What brought the band together?
Brian and Greg had been playing music together for a couple years when they asked Jr to join them. That was 7 years ago now and, through a whole bunch of different band and lineup changes, we've stuck together.
Where does your name, The Lipstick Junkies, come from?
We had reached a point where we needed a new name, so we spent a lot of time trying to find something we didn't hate. Eventually, we heard this name in a Red Hot Chili Peppers song and decided to stick with it. A wise man once told us it didn't matter what our band name was, "as long as it isn't The Small Dick Men", the point being that it's the music that defines a name, not the other way around.
Which artists or bands are you influenced by?
Obviously, the Red Hot Chili Peppers are important to all of us, but from there we try to listen to as much music as possible. The fundamentals of music don't really change from genre to genre, so we really try to study anything we enjoy, whether it's Chic, The Dave Matthews Band, Disclosure, Rancid, Luther Vandross or anything else.
Who are you listening to now?
Outside of our throwback playlists we've been checking out some of the new albums that came out in the last year or so. Some Tame Impala, Mother Mother, Alabama Shakes, Erykah Badu; we have some knowledgeable friends who try to keep us in the loop.
What was the inspiration for the video and single, "Boogie Everywhere"?
The song really came from the bass line in the chorus, we just focused on taking it where it wanted to go. It's funky, catchy, borderline obnoxious even, so we balanced it out with simple, driving verses and a more complex bridge. We made the video fun and lighthearted because, for us, that is what the song is really about.
How does your forthcoming EP compare to your earlier release?
At the end of the day it's really a continuation of our previous work. We are always improving every aspect of ourselves and our music, so we're evolving, but we're still coming from the same place.
What words would you use to describe your sound?
Our main focus is to let the music go where it wants to. We try to make the best songs we can, so we never really sat down and decided we wanted to sound a specific way. We always say funk/rock because it's the short answer, but we're really eclectic and it shows. There's some pop, R&B, soul and punk in there too. We've heard indie-funk before, which might connote our sound more eloquently.
What do you hope listeners are able to take away from your music?
We want our music to make people feel good. Sometimes that means we want you to dance, sometimes that means we want you to think or chill out. Listening to music makes us feel good, and it means enough to us that we just want to be able to give that feeling back to people.
