Click here to hear the full interview on WKDU’s YouTube, some transcriptions may be edited for brevity/clarity.
It’s been nearly a year since Brooklyn dream rock band Laveda released their second album, A Place You Grew Up In, an album best described as “all killer, no filler”. Among a sea of similar bands throughout New York, Laveda has something special. Fronted and founded by Ali Genevich and Jake Brooks, Laveda found their footing as COVID-19 restrictions started to become obsolete. On the heels of A Place You Grew Up In, the band embarked on a month-long tour across the country playing beloved bar venues and in just a few days, they’ll embark on a second leg throughout the east coast and midwest, including a stop in Austin for SXSW.
Laveda started after Ali and Jake’s previous band had broken up, naming the band after Ali’s grandmother. The two made their first record, What Happens After, as a duo, and recruited Joe and Dan once touring became possible again. Ali, Dan, and Joe all studied Music Industry at the soon-to-be-defunct College of St. Rose in Albany, NY.
I caught up with the band at WKDU just a few hours before their gig at Foto Club, a show that I was unfortunately too young to attend. The band was enthralled by the station’s maximalist decor, notably the battlefield of green army men on the ceiling. After a few minutes of pleasantries and gushing about the record, we sat down and began the interview.
How has tour been going so far for you guys?
Ali: This is kind of like a one-off for us, but we’re getting ready to go on a tour in March, so that’ll be really cool. We did a lot of touring last year, but shows have been good recently. Yeah, great audiences. It’s always fun talking to people after.
Have you had any particularly memorable experiences from the shows you’ve played recently?
Jake: We recently played Brooklyn Steel in Brooklyn, so that was pretty wild. And we also played a New Year’s Eve show in New York, which was our first New Year’s Eve show ever, so that was really cool. It was cool to celebrate and also play music.
Joe: It was nice to get a balloon drop. It was pretty magical, honestly.
Was there someone playing from one year to the next?
Joe: Yes, Our friend’s gift put the show on, and they started their set right at midnight. They were getting ready, and they did the countdown, and they just did a whole 45 minutes or hour or whatever. It was very cool. It was fun.
The pandemic was certainly a novel and tumultuous time for everyone, but for Laveda, it was when they would write the bulk of A Place You Grew Up In.
What was the process of making this album?
Ali: It was kind of crazy. Jake and I started writing a lot of the songs during COVID, and that was just a weird time for everybody. I don’t even think we knew we were writing a record really, and then we kind of were just like, oh, yeah, we should. We recorded in L.A… We started in Albany at St. Rose. We did some sessions, and then we went out to L.A. for a month, which was really fun, and that was just mostly overdubs and vocals and just kind of super creative, fun, crazy shit. It took a long time for sure. We did stuff in Joe and Dan’s basement at Tummy Rub Records. It was wild. I feel like our goal was to try and do everything in one place, and we definitely did not do that. But maybe with the next thing we will. Regardless, I think we’re pretty happy with how it turned out.
Were you inspired a lot by what was happening during the pandemic or was it more experiences from before?
Ali: Yeah, I think it was like a combination of frustration from just being so cooped up and not being able to play live shows. I think that’s just something we all really value, just a major, major part of all of our lives. It was really just hard to kind of not be able to do that. So I think a lot of it did come from that, and Jake and I had a lot of stuff going on at the time. Some family stuff… It was kind of a lot of sadness and frustration.
Jake: It’s a very emotional album for sure. It was a very therapeutic process making it. I think we definitely put a lot more of our own personalities into it, into this album more than anything that we’ve done before that, which was an interesting experience for sure, and I’m really happy with how it came out too.
How was it different than the first album?
Jake: The first one, Ali, me, and our good friend Dylan would get really stoned in a studio really late at night during the red-eye hours. Yeah, we were driving to Brooklyn every weekend. I was still in college, and we’d just drive there and spend the weekend and not sleep basically.I feel like a lot of the songs just came out crazy. Very projecty, a lot of electronic drums. A lot of us came in with a really kind of bare-bones demo, and then we just kind of tear it apart, change the key or change the tempo, and just really fuck with it a bunch with him. That was also a really cool experience too, but just totally different than what we did the second time around. Much more experimental. I feel like that ended up working very well for the time that it came out, especially because I think everyone really appreciated that more DIY feel around 2020 especially.
Dan: It was interesting… I joined the band right as that record was in its 50%, 60% range, so a lot of people listened to it and they were like, oh yeah, that’s your band. A lot of the songs were pretty much almost done when I joined the band, which was kind of cool. It was like, we’re working on this thing, and you’re being shown so many hours of dedication and so much work, and you’re just like, damn, I better play these songs. It’s crazy. I don’t know what’s going on.
Did you all go to music school?
Joe: We did. The three of us, Allie, Dan, and I went to St. Rose, and Jake went to Naz in Rochester.
Ali: Yeah, so it was funny that I think I had maybe seen Joe on campus. I knew you. You had been to my apartment. It’s so funny because the connection was through Jake, and Jake is the only one that didn’t go to St. Rose.
Is that the school that just shut down?
Joe: Yes, you are correct
I remember seeing the videos of people yelling at the dean or whatever. What was finding out about that like?
Joe: Strange.
Dan: It was pretty sad.
They had a specific niche music program, right?
Joe: I know what you’re talking about. Our friend Anthony, who plays in the band CPS, is attending St. Rose right now. He was going for the same major that we were going for, which is music industry. But I think his focus was that there’s a record-cutting program.
Right, yes, that is what I heard.
Joe: This is a very popular TikTok. I’ve seen all the comments. It’s insane.
He made some good points.
Joe: He did. He’s a very smart guy. Kudos to him. But it’s a very specific thing. No college really does that. Do you have any thoughts on that, Dan?
Dan: It was very upsetting to hear. We knew it was going to happen, it wasn’t surprising at all, but when it did happen, it was still pretty upsetting.
Ali: It was still a shock. I think we thought that they would pull through somehow. Because it seemed like… I don’t know, when we were still in school, I heard some rumors that things aren’t looking too good financially, but I don’t know. The school had been around for almost 100 years. Or maybe over.
Joe: I think just over 100 years.
Ali: Yeah, actually, the 100 year anniversary was when I graduated. So, 2020.
Joe: I’m more concerned about the way it’ll impact Albany, New York’s music scene. That’s where Dan and I still live, and I feel like having that college there is a huge part of that. Most of the bands went to St. Rose and were a part of the music industry program.
How big was that program?
Joe: It wasn’t huge. When we were there, it was probably one of the biggest moments of it, maybe. There were probably 20 to 30 people in the program per grade.
Oh, yeah, that is very small.
Dan: And now it was down to like 10 or 11.
Joe: It’s pretty small. Especially now, it’s closing. So many kids are not going to come back this spring semester. Understandably so. It also doesn’t seem like they’re doing a very good job of making sure that their credits transfer and everything.
Ali: It’s really upsetting to read all the hoops and barrels or read about all those things that these kids are going to have to jump through to continue their education.
Joe: They have to finish this summer. It’s insane.
I guess the silver lining is that it’s not a huge school so it’s not affecting tens of thousands of people.
Joe: Yeah, true. Still definitely not great
Dan: I can’t imagine being two years into a degree and none of my credits could transfer. I would just give up.
Joe: Everyone told me I should’ve been a train conductor.
A Place You Grew Up In is an amalgamation of the best aspects of current music trends. Ali’s sweet, airy voice sits atop of some of the smoothest guitar tones you’ll ever hear. Genevich and Brooks have hooks for days, especially on songs like “Surprise,” “Troy Creeps,” and “F***.” Luckily, it doesn’t seem like they’re stopping anytime soon.
To hear the rest of my conversation with Laveda where we touch on the Shoegaze revival and upcoming releases, click here.
