Interview: Lettuce

The realization of the corona virus’s onset made for a harsh collective dissonance within societies abruptly halted by the virus itself. Months in and we continuously face the unknown.

A powerful remedy comes just at the right time from grammy-nominated, six-piece funk element Lettuce. Their latest work Resonate emits a unique togetherness as it takes us through diverse layers of the band’s influences. Expect it to get loose, dreamy, but all-business in an exhibition of colorful music culture and beyond. We go places in Resonate from that signature Lettuce grit to energizing re-funks of the classics, live-recorded jams, and electro-organic dance tunes to soothing, psychedelic soundscapes.

Lettuce’s Resonate reveals the organism nurtured by their musical chemistry of nearly three decades. As we grieve the loss of normality, we can take notes from Lettuce on keeping it relaxed, yet tight in the collective pocket – and to anticipate this ride’s a series of intricate, diverse and unexpected movements.

The band themselves didn’t blink in the face of the pandemic, as they gracefully pivoted around corona’s grip on their Elevate Europe 2020 Tour. Despite show cancellations, they remained flexible in their transition home where they’ve been recording, jamming, and even offering one-on-one music lessons remotely via the Lettuce Teach platform.

Read some of the thought-provoking insights from the guys themselves on their first EU tour, the new record, life learnings, and more below. Give Resonate a listen while you read through our Q&A with them.

You recently came off a campaign of spreading The Funk in Europe. How did it feel to bring the Lettuce vibe overseas on your first EU tour?

It was a dream come true to have the opportunity to play our music for so many appreciative people in all these different countries. Some of the fans had been waiting over a decade to see us so the energy was high and the vibe was awesome! It made us a better band playing these intimate rooms with tight small stages. We really developed a lot of new material that we can continue to add to our shows. We got deep and it was truly a humbling and spiritual experience.

– Ryan Zoidis

You guys did a series of tour mini-documentaries as you went city to city. What were some of your highlights of road tripping through Europe?

Man there were so many highlights it’s hard to choose. It was just one big highlight reel. My 9 year old daughter Ila met us in London and sat in on percussion at the show. That was huge! I loved taking the train from Paris to Bordeaux solo, spending the day there and we all met up at night to go to a jam session and we all sat in and played "Can’t Hide Love" by Earth Wind and Fire. It was one of our few nights off and it was a classic Lettuce takeover. I got to play a Contra Bass saxophone in Vienna, that was cool. It was such an honor to have such a talented videographer, Jay Sansone, with us on such a monumental trip. He was able to capture so many intimate moments because he’s toured with us before, and we are close friends and it’s easy to be ourselves when he’s in our face with the camera.

– Ryan Zoidis

In one of the mini-documentaries, Shmeeans mentioned that you build concepts and ideas while on tour. Any concepts you guys built that you’d like to share from the Lettuce Elevate EU tour?

I really meant as far as concepts more having to do with our live show. Meaning the transitions that we played with songs, having certain intros. Some of the things that stood out in my mind from the European tour was the transition of “Apache” in to “Krewe”, having long percussion breaks with everyone playing percussion and “Madison Square” into “Thank You for Talking to Me Africa”.

- Adam "Shmeeans" Smirnoff

Resonate is the highly-anticipated Lettuce creation. Walk me through some highlights on the album creation and what people can expect from it.

People should know that 90% of this record was created at the same time as "Elevate". We were really in a super creative place when making this record. Right off the bat, you will hear straight FUNK. That’s what you should expect. We will travel through space and time together by the end.

- Shmeeans

The set list and stage presence of Lettuce is powerful and versatile. How do you guys design a set list and does it ever change spontaneously?

It changes all the time. Rarely a night we write a set list and are able to get through the whole thing. We usually have to cut 1 or 2. The responsibility of writing the set list changes from night to night.

- Shmeeans

As touring musicians who relate to people with their music, what have you learned that more people should know about?

I've learned that people really want the FUNK! They crave the sound of a real band that lives and breathes together. When you hear a Lettuce record, it's 6 guys in a room playing together and totally locked in. This sort of old-school way of recording is rare nowadays, with all the production tricks and tech available these days.

– Adam Deitch

Please take the time to listen to each other. Communication is quite difficult, even if you speak the same language. I think being fluent, adaptable and willing to change upon the receipt of new information is crucial and helps us all grow. Ok, so like if you’re in a conversation, right? And you have something you really want to say (usually because you’ve put thought and effort into creating an idea) and the person you’re speaking with says something that enlightens you … it’s okay to rethink what you were going to say.

Ego and the illusion of separateness, as stated by many mystics, are the reasons we get off-course and the sources of personal confusion and painful emotions. On the contrary, the realization of our unity creates all the strength we will ever need to accomplish greatness and create lasting Joy on this planet.

- Erick "Jesus" Coomes

Has your respective instrument ever lent you some precious life wisdom? If so, what did you learn through your instrument?

Yes, of course, the bass is a masterful teacher of respect and humility. Each instrument gives you perspective on the others. Much like life, it’s very difficult to overstand each other’s plight on the planet until stepping into another’s shoes. So picking up the bass and doing the work to create a nice platform of groove and pocket showed me a lot about what is nice to hear from a guitar player. (AKA not just soloing all the time)

- Jesus

With this lockdown, what are you doing and what do you plan to do during this time of mandated isolation?

Record, record, record. We are basically taking this time to write new songs, record with each other and others (via email) and to teach a lot of music and life lessons. Also we are recognizing what is truly important to each of us in this life and minimizing the things that aren’t bringing joy, peace, unity and happiness to ourselves and others.

- Jesus

Stream Lettuce's Resonate on all major platforms here.