December 2024

real magic happens when we all get in the studio together. Those rare occasions, we usually write and record an entire song in 5 or 6 hours. It’s a pretty wild experience! Your sound is distinct. How would you describe your genre, and what influenc- es have shaped the evolution of your style? Oh buddy, we still can’t figure out what genre to label ourselves haha. We all have experience in metal bands, ranging from metalcore to progressive metal to black metal. At our core, we love heavy music. We never really intended to write any specific style, but as we’ve progressed as a band we’ve found ourselves really en- joying writing music that makes people MOVE. Music that makes people want to sing along. Finding the perfect com- bination of neck-breaking riffs and super poppy hooks has become a staple of what we do. When J joined the band back in 2021 it had a huge influence on our direc- tion. J was doing a solo pop project under the name Down Moda (check it out) and we initially set out to do a collaboration. We wrote “Away” and “Downhill” pretty much back to back. After that, we knew where we wanted to take the music and haven’t looked back. How has being based in Charlotte influ- enced your music? Are there any specif- ic aspects of the local music scene that have shaped your journey? Charlotte is a factory for good bands. We’ve all been in this scene for years and years, and there has never been a short- age of incredible talent coming out of our city. It’s genuinely inspiring to get to come up alongside some of your favorite bands. Individually being in the scene for so long, we were able to come out swinging and book our first show at Amos’ Southend, and it’s been home ever since. Shout out to John Ellison and all the staff at Amos for making us feel welcome and giving us a platform to throw some absolute ragers. Many bands infuse their lyrics with deeper meanings. What themes or mes- sages are most important to LANiiDAE, and how do you hope listeners connect with them? Lyrically, I’ve always found myself being honest with LANiiDAE. Joey and I have been cranking out tunes for nearly 7 years now. A lot has changed and life has its ups and downs, but LANiiDAE has been a constant through it all for me. I draw from personal experience, and pretty much every song is a small snapshot of my life at a certain place in time. There’s songs about losing family members, fall- ing in and out of love, and even a song about Joey getting jumped by eight dudes (see 821) haha. There’s a lot of stories in these songs, and looking back through all of them is kind of like my own weird diary. Through that honesty and vulner- ability, I feel like people have really been able to relate and feel what we’re going through. It’s pretty special. Every band faces challenges. What have been some of your most defining strug- gles and proudest moments as a group? Man, being in a band is a struggle! It’s equal parts work, and equal parts reward. The grind never stops, but for us the first hurdle was finding the right people. Joey and I spent the first couple years just writ- ing and exploring our sound. There was no real intention of ever being a live band, but as that idea started bouncing around 14