Saddest Landscape

Give us a little history on the band for those out there that don’t know you.
well to give a brief summary we formed about 4 years ago, when si and myself met and decided to form a band based on our love of punk rock / emo music. si had a friend who played bass, who also knew a drummer. and that was it we were on our way. we started playing shows, recording some records, doing a couple tours of the states went to europe, another record.lots of time with the band doing nothing, then another record and here we are.
Where are you from?
im from jamaica plain, ma (essentialy boston), but the band is scattered about, other memembers live in new york, new jersey. so if you are familiar with u.s geography that is quite a distance to get together which is a big reason why we arent all that active for months at a time.

Are Saddest Landscape just playing music, or do you have a message/goal?
a little of both, we primarily play music but i like to think even though we aren’t overtly political some of our ideas get across through the choices we make as a band being it playing in diy circles, all ages shows, affordable records. trying to create a dialogue with the people who come see us etc. i dont really think any of it will change the world in a broad sense but hopefully it will inspire people to change themselves the same way punk rock did for me.

Tell me something about the music scene where you live. Any bands you’d like to recommend?
hmmm not too many here locally, our drummer is also in a band called championship who are pretty cool, they are an instrumental band creating a kind of indie rock noise. i am also in a band called her breath on glass, which is similar to the saddest landscape though a little more epic and its only a 2 piece.
Any upcoming tours, are you planning to come to europe and tour?
well i would love to come to europe again, we talk about it but there is no official plan as of yet.

What is emo to you?
emo to me is just creating emotional expressions (be it music, film,art, writing) from the heart as opposed to rationalizing it and thinking it all through (which isnt to say there is no thought just more that it comes out in a more instictual level) and just letting creating because you have to in the most sincere and honest way you can.
What music did you grow up on?
well initially it was a lot of 80’s hair metal then when i started skateboarding i found bands like sonic youth and dinosaur jr who i really got into, which led me to fugazi and operation ivy, and from seeing bands like that i found out about bikini kill and the whole riot grrl scene which i was really into then after that it was a lot of the mid 90s emo bands like frail, indian summer, anasarca etc. i was also really into lifetime, avail. so i guess i grew up on a lot of bands like that.

You are in another band as well, what can you tell us about Her Breath On Glass?
her breath on glass is a band i started basically because with these long periods of inactivity with the saddest landscape i was getting a build up of songs so i wanted to find another way to get them out. this isnt to say her breath on glass is the same as TSL but it is similar in a number of ways. but we have been together for about a year and have put out a split, and have an lp that just came out on react with protest / ramen factory / and nimbus module. and we have plans to come
to europe later this year as well as do a another and there are a couple comps coming out as well.

What are Saddest Landscape’s plans for 2006?
just hopefully to be more active than 2005! i would like to do another lp, but who knows what will happen, im also looking into compiling a dvd but im still looking for footage so if you have any please send it in!!

Thanks for the interview, any final words?
thanks mattias for asking me to do this interview and if anyone would like to contact me you can do so at: thelastandy@hotmail.comthanks!

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