Last winter, my cohort in crime, Meghan Worsham, and I trudged through the snow to see Les La Britanica play a gig in a packed, grimy basement in the Fan. The mostly twenty-something crowd convulsed collectively to the beat, singing along with front-duo Lindsey (Les La) and Louis (The Jilla Kew) who, along with Luke (Bobblehead) the resident beat-master, blasted their special brand of rap-hip hop-pop music into the eager ears of the gathered masses. This was our first encounter with Les La Britanica and their many loyal super-fans.
Since that winter the group has only continued to grow in popularity and panache as they woo new admirers at various venues around town.
Meghan and I recently had the opportunity to sit down with the trio at Crossroads coffee shop and ask the hard-hitting questions about where the band’s been, where they’re headed, and more importantly, what in the world Poppinoffolopolis means.
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MEGHAN: So how did you guys meet?
LINDSEY: I guess the first time I met Louis he was rapping in a white body suit. [laughter]
LOUIS: That was the first time I had rapped or anything. Lindsey was there and that was the first time she met me.
ANNA: What kind of bodysuit?
LINDSEY: A painter’s suit with a hood.
LOUIS: You’ll see it in our music video.
LUKE: The first time that I met you I didn’t really like you Lindsey. [laughter] Well it wasn’t that I didn’t like you it’s just that…You have this thing, when you get drunk you yell in people’s faces. You were doing that to me all night…
LINDSEY: [giggles] I’m so sorry!
LUKE: I didn’t dislike you. You were just intense, that’s all.
LINDSEY: I can be loud and obnoxious. I have to make a scene for normally being quiet and well behaved.
ANNA: When did you all get started with music?
LUKE: At first the name Les La Britanica comes from…Lindsey’s name is Les La and this other girl named Brittany we call Britanica. Louis and I were just going to be the beat-masters. They were going to be sort of the rap girls. And Britany didn’t even make it to the first practice.
LINDSEY: We figured out that she can’t keep a beat. She can’t even clap on beat. [laughter]
LUKE: Before that Luke and I were making rap CDs. He was making beats and I was making really bad raps. I wasn’t trying to say I was a rapper. It was meant for people to laugh at. Lindsey ended up being one of those people that heard it and she liked it.
ANNA: Had you rapped before?
LINDSEY: No, actually I had been playing guitar and writing since I was 13. I was really serious about music and then they asked me if I would rap. It was a joke almost. I remember it was “Slave to the Thump,” and you guys were like, “That’s not bad.”
ANNA: What are your roles in the group?
LOUIS: She’s kind of like the face, not saying that she’s not talented, but in this case she’s talent and the face. I guess I would be the soul.
LINDSEY: Louis bitches at everyone and it gets shit done. Luke makes beats.
LOUIS: We all write music. We all produce music. It’s not like he’s the beat man, but he makes the best beats out of all of us. He makes the best licks. But, if he’s unwilling to work then we’ll work.
LUKE: We just have a weird dynamic. We don’t really all work together. We all do it separately – I’ll make a beat, save it on the computer, and then maybe Lindsey will come to it, record her lyrics over it. She might not even be there. Then Louis might write some lyrics and record when I’m not there. It’s not like we get together ever.
ANNA: Do you guys fight a lot?
LINDSEY: All the time. [laughter]
LOUIS: We’re all friends so we bicker. We bicker more than we fight.
ANNA: How would you describe your music?
LINDSEY: Uhh..electronic-dance-rap. It’s very poppy.
LUKE: Our genre is Poppinoffolopolis.
ANNA: Wait say that again?
LOUIS: Poppinoffolopolis. Me and Luke love it and Lindsey hates it! [laughter]
MEGHAN: What does that mean?
LINDSEY: Shit’s poppin’ off!
LUKE: It’s like a metropolis that kind of pops off. It’s kind of a real place. It’s kind of a state of mind.
LOUIS: It’s anywhere you want it to be. We’ve thought of all sorts of dumb things to call it. Hype-hop, which is not cool. It’s like a clash of our sensibilities.
LINDSEY: We still don’t even know what we’re doing. So each song is different, especially on our newer album.
MEGHAN: What do you guys think of the Richmond music scene?
LINDSEY: I think it’s really good. I really wish we could do more house shows and not have to constantly worry about the cops showing up.
LOUIS: The Richmond music scene -- there’s a lot of people doing cool stuff, but where are we going to play? It’s hard to find places where even they have equipment to utilize or a sound guy.
ANNA: What music do you listen to?
LINDSEY: I’ve always listened to pop music. I listened to country music when I was a kid. But, I love Lady Gaga. I’m actually into a lot of Baltimore acts. Right now I’m obsessed with Future Islands, Washed Out, Neon Indian…What about you guys?
LOUIS: We all have similar enough tastes, but also really different. When I was in high school I would listen to all the hip-hop from the 90s, but then my favorite band in the world is Built to Spill, so I was really into the indie scene at the same time. I mean, I was never a musician in high school. I’m more of a visual artist. I played baritone horn in 8th grade and I don’t play guitar or keys. I’m starting to learn how to play the keys, but music has always been a secondary thing to me really.
LUKE: Yeah, I guess indie. Definitely the older, classic indie rock like Pavement, Built to Spill, old Modest Mouse. I guess that’s my core.
MEGHAN: So what are your aspirations for Les La? Where do you see yourselves in a year?
LINDSEY: We’re hoping that eventually we’ll be able to do some kind of tour. First and foremost we need to just finish this album because we’ve been working on it for a year now. It’s really almost done. It will be awesome to be able to get that to people and feel like this is the most current, relevant music that we give them.
ANNA: Do you guys have groupies?
LOUIS: Nahh, I mean… [laughter]
ANNA: Does Lindsey have groupies?
LOUIS: The girls are more intrigued by Lindsey then want to go up and tell her that she’s amazing. I think the girls like her more than the guys.
MEGHAN: Are you sexy?
LINDSEY: In a hidden way. I like to hide filth in my lyrics. If you tried to decipher them, you might figure it out. “I take the Visa if you swipe it through my jimmy stache.” That’s all I’m saying.
www.myspace.com/leslabritanica
WORDS by Anna Wittel and Meghan Worsham
Photos by Ross Jannatti, Jason Lappa, & Caleb Plutzer
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Les La B content
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http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=258602&id=42718927073
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=195604&id=42718927073
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=153630&id=541739925
gifs from halloweek show
http://rviral.tumblr.com/post/1487983750
http://rviral.tumblr.com/post/1486076010
http://rviral.tumblr.com/post/1486071719
posts about them on tumblr
http://somegirlsblog.tumblr.com/post/850855511/les-la-britanica
http://somegirlsblog.tumblr.com/post/855468617/xxx-tuff-guy-xxx-les-la-b...
http://somegirlsblog.tumblr.com/post/1027334816/les-la-britanica-tan-n-c...
Les La Britanica (stoopid, faded) from Todd Raviotta on Vimeo.
content by Todd Raviotta