Experience W Tour Life with LJ Laboratory

Up Close Experience W Tour Life with LJ Laboratory

The future is female if LJ Laboratory have anything to say about it. The four-piece band manages to craft tomorrow’s soundscape with a fascinating array of analog synthesizers from days bygone. It’s an aural bending of time and space, and the result is downright Lynchian. This week, LJ Laboratory kick off a 4-city West Coast jaunt in collaboration with W Hotels, as part of the W TOUR LIFE series. Each event will feature a What She Said panel followed by live performances from the band.

The panels bring LJ Laboratory alongside music industry executives to talk about everything from the business of music to sonic innovation, and what it means to be an artist in this moment in time. LJ Laboratory will then take the stage for visually arresting performance in anticipation of their forthcoming debut album, Analogue Interference.

We caught up with the group ahead of the tour to hear about their musical influences, life on the road, and what new bands are on their radar.

What’s your favorite thing to order from room service?

 

LJ: Tuna Tartar. No questions asked. With a side of Mac N’ Cheese.

 

While on tour, what road trip games do you play to pass the time?

 

LJ: We usually end up in a black hole of funny, which is a subjective word, Youtube videos crammed around one tiny phone. We have also listened to 50 Shades of Grey on tape.

 

How would you describe your musical style?

 

LJ: Electronic Sci-Fi Fantasy.

 

What are three things you look for when you see an artist play live?

 

LJ: THE GEAR! There are so many ways to execute the live experience these days, so we love to check out other people’s setups and what synths, trigger pads, DAW systems etc. they use.

 

Where can we find you on a Friday night?

 

LJ: Depending on which band member you ask, the answer will be: watching Christmas movies, playing at a jazz club, watching Stranger Things, or riding a unicorn.

 

A song you have stuck in your head these days:

 

LJ: Fall Again by Yassou.

 

Your favorite city for music?

 

LJ: Mexico City!

 

How would you describe your fashion style?

 

LJ: Aeon Flux meets Kraftwerk.

 

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Who would the concert of your wildest dreams include?

 

LJ: Gary Numan, Bjork, Depeche Mode, Bowie, Nine Inch Nails, Soulwax, Daft Punk, Trentemøller, and Prince. (I guess I read concert as festival.)

 

Who is your icon?

 

LJ: Suzanne Ciani. She helped invent the modular synthesizer.

 

If you could play music with one person, living or dead, who would it be?

 

LJ:Can we get in a room with Chopin, Trent Reznor, and Dr. Dre?

 

An insider tip on what bands or artists are about to get big:

 

LJ: Caroline Smith, Bebe Huxley, Sudie, Off Bloom.

W Hotels has earned musical prestige as a launch pad for creative renegades and an incubator for the next-big-thing. Four W properties on the West Coast are setting the stage September 21 – October 5 with the launch of the W TOUR LIFE series, stopping at W San Francisco, W Seattle, W Scottsdale and W Los Angeles – West Beverly Hills. Learn more here.