{rokbox album=|ACUTE title=|Issac LeKach from ACUTE-Photo by Anisa Allen}images/stories/2007/MUSIC/ACUTE/100_1406.jpg{/rokbox}

Fears Magazine: So, how's touring for you? Is it stressful?

Isaac Lekach: It's amazing and it's my favorite thing ... being in a band, it's my favorite thing to do. The only thing is: this tour, basically like, everything that could possibly go wrong regarding transportation, has. The first show, we ended up not making it because we blew a tire in the trailer and it took forever. And we were already late (laughing), so we didn't make it. We got detained at the Canadian border because the dog was convinced that he smelled marijuana on our bus and we don't have any marijuana on the bus. They brought me back to interrogate me and I just couldn't help but laugh. I knew it was the absolute worst thing to do, but I was a hundred percent sure that we didn't have any drugs. We've never had any drugs. And, like, there wasn't anything I could do. It was more of a formality for me to be sitting there being barked at, you know? And so, so the lady's like, "I see you there smirking and that's just not a good sign - you could go to jail." And I'm like, "I understand. At this point, I wish I had a bag of weed to give you, (laughing) but we don't have anything." So after a couple hours, they let us go and we ended up making it back into the country, and we played Detroit that night. The other night we blew, going from New Orleans to Orlando, the bus blew a tire. Oh, the worst thing is that the air conditioning broke. So, I was in Houston trying to get that repaired. There are three AC hubs on the top of the bus. Two of them pump air into the lounge area, and then there's one for the bunks. The one for the bunks, evidently, the circuit board fried somehow. And so it's a sauna back there and that's where we sleep, so that's the most important thing. They couldn't replace the part that late in the day, but what they were able to do was move one of the working ones from the lounge area to the bunk area so at least we can sleep comfortably, but if we're hanging out in the lounge, we're sweating.

Fears Magazine: Still, even now?

Isaac Lekach: Yeah, we haven't been able to properly repair it. But anyway, those are all the tribulations that I can recount right now. But aside from that, it's been great fun. The Wildbirds are awesome, Jesse's phenomenal - his band's really sweet. And we were out with Chuck Ragan in the first half of the tour and before him, Holly Ramos and they were both so, so great.

Fears Magazine: In the CD, there's a quote on the inside cover by Federico Fellini. Tell me about that.

Isaac Lekach: I guess ... okay - the artwork and the Acute logo, I blatantly lifted from the poster of a movie he made called Amacord, which is one of my favorite movies. And I watched it while we were making the record. I had it on Netflix, just sitting there by my bed for like, four or five months. I just kept putting it off, 'cause some of his movies are pretty difficult to sit through. This one wasn't. But I guess that's why I put it off for so long. Anyway, so it really resonated with me and I love the artwork, so I felt that sort of lifting it or doing our own take on it would be cool for the layout, for the cover. And then Patrick, our drummer, found that quote and it just seemed to, to apply to how we do what we do. And I feel like essentially what he's saying really is it's not so much what you say, but how you say it. And I feel like you can evoke a lot of emotions lyrically, but ... and not to say that there isn't any thought put into the lyrics. I don't know if it means anything to anyone, but to me it certainly does. Musically that's something we want to accomplish. We want just the mood of the song or the feel of it to emote something and so I think that's really where that quote comes from. But it sort of secretly ties into us stealing his artwork (laughing) from his movie.

Fears Magazine: You gotta give something back.

Isaac Lekach: Yeah (still laughing).

Fears Magazine: On the album, you use a variety of peripheral instruments. You already told me who wrote that (Jason Borger), but what's the process? Do you like, have the whole song completed and then add them?

Isaac Lekach: I guess ... what we did is - a lot of the songs, I just demoed in my house, just me and a guitar, and I'd flesh it out with the band. There were a few songs that we absolutely knew we wanted a cello or a violin or a trumpet. So, in preproduction, right before we started actually recording, Dave Trumfio and I and Jason sat down and listened to the demos and sort of talked about really what would be the best way to go about doing everything - what songs would benefit from what instruments. Jason - that's what he does for a living. He had a much better idea of what to do. And so we just talked about, I guess fundamentally, what we want to do, what sort of notes - like on the song, "Saint," I mentioned that I really liked Ennio Morricone. He scores a lot of films. He did The Good, The Bad and the Ugly, and I think that's what struck a cord with Jason and that's why it almost sounds like that. There's like a human whistle on it and everything. So that's probably why he took that approach. But really we just sat down and talked about it and then he had literally just like, two weeks, if that to write all the ... he went crazy doing it. And so he wrote out all the parts. And then he has a group of musicians that he always hires, that he works really well with. And so once we had already recorded a majority of the song, we brought in the strings section and the horns section and Jason was there coaching them and guiding them and they would just make the music that he wrote out. So that's basically how it went down.

Fears Magazine: How do you replicate your sound in a live show?

Isaac Lekach: Jason has two keyboards with him. On one he'll either be playing piano or organ or the core synth part and on the other, he'll play some of the string parts or the horn parts and just emulate it as best as he can. And I think he does a really good job of filling out the sound, but eventually, when it makes sense financially, we would like to take a small, maybe string quartet or something on for the set. But uh, we're not there yet (laughing).

Fears Magazine: What are your influences?

Patrick Edwards, drums

Isaac Lekach: Musically? Um, I guess, it's like, really not so obvious, but to me the main thing ... The Beatles and The Beach Boys. That's what I grew up listening to and that's what I gravitated towards early on. Just like, they have such a profound concept of and handle on melody that ... I mean from an early age, I mean six years old, listening to Yellow Submarine with my dad and stuff like that just, I don't know. That's really what bit me at first, you know? How I got the bug and um, we listen to so much. We started listening to Beethoven symphonies. Jason and Matt, the bass player, they really know a lot about classical music. And my uncle has just a profound knowledge of it. We've been trading classical albums. I would say that it would be The Beatles and The Beach Boys and contemporary, I absolutely love The Magnetic Fields and um, I guess I would stick to those. But then Fellini inspired the artwork and stuff, and I love movies. I guess that is also a source of inspiration. Also, just like, I mean this might sound stupid, but just living. And dealing with people and romantic relationships and just platonic friendships and stuff like that. All of that really is impactful to me I think. Every single song, I think, that I've ever written is about someone I know and it's never some fictional tale. I mean, I would like to. I think the Decemberists do a great job of telling stories, but I don't think I can do something like that. So it's really just about people I know. I guess just being alive and going out into the world and meeting people.

 

Fears Magazine: That's not stupid at all!

Isaac Lekach: (Laughing) But anyway, that's the answer, I guess.

Fears Magazine: What are you listening to right now?

Bass Player, Matt Herman

Isaac Lekach: Um, gosh. Honestly, I brought my iPod. And normally, we're in a van, but we're sharing a bus with Jesse and his band on this tour. And in the van, we're constantly pumping music, but in the bus, we're either watching movies or playing Scrabble, so I haven't listened to anything. The only time I turn my iPod on is to listen to a voice lesson so I can warm up before the show.

Fears Magazine: What would you say your current favorites are then?

Isaac Lekach: I really like the new Shins record. I've been listening to that a lot. Um, actually the band the Wildbirds that we're on tour with, they're blowing me away. I really like them. And Jesse of course. I put the Patrick Wolf record, I don't remember what it's called, but I've been listening to that also. What else is on there? The new Feist record is beautiful. Gosh I'm blanking, but I guess that's probably what we're listening to. (After the interview, Isaac added that Rufus Wainwright is also one of his favorites.)

Fears Magazine: Apart from ...

{mosimage }Isaac Lekach: Oh! I lied. (Animatedly) Earlier today, Jason and I listened to Voodoo Lounge by The Rolling Stones. It came out in like, maybe '96 or something, and that record is awesome. Anyone that thinks they should quit really needs to just go back and listen to that record. It's phenomenal.

Fears Magazine: That's great! Apart from being in a band and everything that goes along with being in a band, what do you like to do in your spare time?

Isaac Lekach: Watch lots of movies, as many as I can. My family lives in Miami. I live in L.A., so I try to come back and hang out with them as much as I can. And um, all my brothers and my dad surf, as do I, so if at all possible, we go on surf trips together. And I've been trying to become a better reader. Because I'm incredibly slow, but I do enjoy reading, but it just takes me forever. So I'm actually on the spin.com book club. And I've read two books for them so far, so I'm doing much better than I normally do. I do that. And also, my brother Josh is producing movies and he's been developing a surf film 'cause we all surf. He's been developing that for two years and I wrote a couple drafts for him and I just wrote this incredibly bizarre movie for him that we're sending out to his contacts and stuff right now so hopefully, someone will give us eighty million dollars and we'll be able to make it. But that basically sums it up. That's what I do.

Fears Magazine: What are your favorite, favorite movies?

Isaac Lekach: Oh my gosh. There's so many. But uh, The Graduate would be one. Any by Mel Brooks ... probably Spaceballs. Amacord. What else? The Lord of the Rings movies. I wish we could just go on the bus and look at all the DVDs I brought. CQ is another favorite of mine. Everyone Says I Love You, the Woody Allen movie, I really like. I don't know. There's too many. I don't have an absolute favorite. If I did, I would probably say The Lord of the Rings 'cause they're flawless to me. Oh, and gosh, Eternal Sunshine (of the Spotless Mind) and Adaptation. I'm a Charlie Kaufman sucker. Those movies are phenomenal. Oh! And there's the Blue, White, and Red Trilogy (Three Colors Trilogy). Have you ever seen those? They're French movies made by a Polish director. I don't remember his name. But I just recently watched those. I just got my tonsils taken out a few months ago. And I basically watched thirty movies in a week. Those were some that I watched.

Fears Magazine: I'm scared to have my tonsils taken out.

Isaac Lekach: Yeah. It was horribly painful. But now I'm not really getting sick and I can sing a lot better, so I'm thrilled. But those movies are some of the best movies that I've ever seen. Yeah, I recommend them. They're on Netflix. That's how I found them.

Fears Magazine: What are your aspirations for yourself, and for the band?

Isaac Lekach: Honestly, the industry is changing and I don't think that anyone has a handle on it right now, but I would like to be able to live off of the band and just be able to make records and tour and be fulfilled that way. And secretly, I would also like to get one of these movies made because, I mean, I do it to help out my brother, but also, I really love movies and I would love to see something I wrote up on the screen. I guess that's it, you know, hang out with my family, cook some more. My mom is an amazing chef and she's taught me a few tricks and so if the band thing doesn't pan out, I'd probably go to culinary school and become a chef somewhere.

Go to Acute's myspace (http://www.myspace.com/acuteband ) and their website (http://www.acuteband.com ) to listen to their songs, get the tour dates, and learn more about them. I can almost guarantee that you, too, could end up in love.

 

{rokbox album=|ACUTE title=|Issac LeKach from ACUTE-Photo by Anisa Allen}images/stories/2007/MUSIC/ACUTE/100_1405.jpg{/rokbox}

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