LA-based dream-pop trio LANY—Paul Klein, Jake Goss and Les Priest—spotlights the way people find their favorite new music today. When the band posted its first songs online about three years ago, it quickly garnered attention from fans and labels, forcing LANY back to the studio immediately.
“Initially it was overwhelming and exciting. We had all worked on music on our own, but for me nothing was happening, I couldn’t get a single person to listen,” says Klein, the lead vocalist who also plays guitar and keyboard. “Then we get together and put our songs on the Internet, and less than a week later we’re getting emails from record labels. We realized we needed to make more songs.”
LANY followed that initial breakthrough with the Acronyms EP, featuring hit “ILYSB,” toured steadily and then released the full-length LANY this year. Single “Super Far,” co-written with Ryan Tedder, is currently climbing the charts.
“Ryan is actually from my hometown [in Oklahoma], so I grew up knowing he was in OneRepublic and always thought he was really cool,” Klein says. “We met in 2015, and he came to our show in New York and expressed interest right away in working with us. He’s such a master of melody.”
The ’80s vibes are strong on the synth-heavy “Super Far.” “People say that a lot about our songs, and I’m not sure where it comes from,” he says. “We don’t have a billion keyboards to pick from, just a few synthizers we use, so maybe those are the sounds we gravitate to. We’re really big on instinct.”
Each member of the group has different influences, but when LANY comes together, it’s not about creating something catchier or poppier than the last song or trying to fit a certain style of sound. “Every single song plays an important role in who we are as a band. We know there are some fan favorites, but we also understand the importance of writing really good songs, even if they’re not obvious favorites,” Klein says. LANY at Vinyl at the Hard Rock Hotel, November 1.
