Andy Lefton (War//Plague)
SPB: Minneapolis seems very engrained in your sound. How much of that is conscious? Is it purposeful, or does is just sort of happen through osmosis? Do you find the TC scene to be fairly supportive and/or conducive? Are their limitations or frustrations that come with being labeled a Minneapolis band?
Lefton: It's completely organic. We don't wear the “Minneapolis sound” on our sleeve and we definitely don't strive for anything specific in that nature. I suppose we've been conditioned to our musical environment, so yes...that element has rubbed off on us.
The majority of us aren't from Minneapolis, but came here to do exactly what we're doing musically. Prior to War//Plague, we all came from other projects (Provoked, Calloused, Pontius Pilate, etc) and played a lot of the same shows together in the past: from the late ‘90s up until now and have always worked closely with the DIY punk community here. At this point, it's in our blood.
It's not frustrating to be labeled as a Minneapolis band, it's where we're from. Our music does tie into some sounds that are familiar, but our individual history also has a back story of playing music that was more similar to what's been cloned over that last couple decades. We wanted to make a statement through our music. Yes, that's cliché, but true. We can bust out any old D-beat riff and move onto the next one without a thought. But we want to dig deeper than that and create something that will have its own unique signature. 15 years ago was an amazing time to just rage and not look back. Our intentions are still the same...more than ever, but want to focus on why the angst is there and not simply write a record for the sake of writing a record.
