Oh No Not Stereo Interview

28. Dec, 2009 2 Comments

We had the pleasure to speak to Mykul Lee from the awesome Oh No Not Stereo, who feature on Rock Sampler #002. He is joint songwriter and drummer in the band.

Oh No Not Stereo was formed by Skyler Nielsen and Mykul Lee in Hollywood, California in 2003. They play raucous, high energy rock tinged with the best elements of pop-punk that made bands like American Hi-Fi so popular. You can hear Oh No Not Stereo opening our second music sampler available for download right here.

Keep reading below for the full interview in which we discover that ONNS are closet death metal fans who would give anything to play a support slot with The Beatles or Nirvana. They may just have to settle for the Foo Fighters and Rock Sampler can definitely see that happening one day soon!

Oh No Not Stereo

Rock Lifestyle (RL): What is Oh No Not Stereo’s vibe, what are you guys all about as a group?
Mykul Lee: Oh No Not Stereo is a hard working, high energy rock band from Los Angeles. Currently independent, we thrive on the things we can do for ourselves. We party hard and work harder.

RL: Interestingly Oh No Not Stereo is made up of two main members, Skyler and Mykul – and you then have touring members as well. Does this make the way the band works and operates different from other bands?
Mykul Lee: It is definitely a bit different from your typical 4 guys in a band situation. Skyler and I have been recording albums and touring on those albums for 6 years now. We have been a virtual revolving door of touring musicians for 4 of those 6 years. He and I write all the songs, whether collaboratively or individually, and play all the instruments on them in the studio.. Right now we have managed to procure a very talented guitar player, in addition to the duo, by the name of Jussi Karvinen. The three of us are now touring as Oh No Not Stereo with different bassists.

RL: What and who inspires your songwriting process?
Mykul Lee: When I was writing for our last record I listened to a lot of Acceptance.. Also on the harder side we love the Bronx, Iron Maiden, Refused, and any death metal you might have lyin around. Also we’re huge Beatles fans. How’s that for all over the place?!

RL: What have been your highest and lowest career points so far and why?
Mykul Lee: As an independent band, every accomplishment is exciting. I remember the first time we heard ourselves on radio. That was rad! It’s equally hard being independent because a lot of times success doesn’t move as quickly as we work. People are dumfounded a lot of times at our work ethic and it makes it difficult to find associates that can accommodate us as, essentially, an indie band operating on a major label work ethic.

RL: All of your releases have been named as numbers in sequential order; 001, 002, 003 – what inspired this and is it a trend you want to stick with?
Mykul Lee: We did this as a symbol of the things to come. Not that we’re going to release a thousand records, but more like a statement of where we’ve been, how long we’ve been doing it, and where we’re going. We didn’t necessarily set out to name every record with a number; it just makes sense to keep it going every time we’re faced with naming a new album. The next one is going to be called Thriller. Or so I hear…

RL: Describe a typical Oh No Not Stereo live show?
Mykul Lee: TONS of energy! Sky runs around the crowd like a chicken with his head cut off.. The vibe is very high paced. Ain’t no show tunes or elevator music at our shows. Shit gets crazy, let’s put it that way.

RL: What kind of experience was it working with Max Coane and Jim Wirt on records 003 and 004?
Mykul Lee: These guys, besides being great friends of ours, are very talented! Great engineer/producers who have worked as a team on a large number of albums together. They know each other’s process just like sky and I do. Typically, we’re all hammered wasted by noon and we end up paying some real musicians to play our parts for us…Kidding. We have a great time with each other in the studio!

RL: What 3 pieces of advice do you wish you had been given when you first started out as a band?
Mykul Lee: 1. Think digital 2. Start touring now 3. If all else fails, Knock up the first pop star you meet

RL: What track on your current album do you think works as the best starting point for a potential new fan and why?
Mykul Lee: I’d say the first song Lets Get It Started, appropriately, is the best candidate for new fans. It’s fun and energetic and it has a catchy, hooky chorus

Oh No Not Stereo

RL: You were chosen out of over 4,000 bands to compete in MTV2’s Dew Circuit Breakout contest in 2007 – how did that come about and how did it feel to be selected?
Mykul Lee: It was really cool! Definitely one of those things we look back on with pride…Mainly because we were writing our new record at the time. We typically secure these opportunities by simply submitting our
Music to them ourselves. Nowadays we have an amazing publicity team that helps us do stuff like that.

RL: If you could open for any band, alive or dead – who would it be and why?
Mykul Lee: I’d love to have played with Zeppelin or the Doors. Foo Fighters, Muse, Nirvana are all on my list as well…Sky loves the Beach Boys, the Zombies, The Beatles

RL: What do you do to relax and cut loose when you aren’t writing music and playing shows?
Mykul Lee: Drink. A lot. No but really, we all live together…So we’re ALWAYS working! Always!