For those days when it’s “fuck this shit o’clock” or you just “can’t even” and seeking musical refuge is the only option to keep from losing your head, Los Angeles garage rockers The Paranoyds have got you covered. The four piece is comprised of Lexi Funston, Staz Lindes, Laila Hashemi and David Ruiz and with an arsenal of rock ‘n’ roll influences ranging from The Breeders to The Violent Femmes to fellow L.A. local bands, it’s no wonder they’re kicking ass and taking names.

Wail along to rip roaring lo-fi songs such as “Bad Idea” and “Ratboy” from their May 2016 After You EP, available online and via Hard Feelings on quirky slime green and watermelon pink cassettes. Don’t be afraid to turn it up loud either on tracks like “Bear” and “Map,” off their new split EP, The Paranoyds and Fernando and The Teenage Narcs.

While The Paranoyds are new to our world, their personal histories go way back. Laila and Lexi have known each other since pre-school, followed by meeting Staz in high school. After the band got serious in 2014 (post-college), drummer David soon joined. As The Paranoyds point out, once they met David, their sound started to come together and the band really started taking off. The band’s first EP release After You featured a combination of old and new material.

[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”#FF78FF” class=”fistclass” size=”15″]”Two of the songs…’Heather D’ and ‘Rat Boy,’ are actually some of our very first songs. Staz was living in NY at the time and the rest of us were in L.A. She wrote those songs, would send us voice memos, and we’d take it from there. ‘Bad Idea’ and ‘Freak Out’ are newer ones Lexi wrote and were more collaborative since we were all in the same city during the writing process. Those two songs are vastly different in style but when we play them live, we play them as one long song.”[/perfectpullquote]

When inquiring about the bands’ personal favorite track, while it was hard for them to choose, they confessed their love for “Bad Idea.” “We love ‘Bad Idea’ because of its brevity and because we made a music video for that one with all of our closest friends. The video is inspired by cult horror, which is a big influence of ours…’Heather D’ is also a special one because to this day we can’t remember why it’s called that.”

When we caught The Paranoyds performing alongside Sunflower Bean earlier this summer we were ecstatic to hear them shred and deliver a high energy set, and performing live is what the band considers their prime specialty.

“We would definitely say that the best way to listen to our music is at a live show. There’s an energy to it that gets sort of lost on the recordings…and seeing the crowd dance and get into the music is an incredible feeling.”

The band also picked up a some serious tour experience as well as long-lasting memories opening up for DIIV on the East Coast in May/June ’16.

[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”#FF78FF” class=”fistclass” size=”15″]”We really had no idea what we were getting ourselves into since it was our very first tour. A lot of us had never visited the cities that we played in, so every day was a completely new experience. We had some down time and got to do fun stuff like go on a swamp tour in New Orleans, visit Motown in Detroit and stop at a Golden Nugget casino on Lake Charles. There were of course not so fun times like when we drove through a tornado in Kansas and our van turned into a black hole of sorts and it was hard to find anything we were looking for. All in all, we were incredible lucky to have such a smooth experience and the DIIV guys are the best.”[/perfectpullquote]

Next up for The Paranoyds in 2016 and beyond, a full length album is definitely a goal but for the moment they’re working on writing/recording new songs and focused on releasing EPs. The band also has a song called “Memory Foam” that they’re anxious to get rolling on making a music video for, and in 2017 they hope to tour again,

Angelenos, be sure to catch The Paranoyds this upcoming weekend where they are scheduled to play Echo Park Rising at 6:30 PM on Saturday, August 20th at The Echoplex.

Interview Feature by Emily Saex

Watch The Paranoyds’ video for “Bad Idea”

 

Stream The Paranoyds’ After You EP 

Stream The Paranoyds and Fernando and The Teenage Narcs Split EP below