In 1999, the band also made its first venture outside the great state of Texas. Early on in the spring, Lift to Experience motored west to San Diego but were momentarily stranded in Arizona, only halfway there.
"After seeing the new Star Wars movie the morning it came out, we stumbled into the first bar we found," Pearson begins. "The sign outside said 'Cocktails,' but the 'tails' was burnt out, so it just said 'Cock.' We knew we had to go in, and we proceeded to get as piss-drunk as fast as possible. In our drunken stupor, Andy noticed a stage behind us trimmed with golden fringe, and Andy was like, 'Dude, gold fringe!' So one of us asked if we could play there and work out a trade or something. Sure enough, that night happened to be open-mike night. So we ended up playing our first show outside of Texas for a case of Budweiser and a room in the hotel next door," he says, laughing.
Breanne Trammell
Texas is the reason: To be true to your art, you cant deny your past, Josh T. Pearson, center, says. Its a part of you.
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February 1
Curtain Club
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Unfortunately, the stress and strain of the tour had its downside as well: After Lift to Experience's first West Coast tour, Young decided to leave the rock lifestyle behind. Briefly.
"My dad had passed away about three months before that tour," Young says. "Actually, it was his truck we took that broke down on us. So when the truck blew the rod, I for one felt like he was pissed for taking his truck out on a rock tour. Like he was the one that broke it from beyond the grave. Anyway, I was feeling like I had family obligations and school obligations I had to attend to. Eventually, I decided that this is what I wanted to do."
After an unsuccessful attempt to replace him, Young resumed full-time drummer status at the end of the year, just in time to play Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios on Christmas night. Lift to Experience hasn't looked back since. Not that they did much of that in the first place.
Now, in just a few months, the band will join the rank of other Denton-Dallas-Fort Worth bands such as Centro-matic, the Old 97's, and the Toadies, bands that have graduated to their own levels of success. It could begin for Lift to Experience when the band leaves for England in support of the new album, set for release the first week in April. All three members are ready for that great leap forward.
"At first, we'd decided to make a certain amount of records," Young says. "And now I feel like we don't even have the first one out yet, and I want to go make another 15. When you find someone you can play with and get along with so well, how can you deny doing anything but that?"
When asked what he expected to come from all their hard work, Browning says simply, "For me, I just want it to influence more music. When you're young, you listen to bands, and they become your influences. I'd like to see us have that same lasting effect."
More prophetic, though, are Pearson's own didactic hopes for the band: "Well, I'm just looking for money and hoes." He continues, more seriously, "I'd like to make enough money out of this to try and make at least two or three more records. Have something of a catalog. I'd like to see us earn a living from touring, to be able to make records. Whether we sell five million CDs or 500 CDs, I could really care less, as long as we can still make music."
