Interview With Josh Laskin from Bearings

This interview was conducted through aim/facebook chat on 10/12/09. Josh Laskin is the Lead vocalist/guitarist of the band Bearings, a new up and coming rock/punk/emo band from Philadelphia, PA. They just came out with a S/T 7"/Demo this year on Runner Up Records and a Split 7" coming out soon.

My Therapy: So when did Bearings Start?

Josh: Fuck, I thought you said these were easy questions. Let me call John K real quick. We started like Jan or Feb of 09.

My Therapy: What was it like going from playing guitar in a hardcore band, to singing and fronting in Bearings?

Josh: Well, it's definitely two different experiences. Like in petition I got to be more energetic and jump around and solo over whole songs haha. With Bearings I actually have to think about what I'm playing, and I can't move around as much since I have a mic in my face, and plus now it's like I can't just mess around before shows and then go up and play, I have to actually take some time to warm up my voice. It's fun though, different.

My Therapy: Let’s talk about the Self-titled 7”/Demo. I loved it. Each song has it’s own tone and overall feeling. From what I got out of the lyrics they seemed to be about touring, self-conflict, friendships, change, family issues, etc. What is each song on the demo about?

Josh: Fuck, I hate my lyrics. You had to ask this question didnt you, hold on, let me listen to them real quick.

"Constrained" is about overnight drives - whether it be on tour or just going on roadtrips with friends - as you obviously know I love driving, and one of my favorite things is driving at 5 AM after a whole night of driving, everyone asleep but me, listening to farside, watching the sun come up haha.

"First Day Gone" - it's about my old neighbors I grew up with. I used to be friends with the two kids, and their mom was always real nice to me. Then their dad left, and basically the whole family got all fucked up. She became an alcoholic, her kids started doing coke and whatnot. Shitty to watch

"Images" is pretty straightforward - just about how fast time goes by. I'm about to be graduating college, and it seems like I just started. Everything just seems to happen really fast. Don't take shit for granted. It’ll be gone before you know it.

"Ten of Five" is kind of a tour/driving song, but it's really about friends coming and going, screwing you over, whatever. It was influenced by certain people/events, obviously.

Oh also - "Constrained" isn't about a secret coke addiction - that's what Andrew, John and Brian all think haha. I think that's all the songs though.

My Therapy: So you guys have a split 7” coming out soon, tell me about that?

Josh: It's with this band pswingset from Ohio (the p is silent - it's a reference to something, I forget what). I think we're only gonna have one song on it because we're most likely putting something else out in the spring and we gotta save up some songs for that. but yea, pswingset is pretty good, they're friends of friends and sound like 90's (Braid and stuff) so why not? Shit kurn’s calling me.

My Therapy: The song on the split is called “Tenement,” What is this song about and what is the significance of the word “Tenement?”

Josh: Alright, this is gonna be long. Basically I called Brian and told him what I wanted this song to be about, and he wrote most of the lyrics. I'm just gonna tell the story that caused me to write this song:

Back when I lived in Jersey, I used to go to this Italian owned sandwich shop that was amazing. They had all these great Italian sandwiches and stuff, I went in there for lunch a lot and it was always packed. Line out the door. Then the place got sold to an Indian family. Ownership changed, food did not. It was still amazing. However, the line wasn't out the door anymore. I went back with my mom, and it was deserted. got my usual lunch, tasted the same as always. Went back a few months later with my dad, same deal. He was real nice to them, just talking, real nice people. Few months later they went out of business, real unfortunate. I see people all the time doing this kind of stuff - not supporting something because the owners weren't born here, or making dumb jokes about them. It's just really close minded and ignorant, and a tenement is basically like a low income rental apartment or community. They were used for immigrant housing. We used that word to describe the situation - like putting up a wall around yourself. Brian is helping me with this one. you should've just asked him.

My Therapy: Being that everyone in the band now lives in South or West Philly, how do you feel about the racial separation/segregation that also goes on in the city, and what do you think can be done to solve the prejudice/superiority?

Josh: Well, I feel like it's moreso seperated by class than by race, but there's a class separation because of racial prejudice. Like for instance, if an African American goes into a realtor's office looking for a house, that realtor isn't going to take them to a predominately white neighborhood. In my neighborhood, it's all Italians. A black person isn't going to move into a neighborhood surrounded by Italians and the mob. They just won't feel comfortable. Same reason that a white family isn't going to move into a predominately black neighborhood - fear and stereotypes. Honestly, there's realistically no direct way to resolve this. The way families raise their kids is going to be a big factor in how things pan out in the future - If families raise their kids to be more accepting, and remove the stereotypes, the segregation will kind of dissipate. This isn't that realistic though - there are way too many old fashioned families raising their kids to be racist and hate others. That'll just be passed down from generation to generation. There's really no clean cut answer.

My Therapy: You guys have an even newer song not recorded yet, it’s a lot darker and heavier than the other songs, what’s the songs name and what is it about?

Josh: Well it doesn't have a name yet - the lyrics aren't even set in stone. Still being worked on. But basically I just got out of my first serious relationship, and I got screwed over worse than I ever have before by people that I least expected. I swore to myself that I'd never write a song about a girl or relationship, but it happened in the midst of us writing, and I couldn't really get it off my mind. So I wrote a song about it.

My Therapy: I hear that the band sometimes collectively writes the lyrics, how does that process go about and what do you like/dislike about it?

Josh: I kind of hate writing lyrics because I'm not that good at it, so sometimes I ask Brian to help me. We'll discuss the topic, and then we'll both just think up lines and use whatever's better. Then if someone comes up with something even better than that, we'll change it. Brian wrote almost all of the lyrics in Tenement, I came up with a few ideas, and then in the newest song, I wrote all the lyrics, and then Brian came up with some better ideas and we changed some stuff. I think it's really cool though. I'm not sure how bands really write lyrics - I guess a lot of times just the singer writes them - but I really like this process. It's cool getting into conversations about certain topics, and then collaborating on the lyrics.

My Therapy: How did the first tour go, where did you go? And when is the next tour?

Josh: The first tour was awesome, much better than Petition's first tour haha. Well Petition's first tour was fun and all, but Bearings really did well for it being our first tour. We went down the east coast to Miami, then looped up through TN and KY, and went into Michigan and Canada. We had a decent turn out for the whole first week (40+ kids at every show), and only a few shitty turn outs the second week.

We played this house show in Miami with over 100 kids there, and the cops showed up right before we played and shut the show down. We ended up playing without drums and amps turned way down. I was so nervous to sing loud with no loud instruments. It ended up being a ton of fun though, and we made enough money for the 14 hour drive the next day. We came like 1 record and a few shirts away from selling out of merch on that tour. Oh, and we also ate a ton of free chipotle. It was a really fun tour. We're going out again from Jan 1st - 16th. I'm trying to play some places I've never been before this time - heading out to chicago, then down through the midwest to texas, then into south florida and back up. Stoked.

My Therapy: What Are some of the musical influences for the band’s sound?

JJosh: Haha dude, you can answer this yourself i'm sure. Basically the only thing i listen to - 90's, haha nah but when we first started the band, John K. was like "wanna start a band that sounds like Hot Water Music?", and i was just like "YES". So basically that's what we were going for from day one. but I'd say our main influences now are Hot Water Music, Small Brown Bike, Texas is the Reason, Casket Lottery, and By a Thread. i could go on forever though.

My Therapy: What’s else is in the future or Bearings and when do you record next?

Josh: Well there's hopefully some pretty awesome/big stuff coming up for us in the near future, but nothing's set in stone yet so I can't really say. But our friend Jimmy, who plays in Shook Ones is doing a ton to help us out with stuff, which is awesome. We're planning on getting into the studio in the spring. Just keep your ears and eyes open.

My Therapy: Anything else?

Josh: Yea. You provided me with a reason for skipping my homework tonight and I got class mad early and I'm trying to be seeing the inside of my eyelids right now. Oh also, huge Bearings news - we are actually practicing tomorrow. THANKS DUDE (myers voice)