A Candid Interview with The Statues of Liberty
This band needs no introduction because they are one of our favorite bands and have been featured many times on the site. However, we are still going to introduce them.
The Statues of Liberty are a three piece band out of New York City who have memorable songs and the live show that will blow you where the Pampers are. We described the band this way in a review of our first encounter with them. (Read here)
"Their smorgasboard of punk, pop and meaty metal perfectly complemented the deranged expressions of Johnny Law(guitar, vocals) and the bizarre ying/yang contrast of Prince Hal and Hitomi. The former being a hulking blond/pink-haired bassist and the latter a diminutive Asian female drummer."
We caught up with the band outside Arlene's Grocery after their show in January.
BnR: Great show tonight guys. So why did you call yourselves The Statues of Liberty and not the Eiffel Towers?
Hal: Well we are now thinking of changing it to the Eiffel Towers.
Law: I like that. Why did we name ourselves the Statues of Liberty? For freedom, right man? Is that too cheesy?
Hal: It's true. I want to be free.
Law: It sounded cool and every time we drove back from New Jersey we saw the Statue of Liberty.
Hal: And because thestatuesofliberty.com was still available.
BnR: So where did you guys find Hitomi? She is memorizing on stage.
Law: So Hal and I used to be in Banana Fish Zero. Then we stopped.
Hal: Well our old band we did way too many drugs and burned out. So we quit and sobered up.
Law: Then a local promoter said "I got your drummer." I said, "Yea who?" He said "This Japanese girl." I didn't know about that. He said you have to practice with her. I never called her.
Hitomi: OHHH You never call me.
Hal: I saw her play with another band. I was watching her and thought she seemed pretty good and it sounds like she would be a lot better playing our music. I had work or something and John and Hitomi went to practice early. I showed up while they were already practicing and I just sat out in the hallway for a while and just listened to them. I was loving it. They were synced up and fitting perfectly. John and I couldn't contain ourselves during practice. We were looking at each other like "This is fucking awesome"
Law: Well now we have to learn our tunes.
Hal: We thought "is it too soon?" It was like when you are dating a girl and trying to figure out when to tell her you love her. Should I say it now or later? So we said "Hitomi we like the way you play and we want you in the band." Luckily, she joined us. Now we are all kicking ass together...coast to coast.
Law: She's memorizing, she's perfect...
Hal: And she backs it up. She's beautiful. She's bad ass.
Hitomi: Oh thank you.
Hal: So Frank Wood hooked us up with Hitomi. He introduced us. Thank you Frank!
BnR: So what is the status of the band now? I know John is on the West Coast and Hal and Hitomi are on the East Coast.
Law: What is great about being on the West Coast is we used to say yes to every single show. This bistro would ask us to play and we would say yes. That was great because we got to play and meet so many people, unload a million cds, and play in five different states. A great regional act, but what is great about being separated is now we concentrate on three week concentrated tours. It is fun because we can focus. In the two months that we are apart we write music. It is an interesting way to do it.
Hal: Now we are a bi-coastal band.
BnR: So how does the writing process go with you guys being on different coasts?
Law: It goes like this: Hal and I have the same kind of recording equipment. I will write a riff and throw some vocals on it and then send it to him. He can put it in the same system and then he shows it to her.
(At this point in the interview a completely wasted chick wipes out on the streets of NYC. What follows is a running commentary on the scene that has been saved for the podcast below. This incident can be heard starting around 4:30 mark.)
Law: So anyway, I send him tracks, he gives them to her, she practices them in the studio, we put them together. What is great about playing with Hitomi is that she is a consummate pro. You give her a riff and she's got it. We hate practicing.
BnR: Do you rehearse?
Law: No, no rehearse. I don't like rehearsing. Do you?
Hal: Not particularly. That is why we rehearse as little as possible.
Hitomi: I like.
Hal: Hitomi is the only one. Sometimes she say "You don't rehearse." When we are off for two months and our first show back, she say "I think you don't rehearse."
BnR: So album? Coming out shortly?
Law: Yes. Album coming out in June.
Hal: Maybe summer.
Law: Yea, like I said, I am going back and doing some riffs and vocals and then send it to them. So in April, we are going to lay down the drum tracks.
Hal: I am going out next week to work on it with him.
Hitomi: Oh really?
BnR: That seems to be news to Hitomi.
Law: No we tell her and then she says yes. Then she says "Really? When did you tell me?" You know? That time you said yes!
BnR: Influences? I am sure we can figure it out.
Law: All the above. I like 80's hardcore.
Hitomi: The Clash.
Hal: I love everything. I have the most eclectic taste out of the entire band. I love everything on Earth.
Law: Hal will listen to anything and eat anything.
BnR: Anything you are ashamed to listen to?
Hal: Well I used to be ashamed. When I was a "yute," and Madonna was pretty popular. I used to hate Madonna. Then one day I got some Madonna albums and I made a tape of all "oohs" and the "ahhs" and all the grunts and moans. I was like "she's so lame I am going to expose her for what she is...this slut." In the process of doing that, I became a huge fan. Then I was like "I fucking love Madonna. I feel really guilty about it." Now I say, if I like it, I like it.
BnR: As a youth, did you used to masturbate to those "oohs" and "aahs"?
Hal: All the above.
BnR: So Prince Hal, you have been called the "white Michael Clarke Duncan." Care to comment?
Hal: Yes, thank you. He is also one of my great inspirations.
BnR: So which Batman villian are you?
Law: Well he would be Mr. Freeze.
Hal: I want to be The Riddler.
Law: I would say she [Hitomi] is Catwoman, but Eartha Kitt. I think I am Batman.
BnR: So you are not a villain at all? You are a good guy?
Law: Yea and sometimes I feel like Robin. Robin was cool. He had nice tights. The villains were cooler than Batman and Robin so I would just rather be Batman.
BnR: What is going on with the TV show, The Rock N' Roll Acid Test?
Law: I don't think that is going to go anymore. I had a great time doing it. I didn't expect to do TV. It came actually from the band and I had a blast. I didn't know that I loved being on TV. It was so fun. It was a little crazy and I got beat up a lot, like I broke my leg and tore a lot of muscles. TVs and YouTube are insane. The bar is very high. That was something we talked about with the producers. You have seen Jackass, you have seen these YouTube videos and you kind of had to compete against that stuff. It made me think, oh that would be kind of fun, but it is very hard to compete against a guy like Steve-O. I started to realize I wasn't sure if I wanted to compete against this guy. I think more will come because I enjoyed it, but we will see.
I want to give a shout out to the New York Waste. One thing I really believe in is real underground Rock N' Roll. I know a lot of bands want to be signed, some bands don't. I don't particularly want to because I don't want to play that game. I love this stuff. The New York Waste writes about all these bands and they are not worried about the really big bands. Those are the bands that I always loved. You know, the bands that only had a 100 people come out. So I want to give a shout out to the New York Waste.
Blogs N' Roses wants to thank The Statues of Liberty for taking time to talk with this website in the freezing cold street of New York City. We encourage you to check out The Statues of Liberty MySpace for shows, songs, and to buy their CDs. You can also check out their regular website for even more information about the band.
The podcast below may take a few minutes to load. Enjoy.
The Statues of Liberty are a three piece band out of New York City who have memorable songs and the live show that will blow you where the Pampers are. We described the band this way in a review of our first encounter with them. (Read here)
"Their smorgasboard of punk, pop and meaty metal perfectly complemented the deranged expressions of Johnny Law(guitar, vocals) and the bizarre ying/yang contrast of Prince Hal and Hitomi. The former being a hulking blond/pink-haired bassist and the latter a diminutive Asian female drummer."
We caught up with the band outside Arlene's Grocery after their show in January.
BnR: Great show tonight guys. So why did you call yourselves The Statues of Liberty and not the Eiffel Towers?
Hal: Well we are now thinking of changing it to the Eiffel Towers.
Law: I like that. Why did we name ourselves the Statues of Liberty? For freedom, right man? Is that too cheesy?
Hal: It's true. I want to be free.
Law: It sounded cool and every time we drove back from New Jersey we saw the Statue of Liberty.
Hal: And because thestatuesofliberty.com was still available.
BnR: So where did you guys find Hitomi? She is memorizing on stage.
Law: So Hal and I used to be in Banana Fish Zero. Then we stopped.
Hal: Well our old band we did way too many drugs and burned out. So we quit and sobered up.
Law: Then a local promoter said "I got your drummer." I said, "Yea who?" He said "This Japanese girl." I didn't know about that. He said you have to practice with her. I never called her.
Hitomi: OHHH You never call me.
Hal: I saw her play with another band. I was watching her and thought she seemed pretty good and it sounds like she would be a lot better playing our music. I had work or something and John and Hitomi went to practice early. I showed up while they were already practicing and I just sat out in the hallway for a while and just listened to them. I was loving it. They were synced up and fitting perfectly. John and I couldn't contain ourselves during practice. We were looking at each other like "This is fucking awesome"
Law: Well now we have to learn our tunes.
Hal: We thought "is it too soon?" It was like when you are dating a girl and trying to figure out when to tell her you love her. Should I say it now or later? So we said "Hitomi we like the way you play and we want you in the band." Luckily, she joined us. Now we are all kicking ass together...coast to coast.
Law: She's memorizing, she's perfect...
Hal: And she backs it up. She's beautiful. She's bad ass.
Hitomi: Oh thank you.
Hal: So Frank Wood hooked us up with Hitomi. He introduced us. Thank you Frank!
BnR: So what is the status of the band now? I know John is on the West Coast and Hal and Hitomi are on the East Coast.
Law: What is great about being on the West Coast is we used to say yes to every single show. This bistro would ask us to play and we would say yes. That was great because we got to play and meet so many people, unload a million cds, and play in five different states. A great regional act, but what is great about being separated is now we concentrate on three week concentrated tours. It is fun because we can focus. In the two months that we are apart we write music. It is an interesting way to do it.
Hal: Now we are a bi-coastal band.
BnR: So how does the writing process go with you guys being on different coasts?
Law: It goes like this: Hal and I have the same kind of recording equipment. I will write a riff and throw some vocals on it and then send it to him. He can put it in the same system and then he shows it to her.
(At this point in the interview a completely wasted chick wipes out on the streets of NYC. What follows is a running commentary on the scene that has been saved for the podcast below. This incident can be heard starting around 4:30 mark.)
Law: So anyway, I send him tracks, he gives them to her, she practices them in the studio, we put them together. What is great about playing with Hitomi is that she is a consummate pro. You give her a riff and she's got it. We hate practicing.
BnR: Do you rehearse?
Law: No, no rehearse. I don't like rehearsing. Do you?
Hal: Not particularly. That is why we rehearse as little as possible.
Hitomi: I like.
Hal: Hitomi is the only one. Sometimes she say "You don't rehearse." When we are off for two months and our first show back, she say "I think you don't rehearse."
BnR: So album? Coming out shortly?
Law: Yes. Album coming out in June.
Hal: Maybe summer.
Law: Yea, like I said, I am going back and doing some riffs and vocals and then send it to them. So in April, we are going to lay down the drum tracks.
Hal: I am going out next week to work on it with him.
Hitomi: Oh really?
BnR: That seems to be news to Hitomi.
Law: No we tell her and then she says yes. Then she says "Really? When did you tell me?" You know? That time you said yes!
BnR: Influences? I am sure we can figure it out.
Law: All the above. I like 80's hardcore.
Hitomi: The Clash.
Hal: I love everything. I have the most eclectic taste out of the entire band. I love everything on Earth.
Law: Hal will listen to anything and eat anything.
BnR: Anything you are ashamed to listen to?
Hal: Well I used to be ashamed. When I was a "yute," and Madonna was pretty popular. I used to hate Madonna. Then one day I got some Madonna albums and I made a tape of all "oohs" and the "ahhs" and all the grunts and moans. I was like "she's so lame I am going to expose her for what she is...this slut." In the process of doing that, I became a huge fan. Then I was like "I fucking love Madonna. I feel really guilty about it." Now I say, if I like it, I like it.
BnR: As a youth, did you used to masturbate to those "oohs" and "aahs"?
Hal: All the above.
BnR: So Prince Hal, you have been called the "white Michael Clarke Duncan." Care to comment?
Hal: Yes, thank you. He is also one of my great inspirations.
BnR: So which Batman villian are you?
Law: Well he would be Mr. Freeze.
Hal: I want to be The Riddler.
Law: I would say she [Hitomi] is Catwoman, but Eartha Kitt. I think I am Batman.
BnR: So you are not a villain at all? You are a good guy?
Law: Yea and sometimes I feel like Robin. Robin was cool. He had nice tights. The villains were cooler than Batman and Robin so I would just rather be Batman.
BnR: What is going on with the TV show, The Rock N' Roll Acid Test?
Law: I don't think that is going to go anymore. I had a great time doing it. I didn't expect to do TV. It came actually from the band and I had a blast. I didn't know that I loved being on TV. It was so fun. It was a little crazy and I got beat up a lot, like I broke my leg and tore a lot of muscles. TVs and YouTube are insane. The bar is very high. That was something we talked about with the producers. You have seen Jackass, you have seen these YouTube videos and you kind of had to compete against that stuff. It made me think, oh that would be kind of fun, but it is very hard to compete against a guy like Steve-O. I started to realize I wasn't sure if I wanted to compete against this guy. I think more will come because I enjoyed it, but we will see.
I want to give a shout out to the New York Waste. One thing I really believe in is real underground Rock N' Roll. I know a lot of bands want to be signed, some bands don't. I don't particularly want to because I don't want to play that game. I love this stuff. The New York Waste writes about all these bands and they are not worried about the really big bands. Those are the bands that I always loved. You know, the bands that only had a 100 people come out. So I want to give a shout out to the New York Waste.
Blogs N' Roses wants to thank The Statues of Liberty for taking time to talk with this website in the freezing cold street of New York City. We encourage you to check out The Statues of Liberty MySpace for shows, songs, and to buy their CDs. You can also check out their regular website for even more information about the band.
The podcast below may take a few minutes to load. Enjoy.
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