Heart & Lung
Shannon Sullivan (guitar/vocals) speaking on behalf of the band.
Scene Point Blank: Last year you closed out Saturday night (if my memory is reliable). What were some specific highlights from that set or that evening?
Heart & Lung: We had to take naps earlier in the day, but playing during the witching hour was well worth it because the crowd got rowdy. Seeing Dr. Daryl take over the pit gave us the energy we needed. We saw folks from all our various adventures in 2022, it was very much a sitcom season finale.
Scene Point Blank: How many Fests have you played?
Heart & Lung: This will be our third Fest appearance.
Scene Point Blank: What brings you back to The Fest? What makes it different from the billion other festivals out there?
Heart & Lung: At The Fest, it's acceptable to be an absolute nerd about loving the music. This way you maintain interest in old, formerly obscure bands as well as new, currently obscure bands.
Scene Point Blank: What are you looking forward to most about FEST 21?
Heart & Lung: This year we're playing in the super-headliner slot on Sunday evening. There is a 100% chance that 50% of us will be getting tattoos.
Scene Point Blank: Fest is about the music, for sure, but it's also about the community. What is something you enjoyed at FEST 20 that wasn't directly music-related?
Heart & Lung: The Gainesville ecosystem allows John to hide his leftover vegan food among the boughs of low hanging trees. He comes and gets it later, so if you see any vegan mac ‘n’ cheese balls seemingly abandoned in a bush, it belongs to John, please don’t move it.
Scene Point Blank: Are you touring to FEST 21? Anything related to that, or even just about your FEST 21 set, that you want to share ahead of time?
Heart & Lung: Unfortunately, we'll be flying to Fest. We'll have a fun cover on deck, as always, and we'll be playing some new songs.
Scene Point Blank: Your first two Red Scare releases came close together. Are you working on new material now?
Heart & Lung: Yes! We've been keeping a list of all the terrible shit that happened to us this year as new song inspiration.
Scene Point Blank: Do you prefer to release a whole album at a time, or do you write piecemeal and share songs as you create them? In other words, are there new songs in your set? Related to that, how do you approach writing a record?
Heart & Lung: We typically keep new songs in the oven for a while on medium heat. Our producer/fifth Ghost Buster, Ben Ryan, lives in Chicago so usually by the time we get in the studio we have a lot to record.
We very rarely write complete songs as individuals. John or Shannon will typically bring the core of a song -- a hook or a chorus -- and then we hash it out as a group. Miles lays on the hot sauce and Nick puts gas in the engine so we don't get slow and boring. By the end, we've played it enough times that we come up with the vocal harmonies along the way. When in doubt, just steal ideas from Top 40 radio hits.
Scene Point Blank: What do you think of the album format in 2023? Do you think streaming and other industry changes make the format less relevant than releasing a steady stream of singles?
Heart & Lung: Singles can be fun if you're good at marketing, and albums are great for showing a complete body of work. No matter what format we do, our fans would still want it on vinyl!
Scene Point Blank: You've been doing this band for a while now. What keeps it fun and interesting? What is your personal motivation?
Heart & Lung: If we were Kens, our job would be Band.
Scene Point Blank: Has that motivation changed through the years?
Heart & Lung: We all have an involuntary impulse to make music. It really helps that we make each other laugh a lot.
Scene Point Blank: What is something everybody should do while in Gainesville this year?
Heart & Lung: Tell your friends to not jaywalk or litter.
Scene Point Blank: What is something everybody should do when in Cleveland, whenever they get the chance?
Heart & Lung: Jaywalk everywhere you go.
