Reviewsic Interview Latin For Truth

Opening up Latin for Truth’s latest digital release, Diatribe or Die! is a voicemail urging a friend not to “let that shit get you down, it will all turn around in the end.”- a piece of advice that perfectly embodies the proactive theme found in the Alabama band’s music. Securely rooted in the kind of punk rock that stands for something, Latin for Truth is a combination of aggression and action that is sadly lacking in popularity these days. Screeching wails from a guitar, throaty growls and crashing cymbals make up a majority of the band’s tracks on Diatribe or Die! save for diversions into more poppy material such as “No Love Lawst” and “Socially Adrift, Physically in Tune”.

What you get from Latin for Truth is obviously stated in their moniker. Barking out lyrics that are emotionally honest and point the occasional finger, this is a band that tells it like it is without seeming like they’re just bitching about the problem. In our interview with guitarist/vocalist Charles Hastings we learned a little about the back-story and more recent events surrounding Latin for Truth’s music, and we have to applaud the boys for maintaining their positive attitude despite what has been thrown their way. While having to step back from touring and working to pay the bills may not seem very punk rock, we think Latin for Truth embodies the punk spirit better than most who claim punk rock roots. Why is that, you ask? Because actions speak louder than words and while other runts are ratting their hair and shopping for studded belts at Hot Topic, Latin for Truth are writing songs about taking things head on until you figure out all your options- not just your out.

Reviewsic: Can you give us a quick recap of what the band has been up to lately?

Charles Hastings: Lately we’ve been writing for Youth Crew Blues, it’s an important record for us. It’s been a year-long actualization of who we are as a band and as a group of people from North Alabama. So much heavy stuff came our way this past year after our wreck, from realizing how detached and artless the industry is to a death of a close friend to stuff too personal to speak of, we’re just ready to birth this beast. It’s going to be a visceral album. We’re trying to make it as heavy as this year has been for us. Not in some “drop tune and get an attitude” way, just being completely honest with how we feel about ourselves, where we are, what the world has handed us, and what we plan on giving back. Also, We’re still just a punk band that works a lot to pay bills and rent and Tom Lovejoy is in college, so when stuff happens like vans breaking down and roommates going to rehab, we have to work that rebuilding time to our advantage.

Reviewsic: What is the back-story on how the band came to be what it is today?

Charles Hastings: The back-story is thus, there isn’t much to flip shit to in Alabama and we wanted to give kids something positive to do with their time. We started in 2005 playing random weird punk rock influenced by Fugazi, Operation Ivy, and other unrelated bands. Corey K. and I are the only original members, so it took a while to get this line up and to find our sound, we just keep pushing for something more intense and honest till we found what we are. We weren’t Latin For Truth till Michael and Zack joined for sure. After that, we officially had a group of common minds working towards a goal, which I think is what most good bands are.

Reviewsic: What are your top three musical influences?

Charles Hastings: It’s hard to find bands that blanket our individual influences. I would guess, Paint It Black, Lifetime, and Jawbreaker.

Reviewsic: Is there any instrument you don’t play, but wish you did?

Charles Hastings: I’m obsessed with Tom Waits, so it’d be piano, would love to play some smokey bars and sing about loose woman and fighting in alley ways.

Reviewsic: What are the last three albums or bands you listened to?

Charles Hastings: Grown ups - More Songs, Whiskeytown – Stranger’s Almanac, and Castevet – the echo and the light

Reviewsic: If you could work with one person in the music industry (musician, label, producer etc), who would it be and why?

Charles Hastings: The one that comes to mind, I guess cause we’ll be recording our album soon is J. Robbins. I would do anything for him to produce, engineer, or do anything for YCB. He’s worked with jawbreaker, paint it black, none more black, modern life is war, jets to brazil, the promise ring.. the list is crazy. Also, Dan Yemin and Tom Waits to do guest vocals on one song, together, but that’d be like three people. I’ll stick with the J. Robbins answer.

Reviewsic: What is the most memorable concert you’ve ever attended?

Charles Hastings: I only go to local shows really or the shows we play on, seeing our friends band Dead Heroes with good sound in Augusta, GA at Sector 7G was amazing.

Reviewsic: Who are three of your favorite local bands?

Charles Hastings: Dead Heroes and Roaming Cloud from our area and Some Mistakes from Atlanta. Both Dead Heroes and Roaming Cloud shared a drummer, Jake Warren, who died in a car wreck two weeks ago. He was a close friend to everyone in LFT, and I’m not saying they were my favorite locals because of that. They are fucking sick and would be an asset to any scene. He was a fucking beast on drums and real life, real beautiful guy. Some Mistakes is our bassist’s other band, and they’re one of those great ethereal hardcore bands. They focus on emotions and that kind of intensity, not just anger. All three bands are worth checking out.

Reviewsic: If you could book a tour with any 3 bands, past or present, who would they be and why?

Charles Hastings: Fugazi, Lifetime, and Jawbreaker, cause I’ll never get to see any of my favorite bands cause they’re all broken up or won’t tour anywhere near us. This would be the greatest tour ever, plus that shitty kind of pop punk band that talks about being positive.

Reviewsic: Tell us about Diatribe or Die! - what can people expect from this record and what do you hope they take away from it?

Charles Hastings: Expect honesty, sarcasm, and passive-aggressive tunage, everything is in the lyrics, take what makes sense to you personally.

Reviewsic: How would you compare yourselves as musicians at this point as opposed to when you first began playing together?

Charles Hastings: I’ve gotten a lot better at the mechanics of music but care way less about it. I think everyone in the band is chasing a feeling, a perfect communication, and in chasing that, we’ve gotten better. We’ve learned what to focus on essentially as a band to be a decent band.

Reviewsic: What are some of your favorite cities and/or venues to play?

Charles Hastings: Sector 7G in Augusta, GA and Swayzes in Atlanta, GA, the list of venues and cities we hate is much longer, ha.

Reviewsic: What are the best and worst band moments so far in your career?

Charles Hastings: Our cd release and getting a spot on the Kid Dynamite tribute is the highlights so far. Everyone in the crowd that night genuinely looked like they were happy and having the time of their lives, it was so positive and beautiful. The kid dynamite tribute was a dream come true, I literally cried at one point about it. The worst moments is our wreck in Pennsylvania and how no one gave a fuck about us after that, we’ve been rebuilding since. Jake Warren passing away a few weeks ago is the worst I’d say. Now I have to spend the rest of my life pursuing punk rock for him. It’s tragic how talented he was and now he can’t write, perform, and keep the world full of good tunes. he was the purest of the pure, effortlessly positive just by living life the way he wanted.

Reviewsic: What are a few items essential to your “tour survival kit”?

Charles Hastings: Wet wipes, ipod, at least one good book (kerouac, thompson, or bukowski), laptop, febreeze, lots of clean underwear

Reviewsic: What are your plans for music in the next year?

Charles Hastings: Finish writing YCB, find the right studio for the record, record the record, save up money so we can tour our ass off when it comes out. Right now this is the loose plans that have been sown.