I had the honor of chatting with American pop rock duo, LANY, composed of Paul Klein and Jake Goss, on Tuesday at 106.1 KISS FM’s Jingle Ball at Dickie’s Arena. Known for their vibrant personalities and authentically relatable and heartful lyrics, these two were so fun to connect with and gain some insight into their fall European tour, advice for their younger selves and a few fun holiday traditions.
MT: It’s so good to have you guys back in the states! How was Europe?
PK: It was great. So awesome. It was a beautiful 14 shows. It was our first time back in like, four years, so it was so good to just get back and think, “Is anyone coming to this?”. It was all sold out, which was great… We’re excited to go back and build upon it.
MT: Voyage Magazine is an arts, music, and culture publication in 22 cities across the U.S, and we focus on telling the stories of creatives, entrepreneurs and small businesses. I’d love to know what advice you have for the up-and-coming musicians we have in our audience.
PK: At the beginning, say yes to everything. Then eventually learn what to say no to. We took every opportunity that came our way, and it paid off. There’s so much that we learned (in that season).
JG: Just absorb and learn from everyone, but find your own voice. We just want you.
MT: I’m 24 years old and still fairly new to the music industry. What would you tell your 24 year old self if you could go back in time?
PK: Don’t give up. You know, that’s an age where people maybe actually start giving up, especially being a couple years out of college. Maybe things didn’t go the way that you had planned, or things didn’t shake out the way that you envisioned, and that is actually a period where people get really discouraged and pivot to something they think is more “practical” or more “achievable”. Stick with it if you can, and make the sacrifices necessary. I think if you really love something, you will find a way to do exactly that.
JG: Pick really good mentors, pick good heroes, and listen. If there are people that are doing what you do and they love it, just look to them and see how they’re doing it.
MT: Do you have any family traditions for the holidays that you’re looking forward to this year?
PK: We always go to our family friend’s house on Christmas night. I always look forward to that because I grew up with this certain family. I’ve done this with them since I was, like, I guess, zero years old, and I think they were there when I was born. So it’s cool, like I still see them every Christmas night. We always play this board game called Sequence.
JG: It’s fun because my wife and I have a two and a half year old daughter, so we’re trying to figure out traditions that we always want to have. So far, right when we got back from Europe, we got a Christmas tree right away. And last night, we carved out Christmas cookies. That’s what we’ve done so far and it’s so exciting to keep traditions going.
Tickets are on sale now for the A Beautiful Blur World Tour and you can follow LANY on Instagram here.
