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U&U Interview :: Ladybug Landslide

unsignedunleashed:

Marshall Lee, also known as Ladybug Landslide is an unsigned rock act that’s been making music and touring throughout the country with popular bands since 2007. He’s now gearing up to release a new EP in the near future and we caught up with him to get all the details on the EP, his inspiration, and more! Check out out interview below. 

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You’re working on a new EP at the moment and say that this release will be a bit more aggressive than what you’ve put out in the past. What made you decide to veer away from going acoustic?

I was working on an E.P but have now decided after weeks of thinking to put out a single a month from it for the next few months. I feel that this way each song gets it’s due time instead of maybe people 
focusing on one or two of them. As for the songs being more aggressive than my previous releases I just feel that I’ve done the whole acoustic thing long enough. Before I started Ladybug Landslide in 07’ I played drums for numerous bands from punk, pop and hardcore and so even in Ladybug Landslide I’ve always written even the acoustic songs with a full band in my head but until now just never had the place to record it all without pissing off the neighbors. There will still be acoustic or acoustic based songs but right now I feel like it’s time to make some noise.

You’re doing just about everything on your own for the release from recording and mixing to drums and vocals. Do you feel that it’s easier or more beneficial to go that route rather than working with a producer or other musicians?

Well…when you go the route I’m going with recording everything yourself and mixing everything yourself it’s a double edged sword for sure. On one side you have absolute freedom to do whatever you want without any outside influence and it’s great to have that freedom and creativity. On the flip side of that there really isn’t any substitute for a good producer or someone who can hear things that you don’t. I would love the chance to work with someone like Matt Goldman, Ed Rose or any of those top notch guys who recorded bands like Copeland, Dashboard Confessional, As Cities Burn, Motion City Soundtrack, The Spill Canvas and The Get Up Kids to name a few. The fact is though that I don’t have that luxury or budget since I’m unsigned. Also, I’d love to work with other musicians but again I just moved from Nashville to the middle of nowhere upstate New York so all of my friends who I’d want to have play on my record are back home in Tennessee.

The original plan was to release a full album of about 12 songs but narrowed it down to an EP. Is it better for a band to release an EP these days rather than a full-length?

That’s a good question. I guess you could call it an E.P but then again I went even further and now it’s a single a month from what would have been an E.P. It’s hard for me to give a good answer to that because I’m just shooting from the hip on everything I do. I constantly live in a state of trial and error when it comes to music. The music industry is always changing so fast that it’s hard to keep up with what the “right ways” to do things are. My opinion is that unless you have the backing of a decent label behind you it’s better (at this point in time) to just get the best songs you have together and put out a 5 song E.P. Most people just want that single and don’t want to sift through a bunch of filler songs to get to it. I mean think about it; you don’t really hear people talking about Katy Perry’s new album, it’s always the new single they talk about. So in my mind less is more right now unless you can put out just a killer album that is just one great song after another like Thursday’s release “Full Collapse”. That’s just my opinion though.

 
Overall what artist/band has the largest impact on you musically?

That’s a 3-way tie between Dallas Green of City&Colour and Alexisonfire, Chris Carrabba of Dashboard and Further Seems Forever and Billie Joe Armstrong from Green Day. Dallas just has the best voice and puts so much soul into everything he touches. Chris is…well let’s just say that whenever I need inspiration I’ll go watch a live performance from that dude and I’m set. Billie Joe is probably in my opinion one of the best front men in Rock. Love him or hate him if he can go out and silence a crowd of 90,000 people or make them go nuts with the flip of a hand then that’s something special.

You recently got married just a few months ago! Has married life influenced how you write music?

It has in small ways. It’s made me want to write even more transparent songs than I have before. Like I know that one day (hopefully not too soon) I want to have a kid and I want them to be proud that their dad wrote songs with meaning or at least songs that were real to me. I want them to be able to listen to my music and understand what it was like before they were around. Since Kati works from home and I am downstairs in my studio all day it works out nice. We work during the day and then watch The Office or ALF at night or go for walks in the snow at night. On that note I think we have a Sasquatch otherwise known as Bigfoot that lives around here because there are some seriously strange noises that happen at night and with noone around for 2 miles it can get creepy. 

If you change any aspect of the music industry what would you choose?

I think the biggest thing is an issue that I’m actually kind of torn on, illegal downloading. Let me preface this by saying that anyone who has seriously followed my music for any amount of time knows that I am all about giving music away for free here and there. However, here is what bothers me. If people want music bad enough to “steal it” from torrents or website then that means it’s worth something to them. If it’s worth something then why not just buy it? I think a lot of people overlook the business part of the term “music business”. I mean if you truly believe that your music should be free then don’t ask for money the next time you play a show because I guarantee you that it takes a hell of a lot more time to write, record, mix , master and distribute a cd than it does to play a show. Like I said if someone messages me and honestly can’t afford my music but really wants it then I’ll try my best to help them out.

Thanks for your time! Any last words you’d like to put out there?

Thank you Briana. I’m glad there are still sites like Unsigned, Unleashed who try to help artist’s like myself. Also if there are any musicians in the northeast that need a place to get some songs recorded and mixed and you like what you hear from the new single then let me know and I’ll work with you on an affordable price. I have a small studio here where all of my new material is tracked and mixed and would love to help any bands that can’t afford to dish out the kind of money a lot of studios ask for. Also, if you like my music then keep an eye out for my friends Rival Summers, Chad Sugg and Plug In Stereo’s new releases coming soon!

-Interviewed By Briana