At least one good thing came out of Dallas garage punk duo Leg Sweeper's appearance at Good Records' Record Store Day party a few weekends back -- the fact that Parade of Flesh's John Iskander was able to use the performance for the bulk of the above live performance music video he just released for the band.
"It only took two years to finally have a video that I don't hate," Leg Sweeper drummer Taylor Stolly tells DC9 of the clip, while letting loose a bit of a laugh.
And, hey, what's to hate? Rather, there's a lot to like about the clip, which captures the super-fun vibes the band throws out during their sometimes off-the-cuff performances -- something area audiences can see for themselves on Friday night at The Loft as the band opens for Japanese punk act Peelander-Z.
After that, unfortunately, the band plans on going on a little bit of a break -- to load up on gear, to write some songs and to make sure they're not over-saturating the market with shows. And that might be a good move, actually: 2010 and 2011 have seen plenty of Leg Sweeper shows around town, and, to boot, even a tour of the Northeast, during which Stolly got arrested in Maryland. After the jump, he shares with us his memories of that tour. And, yes, the arrest, too.
"[The tour] was awesome despite us being idiot Texans, trying to tour to the Northeast in the dead of winter in January," Stolly says. "We had our friend [Houston rapper] B L A C K I E with us, and he is super-inspiring to roll around with and play with. Those shows ended up being the best shows of my life. We got to play some super rad basements in Philly and New Jersey, and
the best DIY venue, called Dead Herring in Brooklyn. It was right underneath the Williamsburg Bridge. where we met up with our friends in SLEEPiES from Brooklyn -- another big influence on us, as friends and as a band. Aside from getting arrested in Maryland it was a really successful tour."
So, uh, what happened with that arrest, then?
"We got pulled over for basically having Texas liscense plates and a GPS system blocking my view," Stolyl says. "The state trooper was big on poking fun of the whole "being in a band" thing. He even asked to take a picture with me in the holding cell. He said if I made it on MTV, that "it would look good for his department if [he] had a picture with a dude from the band." Fucking asshole. I told him he should use one of my mugshots."
Fortunately for Stolly, though, the whole situation got settled. And, now, he actually looks back at the arrest rather fondly.
"Yeah," he says. "It pissed me off at the time, but now I think it was hilarious."
