There is something so retro appealing about Little Lizard! We got a chance to ask to ask them some questions – and of course check out the video before their upcoming CD release (Oct 23) and super fun show, which is happening Saturday Oct 24 at 7pm. It’s free and you can join via youtube.com live stream or facebook!
I love the easy techno vibe of their latest video. It brings me back to a memory I can’t quite recall in a happy-hopeful way. The surprise horns mid-song with the tempo changes offers a new level of interest. It feels like the sound track to a any easy Saturday.
The video is quirky. I am a sucker for the scenes of the Twin Cities and I applaud anyone who can feature my hometown in a cool video. Between the music and the characters in the video, I feel like the storyline is stronger than if there were lyrics, which is unexpected.
- What are two things we need to know about each of you?
Shea: My name is Shea Daniel and you should know that I love cats and I play trombone and synthesizers in Little Lizard.Lizz: My name is Lizz D. and two things people should know about me are that I’m a taurus and that school bullies would call me lizard breath, but over the years I decided to reclaim it as a nickname. - What draws you to instrumental music?
Shea: I guess I’ve just always connected with instrumental music and feel like I can better express myself without lyrics. Instrumental music is more abstract allowing me to write about more complex ideas and put more of myself into the music.Lizz: I play bass, trumpet, and theremin in Little Lizard and I feel creatively drawn to create a mood or atmosphere with those instruments. I think being a mostly instrumental band allows us to create a more imagined space with the listening experience. - The Earthlings video feels a reunion of characters, some I recognize from early work. Can you give us a brief intro to the main characters?
Lizz: We worked very hard to style this video by pulling from previous Little Lizard videos and our stage wear. In the video you will see the tracksuits from our very first music video, those folks are not afraid to cut their teeth. We star the alien invader who can also be seen in “Take Me to Your Leader”. There is a feature for our ghost friends who also shows up in the “Ghost Shows” music video. We also rock out in our white and gold duds that have been our look throughout creating the album Earthlings. The “Earthlings” video is about us reconciling ourselves as earthlings and not other worldly beings. While some of the styling choices may appear to be characters they are variations of us trying to be and find our true selves.Shea: The “Earthlings” video is definitely a reunion of characters but I feel that those characters are actually a reflection of our personalities. I think we both just wear clothing that interests and expresses us. - You create the videos I dreamt of making as a kid watching Sid and Marty Krofft shows. What influences or inspires your videos?
Lizz: The videos we’ve made for the Earthlings album each have their own influences. The “Ghost Shows” music video was inspired by our guilty pleasure of binge watching ghost shows like Ghost Adventures. The “Take Me to Your Leader” music video was inspired by B sci-fi movies like Plan 9 From Outer Space because I’ve always had a soft spot for how hard people worked on those bad, old sci-fi movies even though they didn’t turn out to be masterpieces. The video for “Earthlings” we were inspired by mashing up anime intro sequences with Sears glamour shots, this allowed us to work with a green screen for the first time and create a very stylized video. I think for me I want to create a really dreamy feeling space that could be real but is just out of reach and I gather the imagery from what I’m watching or the visual environment that I’m immersing myself in.Shea: Since I do more of the shooting and editing of our videos I’m inspired by my favorite movies and some of the bizarre stuff I’ve seen at the Trylon Cinema, our favorite local theater. I think it’s important to cast a wide net and explore new or different things because you never know what will inspire you. Like the last movie we went to was the Chinese film Mr. Vampire which was about kung-fu vampires and what’s not inspiring about that? - Do you have any surprises planned for your upcoming show that you can hint about now?
Lizz: Well we have been polishing some of our favorite dance moves for the live stream. We really want it to be a big party even if we are the only two physical people in the room.Shea: Yeah we really want to bring the energy to our live stream and try and make it a real show. We made a trip to Party City yesterday so it’s going to be a fun set.
Mostly Minnesota 