LUCAS/HEAVEN

 

Lucas Gorham

“There’s always time for new beginnings.”

It’s been three years since I have interviewed anyone on my website. You can blame the pandemic, sure. Perhaps a lack of motivation or my self-imposed hermit mode. Whatever the source was, I knew that 2020 to now was time to listen and begin searching for different ways to console and confront the agony we’ve all collectively endured since we were born. Particularly millennials, who socioeconomists haved ruled off as “totally f*cked.” I’m talking climate change/anxiety/trauma, plastic pollution, the housing crisis, fossil fuels, capitalism as a whole, etc. It’s hard not to laugh at the catastrophe, what we as consumers have ultimately done to ourselves or what the “fat cats pulling strings” have done while in power. In light of this, I’ve gotten by with the help of community for inspiration on how to deal.

One friend I know many of us look to is Lucas Gorham. As a multi-instrumentalist and producer, he has long created music and electronic beats under several monikers. He’s never been shy of touching on the subjects that makeup our everyday reality either. Under hevIn, he discusses police brutality and cop killers in the heavy “Get Your Hands Up.” Freelancers of the world unite. As Heaven the Dude, Lucas wrote the relatable “Waiting For A Check (feat. Fat Tony and Dent May)” for you. This song hit so different during the pandemic. He also produced Houston rapper/MC Fat Tony’s 10,000 Hours in 2018. Together they created the bop “Texas” and fired back at the NRA and TX Governor Greg Abbott. Knowing that he created these before 2020 affirms that he not only was ahead of his time but also not really anything has changed since then. Slept on and still relevant.

As the years went by, Lucas did further soul searching. He was ready to present a heartfelt project, Blues of the World (BOTW), which layers up his musical talents and expands his voice as a new instrument. He went from beat production and guitar riffs to a full on musical composition. This past week, the Los Angeles Times posted a podcast episode with famed SoCal earthquake expert Lucy Jones and asked, “Can music inspire more people to care about climate change?” Jones furthers this discussion through her project Tempo: Music for Climate Action. The article explains how science proves that by listening to music together, our hearts become aligned. “What would help us,” she said, “is to reframe climate change as a symptom to … a bigger underlying problem of apathy and disconnect — and music reminds us that this individualism is what has led us here.” Lucas, who works in the Los Angeles school system, has taught me exactly this. Despite how isolated I feel in Los Angeles, there is someone like me in every state across this nation who faces similar feelings and thoughts. We need to be more conscious of our divisive language — the “us v them,” the “east coast v west coast,” and the “TX v CA” dialogues. The more we compare, the more we despair. Our problems are collectively shared, and we should still believe we all can make a difference.

As Lucas says on his Bandcamp, “There’s so much fear and hopelessness, an air of nihilism exists that makes people stand still or depressed,” he explains. “I get that, and I feel it too. But if anything, I want people to realize that the solution is love, and accepting love, accepting love from yourself, and accepting it from fellow human beings.” Will Schube writes, “We don’t have a shortage of people willing to love, just a lack of vulnerability to cry out for one another, to stand tall and feel the one-of-a-kind nerves that come with sending love without the guarantee of it being returned. But that…is what it takes. As he suggests on the raucous, epic, life-affirming finale, “The Key Is Within You.”

We've seen you grow and evolve over the years, so I know how personal your creative process is and how it's tied to your essence. Can you talk about the evolution of your musical personality and what it is like to be in this place now?

I have evolved in regard to listening to what my heart wants to do at any given time. I've always been a songwriter/singer and multi-instrumentalist. I've wanted to make electronic music and beats for a long time. I found a way to do both when the time was right.

You've moved from beat tapes to production to an entire composition. I've seen it with my own two eyes. What were some of the biggest lessons in bringing this album to life?

Being as open-minded as possible about mixing live instrumentation and the beats. Many tracks mix drum machine, beats, and also excellent musicians performing live, which ultimately led to a successful result. 

Specifically to this project, BOTW, what's the best piece of advice another musician/artist gave you?

I have to give credit to all the people who played on the record - Matt Grossman played keys all over it, Joe Santa Maria and Casey Butler played saxophones, Sergio Flores (aka the sexy sax man) played the flute solo on "Every City," Jose "Chapy" Luna laid down the percussion… all these players made the record. I couldn't have done it without them. I got a lot of advice from my man Nikyo on the order of songs on the album, which was very helpful. It needed to flow the right way and not have awkward jumps in energy. I also got a lot of production feedback and advice from my man Morris, who spent many hours with me in my room helping me. It wasn't one piece of advice but constant extensive workshopping and receiving feedback that helped make it what it is. He was one of the most significant contributors.

A strong message with BOTW is vulnerability, self-reflection, and an honest conversation about gentrification and climate change. What inspired all of this?

I notice a general sense of doom in the public consciousness - an existential dread about the present state of the world, the future and what we all leave behind after we are gone. There's a sense that things are getting more challenging because things are getting more expensive, rents are increasing, water is getting more scarce, the planets are getting hotter, etc. It leaves many of us feeling hopeless. A reality of life is constant destruction and negativity - entropy or whatever. Everything in our lives is terminal. The only guarantee is that things will end. My job is to combat those realities with positivity and creation, not because I think it will change the state of things, but because it just feels good to do so. It's my way of balancing out things.

Okay, multi-instrumentalist. We know you are solid at a lap steel guitar but right here right now! Which instrument is your favorite to play and why?

Tough question!! I'm most proficient at guitar, but I love writing a good bass line. I wish I could sing better because that's the instrument that most people identify with. 

Your song, “Every City Has A Rhythm,” is an anthem. I've heard it on the radio and in the movies. Prophetic and profoundly communal. I've seen crowds at your shows roar the words back to you. Everybody is so proud, Lucas! How did you come up with the song?

Okay, at the end of 2018, I was wrapping up a tour as a fill-in bass player with my homies, The Suffers. I ended up staying in New York City for almost a month. One of my old friends was out of town and let me crash at her place in Greenpoint while they were gone, which was a super glorious time. I almost lived in NYC and nearly had a chance to do so, but I picked up a random gig to drive a van full of Mia Follicks band gear from New York to LA. I went from NY to LA in five days, stopped at a few different towns along the way, and realized that each city has its own beat or music.

New York has a fast tempo that you must catch up to - think about how people walk fast in New York; if you walk slow, you'll miss the subway or whatever. In LA, the beats are more chaotic and complicated - almost as if many different songs are playing simultaneously on some avant-garde shit. It takes a lot of work to catch the rhythm. The beat in Houston is slow and syrupy, more easygoing and mellow, and easier to groove to. Accordingly, Houston is a more accessible town to live in. I know more people can settle down and have families there. And all the while, I'm seeing how rough it is in LA and how hard it is to make it here and get by as an average person who doesn't have wealth. So many houseless people who just got run through by the state of things here. So seeing all these things inspired me. I wanted to make the song feel cinematic, like "Living for the City" by Stevie Wonder, so I added a lot of sound effects in the production like rain and thunder, helicopters, police sirens, the city bus, and the traffic. All of that helps to tell the story of "Every City has a Rhythm."

We love the artistic process and all the waves that come with it, but what did you learn the most from BOTW?

I learned the importance of making what feels like a complete, cohesive artistic statement. I am proud of the album, and it all works together.

I long for this album to come out on vinyl one day. It's one of those records that must be played from start to finish — like all the classics. You can listen to the full album here. I know you are a jazzhead! Digame. Let me know your favorites.

Thank you so much!!! Me too; I would love to have it in vinyl format someday. We'll see if I can save up enough to make it happen.

Jazz wise??? It's hard for me to name them all, but here are a few of my classic faves:

There's more… but the list would be way too long!!!

There's also a bunch of jazz-flavored newer music from both LA and the UK that I have been inspired by:

What do you have planned this year? Releasing anything? Got any shows coming up?

I am putting out a remix or two and planning on releasing an EP of talkbox covers - pretty excited about that one!! Doing a video release party for "Every City" at the Goldfish in Highland Park on Thursday, April 13, should be cute. 

VIDEO RELEASE PARTY - 4/13 - 9P @ THE GOLDFISH

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VIDEO RELEASE PARTY - 4/13 - 9P @ THE GOLDFISH 〰️

VIDEO RELEASE PARTY - 4/13 - 9P @ THE GOLDFISH

〰️

VIDEO RELEASE PARTY - 4/13 - 9P @ THE GOLDFISH 〰️

 
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