LANY is currently making sure fans around Asia experience “A November To Remember” with their anticipated tour. The American pop-rock band have been building a steady fan base ever since heir 2017 self-titled album and it’s easy to see why.
Frontman and songwriter Paul Klein has a way of constructing lyrics that give listeners a deeper picture into love, breakups, and eventual acceptance. The 34-year-old musician said it best when he described making music and making albums is like “buying a gift and writing a card for someone you love: You want them to like the gift and know that this is why you got it for them.”
During their pitstop in Southeast Asia this past week, we had the pleasure of speaking to both Paul and drummer Jake Goss about the absence of former member, keyboardist Les Priest. “He felt like it was time for him to stay home and be a family man. I kind of felt it was coming… I wasn’t totally shocked, but obviously, we miss him so much,” Paul said in another interview.
We were pleasantly surprised to here Paul’s favourite thing about Malaysia, hearing the duo explain the thought process behind “Congrats”, a new song that has become a major crowd favourite during concert shows, and what they love about each other. Scroll down for our exclusive interview:
Q: This is your third time in Malaysia. What do you miss about Malaysia since you were last here?
Paul Klein: The crowds are always really really special, and so loud, which is one thing that we absolutely love. We love to have crowd participation and involvement – it just make for a better show. We did a little bit of a meet-and-greet sound check today, and it was already the loudest meet and greet sound check of the tour so far, so we’re really excited.
Jake Goss: And I know that Malaysia Paul’s favourite palm trees.
Paul: That’s true. The terrain here is stunning.
Jake: Every time we get here it’s like – oh yeah, forgot how beautiful it is here.
Q: There are a few cities that you are going to in Asia, so are there any special things that you have prepared for Malaysian fans tonight?
Paul: I mean, the show is pretty special, we’ve worked really hard on it. I don’t know if you’ve been in the arena yet but we’ve brought every single bit of our production, which is not a small feat to get the huge screens and the LED. We spent months preparing for this whole concert.
Q: What are the songs that you’re most excited to perform?
Paul: We have a new song called “Congrats” that will be on the new album, and it’s very big and very loud, the words will also be on the screen so it encourages people to sing along. It’s a very sing-along-esque type of song. That one is fun. Jake sounds awesome on the drums.
Jake: Yeah, I’m excited to see how crazy people go tonight. Cause we’re gonna be rocking out there, we’re excited to see them rocking out there too.
@hypemalaysia Interview with LANY: This is what #PaulKlein loves best about Malaysia.
Q: It’s just gonna be the two of you for now, did Les Priest’s departure affected your musical language?
Paul: I don’t think so. It’s gonna be the two of us forever. We’re so thankful for Les and the time that we had, and we were able to build something so special with him. When he stepped down, I don’t think it was like a surprise to either of us and I also don’t think that he expected us to quit the band when he did. This band is too special, too big, and there’s a lot of people all over the world counting on us to continue to make music so that’s exactly what we’re gonna do. I think we might look a little different just in photos but it’s gonna sound and feel, hopefully, around the same.
Jake: Yeah.
Paul: We were in the studio, where we wrote 27 songs beginning of this year. We’re already pretty far into the album-making process.
Q: That’s a lot of songs.
Paul: Oh yeah, well, probably half of them are terrible but we’ll see.
Jake: No, there’s a lot of good ones too.
@hypemalaysia Our favourite performance during #LANY Live In Kuala Lumpur #anovembertoremember #paulklein #jakegoss
Q: Speaking of the new album, how do ya’ll determine the track list and what makes the cut and doesn’t?
Paul: Honestly, if Jake doesn’t like it, it doesn’t make the cut and I don’t mean that in a bad way. We gotta be one hundred on everything cause we’ll then go and play a hundred shows around the world with these songs. So it’s important that we both are eye-to-eye on that.
I’ll go and write as many songs as possible, then I’ll sit down with Jake and we’ll listen to them. We’ll decide which ones we really believe in and think deserve a chance in the studio to really explore. The album flow is important too – we make albums, we don’t make singles – it’s crucial to have a nice flow to it, and that’s something that takes a little bit of time, but we’ll normally figure it out.
Q: Your album, “Gg bb xx”, talks about appreciating precious moments in life. Have you been able to step back during your tour and absorb everything, or has everything just been a blur?
Paul: It has been a blur, and oftentimes I think we should take a step back and appreciate it – I mean, we obviously appreciate it – but like take a step back and take it all in. It is amazing to kinda go anywhere here, and we’re really far from Los Angeles and it’s just amazing that the songs can travel that distance. We feel incredibly honoured and we wanna make the most of this and continue to protect it and build it.
Jake: Yeah, we’re especially excited for the holidays cause we finally get to reflect on being a family, and appreciate what we have. It’s always really fun when you work up an appetite and you really miss something and can’t wait to get back to. So, that’ll be that feeling for me.
Q: We’re just starting November but what’s something you’ll remember this November?
Paul: This tour, for sure. And every city that we’re going to, these are our biggest shows in Asia ever. So obviously, we’re gonna remember this forever. I think there’s a stadium next door (Bukit Jalil Stadium) too. We’ve got our eyes on that, that’s where we wanna play next.
Jake: Yeah, none of this goes unnoticed. We’re sitting down – I think it was yesterday, we’re like – I can’t believe we get to play to these many people in Asia. We’re really far away from Los Angeles so it’s really really cool. We’re really excited.
Q: We’re quite intrigued with your single “Congrats” – can you speak a little more about that?
Paul: So that’s one of the 27 songs that I wrote earlier this year, we just did a 33-day North American tour, called “Summer Forever” tour. And we had kinda bridged the finishing point from that song and we really wanted to play it live. So, we went ahead and released it, and just from a lyrical standpoint, I think we all know people who have had moments in life where someone does something just for the sole purpose of hurting your feelings or making you upset, or just breaking your heart.
We always hear the phrase, ‘stick and stones may break my bones, words can never hurt me’ and we act all super tough but that’s not true. A lot of times when people set out to hurt you, they do hurt you and I’ve never really heard someone say ‘Hey, you tried to hurt me. You did. Congrats.’ And so, that’s what that song is.
Q: Lastly, what characteristic or ability of your band member do you wish you have?
Paul: Jake doesn’t say anything negative about anything or anyone – I think that’s a very commendable trait.
Jake: Paul’s great about building a squad. He’s really good at that.
Shout out to our friends at Live Nation for making this possible. If you’re keen, check out our concert review here.
