Ten minutes with LANY

It's only past 4 p.m. on the first of LANY's five-night stand at the Mall of Asia Arena (its last two shows are on 15 and 16 November), but a small crowd had already gathered outside the venue — unmindful that the band won't be onstage until four hours later.

Daily Tribune had 10 minutes to talk to the American band, formed in Nashville in 2017 and now based in Los Angeles (LANY means Los Angeles-New York). Originally a trio (Les Priest left in April), the group's two members, Paul Jason Klein and Jake Clifford Goss, fielded questions with candor. Klein did most of the talking.

Daily Tribune (DT): Does this happen in other places, selling out four nights?

Paul Jason Klein (PJK): No. But it's starting to pick up in other places, obviously not in this arena scale, but selling out two nights in Mexico City, two nights in Bangkok… The shows in Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore are all sold out — those are also big arenas. It is nice to see the growth. You work really hard and it's great to see that more people are really connecting to our music.

DT: Do you think the group's popularity is due to the ballads, like, people are naturally sentimental?

PJK: We do love that word "sentimental." I think the Japanese coined our music "sentimental rock 'n' roll." I thought that was a beautiful description, 'cause oftentimes we are asked what genre our music is, and we have no idea. But I also think… we're not really sure. If we knew why… I don't know. I think, ultimately, we make music that connects with people on an emotional level, especially now, when people are desperate to find authenticity and genuine art. We grew up listening to people who made us feel a little bit less alone in the world, and that's what we want to do with our music.

Jake Clifford Goss (JCG): We never talked about we should sound like this… we should do this… We just built around our influences. It's kind of what we grew up on, helped us collectively.

DT: Like what, what sounds did you grow up on?

PJK: The grunge scene, like Pearl Jam, Red Hot Chili Peppers… Also, U2, Coldplay, John Mayer… Dashboard Confessional, Goo Goo Dolls, Yellow Card. I know you may not hear those bands in our sound, but somehow, they all came together and created something unique that's been pretty hard to describe and hard to duplicate. I think our sound is pretty unique.

DT: How do you keep from getting bored while on tour?

PJK: You have to remember that the world is humongous. Just because the set list is the same doesn't mean everyone has heard it. We spend weeks of preparing… And I also think that attitude and precision and thankfulness keep us from going through the motions. The fact that anybody who has decided to spend money and time to watch us is enough motivation to go out there and give it our all…

DT: What's the greatest compliment people have said about your music?

PJK: I think the fact that anyone listens to us is a huge compliment. I spent a lot of years, before LANY, writing songs that no one cared about or ever listened to. I've said this already, but the whole goal is to make people's lives just one-percent better. What can you really do other than that, when you're making the songs and making the art work, giving people experiences like tonight.

DT: Do you get affected by the adulation of the girls?

PJK: No. It's cool that everyone's coming — guys, girls.

JCG: We love people.