Lukas Nelson – Son of Music Icon Promises Real Rock [OBXE Interview]
When Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real return to Kelly’s in Nags Head this Friday, May 11th, be ready to rock.
OBX Entertainment caught up with singer, songwriter, and shredding guitarist Lukas and Promise of the Real drummer Anthony Logerfo for a phone interview last week, as they were on the road en route to Columbus, Mississippi for night three of the band’s current tour. Read on for our exclusive interview!
For those who have never seen Promise of the Real in concert, the son of music icon Willie Nelson says to expect a rock show that will make your body move.
“We play rock and roll,” Lukas told us. “A lot of people like to dance, and it’s real fun.”
The current tour launched last week in support of the band’s latest album Wasted, which was released on April 3rd. Nelson explained how another music icon, Neil Young helped in the recording of the album, which was initially done digitally but then transferred to old-school analog during the mixing process in order to produce a more vintage sound.
“We recorded at 192k digital resolution and when it was mixed to analog, we did that transfer at his (Young’s) house,” said Lukas. “So when we mixed it, we put that warmth of the tape on there, but it was still the original digital.”
Nelson said a lot of the inspiration for the new album came from The Rolling Stones.
“It’s kind of a mix of a lot of things,” he said, “but it’s more rock, I think. A lot of the songs are based on The Stones, so I kind of had that idea in mind when I wanted to do this album.”
Lukas writes all of the music and lyrics for band’s songs, and he described the process for us.
“I’ll just be up at night, sitting and writing, and it’ll just come out,” he said.
Drummer Anthony Logerfo explained some more about Wasted.
“It’s pretty much a live record,” he said. “It is on iTunes, but it really defeats the purpose of how we recorded it, because iTunes is such a crappy quality. I mean, it’s lower than an mp3, and I feel it’s my duty as a musician to put that out to people to make sure they know what they’re buying.”
Logerfo urged fans instead to puchase the album perferably on vinyl, as it presents the truest sound. He said all of the songs recorded for the new album were written while on tour last year supporting the band’s previous release.
“It was all written last summer,” he said. “We did a big tour and it’s actually been kind of fun to go back and play some of these cities again where some these tunes were written. I know that Lukas wrote them about his life and what he was experiencing on the road.
“It was a really great summer and it was a really tough summer at the same time, and I think Lukas struggled some. You know, he was partying a lot, so the record’s kind of about not wasting away and really knowing what you have and being aware of everything. It’s not about ‘go get wasted’, it’s don’t get wasted.”
Expanding on the new album, Logerfo added, “I call it cowboy-hippy-surf music.”
Anthony says that Lukas being the son of a legend has only provided the best teacher imaginable, but never any free rides.
“We appreciate all the advice his dad and mom and his dad’s band has given us,” he said. “We’ve learned a lot from them and they’re really good people. To me, it feels like if we were touring with my family. It’s just a real supportive family and it just feels normal. It doesn’t really feel out of the ordinary, except a lot of people love them.
“We’re learning how to sustain because Willie and his band have sustained for so long. I mean, they help Lukas in every way they can, but they don’t just give him whatever he wants. They’ve helped us grow in that way. They’ve kind of just been watching us from the wings, and opening doors for us to play with people, but we always get invited back.
“We know we’re not getting invited back just because it’s Willie’s kid. We go in there and we prove ourselves.”
This Monday night May 14th, Lukas and Promise of the Real will appear on NBC’s Late Night with Jimmy Fallon performing with Willie Nelson to promote Lukas and Willie’s first ever collaboration, called Heroes, which will hit stores the following day, May 15th.
“Dad and I just decided to do something together, and we went in the studio,” he said. “It’s got a couple of his original tunes, three of my original tunes, and a bunch of covers. Some old, some new. This was pretty much the first time we worked together.”
Among the covers, Lukas said they recorded their own versions songs by Hank Williams, Coldplay, and Pearl Jam’s ‘Just Breathe’, which he said is on the current set list for this tour.
Showtime at Kelly’s this Friday is 9:30pm.
Watch OBX Entertainment for our Concert Report from this event coming next week and click here for our exclusive Lukas Nelson Concert Preview!
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