Asian Dan

RSS

Asian Dan Q&A : Fort Lean

When I listen to Fort lean I imagine it is a hazy summer afternoon and that their music is that refreshing summer breeze carries you into a lovely summers evening. There is something refreshing in the familiarity and vibe of Fort Lean and the the way they execute their music to-the-point Pop Rock.

“Dreams (Never Come True)” is my favorite cut off their 4 song EP that they are giving away on their Bandcamp. There is a touch of Roy Orbison thrown in with some 60s Pop vibes, but in the end just dig it y’all.

[audio:http://diestruktur.com/asianmandan/music/JULY%202011/02%20Dreams%20(Never%20Come%20True).mp3]
Fort Lean – Dreams (Never Come True)

Asian Dan Q&A : Fort Lean

1. Who is Fort Lean? How and why did the five of you come together to form the band?

Fort Lean is Keenan Mitchell on vocals and guitar, Jake Aron on bass, Sam Ubl on drums, Will Runge on synths, and Zach Fried on guitar. We all met at college and have played together on and off for the last few years. We were all at a point at the beginning of 2011 where our other commitments had come to an end, and we’d all been meaning to get something going together. The timing worked out so we jumped on it.

2. As I browsed the official Fort Lean tumblr fortlean.com, I noticed a theme of “NYC Bum’s Living the Dream aka sleeping on the warm asphalt of the city”. Is this a metaphor for Fort Lean itself? A true meaning of the “sounds of the streets”? Discuss.

That is a actually part of an ongoing series that Keenan is working on titled “Guys Chillin.” . We are working with Gagosian Gallery on an exhibition of selected work in late fall 2011.

3. “The weather’s perfect all the time.” dominates the header of the Fort Lean website. What is this perfect weather you speak of?

At Fort Lean, which is a place you can go, the weather is perfect all the time. Hot but not too sticky, and you can sleep in the park comfortably without getting hassled by the cops. Fort Lean is about getting too drunk at your own picnic. Fort Lean is about leaving the city. Fort Lean is a place where you can still see the skyline but you can’t hear any cars and you can put all your stolen wine in the stream to keep it cool and when the fire dies out you can see some stars and not too many airplanes.

4. How does it feel to be embraced by the Greedhead Music bosom? How did this relationship come about?

It feels real good to be wrapped up in Hima’s tits. He can only accost you so many times; Hima is a force of nature and you eventually have to give in or be destroyed. He came to our first show and wouldn’t stop yelling and he’s been at every show since then.

5. What are your top 5 favorite feel good summer vibes tunes?

1. China Sat Sunflower – Grateful Dead
2. Truckin’ – Grateful Dead
3. Ripple – Grateful Dead
4. Dark Star – Grateful Dead
5. Farmhouse – Phish

6. Please use the powers of the web to google image search some .jpgs and.gifs that sum up Fort Lean.

7. Future plans for Fort Lean? Shows? Releases?

Our future plan is to get more people to come visit Fort Lean. We have a show this Saturday, June 16 at the Bushwick Walkabout Festival at Brooklyn Fireproof. After that our next show is August 27th at Glasslands with Male Bonding and Love Inks.

We’re in the process of recording two new songs with our friend Ayad Al Adhamy, and then potentially releasing those as a 7″ by (unnamed label). Beyond that just continuing to write songs and play shows. We want to buy a van and go play everywhere, and continue spreading our message of peace and joy.

No Comments, Comment or Ping

Reply to “Asian Dan Q&A : Fort Lean”