LOVESUCKER
Charlotte, North Carolina, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2014
Music
Press
2015-04-03-1428019850-3817016-LOVESUCKER1.jpeg
The taste of authenticity is slowly being sullied with over-produced and super-saturated flavors. The technological era has opened a portal through the computers and laptops of the average citizen to create sounds that could once only be produced in studios. While creating more opportunities for people to produce amazing music, it has become harder to sift through the good and the bad. However, when truly authentic music is created, it does not go unnoticed. Hailing from Charlotte, North Carolina, gypsy-soul duo Lovesucker is invigorating the music world with their emotive musicianship and strong female vocals.
With Zoltan Von Bury on guitar, bass, drums, and organ, he draws his inspiration from the classic rock of the 1970s. "I write music with an Indie sensibility, embracing early 70's true funk tones and nuances...Nothing more than that. So the descriptions 'Indie Funk and Gypsy Soul' actually have a true meaning or a power source, if you will. That is who we are and what we do. Simple as that. There are no examples for those terms because there is no one out there doing this sound, this is our sound," he stated.
Songbird Crystal Crosby draws her inspiration from the more subversive side of music. Etta James, Grace Slick, and Tori Amos are three of the most prominent muses that drive her. She says, "While many were painting the picket fences, these pioneers were torching the grounds with their guttural truths of the ache of love, revenge and survival." Apparent in her powerful voice and lyrics, her style is referred to as gypsy-soul, which she describes as "a state of mind - freedom, movement, fire and heart, even if it's fragmented... to move through a song and sound with fluidity and transparency, embracing those things that we speak of - love, spark and hope, dazzled with trickery and fury."
Together, they create a world full of evocative sounds incomparable to any other style. They choose to be challenging versus comfortable, always pushing boundaries instead of remaining caged by the confines of societal norms. Their lead single "Mississippi" spins a yarn that is both thought provoking and poignant. It tells the tale of a dead slave who returns to eternally haunt and torment the life of his former master. The rich culture of the American South weaves its way into their music, creating modern and timeless tracks.
Crystal Crosby and Zoltan Von Bury's musical chemistry translates nicely on their self-titled album Lovesucker. Still very new, Lovesucker has a lot of evolving to do. Just like all the greatest musicians of our time, they are slowly honing in on their gypsy-soul sound, discovering balance between each other's differing musical styles. Fueled by Von Bury's infectious riffs and head-bobbing beats, the instrumentation on Lovesucker is what moves my auditory cortex the most. His skill for arrangement facilitates the story of their sound. His ear for music that goes straight for the solar plexus is impeccable. Sung and played straight from the heart, their music is unique yet accessible, playing to the pathos of the human psyche. Lovesucker is at the beginning of their grand tale, and at the rate they are going, it is a story that will never be forgotten. - The Huffington Post
Discography
Still working on that hot first release.
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
The Harlot's Jubilee
The New EP from LOVESUCKERIt’s never been easier to make a record. In fact, with the number of technological advancements available, you can even produce a song on your computer or your tablet without actually playing any instruments.
Which means that it’s never been more difficult to unearth an authentic sound.
LOVESUCKER has beaten the trend. With their new EP, “The Harlot’s Jubilee,” the duo of Crystal Crosby and Zoltan Von Bury have created five cuts, each distinctive in their own way. And taken as a whole, the EP – due out in January 2016 – gives its listeners nothing but raw, organic honesty, while driving home its signature blues funk and Southern Gothic that have brought the band a growing number of loyal fans.
Their path to “The Harlot’s Jubilee” started in Athens, Georgia, more than a year ago. And their creative journey brought them spiritually to Memphis.
LOVESUCKER was playing a gig in Athens just as it usually did – Crosby on vocals and Von Bury on guitar. They had a kick drum on stage, mostly as a prop, and the band was backed by pre-recorded tracks.
But the backing tracks failed during the second song and LOVESUCKER played the rest of the set with bare bones.
"We've always worked out the initial ideas to all of our songs with just the kick drum and guitar, laying down the basic, no-frills parts of the song, so we just reverted back to the basics and saved our show,” Von Bury said. “It also changed the way we would continue to perform from that day to this.”
The audience that night responded more than favorably. "This is what the people were resonating with,” Crosby said. “Everything we thought was enhancing our sound was actually distracting the listener. We simplified our approach, and the result was ‘all killer, no filler.’”
When it came time to record, the band wondered what would happen if it laid down tracks in a stripped-down, old-school way, like the classic recordings at Sun Studio in Memphis in the 1950s – Elvis, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis. They were looking for a sound essential to LOVESUCKER’s roots – timeless rhythms and delivery with a modern pulse.
The band kept hearing that the live show sounded nothing like their previously recorded EP. That meant it was time to bring the live show sound and feel to the studio.
The band enlisted veteran producer Jamie Hoover, who had worked in a number of capacities with Don Dixon, Antiseen, The Smithereens, Graham Parker, Hootie and the Blowfish and countless other acts.
"We have always known Jamie was a master in the studio and has produced and engineered hundreds and hundreds of recordings,” Von Bury said. “We knew he would get this idea."
Hoover suggested Old House Studios in Charlotte, known for the best sounding "big" room and a vast array of high-end microphones and vintage gear.
With Old House owner and engineer Chris Garges, Hoover was able to dial the room in just right. “Jamie told us to record in the same room, just a few feet from each other, just like on stage,” Crosby said. “And no headphones, just like on stage.”
And Hoover gave them no luxuries, limiting them to only one take per song, which produced the same honesty on each track that the band brings to the live stage.
It takes a great deal of courage to record this way, to trust that the sound you brought to the studio is just as honest and powerful as the sound you deliver each night to the stage in front of live audiences.
“By recording this EP in this way, we have managed to keep it free of any alternative trappings or sign of the times nuances, creating something a bit more timeless that will hold up in years to come,” Crosby said.
Kris Kristofferson once wrote, “Ain’t nothin’ sweeter than naked emotion.” In that regard, LOVESUCKER’S “The Harlot’s Jubilee” delivers as much as you can handle.
Band Members
Links
