lovelesslust A little Q&A with lovelesslust singer-songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, John Hass. Leicester Bangs: Tell us a little about yourself. John: In lovelesslust, I strive to make each song unique and different from the last. The fact that I don't have a set instrumentation like many traditional groups do allows me to write a hard rock song one week, and an experimental electronic song the next and still fit it into lovelesslust in a way that makes sense. Live, we combine the electronic textures from the studio versions of the songs with guitar, bass, drums etc. The music is about expression, and some songs come through best as heavily processed studio songs, and others come through best in the havoc and chaos of a live setting. We work hard to make both studio and live special as different sides of the same music. LB: How did you start out making music? John: I've been playing music most of my life, and one thing led to another. I went from trumpet to bass guitar to guitar, drums, keyboards, the studio etc. - and I still try to learn new instruments when I have the time. I think the best musicians are those who can understand music from as many angles as possible. When it comes time to do guitar tracks you should think like a guitarist - but you don't want to be thinking like a guitarist when it comes time to mix the music, or write the melody etc. - because then the music will only appeal to guitarists. LB: Who did you grow up listening to and how do they influence what you’re doing now? John: Before I had any say in what I listened to, I was exposed to classic rock - The Beatles, The Stones, The Beach Boys - and highly produced 70s-80s music - Peter Gabriel, Pink Floyd, Enigma, The Eurythmics. Once I started buying my own music, I started off with really terrible dance music, but quickly got into rock, alternative, pop and metal. Anymore, I try to listen to stuff that I find unique, blending genres or at least taking existing ones in new directions. Björk, NIN, The Dresden Dolls, The Sneaker Pimps and David Bowie are some of my favorites right now, but I've also been listening to old pre-1950s songs on AM radio, which I think is really cool because the melodies drive the songs much more than they do in more modern music. LB: Tell us about your latest release. John: With the ubiquity of the Internet, my own home recording studio and the dwindling need for record companies, I've decided to release music in lovelesslust in a non-traditional way, which I'm calling an "endless album". Basically, the idea is that I write and produce one new song every month and release it as the new final track on the album - so, if I've written 18 songs in October, I'll write a new one in November and release it as track 19 on the album.  Number 20 will be in December, and so on.  I'm calling the album "Romantic Perversion". I think this is a more interesting approach than a traditional album, because it allows the music to grow with the audience in a continuously present way instead of releasing one collection of songs every few years and just disappearing in-between. Don't get me wrong - I used to love albums when they were made to be heard as a whole, such as Dark Side Of The Moon, The Fragile, or Abbey Road - but I think most artists making albums don't release 50 minutes of music because they have a 50 minute statement to make, but simply because that's what fits on a CD, which fewer and fewer people are buying anymore, anyway. So if there's no artistic purpose to it, I say why not just release the tracks as them come? Also, having this commitment to releasing one song per month keeps me prolific. Many bands will release an album an average of every 3 years - so at twelve songs per album, that's about 4 songs a year. Even if you double that and make it 8 songs per year, I'm still releasing more material than most artists have been able to, simply because it's faster to work alone, and I've been fortunate to be around at a time when the technology exists to allow me to record my own music in a professional manner and release it myself. LB: Do you get out and play your music live, and if so, what can an audience expect at one of your shows? John: We play live, and it's an entirely different experience than the studio recordings.  It's been tricky figuring out how to translate songs that are so much about layers and abstract sounds and rework them into a performable song, but I've been really pleased with how it's been turning out. In general, the songs get more of a rock vibe live because of the frequent use of live guitar and a live drummer. I also become a different kind of performer live than I am in the studio, because playing live is so visual and about putting passion into your presentation and your movement, while the studio is solely about the voice. As I said before, live shows are there to show another side to the songs, and I don't think either experience is more pure than the other for experiencing lovelesslust music. LB: What aspects of playing and recording music do you most enjoy? John: I really enjoy the whole process. In the past I've been in situations where I'm just a bassist, or just a writer, and personally I like to be involved in more than just one aspect. It's really rewarding to write a song, decide how to approach it as an instrumentalist or as a programmer, decide how it should be mixed, master it and release it on my website, rework it for the live band, and ultimately perform it on stage. LB: Where can people find (and buy) your music? John: I don't try to compete with file sharing, and most digital music stores take a long time to upload music anyway, so while my music is available on iTunes and other places, you'll get the most up-to-date release of the endless album for free on www.lovelesslust.com.  If you like what you hear, you can help support lovelesslust by buying a t-shirt from the online store, coming to shows and spreading the word to your friends. Official site: www.lovelesslust.com lovelesslust Store: www.cafepress.com/lovelesslust Facebook: www.facebook.com/lovelesslust Twitter: www.twitter.com/lovelesslust MySpace: www.myspace.com/lovelesslustmusic CD Baby: www.cdbaby.com/Artist/lovelesslust lovelesslust – Futile System