Synthesis' Arielle Mullen Interviews Levator

Levator - Cosmic Pop From Seattle 2/17/09

Hailing from Seattle, Washington, Levator is a three-piece band, consisting of vocalist Sky Lynn, Rando Skrasek (drums, effects, synth) and Nate Henry (tenor saxophone, effects, keyboards). Levator’s music, comparable to Morphine, Sonic Youth and Mazzy Star, has an almost tranquilizing effect, with Lynn’s silvery voice sounding almost haunting at times. Working with a plethora of vintage effects pedals and creating live loops on the spot, the band meshes together seamlessly, and commands absolute attention in the most wonderful and unexpected way. This will be Levator's third trip to Chico (they played first at CRUX and most recently Café Coda), and they're out to promote their newest self-released album, The Biggest Waves Come Out At Night. The West Coast tour has quite a few stops near Chico, so I highly recommend checking out nearby shows if you find yourself a Levator fan after February 21st (which you will be). Synthesis was lucky enough to speak with the group regarding life on the road, their newest album and the upcoming show.


I read on your website (levatormusic.com) that you were once driving through Klamath, California, home of the 50 ft tall Paul Bunyan, and had a very traumatizing experience. The head of "Babe" the big blue ox who sits beside Paul Bunyan had suffered an unknown mishap and his head had fallen off. I thought it might interest you to know that in 1946, when Bunyan was still made of paper mache, his head melted and caved in. So as a band that’s done a lot of touring, what are some of the strangest things you've seen while on the road?

Rando: I remember looking out the window of the van and watching a semi rear-end a dominos pizza car.

Nate: Drunken maniac finds plank and smashes front window in because he can't get any more booze.

Sky: Paul Bunyan was originally made out of paper mache?! That's crazy! It's not really the strangest but the other day I was walking down this little old road and thought I saw a baby coyote. I then realized it was hopping! I've never seen tall and long wild rabbit like that before.


As a band, you deal with a lot of effects pedals. Is it hard sometimes to play along with loop samples in live situations? I would imagine that sometimes things might go awry. How do you all recover when something goes wrong?

Nate: I just shut up and start listening ‘cause obviously I haven't been listening very well if I missed the loop.

Rando: Beat stretching, that's what they call that. It's an industry term. Hahaha.

Sky: I imagine playing with prerecorded loops would be more difficult, but we create ours live on the spot so they feel more natural. Like if we're feeling a little spunky or slow that night, the loop reflects that. Oh, yeah, ha! Stuff goes wrong…er, I should say different sometimes. Like the other night, I started a vocal loop and missed the button, so we'll just play that part a little longer till I get all the layers in there or we'll do a certain thing that queues each other for the change.


I've seen you live in Chico twice, and I've noticed you have a lot of vintage pedals, guitars and amps. Why do you prefer using vintage instruments? Is there a specific store or Web site that you get most of your vintage equipment from?

Nate: It's not vintage, it's just rusty.

Rando: I suppose it's a matter of character or color that is unique. The analog synthesizer is more versatile for unique sounds.

Sky: Personality would be a huge part of it. It sounds a bit weird, but I'd rather carry around a few pedals that weigh a lot and are very specific then have a very small portable and convenient multi-effects processor. The old stuff just seems to be a little more personal. There is a store in North Seattle called Guitarville. I love that place. My amp went out on me a couple days before tour which was really scary, but they fixed it up and I had it back a day early and it sounds better than ever.


I've tagged along on a few tours with friends, and it seems like after all the nameless cheap hotels, it's so wonderful to have folks on the road who offer up their homes for a night or two. You seem to do mostly West Coast touring—is there anybody along the coast who you particularly enjoy staying with?

Rando and Nate: Yeah we've had lots of good friends along the way that we've stayed with, but this time we have an RV so we've been inviting them over for pizza parties!

Sky: I think we've only splurged on a hotel room a couple times in the past, but we've made so many awesome friends that have shown us an amazing amount of hospitality along the way that we would end up sleeping in the van only a couple times each tour. There's a man in Sacramento by the name of Eric who deserves the trophy though. The first time we rolled through town he invited us over and had all this take-out food waiting. And we didn't even know him yet! But over time it's fun watching the relationships grow with people you only see a couple days a year.


Is there anything you want fans to know in particular about The Biggest Waves Come Out At Night? We’re really looking forward to this upcoming show in Chico.

Rando: I'm glad you look forward to the live show because this new record is a product of touring and how the songs have grown in that process.

Sky: We always look forward to playing at Café Coda when we're in Chico. Venues take a huge chance on bands the first time around so I think it's really important to keep playing the same places and build that relationship. Bands need venues and venues need bands so it's always nice when you find a place that has a personal feel to things. People you can actually have a conversation with and relate to, rather than just all business. This new record was so much fun to make. It was a real collaboration from start to end. I think we are all really happy with how it came out too, which is really important.

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