Music Q&A with Lake Mosaic
Photo courtesy of Lake Mosaic
Alternative punk rockers, Lake Mosaic, released a new song last week titled “Perseverance”! In this Q&A, the band’s very own Evan and Adam answered questions about the song, their favorite album of all time, who they enjoy seeing live, and more!
Congratulations on the release of “Perseverance”! It seems like a lot of people would relate to the song, especially with the time period we’ve been living in the last couple of years. What inspired this song?
Evan: It’s been a thrill to work on this song over the last year or so. This was actually the first song we wrote, before we even had the band’s lineup totally squared away. So, really the inspiration was just to get some music made and some ideas flowing. Matt came in and took it to another level. The lyrics he wrote were drawn from some pretty traumatic personal experiences unrelated to the pandemic and recent political turmoil here in the States. Before Matt joined and contributed his vocals, the song always had a cathartic feel to it. It’s almost like a power ballad, but much heavier, and the general vibe of the song is about pushing through adversity and staying the course toward achieving greatness. It’s about not letting our failures define us and growing from them instead.
The band is working on releasing an album next year. What can you share about it with readers that are just learning about you?
Evan: We’re unbelievably stoked for this album to drop! It’s rooted firmly in pop-punk, but it’s so much more than that. We’re all super into heavy music in general, so there are some pretty aggressive moments on this record that you won’t hear from most modern pop-punk bands. Most of the music deals with themes of persevering, hence the album’s title “Perseverance,” and the goal of all of it is to connect with listeners on a personal level. We feel that, like many bands, telling our own stories is the best way to bond with our audience. There are so many folks out there struggling with personal and emotional trauma, crappy jobs and career barriers, natural disasters and war, and the list goes on. Sometimes we find it hard to grapple with some of those larger issues, so we dig deep. We try to find the core of the human spirit, that little part of us that never truly gives up, even when it seems as though everything is falling around our heads. We hope this album gives people a sense of community in their struggles, and a feeling of empowerment to deal with the bad situations in their lives. We can always dig deep and improve ourselves, which is where solutions to global problems start. Matt’s line on one of our new songs says it best: “a better me is breaking free.”
When did you realize you wanted to create music?
Evan: All of us have pretty extensive musical backgrounds, actually, so it’s hard to say. Most of us got our start in the wind band and orchestra worlds as teenagers (and are still very active in those scenes), so we have a lot of that refined classical background to draw upon when we perform. We’ve got a bunch of audio engineering experience in the band, too, so the combination is very balanced and makes it easy to write together and to critique each other. As far as wanting to create music, I think all of us can agree that we wanted to do that pretty much as soon as we started learning to play an instrument. It’s plenty fun to play music that other people wrote – we love doing covers – but it’s infinitely more rewarding to come up with your own stuff.
Adam: I always loved listening to rock music. My brother had burned CDs of old Linkin Park, Sepultura, Metallica etc. that I would listen to on a walkman in elementary school. I played classical acoustic guitar but wanted to learn electric after getting into the guitar hero video game. It was shortly after that I started lessons and writing my own music.
What is your favorite album of all time?
Adam: Hybrid Theory by Linkin Park. I never get tired of that record no matter how many times I listen.
Who has been your favorite artist or band to see live?
Adam: Green Day was incredible. They’re another band I’ve loved since I was a kid, and their live show does not disappoint.
Evan: I've always loved seeing Godsmack live.
If you had a chance to collaborate with a musician, dead or alive, who would it be?
Adam: I would collaborate with Kurt Cobain. I’ve always loved the rawness and emotion in his music.
Evan: I'd say James Hetfield or Jimi Hendrix.
We all have our days where it may not be going as well as we’d like. People deal with their worst days in different ways. What helps you get through the bad days? How do you stay positive?
Adam: Eating well, exercising, meditating and spending time with loved ones helps me get through the worst days. Taking care of myself is key to getting through those tough times. Staying positive is not always easy, but I've found a simple gratitude practice (thinking or writing a few things each day that I'm grateful for) has helped me a lot with putting things into perspective.
Thank you for taking the time for this Q&A. Any last words or final message for the readers?
Adam: Thank you for having us! We hope this song inspires those going through a tough time to keep going and not give up hope. You can find us on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. Please feel free to reach out, we love connecting with fans!