www.facebook.com/lastminet
From: New Jersey
Sounds like: Alternative Pop/Rock
1. How did you get started with music and how did you develop your sound? Who thought of the name “Last Minet” and is there any meaning behind it?
Last Minet was started in 2006. Me (Zuri) and one of my old high school friends joined the Fort Lee Battle of the Bands a few days before the show and decided to try to write some songs. We ended up winning the show as the first all girl band in the town to ever win. Half of the people who originally were going to perform with us that day backed out, and we were able to find replacements the day of. I didn't really think much of it, but I blurted out "Last Minute!" and that was that. Shortly after, we changed the spelling to avoid confusion with any other bands...plus it was more punk rock! That was motivation for us to keep going.
Individually, me and Jovanna both started taking music more seriously in our early teens, covering our favorite bands, and jamming with friends in our towns. That was definitely a huge part in both of us having access and continuing playing instruments. Me and Jovanna were both in symphonic band and marching band growing up, so that had an impact on our musical knowledge. We started jamming together when we were both still in high school. I think the better we got at our instruments, it was easier to get more creative and really start messing around with different ideas. Our styles in rock, and music in general, are so different that when we play together, "our sound" kind of just happened. We've jammed and worked with a ton of different musicians throughout the years, and have played around with so many different styles. Right now, we are testing the waters some more, and experimenting with a lot of ideas for the second album.
2. What do you want listeners to take away from your "Live For Love" album? What's the word on new music?
The message "Live For Love" is really what we want them to take away from the album. The songs are about hardship but in the end, also overcoming that hardship. We also want listeners to open up and interpret the songs in their own way.
Right now we are writing a lot of new music, and experimenting with some songs that we've had in the vault while finishing up the first album. We're very excited about the direction we are going in right now. Last Minet will be in the studio June 17th, and will be releasing a single this summer to give you all a taste!
3. What can people expect from your live show?
We deliver energy, realness, and passion. We live for performing live, and aim to deliver that love to our audience during every show.
4. What's your favorite track to play live?
Collectively, our favorite song to perform would be either "Turning Tables" or "Paincity". These songs get us extra pumped up, and have a lot of history in the band.
5. Who are three bands you’d like to tour with?
We'd love to tour with Blink 182, All Time Low, and Wonder Years.
6. Any crazy show stories?
A few years back, we were asked to perform at Saint Joe's college up in Rutland, Vermont. This would be the farthest we have toured at the time. Little did we know, there was a hurricane coming. As we left, and our home towns in New Jersey were being evacuated, we joked to all of our friends, wishing them luck during the storm. After a clear, beautiful night, and morning in Rutland, me and a former band mate were outside on the porch in the apartment we were staying at. All of a sudden, a sheriffs car pulls up, and starts announcing through his car speaker that everyone must evacuate immediately. As he is saying that, a foot of water engulfs his car, and everything after that was like a movie. We all ran inside and grabbed our stuff to travel to the college where we were set to be performing. It was hectic. Once we were all outside, and making sure we had everything (our car is half way in water at this point) we had forgotten our food, and another member ran in to get it. Shortly after we arrived at the college, all the exits to the town, and the campus were completely flooded. The hurricane had caught up with us. National Guards came out and got stranded as well because the weather and flooding was so bad. The power had gone out in the entire campus, but we were lucky enough that there were generators there that we could plug our gear into. Later that night, we set up everything as usual in the cafeteria due to the main theater being completely inaccessible. All the students that were stranded came out to show support, and we practically performed in emergency lighting, during the storm. We were stranded there for two days, and were supplied dorms and cafeteria food. By far, one of the craziest experiences we've had as a band.
7. What’s your take on the current state of Pop Punk?
Pop Punk is no longer mainstream as it once was, but it has not gone away either. There are some bands our there finding success in the genre such as Modern Baseball and Real Friends. There are also bands like Blink 182 and Green Day recently releasing successful albums which can be seen as a type of revival for the genre. With that said, Last Minet does not focus so much in staying within a genre. The music at present does have mostly pop-punk elements but we just write music we enjoy, sometimes using elements from other genres as well. For pop punk to really make a comeback, it would definitely need to include new elements to make it sound fresh and appealing to audiences.
8. What’s the current music scene like there in New Jersey both locally and state wide?
The local scene has its ups and downs. Locally we find that there are still scenes at particular venues such as The Meatpacker in Montclair. It's an all ages venue that has that underground vibe much like CBGBs. It's still pretty popular for young people to play at or to come watch bands rock out. The state also has its scenes such as the New Brunswick scene thriving with college students from all over the state that gather in basements and bars alike. A lot of great bands started in New Brunswick and as a city home to the state university, the scene there still seems to be going strong. NJ is home to a lot of great bands from all types of genres. My Chemical Romance, The Gaslight Anthem, The Front Bottoms, Streetlight Manifesto, and the Bouncing Souls all hail from NJ. Music lives strong in this state and there's even some up and coming bands making a name for themselves. Besides Last Minet of course, there are other great bands to listen to right now, like the Gatherers, Hodera, and Gates.
9. What’s your take on legal/illegal music downloading?
Illegal downloading is inevitable. While in theory it clearly isn't good since it takes profit away from hardworking artists, it still serves as a way to reach more ears. If we can think back to when we were teens, illegally downloading music served as a way to hear new bands. We were young and broke and had it not been for illegal downloading, we'd probably be stuck and limited to listening to mostly mainstream music on the radio.
10. What’s next for Last Minet?
We will continue creating music and writing albums to further develop our sound. Ultimately, we hope to get more traction and fans to be able to tour full time, and share our passion with the world.
