21 Aug 3rd–Aug 9th, 2023 phoenixnewtimes.com phoenix new Times | cONTeNTs | feeDBacK | OPiNiON | NeWs | feaTuRe | NighT+Day | culTuRe | film | cafe | music | like I’m fucking the speaker. I want to keep it punk rock; if it’s not that, then I’m out.” At the end of the day, both men agreed that perhaps the secret to their success is a steady commitment to being unbelievably earnest at all times. “The record’s called ‘Feed the Monkeys’ for a reason,” Louvau says. “You’ve got to feed the monkeys before you can really do anything else for yourself.” “The monkeys can be the people, the suits, the booking agents or radio. All of these people want something that they can work with. And as long as those people gravitate toward it, all the better. Just don’t think for two seconds we’re writing songs for those people; we’re writing for ourselves,” he adds. Gerold readily agrees, noting that there’s something all great bands must accomplish if they want to be real and still relatable. “There’s a quote from someone in NOFX and he was talking about how Green Day sold out,” Gerold says. “He said, ‘They never sold out. They didn’t change the way they were writing music.’ They just kept writing that same music, and then people were like, ‘Oh, this is good.’” And accessibility is all well and nice, but ultimately only two people matter. And from that comes the band’s sense of passion and authenticity. “Jim and I always say that if it’s cool to us, then it’s cool,” Gerold says. “Not that it’s cool to everyone else. I’m saying it’s literally just cool to me and him. Once you get to that point, let’s see if anyone else likes it.” In search of artistic and authentic endeavors While enough folks have ultimately reso- nated with the music, Louvau is realistic about the band’s work ahead in further carving out an audience. “There’s an equation: If you have 5,000 diehard fans, you could make a living as an artist, because those people buy every- thing,” he says. “If that’s where you end up, and you’re making a living as an artist, that’s where you want to be. The peaks and valleys are always going to be there. You can have a record or single that does really well and the next record doesn’t do anything.” That’s why Louvau and Gerold, and the rest of the band, are focusing on not just on “Feed the Monkeys” but what comes next. In way, it’s the start of a much, much grander journey. “I feel like this is just the beginning of this style that we’ve started branching out to,” Gerold says. “So hopefully the next batch of songs will be even better.” The hope is to play more with this latest batch of tunes, with some touring in the near future. That’s when they’ll know if all this work has truly paid off. They remain, however, optimistic given their record. “We would go back and play some of these places the second or third time,” Louvau says. “These people know the words to songs that don’t exist in their streaming service library yet.” Louvau remains committed in full to There Is No Us as the band grows with this latest “era.” However, he still wants to keep up his multifaceted schedule for as long as possible. “I have to keep all three things going because there’s gaps where there’s nothing going on musically,” he says. “My creative energy, it has to be nurtured. If I don’t have that, then why am I existing?” Whether it’s film, video or music, Louvau knows what he wants to get out of these artistic endeavors. If it’s not 100% real, there’s no point to ever being seen or heard. “Everything I’m doing has an artistic approach to it,” says Louvau. “If it starts to feel not authentic, and that’s the band, the photos, or the videos ... if it doesn’t do that, I can go work at McDonald’s and feel the same way.” There Is No Us: In support of Prayers, with Darksiderz and Pictureplane. 7 p.m. doors, 7:30 p.m. show, on Aug. 10. Crescent Ballroom, 308 N. 2nd Ave. Tickets are $35 plus fees at crescentphx.com. Tony Aguilera Industrial Complex from p 19
