is my main goal. I think in five years, we should at least be playing shows and at least have a following.
What hardships do you think you’ll encounter?
Clark: Drug abuse, heartbreak, I mean a lot of the main stuff that happens with a lot of bands these days. I don’t know whether we’ll encounter these things, but I’d say it’s a danger and a possibility.
Victor: I’m assuming it’s pretty taxing physically and mentally. Like, say we got to the point of touring and playing different shows in different cities every night. That’s a lot of not sleeping, having to get yourself up, and being ready to play. It’ll be fun.
If you had to choose someone to go on tour with, who would it be?
Jarrett: I would hands down choose La Dispute. If we could tour with La Dispute, that would be so awesome. They’re so passionate.
Victor: I mean, Rolling Stones still tour, so, I’d pick the Stones.
Clark: I’d say a local band like Medusa’s Disco and the Districts.
Cameron: If we could pick anyone in the world, it’d be Bobby. A current band would be Wilco.
Clark: Oh, Wilco. That’s some dad rock right there!
Where do you see yourself moving forward, let’s say a week from now?
Jarrett: Well, I really need to focus on schoolwork. That’s pretty bad.
Clark: Being in a recording studio, hearing some feedback from people who have been around the block and really understand the industry.
Victor: Oh, we have our show next week!
Cameron: Overall, in a week, we would be practicing like we always do. Go play at Tellus and then hopefully write some more songs.
