If you haven’t heard of Luther, be glad you have me around to keep your playlists up to date. Luther is made up of Phil Warner (vocals/guitar), Nick Harris (vocals/guitar), Greg Karlowitsch (bass), and Andy Clarke (drums).
The band formed in 2011, and already they’ve made some serious strides, touring with bands like Bouncing Souls and The Menzingers. They have just released their debut full-length called Let’s Get You Somewhere Else and, for your own good, you should absolutely check it out. While you’re at it, enjoy this interview with Phil Warner.
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Vinyl Mag: As a relatively new band, you’ve already accomplished quite a lot. Give me a brief history of the band so far.
Phil Warner: We formed the band in the fall of 2010. I became friends with Nick [Harris] before that time, and we were hanging out jamming one day and decided to write some songs together. We had a drummer friend that we played with for a long time, and we had a different bass player when we started who ended up leaving shorty after. Greg [Karlowitsch] was in a band called The Great Explainer, and he was friends with whole Asbury Park crew. Once we played around Jersey, Philly, New York…people knew we were a band. Greg was super stoked on us and brought that whole crew to us. We toured with The Menzingers. That was the pivotal point where we knew.
VM: You just played The Fest. How was that?
PW: The Fest, in my personal account, was great. I feel like, in terms of our set, it was incredible – a ton of fun and a great turnout. I think that all of the bands from Philly once again crushed The Fest.
We are currently in the van right now headed to Denver…we really lucked out, because we are going away from this awful hurricane that is destroying the east coast.
VM: You have kept super busy since your start – what do you do when you aren’t working on the band?
PW: As of lately, we don’t have time to do anything else. After the Smoking Popes tour, we will hit it again in the spring.
We left in the summer for 60 days with Bouncing Souls and The Menzingers, which was incredible. Then we were home for two weeks, and then we did two weeks with our great dear friends called Timeshares, and then we did Canada for two weeks with Bouncing Souls’ Dave Hause, and then The Fest and the Smoking Popes tour.
It’s really crazy. Even when we were home for two weeks between the summer tour…I was on serious stimulus withdrawal. I mean, I am looking forward to going home, hanging out, seeing my family, etc. And meanwhile saving money to get back on the road.
VM: You just came out with Let’s Get You Somewhere Else. How has the response to that been?
PW: The response has been great! We’ve been getting a lot of awesome, awesome reviews. When we were in Canada, Pete from Bouncing Souls would come to us and show us another awesome review again and again. All of our friends are excited about it, and it’s hard to impress close friends…it’s nice to have that support and [support from] other bands that you’re touring with. Everyone is just really stoked…[it] feels really good, and we as band are proud of it. It feels like we nailed writing an album, like we have good songs and a cohesive album.
VM: What was the inspiration/writing process for the album?
PW: We were writing for this record since winter. We had a pretty intense tour last fall – we went out and did kind of a US tour with Tom May from The Menzingers. He played an acoustic act with us. We got into a really bad van accident, and it was a catalyst for getting our asses in gear, as well as a source of material for songs. It helped us with what to write about.
Nick and I will usually be the first ones to meet up…either one of us will have something bring to each other, flesh out, take to Andy and Greg, and sit down as full band. Everyone has great amount of input, whether it is structural or in building melodies. It feels really good to write a song in your head and bring to a band and see it become something greater than yourself.
VM: What is next for you after this tour?
PW: I have been writing some stuff, and Nick has, too. I am most excited to be home and write, maybe do a few 7”s, and maybe do some splits with some cool bands. We want to do stuff like that before we write another full length. I’m most looking forward to being home and being able to write again to see what kind of doors are opened.
Personally, I would love to do splits with The Sidekicks…one of my favorite bands…or Cheap Girls would be awesome.
Well, obviously it's an online magazine.