Get ready to RAWK!!! In this interview spotlight, I chat with Lost Circus about the latest jams, adapting during the pandemic, technology and more.
Full Q&A along with links and music below.
Where are you from and how do You describe your style of music?
Lost Circus hails from Nashville, TN and we all live in the Middle Tennessee area. The band members are Steve Libby (vocals), Bryan Blumer (guitar), Kenny Knight (guitar), Chad Grant (bass), and Tom Gregory (drums). We certainly fall into the Hard Rock and Metal genres. Our influences are vast between all the members, but our music is an amalgam of bands such as Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Queensryche, Guns N Roses, The Cult, and other greats from the 80s Hard Rock and Metal scenes. Of course, we feel like our music also has a modern sound as well, due to our other varied musical backgrounds and experiences in bands and songwriting through the years.
How did you get here? As in, what inspired or motivated you to take on this journey through music and the music biz?
We each have lengthy histories and a vast array of experiences in our musical journeys as most long-time musicians do. We’ve spent years in and out of original and cover bands alike, honing our skillsets to what they are today. Music is just something that grabs you and pulls you in to its orbit if you are so inclined. From there, a person gravitates to an instrument of choice and the journey continues from there. I am sure that we have all had ‘Rock Star’ dreams, but we also just honestly love playing music. Thankfully, we all love playing music TOGETHER in this band!
(Steve) My first inspiration vocally was Marc Storace of Krokus. From there it was Brian Johnson, Rob Halford and musically, Dave Mustaine. The inspiration behind this band and album is the desire to never give up and fall into industry traps of age and style. Music is music and if it comes from the heart and is done right, people will dig it. We have a lot to prove and a lot to say so our collective five person machine will not be stopped.
(Bryan) The guitar greats of the seventies and eighties would be the musical inspiration for me, and the bands that put out those special albums that were clearly such a result of a very unique chemistry. Eddie Van Halen, Billy Gibbons, Steve Morse, Randy Rhoads and Jake E. Lee as individuals. For groups, the ones that really hit me live with their guitar interplay were Queensryche, Stryper, Iron Maiden and Def Leppard. I’ve always loved the solo guitar player who can cover so much ground alone, and yet I’m totally drawn to the textures created between 2 guitars and the unique voice they can express when mixed. For Lost Circus, the inspiration came from finding the perfect blend of expression and collaboration, and having such a fun and solid group of individuals with which to share that.
(Kenny) My music inspirations are Kiss, Randy Rhoads, Zakk Wylde, Van Halen and Slash. I like to think that all of my influences play a part in my songwriting and playing on this album.
(Chad) From the first time I picked up the bass, I was trying to emulate Cliff Burton (Metallica) and many of the metal and thrash players like him. While I have influences ranging from Dean Dinning (Toad the Wet Sprocket) and Paul McCartney to Les Claypool (Primus) and Geddy Lee (RUSH) with dabs of Charles Mingus and other jazz greats….my number one influence has always been Billy Gould (Faith No More). I feel like all of these greats play a part in what I feel is my style and how I played on this release.
(Tom) Ah let’s see – who are my musical inspirations…That question covers a lot of ground. My drumming inspiration would have to be Tommy Aldredge, both now and even as far back as his time with Pat Travers. Barbaric, melodic, and powerful. Of course, there are others that were famous or at least notable; Scott Rockenfield of Queensryche, Eric Singer, Rod Morgenstien, even the likes of Tommy Lee and Steve Riley. But as musicians, there were two Nashville studio guys that engrained some very meaningful ‘knowledge’ in my brain. Jeff Teague, a Nashville studio drummer, taught me the art and nuances of tuning drums. He was brilliant and was very patient in sharing his knowledge with me. Larry Londin, who played on tons of studio recordings all the way back to the Motown days and was the drummer on Steve Perry’s solo album, taught me many lessons, but probably the most important/valuable thing that has stuck with me for 30 years – “any idiot can play the drums. A great drummer plays the song”
How does your latest project compare/contrast with your previous release(s)? Were you setting out to accomplish anything specific, follow a specific theme, or explore different styles of creation?
“Lost Circus” is our debut, self-titled release so we really don’t have anything to compare it to currently. We just hope that everyone enjoys listening to it as much as we did playing and recording it for the masses!
The writing process is a team effort. Someone will bring to the table a riff or even a complete musical idea and we all put our own spins on the parts of the completed work. We feel that this is important to be a ‘band’ and not just a writer with a ‘backing group’. While that can certainly work for others, we feel like part of the reason our songs come out the way they do is because each of us puts a little bit of ourselves into their creation.
(Steve) Our self-titled album came together slowly during the 2020 slow-down. In late 2019, I got together with Tom and Kenny and started putting together the lineup we have today. All of us put our years of knowledge and experience into every song. Bryan tweaked just about everything to make sonic sense and Chad hammered home what we needed to fill it all up. Each song came together quickly, and I assign passion as the leading factor. I had assumed this album would have been a thrashy melodic piece of work but when it all came together, it was obvious each song was something different.
(Bryan) It took on a life of its own to come into existence. The idea of just getting a few ideas down to have something, just kept growing and became something so much more. The songs went down easily and before we knew it, we had the basic tracks for Lost Circus. Every song has a story lyrically and musically, that I think really complement each other exceptionally well throughout the album. It all paints a picture and presents what we think is a very appealing and memorable collection of songs.
As far as the album process itself, we started at Dark Horse Recording in Franklin, TN back in February of 2021. This three-day foray into the studio there was produced by Tom Harding for all the drums and most of the bass tracks. Afterwards, a lot of the vocals and guitars were done at Tom (Harding) and Bryan’s (Blumer) personal studios. We also had Saul Zonana lay down some synth and keys for a few songs as well. The process took about 8 months overall on the calendar. Arranging scheduling and coordinating studio time for mixing tended to stretch out the timetable. The overall album was produced by Grammy award winner, Tom Harding with H2 Productions, digital editing by number one hit songwriter T. W. Hale and mixed by Ryan Griffin. The final master was completed by Maor Appelbaum with Maor Appelbaum Mastering.
Name the biggest challenge you faced as a creative during these unprecedented? How did you adapt? How have you kept the creative fires burning during all this?
As with the rest of the creative and performing community world-wide, we certainly missed being able to perform live and in front of crowds like before. It’s no secret to anyone that has ever created art or performed in any way, that feeding off a crowd and being able to share your gifts is something that inspires further creativity. A silver lining, however, is that this project was able to take shape and come to fruition in the ‘downtime’. We were able to come together as a band, hone our songs into their final form, and rehearse them before heading into the studio for tracking. Now that the world is coming back to life, we are working hard on the LIVE show and plan on hitting the stage as Lost Circus for the first time very soon!
What was the last song you listened to?
(Steve) “Wake Up Dead (featuring Dave Mustaine)” ~single (remake) from Lamb of God & Megadeth
(Bryan) “Empire” ~from ‘Empire’ by Queensryche
(Kenny) “Call Me Little Sunshine” ~from ‘IMPERA’ by Ghost
(Chad) “Fire Emojis” ~from ‘The Brave’ by Tom Macdonald, Adam Calhoun, Madchild
(Tom) “Only A Little While” ~from ‘Mellow Dreams 3’ by squeeda and SNUG
Which do you prefer? Vinyl? 8-tracks? Cassettes? CDs? MP3s? Streaming platforms?
(Steve) Streaming platforms, but I collect vinyl and CDs.
(Bryan) Streaming platforms.
(Kenny) MP3s on iTunes.
(Chad) CDs when I am at home, but streaming when on-the-go.
(Tom) Streaming platforms, for the convenience.
Where is the best place to connect with you and follow your journey?
We have found a superb tool (that many are using these days) that provides a one-stop location for all-things Lost Circus. Our Linktree site allows us to add and update anything you could ever want to find with a click. Come on in…the Circus awaits!
I really appreciate Your time. Anything else before we sign off?
As stated, we are putting the finishing touches on our live show and starting the process of booking for the debut show and future dates as well. In the meantime, we are proud to have just released a brand-new video for the single “This Place Is Mad” on our official YouTube channel. We were honored to have an absolutely amazing crew work on this video. It was shot at Skyway Studios on their amazing LED stage and was produced and directed by Pierre Lamoureux who has worked with some of the best of the best in the industry. More to come there… Our official merch store recently launched as well, so fans can grab all the swag they want. We are ready to bring the whole package to the masses and are eagerly looking forward to having a great time entertaining crowds and making sure that everyone goes home absolutely satisfied….yet wanting MORE!! ROCK ON!!!
