we spoke to Jeffery Arno ld aka J Laveau the lead singer and guitarists of Two Inch Voices about band life and all things music, check out who he said below!
Gary: "Dubbz" Ferguson - Bass/Vocals
sean McCord- Drums
Jeffery Arnold AKA J Laveau- Guitar/ Vocals
AR: So we know that Two inch Voices have been around for quite a while, how did you guys meet?
JL: Gary and I met in 99’, from an ad me and the drummer of the band I was singing for put up; in a music store. He called us, came over, jammed and we’ve been friends and band mates ever since. Sean is a different story. Dubbz and I have known Sean a long time and always wanted to jam with him. Sean plays drums for the Punk Metal band ‘Doc Ruckus’ from Venice.
Two Inch Voices actually formed in 2007, when the metal band Dubbz and I were in called ‘RELEASED’ broke-up. I moved around for a while, then back down to Florida. The whole time I was learning how to play guitar, dove into song writing and producing. When I could, I’d visit jam with some of the members of ‘RELEASED’. We’re all still really good friends. Once I moved back to Florida, in 2016 the drummer and bassist of RELEASED joined ‘Two Inch Voices’ full-time, we made a record and things we’re great. A few months later the drummer left the band, he had real life things to handle. But we’re still great friends and jam from time to time. Shortly after we picked up another drummer, 2 weeks before going into the studio and a national show our drummer quits on us. So we’d asked Sean if he would help us out; in a most EPIC way, and he did, he saved us and has been with us ever since.
AR: So you say you played around with song writing? whats your favourite song you've written?
JL: My favorite song I’ve written or sung? Honestly I love them all. They’re like my children. Haha.. I guess the best soul song, to sing and play is “Downstroke”; the first single from our New ‘Absolution’ Ep. I love the lyrics, the chorus every time gives me goose pimples; and when people sing it together, it’s absolutely earth shaking. I love it! And the chorus riff is this beautiful Blues strum, I picked up from the greats. But for really coming out like a lion or dragon or whatever your enchanted creature might be, it has got to be ‘Foot of the Hill’; also from the ‘Absolution’ Ep. The song is a monster! It’s really fast, punk rock with hints of hardcore; it has some nasty great changes. And that BREAKDOWN!!!! Oh man! I think we all fell in love with the song, when that happened and it happened naturally. That’s how you know it’s right. But yeah, these are my two right now. That’s not mentioning the other songs we have on the burner and finished, yet unreleased.
AR: So you said you play in quite a few genres including soul and punk rock, what led to this? who are your inspirations?
JL: Who are my inspirations? For me musically, I’m all over the place, it’s really a mood thing. I can go from Classical to Noise in an instant. Haha.. But I’m really inspired by artists like Leonard Cohen, Dax Riggs, Quicksand, Sunny Day Real Estate, lately I’ve been really into Propaghandi
and Broadcast, throw in The Knife here and there. These are next level bands for me. There are so many more, but I guess to narrow it down. And I guess to answer why, is because they’re song writing, lyrical and musical minds are out of this world. They’ve made some really great records and grown as artists and their messages are more about the world and that’s what makes the most sense to me. Life is inspiration.
AR: So your music sounds absolutely crazy so your concerts have to be too right ? Whats your favourite concert you've played ?
JL: The best concert we’ve played so far is when we were direct support for Lit, Puddle of Mudd and Saliva. This was our first show ever, in St Pete, there were three thousand people there and it was awesome! To come out like we did and be as well received as we were, it’s righteous. We threw down that night! Man what a feeling.
AR:Leading on from that, you must have a favourite song to play live right?
JL: Foot of the Hill is by far my favorite song to play live! Everything about it is great to me!
AR: Hmm so the shows are crazy, the songs are crazy, the band must be a little bit crazy too right? hahaha so whats the best memory you have as a band?
JL: Funniest band moment so far.. Hahaha! Oh man, here you go! We got asked to play an out of town show, obviously we go. We were told that backline was going to be provided, we get to the venue, it’s empty. The other band calls us and asks us to go to their house, pick up the gear and bring it to the venue. We say cool man, let’s make it happen. We scoop the gear, bring it to the venue, and the kick drum doesn’t have a leg, no drum hardware, guitar cab is broken (that gets sent back, another gets sent). There’ one mic with a 6ft cable. All we could do was laugh and do what we were there for. We all thought it was a joke! I mean holy crow! Haha.. But a drum kit was brought and things went well, but it was funny and awkward for about an hour or two.
AR: So, this is a bit of a random question but, if you had the chance to play with any band or artist who would it be?
JL: Oh man! I can’t begin to tell you! There are so many great musicians, I would love to work with. Let’s just start with the Legend Dave Grohl- Nirvana/Foo Fighters, he could play guitar and I’d play drums or whatever. But to jam with him would be fun, he seems like a fun guy. I’d also like to work with Trent Reznor-NIN, Chino- Deftones to name a couple but there are so many
more. It would be great to hear Mazzy Star’s Hope Sandoval sing with us. I can go on and on. Maybe even work with Mike Patton-FNM/Mr Bungle and Mark Morton- Lamb of God.
AR: I always ask this question to artists and bands I talk to because some of the answers are very amusing, so how did you get into music?
JL: You know I love this question. Music I feel has always been with me. I used to duct tape kool-aid cans together, place pots and pans around me then play percussion on them. Once I got into digital gear, drum machines, samplers, computers and such that was it; music and I were one. I learned about music in my room with drum machine and a love for sound.
AR: So the last question is for the fans, what one statement would you give them to inspire and motivate them?
JL: I guess my statement would be, if you love something; no matter what. Do it, Fucking do it! Do it with everything you have. If you do it all the way and you’ve exhausted everything, think differently. But do it, whatever it is. Love what you do, and love yourself enough to give yourself a chance.
check out Two Inch Voices here >
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spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3GNpw4hfo5p1mcaKulsa3w?si=BeAaU5G6RL-0OIIuQqwCEw
