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Lisa Light and Scott Blonde cut the ties that bind lovers while recording their major label debut, Times of Romance, in 2005. However, since then they have carried a different torch together, fueled by the sorts of tensions ubiquitous in the rock and roll lexicon: love, ennui, anger, desperation, poverty, aesthetic differences, and above all, the love of making music. Together.
"I'm pretty tired of talking about the whole thing, the demise of the relationship," Lisa says about the couple's roller-coaster affair and heated breakup. "I'd rather talk about astrophysics... Japanese literature... shoes..." She points out the relationship never ended, it just evolved in bizarre ways. "We know each other too well to love each other, and love each other too much to like each other. It's like marriage without the routine sex."
The Lovemakers' latest full-length record, transparently entitled Let's Be Friends, is set for a September release. The album was produced by Talking House Productions in San Francisco and was mixed by Times of Romance producer Clif Norrell. Keeping with tradition, the songs range from the sweet melodic intensity of The Cure to the unapologetic ass-shaking of Prince. In other words, if Katy Perry's mall-sass joined forces with cult heroes Sparks' eclectic, fun and witty style you'd get The Lovemakers. The album boasts big, 80s narrative-driven pop songs instructed by plenty of dirty, gritty fun.
Since breaking out from Oakland warehouse parties to international club and festival bookings, the band is now notorious for their raw, theatrical, anything-goes live performances and their catchy, offbeat pop sensibility. Lisa Light wraps the audience's writhing bodies with her knowing eyes, sometimes entering the audience for a face-to-face challenge, while Scott Blonde coolly and energetically strokes his guitar on stage.
Like many successful partnerships, opposition is a constant attribute of the band. Questions put to the two individual bandmates often result in wildly contrary answers -- something the pair now finds amusing but expected. They just are so different that even their interpretations of a shared experience are disparate. Ask about the inspirations, influences, or intentions behind any particular song, and their responses can be oddly divergent, from the inspiration to execution, it's all fair game for argument.
Light fell in love with marine science from afar, reading Jacques Cousteau encyclopedias in her childhood hippie farmhouse in Ohio. This led to her passionate pursuit of a marine biology degree from Stanford University and subsequent dream job at a dolphin intelligence research lab in Hawaii. She eventually found lab-work uninspiring, however, so Light tried a brief stint as a circus violinist. Soon after she met Blonde, she joined his then current band in Oakland, CA and never looked back. Scott also grew up amongst more trees than people in Vermont and has been writing songs and recording since he was a young teen.
After the pair were kicked out of this band for making out during rehearsals, the duo forged The Lovemakers into a high-profile Bay Area musical favorite. Tremendous local radio support from Live 105 and sales of self-released recordings quickly drew the major labels, leading to their Interscope debut, Times of Romance. They followed that with an independently released EP, Misery Loves Company.
As time presses forward, and while the music industry has crumbled around them, The Lovemakers defiant creed only hardens as reflected in one of the new album's most danceable numbers "See What I Wanna See." They are self-releasing their newest record, yet they have managed to secure national distribution, and the record is packed with potential hit songs.
"We’re in this forever. We’re total lifers," Scott explains. "We can’t do anything else, we’re so in love with what we do that we have to make a living doing it. Right from the very start we made a pact with each other that never ended." Scott and Lisa continue to channel their trials into more developed songwriting. "It’s just been Lisa and me writing songs this whole time," Scott says. "Every year we make another kind of breakthrough artistically, and we discover new things, and that always turns into a more developed sound."
The Lovemakers have had their share of troubled days, when it was hard to get things done in the uncomfortable space in between lovers and friends. "Clearly, this time is past," Lisa points out, "hence the album title, Let's Be Friends."
Does this mean The Lovemakers' songs are or aren't written about each other? "Maybe," Scott muses. "Probably not."
Lisa gives her perspective, "I love the lyrics of the song 'Let's Be Friends,' especially the line about sharing clothes and girlfriends. It's an insight into how close two people can become over enough time. When you forget to close the door when you have to pee, you know you are good friends."
"Actually," suggests Scott, "just read all our album titles in chronological order, and make up the details in the middle, and you've got our story."
