Last Planet Interview
Q: Can you talk about your musical history?
A: I’ll start with the history of our band and then get into the musical history of our current members. Albero and I (Cort) met while working at Guitar Center in San Francisco in 2018. We realized we had similar tastes in music, so not surprisingly we loved jamming together. We formed Last Planet in 2019 and put out our first single in 2020. The band’s make-up has changed a few times since then. We think our sound has been refined by all the unique musical perspectives of our members, past and present.
Lyman has been our drummer since that first single. He’s been drumming and playing in bands since he was young and a lot of his musical background comes from playing in church. We are excited that Selena will be our new lead vocalist, as Rai Maia is now permanently living in Thailand. She played the saxophone growing up, switched to singing and songwriting in high school, and is just recently picking the sax back up. Albero grew up playing guitar and singing, as his dad played in bands too. I was introduced to the guitar by my second-grade teacher and started playing some bass in high school.
Q: What are some topics and themes you explore with your music?
A: Albero, Selena and I are all songwriters, so between the three of us we cover a range of themes and perspectives, sometimes within the same song. Some common themes are disillusionment with life and love and the emotional rollercoaster of relationships. Sometimes we write sexy songs because they’re so fun to write and perform.
Q: How do you approach songwriting?
A: The three of us write together and independently, so the song writing process can vary quite a bit from song to song. Albero often starts with a chord progression and vocal melody, whereas I often start with lyrics or a riff. Selena writes more similarly to Albero. We all will get inspiration random moments and rush to get something written down or recorded. Most times, one of us will bring an idea at varying stages to the others and then we will build and iterate on it until we have something we are happy with.
Q: Can you talk about your musical history?
A: I’ll start with the history of our band and then get into the musical history of our current members. Albero and I (Cort) met while working at Guitar Center in San Francisco in 2018. We realized we had similar tastes in music, so not surprisingly we loved jamming together. We formed Last Planet in 2019 and put out our first single in 2020. The band’s make-up has changed a few times since then. We think our sound has been refined by all the unique musical perspectives of our members, past and present.
Lyman has been our drummer since that first single. He’s been drumming and playing in bands since he was young and a lot of his musical background comes from playing in church. We are excited that Selena will be our new lead vocalist, as Rai Maia is now permanently living in Thailand. She played the saxophone growing up, switched to singing and songwriting in high school, and is just recently picking the sax back up. Albero grew up playing guitar and singing, as his dad played in bands too. I was introduced to the guitar by my second-grade teacher and started playing some bass in high school.
Q: What are some topics and themes you explore with your music?
A: Albero, Selena and I are all songwriters, so between the three of us we cover a range of themes and perspectives, sometimes within the same song. Some common themes are disillusionment with life and love and the emotional rollercoaster of relationships. Sometimes we write sexy songs because they’re so fun to write and perform.
Q: How do you approach songwriting?
A: The three of us write together and independently, so the song writing process can vary quite a bit from song to song. Albero often starts with a chord progression and vocal melody, whereas I often start with lyrics or a riff. Selena writes more similarly to Albero. We all will get inspiration random moments and rush to get something written down or recorded. Most times, one of us will bring an idea at varying stages to the others and then we will build and iterate on it until we have something we are happy with.
Q: Have you played this music live and if so how does it translate with an audience?
A: Yes! We love playing live! It has been so fun to prepare these songs for a live performance and feel out how they translate in that setting. We think a lot of our songs carry big energy into our live shows, and those are the main stays in our set. We extend sections when it feels right and try to get the audience involved as much as possible. We embody and feel our own music, and we think that is contagious with the audience.
Q: What else should we know about your music?
A: I feel like we’re a highly collaborative band. Every band members’ contributions are blended together into our own flavor of modern alternative rock. Bouncing ideas off each other is our best tool to grow as songwriters and musicians, and to develop a sound that is uniquely ours.
A: Yes! We love playing live! It has been so fun to prepare these songs for a live performance and feel out how they translate in that setting. We think a lot of our songs carry big energy into our live shows, and those are the main stays in our set. We extend sections when it feels right and try to get the audience involved as much as possible. We embody and feel our own music, and we think that is contagious with the audience.
Q: What else should we know about your music?
A: I feel like we’re a highly collaborative band. Every band members’ contributions are blended together into our own flavor of modern alternative rock. Bouncing ideas off each other is our best tool to grow as songwriters and musicians, and to develop a sound that is uniquely ours.