#WedFTW: The Beans

This week’s #WedFTW comes with a bonus interview from one of my favorite local bands, The Beans! You can win tickets to their upcoming show on August 15th at Fitzgerald’s.

Lauren Ignited: Tell me about the origin of the name, The Beans
The Beans: Basically we had our first show coming up and we didn’t have a name yet, so we tentatively agreed on whatever suggestion sucked the least – which unofficially turned into one of our band mottos, “Do whatever sucks the least.”  The Beans actually came from a dinner conversation Brendan had with his family before the band even started, but we liked it because it is simple, easy to relate to, and for some reason a little dirty feeling (like us).

LI: Let’s talk about the new album. Any influences? The story behind songs? Studio session stories?
The Beans: The new album is definitely going to be musically more up-beat and pop structured with a lot of the grittiness that we will always have and a few slow burners that you probably expect from us.  We are labeling a lot of the songs as disco blues – depressing lyrics that you can dance to.  We all went through some personal/romantic struggles while writing writing the songs for this album and were also dealing with struggle and doubt within the band itself so all of the songs are within that context.  It is a bit melodramatic because those feelings are natural when you are going through breakups and similar events, but the songs are overwhelming honest.  The album is mostly filled of songs about the end of love, the self-doubt and introspective questioning that causes, ways you try to deal with it or avoid it, etc.  We don’t really have very many studio sessions yet, but since Dan is a tad sadistic he brought a new song to the band 2 days before recording started because he “wanted something fresh and not over-rehearsed on the album.”  Brendan laid down the drums tracks on it like a pro, but as always the more we practice/play it the more he wants to change how he recorded it.

LI: What is your favorite thing about the Houston music scene?
The Beans: The ABC’s: Abstract Desires, Brandon Miles’ Facebook posts, Children of Pop’s stage banter

LI: Will Houston always be home?
The Beans: Houston will always be home to the Beans.  We all grew up here, love it here, and plus all of our moms live here.  We all love Houston and are proud to represent it.

LI: What do you think about Pegstar leaving Fitz and building a new venue?
The Beans: I feel like the Pegstar team has proven that they have great vision for the future and for Houston and I am sure that the new venue will benefit the local music scene and the city.  It is going to be great to have another quality music venue close to downtown and it is going to further grow the trend of acts who probably would have passed over Houston 5 years ago, playing here and having wanting to come back regularly.  It is a little bit bittersweet because we all have such great memories at Fitz (in fact, Daniel’s parents met there so it is especially close to his heart) and may not want it to change for sentimental reasons, but it will continue to be a linchpin in the Houston music community for years to come.  Fitzgerald’s, Pegstar, and their respective teams have long been our biggest supporters in the Houston music community and we trust that this is the right move for the community to grow.

LI: What surprises do you have in store for us this Friday?
The Beans: Why are you trying to ruin the surprises?! That is no fun…. We are going to be debuting a new song, bringing back an old favorite that we rarely play anymore, throwing in some groovy interludes, and Michelle Miears with her key-tar Lucy from BLSHS is going to join us on stage for a special song.  Our friends from the Epic Ice Cream team will debuting their beans inspired ice cream and selling it at the show.  It is called Whiskey River and is a vanilla bean ice cream with espresso beans (maybe chocolate covered) and a whiskey syrup swirl.  We will also have brand new shirts and tanks that will be available for the first time at the show.

So, there you have it. Now you know a little more about the band! Now all you need are tickets to the show. Good thing your girl has you. Fill this out and check twitter throughout the day for more ways to increase your chances of winning!

Want Extra Entries? For extra entries in the contest, you can follow @LaurenIgnited on twitter and / or RT any tweets I send out about the contest today. Contest ends at 8pm today and the Winner will be announced tonight. Good luck!!

Fine Print and Such: Winner will be randomly selected from the list of www.LaurenIgnited.com blog subscribers. Extra entries are given to those that retweet, tweet, post or share the current week’s #WedFTW blog post with the hashtag #WedFTW. Each post will provide one extra entry into that particular week’s giveaway running. Rules subject to change. Tickets are not exchangeable.

What’s a #WedFTW? It’s where you come for live music tickets! Every week this summer, I’ll be giving out pairs of tickets to concerts, mostly in the Houston area. Sign up on the right hand side of my blog (above the concert calendar) for your chance to win! WedFTW stands for Wednesday for the win.