Vice A little Q&A with Grahame Lesh, guitarist with San Francisco rockers, Vice. Leicester Bangs: Tell us a little about yourself, and your band. Grahame: The five of us (Brodie Jenkins - lead vocals, Jesse Engreitz - keyboards, Mac Parish - bass, Eric Saar - drums, and myself) in Vice met in college in the SF Bay Area. It was luck, Facebook, and dormitory connections that brought us together to start making the music we did. We all come from musical backgrounds of all different levels and genres, but we had enough in common to begin to forge our own sound. We describe our music as three cups rock n roll, a sprinkling of blues, a splash of jazz, and a generous dusting of soul. We all bring the rock, I bring the blues, Jesse and the rhythm section bring jazz, and Brodie's wonderful voice brings the soul. LB: How did you start out making music? Grahame: My father was and is a professional musician, so I was always going to get a musical education. My dad Phil plays the bass, but despite that I grew up playing classical piano, where I learned quite a lot of musical theory. With that knowledge of theory it was quite easy for me to make the transition to a different instrument - in my case, the guitar. That happened when I was in my mid-teens, and I've been playing guitar ever since. I mess around on the piano every once and awhile as well. LB: Who did you grow up listening to and how do they influence what you’re doing now? Grahame: I grew up listening to lots of classic rock. The Grateful Dead were a big influence, but also the rest of the greats. Zep, the Beatles, the Stones, Pink Floyd, etc. Some people who I later got into as guitar players are Warren Haynes, Mark Tremonti, and Derek Trucks in their various projects - Gov't Mule, Alter Bridge, Derek Truck's Band, for example. The rest of the band has lots of variety in their musical influences and tastes as well, so we all bring something different to the table, from Brodie's love of grunge and soul, to Mac's love of indie alternative music, to Eric's hard rock tastes, to Jesse's Dave Matthews and funk obsession. LB: Tell us about your latest release. Grahame: Vice's debut album "Fences" is basically the musical equivalent of the five of us. It is fun, it is diverse, and we took the time and effort in the studio to make it sound the best that we could. Our music could be interpreted as pop, since we try to be catchy, but that wouldn't describe it well enough. There are catchy rock songs ("Oblivion", "Sympathy"), some more Zeppelin-esque hard rock tunes ("Graveyard"), a few funkier songs from our keyboardist Jesse's influence ("Fences", "A World Away"), and then a couple of the most beautiful ballads ("Caught In A Circle"). But we made all of it sound like Vice, and we're very proud of that. LB: Do you get out and play your music live, and if so, what can an audience expect at one of your shows? Grahame: We play as much as we can! Mostly we've been playing around the SF Bay Area, but hopefully we'll be coming to a venue near you (wherever you are!). The audience can expect to hear well-played, tight versions of our originals interspersed with a few covers that we think fit our sound, are fun to play, and more importantly, are fun for you all to listen to. But we just want you all to have a good time listening to us, and come on a live music journey with us. LB: What aspects of playing and recording music do you most enjoy? Grahame: To quote Russell Hammond, "everything". Whether it’s in the dingy rehearsal room of Mac's fraternity, live in front of tons of people, or in the studio, just playing music with this band - my best of friends - is always amazing. I do particularly enjoy engineering our music in the studio, as well as jamming on acoustic guitars with Brodie as we try to write new songs. LB: Where can people find (and buy) your music? Grahame: Vice's album "Fences" can be found on most online retailers, including iTunes. On iTunes, just search "Vice Fences", and you should be able to find it. Also, you can buy mp3s from our Myspace store, or you can buy physical copies of the CD at our CDBaby page (links below). Thanks! http://ListenToVice.com www.myspace.com/viceofficial Vice (acoustic) - Oblivion