The Love Language

A conversation with Stuart McLamb

(August 2009)

Interview by Adam McKibbin

Let's be honest: we like our artists to suffer for their art. The Love Language's Stu McLamb has paid those dues; his vibrant self-titled debut stems from a low point that involved abandonment (by band, by girlfriend), a solid booze bender, and brief incarceration. McLamb dusted himself off and all but single-handedly made a no-frills record anchored by the jubilant lo-fi indie-pop single "Lalita."

In this interview with The Red Alert, McLamb talks about putting together the impromptu Love Language band that's turned into a trusted group of collaborators, the difference between "lo-fi" and "hi-fi with shitty equipment," and what it's like to continually revisit songs directly inspired by a dark period he'd probably rather leave behind.

I’m doing two interviews this week and they’re both with Bladen County bands:  you and Autopilot is for Lovers.  The label is a fairly recent discovery for me.  I know they started off as being fairly Portland-centric; can you talk about how The Love Language found their way to them (or vice versa)? 

Last summer I was living in Wilmington, NC with Jeff Chapple (guitar). Me, Jeff and my brother Jordan played a handful of shows there as a 3-piece. A local record store Gravity Records really embraced the band and gave us much of our initial momentum. I would burn CDRs and make shitty album art at kinko's and bring them roughly 10 CDs a week. They played it non-stop and would more often than not sell all of the CDs I brought them. One day a guy came in the store while they were playing the album and really dug it. He was Matt Brown's (Bladen County Records co-owner) cousin.  Soon after that me and Matt started talking and it went from there. It really came full circle when we realized Matt used to live in Raleigh, NC (where we're from) and named the record label after his home town. 

The other “band genesis” sort of question I have involves The Rosebuds.  They asked you to play a show and essentially you had to pull a live band together (which is interesting because that’s kind of the story behind their first show, too).  You obviously share Carolina roots – were you friends beforehand or did that offer kind of come out of the blue? 

I knew of Ivan and Kelly and saw them around every once and a while but we weren't that close then.  I think they initially heard the album through a mutual friend of ours.  Now we're great friends and I'm just waiting for them to take us out on the road again! 

When you were writing the songs that make up the first album, were you thinking about how they’d transition to a live show, or wasn’t it clear that The Love Language was going to become a full-fledged touring band? 

When I was writing and recording the album I wasn't thinking too far ahead.  I was just concentrating on the task at hand and that was to make the best record i could.  I have had bad experiences in the past recording with other people so that was a big motivator with making the album alone. At the same time it can be very exhausting. As the songs started to pile up I did anticipate playing live shows and I knew I'd need a rather large group to play all the arrangements. Luckily I didn't have to look very far and I couldn't be happier with this band.

Now that you do have a full band, do you see the next album being a collaborative creation, or do you think you’ll keep writing the way you’ve written? 

I had been struggling with that for a while and was being sort of a control freak. But during the past couple tours I've fully realized how great the band is as a unit and I'm excited about catching that vibe for the album.  

“Lead singles” obviously don’t mean what they used to – but “Lalita” is a pretty great one nonetheless.  From an outside perspective, it seems like picking “Lalita” as the first track to bang on listeners’ doors would be a pretty easy one.  Was it? 

Yes. definitely. While I love all the songs on the record for different reasons, if I had to pick THE song it would be "Lalita," hands down.

I thought it was funny that the Bladen County website lovingly describes the album as sounding “like ass.”  I did an interview with The Thermals recently – they’ve cleaned up their sound and have taken some heat for it, but in the interview, Hutch Harris said he always wanted higher production value, but they just didn’t have access to it in their early days.  What’s your relationship with lo-fi? 

I like to think of the album as a hi-fi album using shitty equipment. I had one condenser mic and an 8 track I got off of craigslist for $200. That being said  I think the album sounds great. The album is exactly how l wanted it to sound and I wouldn't change a single thing. As far as the next record goes, I will approach it much in the same way. I will aim to get the exact sound I'm looking for, except I'll probably have a couple more mics to choose from.

There was some painful backstory behind the album.  Now that it’s years later, does playing the songs written during that time feel like an exorcism or is there a part of it that’s like pulling the scab off? 

It really depends on my mood.  If I'm in a good mood I just sing the songs and enjoy the music and the audience and have a blast. If I'm in a bad mood I get inside the songs and try to remember that pain I felt when I wrote them.  The latter method usually lends itself to awkward shows and people in the front row wanting to give me a hug and tell me everything will be ok.

Did you also turn to outside music for solace during that time?  I’m always interested in what people wind up listening to when their life reaches its peaks and valleys.

I was into a lot of different stuff at the time. To name a few.....

Leonard Cohen - Songs of Leonard Cohen

Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, You are the Destroyer

The Kinks- Kronikles

Rod Stewart- Never a Dull Moment

Sam Cooke- Greatest Hits

The Walkmen- Bows and Arrows

Cyndi Lauper - She's So Unusual 

Os Mutantes- s/t