By Andrew Bansal
Los Angeles’ very own heavy metal band Legal Tender formed five years ago but following the independent release of their debut EP ‘Lust In Demons’ in 2013, they rose to prominence in the local scene with a string of undeniably impressive live performances. They also incorporated newer songs into the live set and kept enhancing it further. Going through a few lineup changes in the formative years but finally settling down into their current incarnation in 2014, Legal Tender got a small taste of tour life this year and with a new EP coming soon, they are not only poised to conquer the LA scene along with some of their peers, but are also ready to kill on a nationwide level, and beyond. A few days ago, I sat down with vocalist/guitarist Jonah Nimoy and bassist Sam Harman at the In-N-Out burger joint in Hollywood for a detailed chat. Read the conversation below and check out some of their music.
First of all, you guys have had a pretty great year. You’ve done a lot of shows and stayed busy. How’s everything been?
Sam Harman: It’s been good, man. This year has definitely been our year. Literally the first day of the year, we got hooked up with Adrian Aguilar on the drums and it’s just been non-stop ever since then. It’s been show after show, and we finally did our first tour, which was rad. We put out a single over the summer too. It’s been good to finally be what we think is the most solid we’ve ever been.
Jonah Nimoy: I agree completely. We got Adrian literally New Year’s Day. January 1st was the day we were rehearsing with him for the first time, and that was it. We even had a friend who was going to shoot us that day because we wanted to have a whole welcoming in with him and a whole photo shoot with all of us. Ever since then, it’s pretty much been nothing but uphill, which is cool. Like Sam said, we had our single and we went on our first tour, and now we’re working on a music video. It’s been nothing but great.
You’ve had some changes in the lineup. I’ve seen different versions of the band even within the last year. At one point you [Jonah] were not playing guitar, and I think you started out on the drums? How did you decide to stick with this version of the band?
JN: (Laughs) Well, basically I joined the band back in early 2012 as the drummer. I was originally playing drums for a band called Diamond Lane, and we were looking for a new guitar player and we found Frankie. We were auditioning guitar players, Frank was the first guy that came in, and he was the last. We were like, that’s the guy. And then within two weeks, he told us about his other band. And as soon as I heard Legal Tender, I knew I was going to be in that band. So I left Diamond Lane to focus on Legal Tender. We had a different singer at the time. I’ve always loved drums. I actually went to music school majoring in drums and I was going to be a drummer. But I always played guitar and sang. After a while, things weren’t working out with our singer at the time and we were looking for a new singer. We went and checked out a band called Mad Temple. We thought the singer was pretty good but the drummer was better! And it was Adrian Aguilar.
SH: What’s funny too is that Jonah was like, “Did you ever think about may be I could sing and Adrian could be the drummer?”
JN: Yeah, he and Frank weren’t on board with that. Not even close. But, after a lot of convincing, and the fact that I had put out my own solo EP earlier that year which kind of proved to them that I can sing, we decided to give it a shot and got Adrian in as the drummer. Even before that we had other guys filling in on drums because we couldn’t really have a permanent guy. The long story with Adrian is, we had auditioned him earlier but he broke his knee and could not play drums for six months. That was not his fault. It was because of a friend, a very unfortunate person (laughs). But then after the new year, he came in and started drumming. We had recorded the EP, there were a lot of rhythm tracks and harmonies and we had been playing live with me singing. But we just weren’t really cutting it. We either needed to get another guitar player or I needed to do the James Hetfield thing and start singing and playing. Frank of course wasn’t down with that, and even Sam and Adrian weren’t. I just sat there and pounded out those songs and showed up to rehearsal one day, and that was it.
SH: It was one of those things where if we were going to do that, we had to make sure that it’s the best it could possibly be. We don’t half-ass anything. We’re 110 per cent all the time. So we just didn’t want it to blow back in our face. Jonah’s kickass all the time always, and why we were so hesitant about it, I don’t know. I think it was just changing the way it had been with the four of us doing bass, guitar, drums and vocals. The thought of the second guitar was may be a freaky thing. Just being selfish and talking about me playing bass, the bass wasn’t cutting it. The solos would come up, the bottom end would drop out and it would just be Frank. So to have the second guitar was the selling point for me, to do the Metallica thing. It was the evolution of the sound.
JN: And to be fair, with this band change was definitely a scary thing, even just joining the band. When I came in, I had my own opinions, of course. But eventually we got past it and ever since then, our communication skills have been a lot better. Now we got our lineup and this is it. We’re finally here.
SH: To say that, “No, that’s dumb, I don’t like that idea”, because we’re so close and we hang out so much, that’s a big part of it. We’re all super-comfortable with each other now and if somebody doesn’t like something, we say it.
JN: So long story short, to get to where I finally became the singer and guitar player, it was knocking down a lot of walls that needed to be knocked down, but we’re here, we’re better than ever, and each day is better than the last.
The other thing about that is, you already had songs which you were playing just as a singer. You must have had to rework those to fit them into the set with this version.
JN: Very much so. We worked with Tom Chandler who has worked with bands like Diamond Lane, Ascendancy and others in the scene. We had the songs initially recorded with a different producer with our old singer. I was good friends with Tom, he took one listen, and said, “Yeah, I’m not letting you release this crap.” So we went back, we redid all the guitar parts, we restructured some things, but we kept the drum tracks so it’s actually me playing drums on the ‘Lust In Demons’ EP as well as singing. We rewrote melodies. But even after that there was a lot of work to be done because these were very intricate parts that Frankie had written, and they weren’t going to change because they were already on a CD, out in the world. For new songs we can mess with them, but the way those songs were, we had to just make it work. I think I’m doing an okay job of it. I definitely have my days. But he’s a nut, and I had to play the psychotic parts that he came up with, and that’s it.
SH: Even the bass parts in songs like ‘Mark My Words’ and ‘The Paradox’ sounded better with the second guitar.
JN: Oh yeah, I can really lock in with Sam, which is cool because the Pantera thing worked for a while but when you have solos that go on for two-and-a-half minutes and the riffs are all over the place, you’ve got to have someone who’s the glue between the lead guitarist and the bass player and I think I was able to do that. It took some time but we got a good grasp on it.
‘Lust In Demons’ came out last year and you put out the new single this summer. What’s happening with the next EP? You’re working on a new EP, I believe.
SH: Yeah, we are. We’re writing a bunch of tunes. We actually played one of the new ones at our last show at Loaded Hollywood on the 5th. We’re releasing five tunes on this EP and four out of those are written. After that we’ll record it when we can. Hopefully late January or something like that will is when we’re going to actually have it all done, and then we’ll just be touring and pushing these new songs.
JN: We’re kind of revisiting old riffs that we’ve had for a while as well as some brand spanking new ones we wrote this year. We’re down to one more song. We’re done with the whole EP except for that one last song, and this is what we’re calling our ‘Master Of Puppets’ (laughs), because the songs are definitely crazier. They’ve gone a little nuttier. We have a very nice, to-the-point hard rock bass drum kick in tunes but we were definitely like, “Let’s just go a little crazy this time. What do we got to lose?” So that’s where we stand. It’s going to be done very soon and we’re hitting the studio in no time.
I’ve noticed through the last few shows that every time you play you have a new song. So it’s not like you’re going in to write a whole EP. You already have most of these songs done. It must have been easier in that sense.
SH: Yeah (laughs). We’re just try to bust out these songs. When we’re rehearsing and someone comes up with a riff, we build off of that. We have sessions and rehearsals where we start writing a song and it just branches from there. I think it’s the way our lives are. It’s not like we’re going to write a whole album within a time frame, just because we don’t have a lot of time. We don’t have that kind of money. You look at bands like Pantera, and for albums like Vulgar and Far Beyond Driven, they would just go in, write the album and record it.
JN: And also, Frank is very active in Diamond Lane, as am I with other projects. But we’re always writing songs. There’s not one moment when I feel like I have to get in Legal Tender mode. Frank and I share new riffs with each other, and the next thing you know, we have a song. That’s pretty much how it goes down at this point. Some of the songs were in existence and we reworked them by adding new riffs, but recently it’s been all about working on new riffs. We seem to have a pretty good system. Don’t fix it if it’s not broken! We like what we’re doing and we’ll keep doing it that way.
You mentioned earlier that you did a tour this year. How was that?
SH: We went to Ventura and then Crockett which is up in the Bay Area just above Oakland. Then we hit South Lake Tahoe, and Reno, just a couple of dates there and back. It was nuts, man. It was just cool to be in a van with these three idiots for 120 hours. For me, it just felt right. I just dug it, to play music every night. Are there stories? Hell yeah. That’s the best part, having all the insanity really come to fruition. You hear all these different road stories from all these bands, and then you’re actually able to have your own. That’s a great feeling (laughs).
JN: And it’s cool too, because it was the ultimate test to see what our capabilities were of being in a band, even though it was a very short week-long deal. We got to see how we were all on the road and how I would do the singing four or five nights in a row, whether we were running short on money or had a place to stay. We just kind of figured out how to do these things. The next tour is going to be even bigger, because we did it pretty well on a smaller scale and we can up the ante a little bit. It was great and very successful.
And being in the same van can make or break a band. That’s the reality.
SH: Oh yeah, if it gets to the point where you don’t like the way somebody gets into a car, just little shit that starts to pick at you, then you start to flip out about every little thing.
JN: One of my favorite situations was, Adrian and I loved butting heads over the air-conditioner (laughs). He’s a guy who likes to have the window down and I like to have the AC on, honestly. I was driving and had wind blowing in my face, and he wanted the window down. So, things like that. We’re not arguing about drinking too much, drugs or money. We’re buds, we’re going to call each other idiots and dumbasses and shitheads all day long, but at the end of the day we’re buds arguing about air-conditioning and the windows. And the volume knob too. I like to keep it quiet and Adrian is mister drummer and loves to have it loud. But yeah, it was great and nothing but fun. We’re doing it again, definitely very soon.
Well, air-conditioning is definitely better in every sense, so you win that one.
JN: Thank you! Right on. Adrian Aguilar, I hope you’re reading this.
Because the wind is causing more resistance to your driving path, so you’re spending more gas if you have your windows down on the freeway.
SH: Look at that! It’s great for comfort and from the financial standpoint.
JN: And to be totally honest too, as stupid as it sounds, being a singer is very temperamental. Half the time I’d be thinking that my voice is a little shaky but the other guys would be like, “Oh, come on! You’re fine!” And this is a quote I love saying and I can’t say it enough: You can always go to Guitar Center and buy new guitar strings, but you can’t buy new vocal chords. So when we’re in South Lake Tahoe and it’s snowing and 34 degrees, you’ve got to have it your way sometimes. So, thank you for agreeing with me. I appreciate that!
And as far as the volume, it should be the driver’s call.
JN: Yes! Me and Frank were pretty much driving the entire time. Sam jumped in a few times but Sam’s a little bit of a crazy driver and he liked tailgating people.
SH: The best part too is when Frank goes, “Dude, if you’re tired you can let me drive.” And I was like, you don’t even have to sugarcoat that. If you don’t want me to drive, just tell me.
JN: So basically it’s little things like that and it’s the nature of the beast. If I had to take fights like that as opposed to dealing with some drunk band mate who’s violent, I would take this all fucking day. That’s exactly what we had.
You guys have to do a longer tour. It sounds like you’re ready.
SH: That’s the plan.
JN: We’ll see what happens. We do have a plan possibly for February and March. We play a few cool clubs. Reno was actually fun and it was our last night of that tour. Even in South Lake Tahoe we met a lot of great people. To gain the credibility of being a touring act definitely helps with the impression you leave, whether it’s on an A&R representative or bands that come and watch you, and it helps with even just your overall tightness as a band because if you can play in 30-degree weather or 110-degree weather, you’re missing a string and your pants are on inside out, it’s seriously great, great training. It really is, and it’s nothing but success for us. I’ve read and watched interviews and documentaries on how bands got signed, and the way they got signed was press kits. Page after page of gig after gig, playing 500 shows across the nation. Boom, that’s definitely a very good factor. So yeah, we want to go out much longer. That’s the plan. Because you could sit here in LA and play local shows all day long, week after week.
A lot of bands just get stuck into that.
JN: They very much do, and that’s just not the key to it. I actually had a funny conversation with a manager named Cheese who managed Guns ‘N Roses, Metallica and Sublime. I was talking to him and telling him that I’ve got a band that’s ready to go. He said, “Great! Have you been on tour? No? Call me back when you have.” He said the first best day of your life is going to be when you get a tour van, and the next best day would be when you get a crappy tour bus, and the next would be a proper tour bus that works. He was absolutely right, because you can’t play one or two shows a month here in LA. You’ve got to literally slay it across the States, try and build your fan base and spread the word. If you’re a great band and you have a real message to deliver which I think we possess, then run with it.
And as I was telling you earlier before we started recording, I’ve seen some terrible bands outside of LA on my recent travels. I always think when I see bands like yours here that people outside LA should get to see how it’s done. Right now, with you and bands like Future Villains, Diamond Lane and others, there’s a good group of bands that’s driven to take the next step. It’s good for you as well because you have company and you’re not the only ones.
SH: Hell yeah, I think this next run we do, we’ll hopefully be out with another band or two. That’s definitely much more promotable, just to go to a venue and tell them that there’s three of us, we’re going to throw the show and they don’t have to worry about finding other bands. That takes the load off their back a little bit.
JN: And also, being such relevant acts in what is the LA scene which is so all over the place. You’ve got bands like Future Villains and even Desecrate and Diamond Lane. We all bring something to the table and we’re all very different bands. Having a package like that coming out of LA is definitely a rare sight to see in the messed up music scene that we’re all deciding to be a part of. It’s great, great company. We love playing with Future Villains and Diamond Lane. The friends, the fans, even within the band, we’re all hanging out and always having a good time. There’s never any rivalries and no butting heads here and there.
It’s rare that the bands get along.
SH: Yeah, and I think a victory for one of us is a victory for all of us in that kind of sense because we are such close buds. We all help each other out when we need to. That’s just part of the deal and part of being brothers. If we’re not going to do it, nobody else is and then you’re on your own and that’s not cool.
JN: It’s very promising to see this kind of situation happening, because I’ve seen bands that are very individualist and on their own. When you see bands in groups, it’s all relative to the scene. If one band is going to get big, the others around them will too. You’ve seen that happen throughout history, whether it be the Sunset Strip, Seattle, Brooklyn, San Francisco or DC. It’s great to see that the bands have a real standard to set out here and it’s been a while since that’s been the case. Finally I can very proudly say we’ve got a good thing going with all these other bands.
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