071: Masonry Rocks!

In this episode, Jason and I sit down with Thomas Francis Lane II and Eve Bottano, of the 357s, a Masonic themed-alt-rock band from Northwest Indiana. Jason and I love the sound, which is a mixture of punk, rockabilly, goth, a little New Wave and, as Eve insists, the B-52s. The 357s challenge what a Masonic rock band could and should be: aside from Thomas, all the members of the band are female. But the sound is distinctive and haunting.

Thomas, Jason, Eve and I talked about the band's influences and how Masonry informs Thomas' musical experience. Funny story: Thomas thought we recorded the show in a proper studio, so they made the trip up from Indiana to Skokie. My home studio will barely fit 2 people, let alone 3, so we had a lot of last minute scrambling to relocate all the recording gear to the dining room! Apologies for any dogs barking. I'm glad Eve and Thomas were such good sports about it, and after several tech challenges we were able to get the recording going.

The 357s album drops on September 17th, and will be available through all the usual suspects (iTunes, Google, etc.) as well as on Spotify, Apple Music and the band's website. Both Jason and I urge you to BUY the album though as artists get paid between $0.006 and $0.008 per play, or if you are decimally challenged, it is about one-sixth of a penny. Both Jason and I are big believers in supporting Masonic artists.

The band is having a record release party on September 17th at Porter's Tap in Hammond, IN. if you are in the area, please come out and support the band, it should be a very good time. (Hanging out with Eve is worth the ticket price alone! I'm mean... sorry Thomas, but she rocks the gold spangly dress better than you ever could--but I digress) Tickets are available at Eventbrite. You can hear the band at their website, the357s.com, on Soundcloud, and check out their new video on YouTube.

Thomas tells me the goat references in the video are completely coincidental. Sure, they are, Thomas. Suuuure they are.