Sometimes you wake up a little more pissed off than usual (hey it happens). And it definitely happened to me today–split a bottle of wine last night, had some weird dreams, and now I want to punch a wall. And then a band like Rotterdam-based The Lumes comes in and all of their post-punk glory makes everything feel better.

To kick off the day, I’m sharing this track I love by these guys in addition to an interview that we’ve done. Check it out!

How did you guys meet/get together?

While we already knew each other through school, we never thought of making music together. Until this one time both Mitchell and Maxime just quitt their bands in the summer of 2014 and met each other in a bus to a show of a local band from Rotterdam. This is where The Lumes started to develop from an idea to a real band.

Your music inspiration/influences?

Probably everything we’ve heard while growing up. We think we could say that we’re Joy Division if they’d started after hearing Nevermind by Nirvana and Doolittle by the Pixies.

The meaning behind your name?

It is a made up word. We chose it so people can’t associate it with a place, object or feeling that actually exists. They can speculate of course, but we hope(d) that after hearing or seeing us, they’ll only have us as a connection to this name.

What would ‘making it’ look like to you guys?

Having everyone in the audience nodding their heads to our music.

 

Love that. The place you’d absolutely love to play at (could be anywhere, including you know, outer space)?

There are a few venues we absolutely adore. The best one is the Downstage of Vera Groningen. Its a small basement with a low ceiling and only fits 100 people, but the energy there is amazing. Another venue is ACU in Utrecht, which is also very small. It only fits 130 people, but the energy there is also great! We still would love to play in Stroomhuisje, Eindhoven.

Hardest thing about being in a band?

Waiting. Most of the time when you’re performing or touring you’ll have to wait a lot! In the car, in the venues, before soundcheck, before showtime, for the singer to get on stage, until the promotor is ready to take you to his place to sleep. Luckily we have smartphones with Netflix these days.

But, also what’s the most rewarding thing about your project?

Reactions from the audience. People that actually take their time to tell you they love what your doing. You might not know it while buying a record, but it is so rewarding when people want to spend extra money (after paying an entrance fee) to support your band.

If you weren’t making music (or if you have day jobs) what would you be/what are you?

Running a venue, being a caregiver for disabled and a booking agent. Oh, wait.. those are our day jobs.