DON'T STOP. CAN'T STOP.
Interview with Terrible Lizardz
Long Beach, Calif.
Koos Rehearsal Studios in San Pedro looks out over the ocean to port terminals and shipping containers. It makes for an eerie backdrop as the members of Long Beach band Terrible Lizardz begin rolling in for their weekly practice.
And maybe it's a fitting setting for a band—although still refining its sound—that bills itself as pop punk with a little horror mixed in, drawing influences from the Misfits.
"We're fantasy punk," said singer and guitarist Ryan.
"What does that mean? We’re loud, we’re fast. We’re fun," drummer Steven added.
They're a young band—at a little over a year old—and only recently added their bassist Berto.
The first one to arrive to that evening's practice is Steven. Then there's Ryan, bringing the beer in tow, followed not too long after by Erik, also on guitar plus backup vocals. He's just come from a 12-hour shift at a nearby refinery and is tired to say the least.
Yet the four of them continue coming, despite full-time jobs, bills that need to be paid and the other responsibilities that come with life.
"This is our bowling league," Ryan said. "Every Wednesday or Thursday we'll be here, tearing it up, having fun [and] drinking beers."
The four are relatively reserved—or maybe they're just ultra polite around company—but get them to play or talk about music and all bets are off.
"It's funny because I'm quiet, but when I start talking about music I can't shut up," Berto said.
They start with practice first, quietly setting up. But then Steven takes his glasses off and there's this crashing that's emitted from his drum kit setting off everything else in the practice space.
"I'm really loud, sorry," Steven said sheepishly about his playing style.
He may be sorry; the rest of them aren't.
"Steven's like the backbone because he's really explosive when it comes to drumming," Ryan said. "We just try be to be as loud and crazy as we can. It helps that we have a drummer that's ready to destroy his drums."
They breeze through their practice going through songs such as "Parking Lot Blowjob," "Atomic Man" and "Totally Diggin' You."
They're fun songs. Ryan's adamant politics stay out of Terrible Lizardz.
"Politics just changes so damn much," he said. "People flip sides, retract statements, delete emails. Politics get dated. Like when you listen to Dead Kennedys. Yeah, they're talking about Jerry Brown back then. It's funny because Jerry Brown's in the office right now. It's always changing."
The same could be said about the band's lineup prior to the four coming together.
Ryan, who got into music via the bass before picking up guitar, is a former member of Fuck You and the Shut Ups, but ties were severed with that band a few years ago.
"I was really bummed out. I was in a funk for a good couple years," Ryan said of the separation with that band. "I was sitting on the couch one day. I was watching Discovery Channel. I was smoking some weed and drinking some beers. I was pretty fucked up. And there was this thing on dinosaurs and I love dinosaurs. And it came on that dinosaurs, the name, comes from Greece. Dinosaurs means terrible lizards, so I was like terrible lizards. Terrible Lizardz! And it was just, like, that's a cool name."
He found the rest of his former Terrible Lizardz bandmates on Craigslist. The night of the first show, the original drummer broke his hand after getting into it with a skinhead. He needed six months off to recover; Ryan wasn't willing to wait.
Enter Steven, who came on board this year. The drummer, who initially got into music via the clarinet in third grade, made the switch to drums in middle school.
"I used to look back and [the drummers] were so cool," he said. "They were the cool kids and I was sitting there with my clarinet and my high water pants and I was such a nerd and I wanted to be a drummer."
Erik also picked up his instrument of choice in middle school. The soft-spoken guitarist, who remained largely quiet throughout the course of this interview—save for the occasional burp—picked up basic chords by attending a mariachi class at a community center in Carson.
"That's how that started and then after that I was like 'Yeah, this is wack,'" he said of the experience. "So I just started playing, reading tabs online with friends.... And we just played covers."
Erik's also in a reggae band, similar to Berto whose other band is an indie act.
Berto got on the bass at 16 after being pressured by a friend who wanted to play. He picked up the cheapest bass he could find and worked his way through it.
"It's new waters for us, but we've got a boat," Ryan said of the now complete lineup.
With all four having been in a number of bands before this over the course of several years, they go in at a time when the landscape is significantly changed for D.I.Y. bands—and it's a change that's been carried out over the span of less than a decade when one looks at just social media alone.
"Social media is a huge, huge part," Ryan said, pointing out the opportunities start-up bands have in the digital age. Yet everyone has had to be nimble when it comes to changing platforms.
"Myspace destroyed everything by being awesome," he said, "and now Facebook destroyed everything by sucking."
Steven sees it as a double-edged sword.
"It's easier for bands to get themselves out there for the masses to hear," he said. "At the same time, because it's so much easier, you've got this flood of bands that are doing it. So now it's easier to get recognized, except now there's millions of other bands that are right there with you, so you get lost again. The only way around that is you still have to get on the street. You still need that work ethic to really make a difference."
"You really have to network and get yourself out there and talk to people," Berto said. "Talk to other bands."
That goes back to community building and the scene, something they would all agree Ryan's adept at.
A couple months ago he started an Instagram feed called Punk Rock Highlights, where he posts bands' show flyers.
"I felt that there was a serious lack of communication between a lot of people and a lot of bands," he said of the reason for starting Punk Rock Highlights. "I don't think enough bands are getting enough exposure for the work that they're putting in."
The eventual goal, he said, is to throw shows under the Punk Rock Highlights banner.
With Terrible Lizardz members solidified, they're working on new material—stuff they can collectively call their own. The band has an EP out, but next year is when they'll likely produce a full-length album to shop around to local labels to see if they can get it re-recorded and re-released. The goal would be to put it on vinyl, Ryan said.
That's it. Simple stuff. No expansive dreams of making it big.
"We're all at the age where life is expensive," Steven said, "and we need to work to live. So if something came along that would pay the bills, great, with the exception of handing away your creative rights for money.... We're not looking to make it big and sign to a major label and tour the U.S."
"We're just music geeks and playing punk rock is fun," Ryan said. "You have a shitty week at work, we're going to have practice and we're just going to give it our all. The music's really explosive because this is how we feel and we've got to get some aggression out.... Don't stop. Can't stop. Won't stop, you know?"
Upcoming Shows:
Oct. 18; 8 p.m.
Alex's Bar; 2913 Anaheim St.; Long Beach, Calif.
Terrible Lizardz, La Muerte, Pizano and Vitolo, Feo Casanova
$5, 21+
Oct. 21
Doll Hut; 107 S. Adams St.; Anaheim, Calif.
Motavation, Terrible Lizardz, Weekend Bomb, Driven Out, Chameleon Technology
$5, 21+
Band Updates:
Music: Soundcloud
Punk Show Updates: @punkrock_highlights