Layne Montgomery is always thinking about songs: what makes the good ones work, what makes the bad ones interesting, how to make his own ones better. He is constantly on a quest to write a perfect song (something like “Age of Consent” by New Order or “MMMbop.”) His best friend Max Miller has been with him for most of this journey: they’ve been playing in each other’s bands since the day they met, shyly trading Jet riffs (it was the mid-2000s) back and forth while Wayne’s World 2 played on mute. When Max went away for college, Layne started a band called the Great American Novel, where he eventually shepherded Aidan Shepard into playing drums with him. Equal parts heavy metal and Beatle, Aidan looks at songs in a unique way Layne’s years of study could never provide (Layne doesn’t listen to metal – he once heard a Metallica song and he couldn’t sleep for weeks.) The Great American Novel constantly was on the cusp of breaking through or breaking up, and the latter happened before the former. But – you know how Ringo kept playing drums with each Beatle after they break up? Layne felt the same way about Aidan and had to have him in the new band. After college Max moved back into the building he and Layne grew up in with a ton of great new songs that got Layne inspired and a little jealous, so he had to join the band too.
After two long years of fluctuating lineups and band names (Lame, The Romantic Comedy, The Who But Like Better Or Something), Stove Shaw completed the puzzle earlier this year. With a good mutual friend between them, Layne and Stove kept seeing each other on social media, then running into each other at hip shows in the city (Car Seat Headrest, Parquet Courts, etc) and going “hey, don’t I know you?” while awkwardly sipping cheap beer. Although their path to Rock has been winding and thorny, it was clear from the first time the four strapped on their instruments that this was the band. This is the Layne Montgomery Paper Company.
In this interview spotlight, we chat about motivations, challenges, the latest project and more.
Full Q&A along with links and music below.
Where are you from and what style of music do you create? (In your own words, not necessarily in marketing terms or by popular genre classifications.)
I’m from Las Vegas originally, but I’ve been posing as a New Yorker for about 10 years now. I just try to make rock and roll music that is hopefully fun and a little silly (and usually a bit beer-y.)
What led you down this path of music and what motivates you to stay the course?
I started playing music in 2005 when I got really into Oasis, the Who, and especially Green Day’s “American Idiot.” My first band exclusively played Green Day covers. I’ve stayed on course because Green Day has a lot of songs and I’d like to cover them all… In actuality, playing and writing music is just my favorite thing to do and I can’t imagine doing anything else (unless somehow I could make a living re-watching Scrubs.)
How is your new release different than previous ones? Did you set out to accomplish anything specific?
The new single is the first song we’ve put out as Layne Montgomery Paper Company. This band put out an EP last year called Let’s Be Sad Together as the Romantic Comedy, which is pretty good, and was recorded at the same place with the same people so it’s like a prequel to us now. We also have a new bassist named Stove and he’s really cool. I think the single “Teenage Feelings” is the best song I’ve written so far but we only had a day in the studio so we pushed ourselves to the point of madness (overdubs and beers until 4 in the morning) to make something cool.
Do you face challenges as an indie musician in a digital age? How has technology helped you (assuming it helps)?
I spend a LOT of time thinking about this so here’s a basic rundown of my thoughts… I think the advances in technology and the internet have mostly been helpful for musicians in that it’s way easier to get music made and heard, but I miss record stores and still like to own music I love. When you can stream everything for basically free, I get that it’s hard to justify spending 20 bucks on a vinyl (I usually buy tapes from a band just because they’re the cheapest way to support something you love and they come with downloads.) I probably should have been born earlier. I miss Tower Records and the thrill of discovering a new band or even wasting 15 bucks on a CD that you ended up not liking because you dug the cover art.
Where can we connect with you online and discover more music?
We’re on all the social media as @LMPCband. I politely asked the owner of @LMPC on Instagram if we could buy it from him or her, but they haven’t responded yet.
Anything else before we sign off?
Keep on keepin’ on.
