Backstage at Warped Tour is a circus event with bands and writers huddled in corners being interviewed singing songs and eating fries. Its an amazing energy field that is not only intoxicating but trance inducing. Wandering about barefoot and showered are your heroes just having a bottle of water and chatting with their tour managers.
Upon entering I was greeted by two gentlemen. Huge smiles on their faces they handed me their CD and introduced themselves as Lacerda. Completely unfamiliar with thier work I used this as an opportunity to discuss their Warped experience. Brad Sharkey(drummer) and Milenko Vujosevic (vox).
Mary Magpie: How'd you guys get your start?
Milenko: I started the band as a solo act, like a weird poppy sort of thing and then that I needed more energy around me, I wanted a band.
MM: What's your favorite thing about being on Warped?
Milenko: Just everything, the atmosphere is incredible.
Brad: The atmosphere. Everyone's friends, everyone's cool; it's just great. It's very different for us because we've only been on the tour two years now.
Milenko: Yeah, we were just fans but then you get a peek behind the door.
MM: How difficult is it to just step up and introduce yourselves like this?
Milenko:The way we look at things is if we're not going up and talking to people, why should they come up and talk to us?
Brad: Just where we are, we try to take advantage of it.
MM: What's the most amusing thing that's happened to you on Warped?
Milenko: Actually, The Venetia Fair, who we're sharing a stage with thought it would be really funny to take our tent and set it up on the side of a hill. And setting up a tent is a pain in the ass so they caused a lot more work. That was pretty funny looking back, but we didn't appreciate it at the time.
MM: Describe yourself/your band in three words.
Milenko: Poppy, experimental, and rockin'.
MM: What's an embarrassing/unexpected song on your iPod?
Brad: I got a lot of Katy Perry.
Milenko: Mine is "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" by Cindy Lauper. I'm a huge fan.
The CD "Epic Pop" is exactly that. The title song brings together a great mix of techno with transition to guitar rock almost a musical buffet. The interesting thing about this you can find similarities to nuances of multiple bands, but blended together. This give Lacerda an innovative and memorable sound.
I'm not surprised that they're already doing a major tour like Warped, these guys have that 'it factor' that really isn't found. "Sweating Bullets" and "Oh My Dear" are two songs that really stand out with beautifully produced sound. They're very charismatic and are in a great place using Warped as a vehicle to spread their sound. A look at their facebook proves it with numerous accolades and thank you's from the fans that they have made along the way.