The Power of More Than One: The Lisps February Feature 2007 The Lisps Podcast Interview & Performance with Arthur Bouie The Lisps Feature Show Slideshow Photo by Judith Levitt

Feature Article by Ben Krieger

The music world is filled with talented bands whose members live under the dictatorship of a primary songwriter. It takes a lot of trust and humility for an artist to relinquish control of his/her music and allow both input and criticism. When it happens, however, the results can exceed expectations. Vocalist/guitarist/melodica aficionado César Alvarez understands this. "I want our band to be exceptionally original," he states, and he’s talking about the Lisps. The group has just reached a crucial stage in their evolution-- "genre-bending indie experimental show tunes" -- and their talent has rightfully earned them the title of Jezebel Music’s Featured Artist.

Musically, the songs are varied and surprising. Born equally from a love of Broadway, country, and quests for hard-to-find world music, the tunes often shift in mood or tempo without warning. Always looking for new musical muses, lately the Lisps have taken an interest in sea shanties. "Familiar Drunk," which the band performed live during the course of the interview, is a child of this newfound focus.  The male/female vocal combo of Alvarez and Sammy Tunis adds a crucial dimension to the group. Neither vocalist displays much in the way of histrionics, but the intelligent use of dual voices -- sometimes in unison, sometimes in harmony, sometimes in musical/lyrical counterpoint -- is a rarity in bands. Together, they go beyond what either could accomplish on their own. A charming example can be found in "I'm Sorry," for which the Lisps have made a winning, low-key music video. Mikey Palmer sits in the drummer's chair and recent recruit Jeremy Hoevenaar plays the bass (more on them in a bit).

Like the music, the words songs are anything but conventional. Alvarez never puts his puzzle pieces together completely, his narrators rarely stating the obvious points in song. "Pepper Spray" is a good example, seemingly sung by a bitter lover who clearly needs a restraining order, but of course doesn't realize it with out the outside perspective of the listener. Sometimes the meaning behind a song hangs on a few crucial words: change a few nouns in "The Winter That I Missed" and the setting moves from a secret clubhouse to a coffin six feet under. Even the more straight forward arrangements (such as the country-tinged "Heaven") maintain the lyrical excellence that sets the Lisps apart in Brooklyn's sea of talent.

The live version of "Documents" on The Lisps' website shows how important their connection with the audience is. House concerts are something that the Lisps are familiar with. They actually prefer the intimate setting, if only because the audience can understand all the words this way. NYC music venues are notorious for under-mixing the vocals and in many bands the mid-range-hoarding electric guitar player doesn't help things much; the Lisps attempt to avoid these obstacles by setting clear expectations with the soundboard operator and nixing the overly amplified axe. With thought-provoking lines like "society doesn't get you the things you want / it only makes you want things that are harder to get," this effort is understandable. The band has gone as far as printing out programs during their shows. Included are a list of songs and descriptions that tie the set together conceptually.

The EP that the Lisps have been toting around for the past few years has a misleading sound. While it reflects the band's creative spirit, it is sonically separated from their current musical approach ("Chaos" comes close). Many of the more recent band members don't even appear on the record. Alvarez intended that CD to showcase an "imaginary band" and arranged it with no regard for whether or not the sound would eventually be replicated live. With all the right people finally on board, the Lisps have been making trips upstate to complete a new full-length project.

"I have to sell my songs to the band," explains Alvarez, "and if [the band] doesn't buy the songs, then they won't be played."  While some songs are quickly welcomed into the Lisps repertoire, others have been a tough sell. The aforementioned "Documents" is a quirky slice of desk job philosophy that didn't strike a chord with the band initially. Alvarez refused to pull rank, but he was insistent about playing the song until the others were convinced of its potential. Indeed, "Documents" was the tune that took Alvarez to the semifinals during the 2006 Williamsburg Live Songwriting Competition. If those performances showed that the curly-headed tunesmith is a solo showstopper, Alvarez still insists that the band format is essential, and these band members in particular. "I wouldn't be anything without them," he states. It's telling that Alvarez actually bought Hoevenaar a bass in order to get him in the band (Hoevenaar paid him back when he could, and the gesture was worth it). The bass player is a talented poet; he has fallen in love with the writing that blossoms from this group and Alvarez couldn't be happier with the multi-talented new addition. Palmer is first and foremost a guitarist and music nut, not to mention a songwriter as well, and together with Hoevenaar, plays a crucial role in how the songs shape up "late in the process." Tunis gets to pick the material apart earlier on, and her arguments with Alvarez are jokingly acknowledged as part of the band's creative routine.

Alvarez was once on a completely different musical path. With a healthy about of formal musical education under his belt, the writer started out touring around the country with a collection of "delusional, narcissistic songs" that eventually began to annoy him. "I stopped enjoying [the musician’s life]," he says at one point, and explains how he gave himself a break before attempting the project that became the Lisps. All the band members have day jobs, most of which draw on their talents as actors, filmmakers, and similar professions. In other words, the often-quoted "music is the only thing that I do well" is not a statement that they can relate to. Frank Zappa once noted that to follow a pure, non-commercial vision, an artists might need to pick up a real-estate license. The Lisps have gone one better, finding ways of combining their wide range of skills into a multi-faceted musical unit, both live and in the studio.

http://www.thelisps.com/