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240 W. Clayton St. • Downtown Athens
706 543 4348 or 706 54 MUSIC
www .chickmusic.net
* azer/Wulf is my life. I was lost for a
\ year and a half."
■Ldk That's Bryan Aiken referring to
his band Lazer/Wulf and the group's unfortu
nate hiatus since mid-2009. Formed in Athens
in 2006, L/W's music is a blinding fusion of
thrash, jazz, indie rock and funk, delivered at
blistering speeds and mind-numbing volume.
The band quickly became a local favorite,
winning the Flagpole Athens Music Award for
"Band of the Year" a mere two years after its
formation.
But then things took a downward turn. In
the summer of 2009, L/W's Previous drummer
abruptly quit, bringing the band's promising
momentum to a screeching halt. Weeks turned
into months as remaining members Bryan
Aiken (guitar, percussion, vocals) and Sean
Peiffer (bass) scoured the Internet for a drum
mer who not only could keep up with Lazer/
Wulfs insane tempo and mid-measure style
change-ups but who also had a like-minded
musical vision.
The band auditioned a number of drummers
over the course of the year.
"The drummers we tried out were very
niche drummers," says Aiken. "We would have
a very stern jazz drummer or a stern thrash
or stern indie-rock drummer. We couldn't find
anybody who was comfortable doing all of
those things or who was open to that."
This was not the first time Lazer/Wulf had
been dealt a potential death blow. The band
has gone through five differert incarnations
since its inception—a vocalist qot sick, a
drummer quit, members moved away or left for
school—and each time the band was forced to
reinvent itself.
"When we took a hit in a way that would
kill most bands, we tried to assimilate to
that change and turn it into a strength," says
Aiken. So rather than throwing in the towel,
Aiken and Peiffer kept up their search for a
drummer. Then, in August 2010, they found
Brad Rice. A student at the Atlanta Institute
of Music, Rice was a metal drummer studying
jazz. He wanted to join a band in Georgia and
responded to an ad that Aiken had placed on
an online music forum.
"I listened to the two tracks they had on
their website; as soon as I heard 20 seconds
of the first song, I realized this was exactly
what I wanted to do," says Rice. "I immedi
ately got in touch with Bryan, and they had
me come in for a couple auditions. I guess I
worked cut OK for them.'
For Aiken and Peiffer, it was love at first
drumbeat Peiffer recalls, 'Brad's style was
that of a hard-rock drummer, but he was
studying jazz, so he had those elements,
too. It was exactly what we were looking for:
someone who was a heavy hitter but also had
some chops.'
"Yeah, it was kind of exactly perfect,"
laughs Aiken.
With a new drummer in tow, the trio began
getting Rice up to speed. They planned on
taking it slow; they wanted Rice to have
plenty of time to get comfortable with the
band's back catalog. But then something
happened.
"Sean and I went to see Cinemechanica
and Manray at Caledonia in September," says
Aiken. "Jhese bands were so good; it lit a fire
under our asses. We called Rice that night and
told him, 'It's time to do this.'"
Since then, the group has been practicing
three times per week to get themselves ready
for their comeback show. Initially, Rice just
spent his time learning the drum parts for
older L/W songs, but as the trio began work
ing on a new song, it became more of a two-
way street.
"It was a lot different than drummers we've
had before. In the past, it was more like Bryan
would say, T have this riff; I was thinking
you do this,'" notes Peiffer. "But as we were
working on a new song for this Caledonia
show, Brad was coming up with stuff and we
were shifting what we were doing around his
ideas—sort of adapting to him. Songwriting
became much more of a collaborative effort."
Lazer/Wulf even did a short out-of-state
tour with Manray to make sure Rice was ready
for the Athens return show. "He killed it," says
Aiken. "We're finally at a place where I can
truly say Lazer/Wulf is ready to play a show."
Caledonia was the obvious location for
the band's return to Athens. Essentially the
birthplace of the band, Caledonia has been a
catalyst for L/W's continuous stylistic evolu
tion. "Caledonia has been so great towards
us," says Aiken. "They've put us on shows with
bands across the genre spectrum... We con
sider Caledonia our home."
L/W also thought carefully about whom
they wanted to perform with. "Savagist is a
crazy metal band, and Manray is a crazy indie
band," says Aiken. "We're going to play in the
middle, and I feel like that's sort of a para
digm of Lazer/Wulfs whole existence—that
we're caught between those two genres."
Tm just stoked to be playing again," says
Peiffer. And for the many Athens fans Lazer/
Wulf left behind in 2009, it's not a moment
too soon.
John Granofsky
18 aAGPOLE.COM • DECEMBER 1.2010