Audioholic Media

I had a chance to sit down (for a second, until we were bombarded by an army of ants) with Kenneth Vasoli from Person L. Kenneth, also known as “Kenny”, was frontman to a band that you may or may not be familiar with called The Starting Line. Breaking away from a band that had accomplished so much, more or less, put him back on the chopping block. He ended up at the starting line (no pun intended), if you will, and you do. Everything about this interview was laid back, from the arrangement with the band’s PR people and tour managers, all the way to doing the interview outside of the venue a few hours before the show. Even when he didn’t know that I was there to interview him, all I did was mention that Matt (PR) had set everything up for me. He said that if I talked to Matt then it was good enough for him, which in turn, was good enough for me. And without any further delay (because I know there has been for about a month) here is the interview.

Audioholic Media: There must have been a pivotal point that made you want to attempt something completely different after being where many people would have considered you “stable”. What was the initial influence for Person L to become Person L?

Kenneth Vasoli: I don’t know. I mean— I guess just collecting so much music over time kind of drove me insane of wanting to do something different by branching off into different styles. I would say that the first time that I really wanted to start a different kind of band is when I saw The Battles play in the beginning of 2007 at a First Humanitarian Church with Ryan from my band. That was just such an important moment for us because they did so much different stuff with music that it was a real eye-opener for us. It made us feel like there was a place for a really different sort of band like them.

AM: Do you think that the breakaway from your prior band aids your musical progression with this one? I know it’s a cheesy example, but sort of like how child stars have that stigma associated with them. You know? Does it ever get to a point where you’re like, Oh, yeah? I can’t do what? Well, listen to this.

KV: Yeah, I think that all of the experiences that I’ve had in music has helped me up to this point and has given me a better idea of what I want.

AM: Do you try to steer clear of expectations from the fans that followed you for so long? Because the music you’re creating now is so much more mature than the genre you were associated with before.

KV: Yeah, I really don’t worry about people’s expectations anymore. That’s kind of the point of this band. We just want to do things that we want to do by following our own instincts.

AM: The styles of sounds that are being created make for an interesting blend of classic/current-day-rock mixed with an experimental electric vibe. What musical influences, not solely speaking of artists, moved you to take on a project such as this one?

KV: The two biggest ones were Drive Like Jehu, which was Mark Trombino’s band, from around 1993 and 1994, and also Radiohead. Those two bands, between the both of them, kind of hit everything that I like about music. You know, with the electronics and the ambience of post-punk and aggressive vocals, and stuff like that. After hearing Hail to the Thief, and Drive Like Jehu and Yank Crime, I just started obsessing over more experimental and angular kinds of music.

AM: Tell us a little bit about the recording process for this album. From what I gathered, this was a little different than what you were used to, right?

KV: Yeah, it was pretty long. In December of ’06 we started recording the drums, which is pretty much all we did in the studio, was just the drums. Then I just took it home and brought the files down to my basement and bedroom and just finished it there. We wanted to do that, because for the most part, we wanted to have a real cool garage-y and low-fi kind of record. But I wanted the drums to still be boombastic and full and still have texture to them. That’s pretty much why we did it like that, but it took a while with still juggling The Starting Line stuff and just doing it all by our own means. We really took our time with it, but I’m glad we did because it came out just how I wanted it to.

AM: Eight tracks for a full-length album doesn’t seem too conventional. It can definitely be argued that this album was not rushed. Like you said, you guys started in ’06. For example, the musical progression and track arrangement was definitely thought out. Was there a reason for such a short debut album?

KV: It was actually supposed to be six tracks and I intended for it to be an EP in the beginning, and then people had a great response to “Storms” so we decided to put that one on there too. Then we recorded “Sunshine” when we did the seed session. So, we were just left with eight songs that were totally recorded, and I just think there’s something cool about having eight songs on a record. It’s not quite a full-length and not quite an EP, people don’t really know what to say, but I feel like it’s just the right amount of music to listen to.

AM: Now that you brought that up, I was actually going to ask you about “Storms”. I would think that if there had to be one song on this album that could be compared to the kind of stuff you were doing with The Starting Line, it would be that song. You said it was the first song written for this album and you were actually touring with The Starting Line when you wrote it, right?

KV: Yeah, I was on tour with The Starting Line at the time. It was like the day after I broke up with my girlfriend that I had for a long time. That was like the second time we broke up after being together for seven years. We’re back together right now.

AM: Congratulations.

KV: Thank you. That’s just a little update for anyone who is worried. But, yeah— even though it was my decision, I was still broken up about it and had to write something. So “Storms” was the first one.

AM: Knowing that it was similar in style to what you were doing with The Starting Line, were you at all worried about making that decision to add a track, such as “Storms” to this new album? I mean, did you think that maybe it was sort of giving false hope to those fans that were so into The Starting Line, to where they might think something along the lines of, “Yes! He hasn’t left us.”?

KV: Yeah, but I think it’s always good to have a bridge song, and I think that that’s pretty much the perfect bridge song from The Starting Line to Person L. I don’t think there will be many more like it, but that’s kind of the point of Person L.

AM: It’s obvious that this band wasn’t just thrown together for the sake of having someone play a certain instrument. I mean, just listening to the band play together, it’s clear that this was thought out. How did you all selectively get together?

KV: Well, Ryan and me were playing together ever since we were like, fifteen or sixteen years old and had been best buddies for a long time. So anytime I would come home, I would just get together with him and hang out. We’d go down to the basement and fool around for hours and hours and just couldn’t help but throw some riffs and some songs together. I’ve always loved his style of drumming but I also wanted a little more of an angular or techie kind of drummer. That guy, Brian, was in a band called The Minor Times. They were pretty much local hardcore legends from where we’re from. They’re pretty much my favorite hardcore band. The Minor Times were kind of winding down and I asked him [Brain Medlin] if he wanted to come over and write some songs. He was a little bit hesitant because I don’t think he really wanted to play drums for another band, but once we started writing together it was really apparent that it clicked and then we started writing a whole lot of songs right away. It just felt really good. And then we got Charles [Schneider] to play bass, who I knew had great rhythm, so he fit the bill real well. Then we have Brian [Schmutz] from The Starting Line playing keys with us.

AM: He plays on the Rhodes [piano], right?

KV: He’s also one of my favorite musicians in the area. I love the way that guy writes and it was a no-brainer to have him in the band. Unfortunately, he had to leave because he can’t really afford to be on the road right now. So, right after that we got Nate [Nathaniel Vaeth] to come and start playing. He just nailed it. He’s got the same kind of influences that we do, like the classic rock influence that is perfect for the aesthetic that we’re going for.

AM: In the band bio on MySpace, it said that you felt “pigeonholed” by the recognition that you were getting because you couldn’t really branch out. I mean, that’s credible, because what you guys are doing now is really experimental and not something you hear everyday. With that being said, what’s your feeling about the music industry, in terms of where it’s going? I mean, Zac Efron was on the cover of The Rolling Stone—

KV: Yeah, I don’t even know who that is.

[Polite laughter from both of us]

AM: Take for example, the girls from “The Hills” even. It’s one of those things where it’s just shifty right now.

KV: My girlfriend loved that article. She was reading that on an airplane last month or something.

[More laughing]

Yeah, I guess you could say it’s in sort of sorry shape right now. You know— I don’t know. I hope that there are more bands that step forward and pull Radioheads and do their own records and put them up on the Internet for whoever wants to hear it. I think it needs that kind of independent mentality again. The record labels don’t really have that much to offer besides taking all your money now, slapping you down on bus benches, and stuff like that. I think that, especially for a band like us, we haven’t found a need for a label just yet. I’m just hoping that punk rock is going to come back in some way. Not just in the sense of mohawks and studded leather jackets—

AM: Yeah, just the genre in general.

KV: Yeah, kind of like the idea of just doing stuff that’s dangerous, is cool again, because nobody, at least for me, I haven’t really heard a lot of people doing anything dangerous.

“Canyonlands”, Person L

[Editor's Note: The quality is not what you would consider "professional". With that being said, don't complain. Instead, send in your resumes (that don't really matter because we'll pick you anyway) so you can be one of the lucky ones to follow us around and record shows and transcribe interviews afterward.]

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The Person L’s debut album, Initial, is currently available on iTunes.
Visit the Person L MySpace at http://www.myspace.com/personl