Last year, Esquire Magazine named the Lazzy Lung ‘Musicians of the Year 2011′. They tore some shit up during Taste Culture’s 24/7 Campaign concert and I’m honoured that they took some time out of their busy schedule to answer our stupid ass questions. 
In this interview, you’ll find out how Lazzy Lung draws upon various genres to produce their unique sound.
Enjoy!
Name/Band Name: Allan C. / Lazzy Lung
Where are you based: Beirut, Lebanon
Website: www.facebook.com/lazzylunglb
How many years has your band been together/ have you been performing?
The Band as a Four piece has been performing for about three years and over time the line up has changed. Initially we had (Nader Naim on Drums and Ian Massry on Bass) a year later (Imad A. Jawad joined on Bass Guitar and Hadi Oueini on Drums) the band stuck together in that formation and we self released “Strange Places”.
Lazzy Lung has had the opportunity to play at many of the prominent venues that Beirut has to offer, performing along side many of the known acts in the region. We have traveled outside of lebanon and performed in Dubai and Cyprus and we are about to make our first visit to the US as a group to perform in L.A and meet with Capital Records.
A lot has been happening for the band, and the game has changed for us over the course of three years. We Managed to Win the Rolling Stone: Battle of the Bands in Dubai, Triplew.me’s MakShoof Music Competition: Home grown to L.A and our most recent accolade from Esquire Magazine: Musician of the Year 2011.
We are currently in the process of recording our second Self Release “Sailor’s Delgiht” and now we have (Anthony Sahyoun on Guitar and Alain Najim on Drums) It’s been tough, but our persistence and dedication to the rock culture in the middle east has rewarded us strongly.
Personally, I’ve been performing for more than 15 years.
What genre would you call your music? Have you always been into this genre?
Lazzy Lung as a group is extremely diverse and have been into all kinds of genres from Rap to Trip Hop to Metal to Jazz and Funk…we are musicians.
What other musicians inspire the work you do?
All of these artists inspire us, but do not have a significance to our sound specifically.
Describe your music. What’s the message you want to convey?
The message is really what you make it out to be, we tell stories through our music and most of them are ones that you’ve probably lived or experience.
Our 1st album tells the story of the common 20-something and the trials and tribulations that are faced… or better referred to as a “Strange Places”.
Whether it be the country you live in, your job, your relationship, that time when you were really drunk, when you 1st met some one new and exciting, or wishing you could escape the prison you’ve built. In Retrospective they are simply a strange part of ones life.
Our Second Album “Sailor’s Delight” depicts the party life and decadence on the streets, bars and bedrooms of Beirut, laughing in the face of Armageddon.
The music is a lot more upbeat and raw and much different than our previous works, but still keeping that Rock n Roll undertone.
There is still a story to this album which a lot of people can relate to and there are even some tracks and b-sides that have been inspired by the fixation on the world coming to end.
Our message really is the old philosophy of “Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die.”
How much time do you spend on writing? Practising? Performing?
Practicing and writing are kind of intertwined but really writing happens whenever it happens. We try to keep a regime of about 2-4 hours twice a week as a band and then, we each rehearse on our own time whenever we have the spare time.
Tell us some amusing stories from your band’s gigs or practices.
Finish this rhyme: With a Lazzy Lung you can… wham bam thank you mam, until shit hits the fan in Pakistan.
Here’s a preview of their latest release, Strange Places:
You can purchase the album here on itunes. You can also catch them on Twitter.
