The Luka State - Interview & Denver Concert Photos

Interview with The Luka State + Photos from Lost Lake Denver

At the beginning of Fall, I was able to catch The Luka State playing at Denver’s Lost Lake Lounge on Colfax. I really wanted to see them because of their high energy on recorded music. In person, the band did not disappoint (see photos below). It was their first time here in the States, and I was lucky to get on a Zoom call after they left Colorado with the band’s lead singer Conrad – to see how the tour was going, what they thought of America, and their future plans.

Their next full-length album, More Than This, will come out in March 2023 but we can listen to the single now.

The Luka State - Interview & Denver Concert Photos


The Luka State Interview


Aimee:
So, why don’t you just start from the beginning and just tell me a little about the history of your band?

Conrad:
Yeah, so we’re a four-piece rock and roll band. We’ve been together six years, I think, now. We released our first album last year, Fall In Fall Out. And the follow-up album is due to release next year.

Aimee:
Next year? Already?

Conrad:
Yeah. It’s built up. Me and the bassist Sam, we’re best friends, we’re blood brothers, man, and we’ve been playing music together since we were 11 years old. And I’ve known Lewis, the guitarist, since I was 11 years old as well. So, we’re a very close, tight-knit group of guys.

Aimee:
So, how did it transfer to being a band? Did you just love music, or how did that…

Conrad:
Yeah, well Sam, our bassist, was at our local youth club. Where we’re from, it’s a small town in the middle of nowhere in the northwest of England, and there was a local youth club for kids to go every Friday night. And I was starting a band, and I needed a guitarist and a bassist, so I went and knocked on his door… I had a bald head at the time, and he thought I was there to beat him up. It’s actually my cousin who put me on to him because we went to different schools, and my cousin said, “No, there’s this kid in our year who plays the guitar, and you might want to speak to him.” So I went down, not with the intention to beat him up, but to ask him to be in my band. He said no, but he gave me his house phone number, and then I continued to pester him for the next probably six weeks until he said yes. The rest is history.

Aimee:
That’s hilarious.

Conrad:
And then Lewis, our guitarist, sat behind me in our English class in school. We bonded over our love of The Clash and ’70s punk music. So when we needed a guitarist, me and Sam, we thought we’d ask Lewis, because we’ve known him for so long.

Aimee:
I guess my next question is, so-

Conrad:
Wait, I missed Jake. Jake was playing in a local band, and we needed a drummer, and he was the most awesome drummer I’d ever seen, and then that’s how the band came to form.

Aimee:
Got ya. So then, where did the name come from? I know that’s a really cheesy interview question, but I was just wondering.

Conrad:
That’s all right. So before we started this band, me and Sam were in a punk band, and we had the opportunity to go over to Toronto and play some shows. We were living with some guys who were in a Beatles tribute band, so we’d do shows and they’d do shows throughout the week. And then after every show we used to have a party back at this apartment. There was one guy who always used to come back called Luka, who had a very inspiring, positive outlook on life. Some of his conversations really stuck with us and really made us believe in ourselves, that positive mental attitude is everything and you’ve got to stick at something if you want it. So, Luka’s insight and his state of mind was what inspired the band, so when we were thinking of a name, Luka’s State is a state of mind and a positive mental attitude.

Aimee:
There you go. And are you still friends with him?

Conrad:
Yes! He came to our show in Toronto, on this tour.

Aimee:
That’s amazing. So this is your first North American tour. How’s it going?

Conrad:
First one ever, and our first time ever in the USA. It’s been amazing, absolutely hands-down, categorically fantastic. Amazing, beautiful. Mesmerizing. I could go on and on. I’m absolutely in love with this country. It’s very daunting coming to somewhere for the first time, because you don’t know what to expect. You’re stepping into the unknown, especially as a band in between albums. You’ve got nothing to really go off at the moment. We came over to see if there’s a market. Hope to come over again when the album releases and drops next year.

It’s been interesting. There’s been some shows where we really had to dig in and really give the best performance of our life, because people don’t know who you are. But then there’s some shows where people are traveling, making like nine-hour round journeys to come see our band, and people coming with gifts and –

Aimee:
Whoah. That’s incredible.

Conrad:
Yeah, it’s been beautiful. So there definitely is a market for rock and roll bands here.

Aimee:
Well, and I had actually heard your record before your PR reached out to me, so it wasn’t like he introduced you to me. So again, that was why I wanted to come to the show in Denver so much. And speaking of the Lost Lake show, it seemed like there were some soccer fans there. That’s what it appeared like to me.

Conrad:
Huh. I don’t know. I mean, with being British and us all loving… Football’s like my second love next to music, same for the rest of the boys. Soccer, should I say as you call it, is everybody’s second love next to music. So I think people come and want to talk about it, because we know a lot about it. And soccer’s becoming quite a phenomenon over here now, isn’t it? People are getting into it, so people want to pick our brains on it and ask what we like and who our favorite team is and all that kind of thing. In San Diego, there was a guy who came with a Morrissey top on and he wanted to talk all things Manchester and Manchester United. So it is-

Aimee:
I was going to say, is that your favorite team?

Conrad:
That’s my team, yeah.

Aimee:
My husband likes Topham? Does that sound right?

Conrad:
Yeah, Tottenham. Very sorry for him. [laughs]

Aimee:
Tottenham, that’s it, yeah. I don’t know. I could not tell you one from the other, honestly. So, when you were here in Denver, did you get to explore at all? Did you get to see anything?

Conrad:
No, unfortunately we didn’t. It was a real shame, really, yeah. I mean, that’s just part of a touring, it comes with touring. You don’t really see much. I’ve seen the inside of the venue and the inside of a Thai restaurant and that was it.

Aimee:
Ha. You must have gone to Tommy’s Thai, yeah.

Conrad:
It was very good. But yeah, unfortunately we didn’t see anything. But on the drive over from Denver to Las Vegas, we drove through the Colorado Rockies. Oh my goodness. I’ll never be able to describe to someone what that was like, seeing that. Absolutely spellbindingly beautiful. It was just a moment I’ll never forget. Driving through the Rockies with my best friends. I got the best seat in the house as well. [taps the steering wheel of their van] I don’t mind taking the driving with a lot of this stuff, because I can see everything.

Aimee:
So what’s the craziest, most American thing that has blown your mind, in terms of like how crazy we are? Because I mean, I love my country, but we’re also a bit nuts.

Conrad:
That’s a really good question. Portion sizes.

Aimee:
Oh my god, yeah. Yeah.

Conrad:
Another thing that blows my mind… I kind of think that, when you’re touring, you’re kind of in this little bubble. So you don’t really get to see much negatives, because you’re in this bubble of positive. You’re on the road, you get to a venue, and everybody you meet is in your bubble as well, either in the industry, or they’ve come to the show or they work at the venue or you’re tipped off to go to a nice place for food. So there are no negative sides or anything like that or anything crazy on that kind of level.

But yeah, the one thing I can say is the portions are very different from back home. Everything’s bigger. I mean, I couldn’t believe it when I ordered a can of beer, right? This can of beer was like the size of my head. I couldn’t believe it. It was like two pints and a half in one.

Aimee:
Ha, ha. A lot of times they do that so you don’t have to get back in line, so they sell you a 24 ounce beer.

Conrad:
We also went for Texas barbecue and it was enough to feed 1000 people. But when in Rome, challenge accepted. I mean, you guys have some great food over here, and it’s like something that I really wanted to tick off my list, like with New York pizza, Chicago pizza, Texas barbecue, all that kind of thing. So yeah, it’s been good. I’m eating my way through America… but…[laughs] keeping my portion sizes down.

Aimee:
Okay, tell me about the new album, like do you know when it’s coming and is it done? Did the pandemic slow it down? All this other stuff.

Conrad:
No. So the album’s all done. It’s recorded. It’s mixed, it’s mastered, it’s ready to go. We did the album with Dan Austin. He’s done some Queens of the Stone Age records. His back catalog is amazing. Producer Paul Jamie Evans. Then most recently when we finished it off, we worked with a producer called Adrian Bushby, who’s a Grammy-winning engineer. He worked on The Pretender by the Foo Fighters. Does all of Muse’s records. This guy’s a serious, serious cat. So yeah, the album’s done, it’s in the bag, it’s recorded. It’s ready to go. And then we’re hoping to be back over in the States next year. Hopefully maybe summertime.

Aimee:
I read somewhere that, because of the pandemic, you blasted your last album into space. I mean, how do you top that? What are you going to do?

Off Camera Voice:
Hey, we’ve got a plan already. You wait and see.

Conrad:
That’s my manager talking then. Apparently we’ve got a plan. I don’t know what it is yet. But there’s a plan.


The Luka State – Denver Concert Photos



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