Light Years – Afterlife

By starrymag | October 30, 2018

By: Jamie Steinberg

 

 

Q) How would you describe your sound?

 

A) I would describe Light Years sound as a mature version of pop punk. It has a little more substance than your generic pop punk band in 2018.

Q) Who are some of your musical influences?

 

A) The first band I ever fell in love with was blink-182, which opened the doors to bands like Saves the Day, Jimmy Eat World, Decedents, and Rancid who I still listen to today.

 

Q) Talk about the story behind your new song “Back Then.”  

 

A) “Back Then” is a super fun song that I feel captures Light Years perfectly. It has a rock and roll vibe mixed with some modern punk sounds and lyrically it’s mostly about the early days of the band and our youth when we had no idea what was going on with our lives.

 

Q) What do you think it is about the song that fans connect to?

 

A) I feel like most people can relate to the nostalgia of the song and the lyrics. And it rocks.

 

Q) How does the video for the track play into the message behind it?

 

A) So, we actually used old home videos of us as kids and early Light Years days to use in the video to really get the vibe of nostalgia and talking about things “back then.”

 

Q) What is your song writing process? Do you need music before you can create lyrics? 

 

A) The music usually comes first for me, and then the lyrics fall into place after.

 

Q) Talk about working with Will Yip on the production of your new album Afterlife. 

 

A) Will is the man. We are very lucky to be able to get to work with him. He pushes us to make sure we get the best takes we can possibly get. Also, he is one of the easiest dudes to get along with and is now a lifelong friend.

 

Q) Lite Years was a four track EP. What made you decide to move forward next with a full album?

 

A) With that EP we just tried to show a different take on some Light Years songs and, hopefully, hold people over until this release.

 

Q) What can fans expect from a live Light Years performance?

 

A) Live Light Years is all about having a good time. We don’t use tracks or anything like that so what you hear and see is all us! Also, we don’t take ourselves too seriously so you can expect lots of jokes in between songs.

 

Q) What songs off Afterlife are you looking forward to performing live?

 

A) Some songs I can’t wait to play are “Bottom of the Ocean,” “Burning in my Blood” and “Should Have Been Better.”

 

Q) What do you hope listeners take away from listening to your new album as a whole?

 

A) I hope people that listen to this record will see that we are a real band and not trying to use any gimmicks or BS to try and make money. It is always just been about the music for us and hopefully people can respect that.

 

Q) Where are some of your favorite places to perform and what makes those locations so significant to you? 

 

A) Playing overseas in Europe and Japan is always our favorite. It was crazy to us that people in completely different cultures and speaking different languages were excited to see us and knew our songs. Blew us away.

 

Q) Who would you most like to collaborate with on a song in the future?

 

A) Damn, Taylor Swift for sure. [laughs]

 

Q) What album/band are you currently listening to and why do you dig them? 

 

A) I’ve recently dove headfirst back into The Gaslight Anthem and have been listening to “Handwritten” a lot.

 

Q) You are a part of social media. Why is that such an important way for you to connect with your fans?

 

A) Social media is a crazy place, but it is very cool to be able to interact with people you normally wouldn’t be able to. Anyone can ask us questions or just say “what’s up” or make fun of us, which is pretty cool.

 

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and your work?

 

A) We can’t thank those people enough. We are by no means “superstars” or whatever, but to be able to play music and have people actually care is truly amazing to us and we are extremely grateful for that.

 

All Questions Answered By Vocalist Pat Kennedy