We Found a Lovebird at Green Auto: Larry Lechner, Stephen Hamm and Bruce Wilson mini-interviews

We Found a Lovebird

Bruce Wilson (Tankhog/ Sunday Morning/ RxHx) agrees with me: the new album by We Found a Lovebird has a kind of Tom Verlaine/ Television quality to it. "I can definitely hear why comparisons to Tom Verlaine would be made. Maybe some Westerberg in spots too? I don’t know the We Found A Lovebird crew that well but it always makes me happy to run into Larry when we’re out and about. I like their guitar sound."

The Larry he means is We Found a Lovebird frontman Larry Lechner, who has been on the Vancouver music scene since his days in One Fell Swoop, footage of whom can be seen sandwiched between Poisoned and Nomeansno, around the 36 minute mark in this 1984 compendium of performers at a York Theatre independent music festival. It's vaguely "MoDaMu," if you're familiar with that scene, the avant-new-wave "modern dance music" clique that arose from the 1980s punk scene, featuring bands like Animal Slaves and Bolera Lava, though Lechner's sound has evolved since then. "One Fell Swoop became the Velveteens who morphed into Conrad who then became We Found a Lovebird," Lechner explains in an email. "And here we are. With a new album and everything!"

We Found a Lovebird headlines an ambitious bill this Saturday at Green Auto, the record release for With Friends Like These. (The album is now on bandcamp in full and can be previewed here, with discussion about the newest single, "Details" -- and was at Music Madhouse on vinyl, so I assume it can be purchased at the gig). 

Wilson's new project, RxHx, will play, kicking things off at 8pm. More on them a bit later! Wilson's longtime compatriot, Stephen Hamm, will do a "Space Family Band" set; Crummy, fronted by Bert Man (Little Guitar Army, Strugglers, and much more -- interviewed by me here and here), will perform; and out-of-towners Caveman & the Banshee will perform. It's a lot of music for your money, and sprawls out across the night long enough that I might actually try to double-dip, rushing back-and-forth between the Black Mountain show at the Rickshaw and the Green Auto (a back alley entrance above Pandora, just off Victoria Drive). I won't be able to take in everything, but...

So does Lechner agree with the Verlaine comparison? I hadn't noticed a Television connection when last I interviewed him. As sometimes happens, it's totally a coincidence -- though it turns out, I'm not the first person to go there. "Verlaine was not an influence at all actually," he writes. "I hadn’t heard of Television when Alex Varty first made the reference. After I heard Marquee Moon I felt very flattered, naturally."

L-to-R unless I have fucked up: Kerry MacPherson, Jay Solyom, Larry Lechner, Dave Charan, photo by Gord McCaw

With that, I'm going to revert to Q&A style for the remainder of this Larry Lechner interview:

Allan: Why call the album "With Friends Like These?" (Somehow that makes me think of the US under Trump, but that cannot possibly be the reference). I haven't actually HEARD the whole record -- it's not all on bandcamp, and I didn't buy it (yet) because I thought I would be at the show). Is there a lyric to that effect? Is it a unifying theme?

Larry: That title was suggested by Dave Charan (bass/vocals) and was originally more of a joke about how we're always ribbing each other. I expanded the meaning to: The songs we listen to can become some of our closest friends. We rely on them to transport us somewhere or jolt us awake. Either way, that’s what we expect from our friends, isn’t it? 

Allan: Let me ask about the song "Chet."  That Chet Baker documentary pissed me off to no end. It's got great footage but I have never seen a filmmaker JUDGE his subject quite so much -- I wanted to punch Weber, almost, when he asked Chet if he remembered the names of all his kids. So a) thank you for sticking up for Chet -- as that song seems to do; b) how and when was that song written? and c) Were there any other people you were thinking of, who the lyrics connected with (the late Mr. Chi Pig also lived very much on his own terms, and as problematic as those terms were, he stuck by them -- a sad story but, like, he stayed the course and lived the life he wanted to live...). Are there any musical "references" to Chet Baker's music in there, that I might have missed?

The lyrics of this song are Chet’s verbatim response when asked if he felt regret over his life. His response resonated deeply with me because he had only gratitude, zero regrets. That perspective is powerful. It’s not unlike the themes that run through many of our songs – nods to iconic artists, life’s moral conundrums, and the ever-present possibility of love. His response sounded like lyrics to me so I scribbled them down and set them to a weird little chord progression I was playing around with at the time. Was written last year sometime.

Thanks for doing it, it's a moving gesture. Do you have any particular history or connections with Hamm, Bruce Wilson, or Bert Man? Stories, favourite songs, whatever? (There is another band on the bill I do not know -- Caveman and the Banshee; do you have connections with them?

No history with Hamm or Bruce Wilson other than coming out of the same local scene back in the 80's. I cross paths with Hamm occasionally and we help each other with contacts, etc. As for Bert, his other band Chopper and the Saucermen played with us at Green Auto last year, so yeah we're fans of Bert and his various projects. This bill came together when Hamm contacted me looking for a show and mentioned Bruce and Caveman and the Banshee, who are from Nanaimo. Caveman has a new record out that they're touring to support and it seemed like an interesting and eclectic fit for the bill. It's gonna be a fun one!

Anything else we should say about the live set, the new album, or...?

The new album has been in the works since we released the first single "Sent On a Boat" back in 2020. It was recorded mostly live off the floor in our studio/rehearsal space in New Westminster between 2020 and 2024. Feels great to be getting the whole package out there. 

So let's check in, while we're at it, with Bruce Wilson: what is this RxHx project, how do I pronounce this band name, and what about Sunday Morning? Is that project -- truly an under-rated local band, worth your investigation -- now finished? (I read his answer initially wrong and thought it was, then read it again and felt relief; I would see them again!). 

Bruce Wilson: RxHx is a synth based solo side project I’ve been messing around with and this is its trial run. RxHx is medical shorthand for a patient’s prescription history and considering my former fondness for particular prescribed medications it seemed fitting. Pronounce it however you’d like but I usually just sound it out by the individual letters. I have yet to release anything but that’ll be coming soon—I just wanted to see if I can pull this off live and see how it feels. Musically I guess I’d say it falls somewhere in between Primal Scream’s XTRMNTR album and some of oOoOO’s earlier stuff….

Sunday Morning isn’t going anywhere. I’m mixing something now that ought to be out in the summer. Anyway I’m grateful to Hamm and the Lovebird folks for giving me a quick slot and I hope you can make it out! I’m on first at 8 pm sharp.  

 

Sunday Morning by Bob Hanham 

This is, of course, good news, because I do need to check out Black Mountain, you see. Their new album is a striking thing in that, while confident and committed and rockin', it reminds me of almost nothing I loved about their early material, which had a stoned East Van underachiever vibe to it -- not much of that on Destroyer; I think it's possible that if I'd heard the album spinning somewhere, I'd probably go, "hey, that keyboard player sounds a bit like Jeremy, is this his new band?" But at this point, you're either already going to that show or its Sunday Green Auto follow up, or you aren't; with the Green Auto show starting at 8, and We Found a Lovebird going on at 11, I can probably catch at least Bruce and Crummy and get a taste of Caveman and the Banshees before I hitch a ride, and then maybe jot BACK from the Rickshaw to see some of WFaL?  That is the plan, anyhow! 

Photo by me! What the heck was that beside Hamm? I'm still not sure.

Which probably  means missing Hamm, but, like, I have seen Hamm (including the Space Family Band) more than once, and while the Space Family Band is definitely a major evolution from his solo set, they are still pretty fresh in my memory from their Rickshaw debut a few months ago. Super-cool that he's expanded his reach so much. So I asked Hamm about that! 

Stephen Hamm: The first Theremin Man album was completely programmed, because I always saw the act as a one man show. I take inspiration from Quintron and Nash the Slash. My last record, Songs For The Future, I decided to have Shawn Mrazek, who I played in the Evaporators, lay down drums on my bed tracks and build the songs from there. I played bass on the tracks and even used some guitar, so yes it's been in the back of my mind to have Shawn join me on stage and maybe a full band because the songs were written and arranged that way... 

When I did the record release show at 604 Studios back in May of last year I had Felix Fung who worked on the album add guitar to the show. We toured as a duo for the Songs For The Future tour. The video and audio of the record release show, by the way, is being released on Light Organ Records this Friday. It kinda grew from there and when I got asked to open for the Pointed Sticks at the Rickshaw last December, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to try a full band. We brought in my partner Tanya Bennett who played in Mink Valley on bass and Jovana Golubovic of Nightblossom on keyboards. So that's how this came together and the more we play the more it feels like a family. We're going to be doing mostly songs from Songs For The Future but there will be some added surprises! There will be lots more Theremin Man solo shows and when the family is available and the situation is right we'll do full band shows as well.

Thanks, Stephen... if any of the readers of this haven't seen it yet, check out Ani Kyd Wolf's superb video of Hamm's lead single off the new album, "Are You Receiving Me?" If you're bummed out at NOT having gotten Black Mountain tickets, the Green Auto show will be a superb alternative choice. 

Apologies to Bert Man for not having reached out, here, but surely everyone in Vancouver knows that Crummy rocks? If you don't, check out their classic Bowie cover here, their classic Butthole Surfers' cover here, and their tight-as-a-nun's-asshole punk tune -- also done by the Strugglers -- "Fucken Disaster" here. And, like, you all know the Little Guitar Army, right? This band REALLY EXISTED. Kind of hard to believe! 

See some of you Saturday -- if not at the Rickshaw, then Green Auto! 

Still my favourite photo of Bert, snapped by me, watching the Strugglers at Funkys years ago. 

Facebook page for Saturday's show here.  

Late to the party: We Found a Lovebird by Bob Hanham!