Tonight at our home base, The Wonder Bar in Asbury Park, there’s going to be an excellent, you gotta see it to believe kinda rock ‘n’ roll show. The Empty Hearts, a super group of classic rock veterans will be taking the stage for a rare appearance. Who are The Empty Hearts? They’re Wally Palmar of the Romantics on lead vocals, rhythm guitar and harmonica; Elliot Easton of the Cars on lead guitar and vocals; Andy Babiuk of the Chesterfield Kings on bass and vocals; and Clem Burke of Blondie on drums and vocals. (For tickets, click here.)
Opening up for the supergroup will be a slew of local favorites – The Doughboys, blues/garage rock siren Tara Elliott (with The Red Velvets), and a band we’ve always been a huge fan of — Lost Romance.
Lost Romance, a power pop/alt rock trio out of New Brunswick, N.J. (but who play just about everywhere), are this wonderfully infectious band that harken back to the days when lyrics and chords blended beautifully into a melodic explosion of rock. We’ve had the honor of working with LR in the past – they headlined one of our Wonder Bar shows, and we’ve been in love with them ever since. Any time this band is on a bill, whether it’s a local night, or they’re opening for national headliner like The Empty Hearts, we get excited. And so should you — these guys remind us what ‘mainstream’ rock ‘n’ roll lost when it turned its back on melody in place of the thrash of nu-metal, the whine of emo, the banjos of freak folk and the electronic synth pop/rock that dominate the current scene.
We caught up with Lost Romance’s Gerry Perlinksi to talk shop — updating us on the band’s new record, performing with The Empty Hearts, and what’s to come in the future for the band.
Let’s talk about the new record – when we last spoke in November you guys were hard at work at it – when can we expect it out for mass consumption?
We’re in the final mixing and mastering stages of the new record right now. We’re looking to release a single shortly and have the full length ready in the Fall. We’re just looking for the right home for it.
How’s the record been coming together? Is it on the trajectory you envisioned when you first started writing it or is taking interesting twists and turns?
The record has been coming out great. There are some songs that we’ve had in the live set for a while as well a few new ones making their way on it. So, it’s pretty much how we envisioned it. That being said, we still have a few tricks up our sleeve that we’re not revealing yet!
You recently signed up to be in the Warped Tour Battle of the Bands – how’s this been going? Also, why do it? Do you feel Lost Romance will fill a void that this fest is missing?
We’ve been doing really well with Warped Tour contest and are in the top of the charts for our location and music genres. We’re doing it because it’s a fantastic event and it gives us a chance to play to a brand new built in audience of rock fans. Even though we have done our share of all ages shows, this type of event showcases us to a younger crowd that may not get to see us otherwise. I do think we fill a void in the tour because we are mixing in a lot of old school influences that maybe the Warped Tour crowd hasn’t heard in a while like Husker Du, The Replacements, Dinosaur, Jr. and The Police. They seem to have a plethora of modern rock, metal-core and pop punk so we’ll probably stand out like a sore thumb… in a good way.
You’re performing this Friday at Wonder Bar, opening up for Empty Hearts – which features members of Blondie, The Romantics, and The Cars. Stoked for this show? I mean this is some real rock royalty you’ll be sharing the stage with. Were any of these bands influential in the Lost Romance sound?
Super stoked! These bands were definitely influential to the Lost Romance sound. All three of them have that perfect mix of new wave and pop with an undertone of punk. They laid down part of the blueprint of what we do as a band.
When performing with musicians that have a sense of fame and legend surrounding them – how do you handle yourself as a musician? How do you not want to ask them a million questions to pick their brains about the business, about their experiences, etc?
I think the best way to handle yourself is to look at them as fellow musicians and artists. We’re all part of the same community and industry and have been through the same ups and downs. We’re just at different levels of our careers. I’ve met several of my musical heroes and I find if you just treat them as you would anyone else you just met, it works out much better. I’m sure every artist is different, but the ones I met appreciate when you just have a normal conversation with them or maybe geek out about other bands you both like. As far as getting advice from them, I don’t think there is anything wrong with asking a few questions. It’s just like having a mentor in any other industry. I’ve found most musicians and people in general like sharing their experiences with you if you ask. I know I do!
What’s on the horizon for the rest of 2015?
2015 will see more touring for sure once we release the new album. We did a 10 city East Coast tour last year and we’d like to revisit some of those cities again. We’re also looking forward to playing through the South up and into the Midwest this time around. There’s also talk of a European tour and maybe some Canadian dates if things go as planned.
