Lost in Los Angeles just released your new favorite song

If the band name Lost in Los Angeles doesn’t immediately speak to a lot of you West Coasters, then trust me their music will. We interviewed the band and discussed their latest single, playing SXSW, and why writing from personal emotion can be invigorating for their fans!

Enter Danny Klein, a vocalist with a gritty voice that is dynamic enough to soften up at just the right moments; then there’s Eddie Deering adding an array of ethereal guitar riffs with Clark Souter rounding out the punchy bass and beats, and you have the guys of Lost in Los Angeles: the band behind my latest favorite song.

Immediately, the title of Lost in Los Angeles’ latest single, “Cloud City” invokes imaginative imagery, and the song itself follows suit. At the first note, this atmospherically-inspired pseudo power ballad grabs your attention and transports you to…what I can only explain is the aforementioned Cloud City. New favorite song right now? Yes, please!

We talked with the guys of LiLA, who have been known to pour all of their emotion into their songs and lyrics and are doing big things this year! Read below to see exactly what it’s like to wear your heart on your sleeve for the world to hear.

TheIndieSD.com: Your music really seems to tell a story. From where do you pull the inspiration for these stories? Are any of these songs and stories based on life experiences from members of the band?

Danny Klein: Yeah – whether it’s lyrically or instrumentally we are all telling a story, pulling from past experiences, future inspirations… things happening in the moment. I write the lyrics and vocal melodies, so while there’s a lot of literal references to love, lost love, hope and future, I definitely leave a lot of things open to interpretation. It’s great when the listener is able to dive into a song and connect through their own experiences too.

TISD: Your music has been described as wearing your “heart on your sleeve”, and it’s always brave when an artist is willing to dive into something personal with their craft. Do you find it easy or difficult to expose those kinds of distinctive elements when it comes to your music?

Clark Souter: I guess it comes down to all of us being such close friends – there’s a ton of trust among us. So when we are writing and performing there’s nothing to hide. It’s just how we are, you know?

TISD: Have you ever had a moment where you regretted writing a song about an experience or adding a personal experience to something?

Danny: Not yet haha! I don’t anticipate it. If it was worth putting to music, it’s worth the world hearing.

TISD: The imagery in your single “Cloud City” is beautiful and very unique! What inspired this track? Could you explain the track to someone who is listening for the first time?

Eddie Deering: We all contribute to the writing process. Sometimes a song will come from Danny’s piano or synth ideas, Clark’s bass ideas, or something I’ll put together through guitar or synth, etc. Sometimes it’s a spontaneous explosion of all us in the room at the same time. For Cloud City, I had a vision to produce a full track of guitars, beats and synth. It came out really naturally – just kind of a temperature gauge of where I was at, at the time. I was taking off for Asia for a few weeks and left the unfinished track with the guys. Danny wrote the lyrics and vocal melody while Clark wrote a bass line. The two of them then co-produced the rest of the track to round it out and when I returned to the States we came together to polish it off.

TISD: Can we expect a visual counterpart to “Cloud City” soon?

Danny: Most definitely! We just wrapped shooting the video for “Cloud City” with Director Steven Lippman, who directed our last video for “Because of You”. “Cloud City” will feature model Rosie O’Laskey in an epic tale that we can’t wait to share with our fans.

TISD: Your upcoming summer release, Love is Fate, sounds like it will be a fascinating concept project. Tell me more about the ideas and concepts behind it.

Danny: Yeah it’s going to be a really cool roll-out. We collaborated with LA/NY artist Garrett Wasserman (aka, PEOPLE) to put together a visual story that will be told, spanning from the “Cloud City (Single & B-Sides)” release that we just put out, to another advance single this Spring, all culminating in the full album. The story will come together through the release of the covers. The “Love is Fate” concept ties into those visuals and of course the tracks on the record. In life we like to think, or at least hope, that love is inevitable. That we will all find it. We want it to be our fate, our destiny. And the twist is that we are flipping the switch on the negative connotation of the word fate, and allowing the possibility that through the twists and turns of love, it will be beautiful in the end.

TISD: LiLA has been on a few exciting tour stops recently! How was your experience at SXSW this year?

Danny: SXSW was such an incredible experience. So much camaraderie among all of the artists we shared stages with. And to have so many music fans all in one place… you could really feel the energy. We definitely look forward to going back to Austin next year! Wouldn’t it be cool if every city was like that 24/7/365?

I have to agree, that would be pretty cool. Check out Lost In Los Angeles online at their official site and Facebook page, and make sure to listen to the Illuminati B-Side of “Cloud City”.