LaME and The Crazy Ivans
Diamonds In The Rough
By: Kathy Iandoli
Last updated August 17th , 2009

Every week, 101D.com will highlight two new artists in our exclusive Diamonds In The Rough Series. This week, we proudly present LaME and The Crazy Ivans, two bands from the heart of Texas looking to stir up some trouble in the music industry.

The Crazy Ivans
Representin' Dallas, Texas

Background Check: First off, no one in the band is named Ivan and the only thing crazy about them is the great music they make. Comprised of long-time friends, the Crazy Ivans started circa 2007 when rhythm guitarist Justin Smith abandoned his classical guitar studies and joined bassist Todd Maternowski in moving past their previous musical work with the mambo dance troupe Sandunga Dance. Todd decided to learn the bass because, as he puts it, "it was the easiest instrument other than the tambourine." They linked with their two buddies, drummer Elrych and lead guitarist Keith Riskey, and began their 6-month search for a lead singer. They fatefully met soulful lead singer Kristen Lueken and added her to the team along with Mikey Maternowski on the Hammond X-3 organ. The mission of The Crazy Ivans is to craft rock that has both meaning and emotion ... and not in the ironic sense.



 The Goods: The Crazy Ivans are currently in the studio working on their full-length debut due out this Fall. The album will incorporate some of the tracks off their EP Go Back to Russia, Sucka along with new material. With influences like Queen and Led Zeppelin their debut LP will be sure to please. "We've got a lot of influences, but we made a decision very early on not to get shoe-horned into one or two specific genres," explains Todd. "Genres are for rock journalists, but they're death to the artists. Plus, we've all got short attention spans. No way we're playing an hour and a half of gutter punk or prog rock. We'd fall asleep on stage."


From Austin to the Aztecs: While The Crazy Ivans have spent the larger portion of their career touring Texas up and down, they plan to venture to the left and to the right in the very near future, include a bunch of festivals. If there were no Crazy Ivans, most of the band members would still be pursuing other musical opportunities. However, Todd and Elrych's plans would be golden. "We would likely be exploring ancient ruins for lost Aztec gold."

Listen to their record Go Back To Russia, Sucka here.


LaME
Representin' Irving, Texas

Background Check: Despite the fact that their band name is LaME, their sound is anything but that. Self-described as "Four guys who grew up in the wastelands of Texas," LaME formed in '99, starting with lead singer Cameron Taylor and bassist John Weiss. Then guitarist Taylor Walding joined the crew followed by drummer Ryan Scherschell and the rest is history. The members may have changed around over time, but everyone in LaME has a character representation ("- Negative" John Weiss, "? Unequal" Cameron Taylor, "? Unknown" Ryan Scherschell, and "¶ Paragraph" Taylor Walding). "I always had a soft spot for bands with characters that fans members alike could fall in love with," explains ¶. "When John and I first started playing, we had nicknames for ourselves."

The Goods: In 2006, LaME released their debut full-length Nothing Ever Works that cleverly fused rock with electronics, but not in an overbearing sense. Still, as the band puts it, their sound is "loud and cool as fuck." "We wanted to create a sound that referenced a lot of the heavy electronics we were into, but without being a post-industrial band," states Cameron. "We wanted something that blended multiple sounds together instead of the electronics and the rock fighting for space." Since then, LaME has been bringing their sound to the masses - from NY to NOLA - while gearing for a second album release in the Spring of 2010. They plan to start recording in early November with industry vet Alex Gerst.


Happy Easter: Over their ten-year stint, LaME has had some pretty interesting memories, including chasing their former guitarist in the rain while he was barefoot on acid. Then again, there were some potential ideas that could've produced memories not as fond as that one. "I tried to put cat turds in Easter eggs at a tattoo festival this year to hide on stage for our fans to find," Taylor recalls. "Management wouldn't let me. It was probably for the best."

Listen to LaME's The Palmyra Demos here.

[Tags] Rock

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