Joey La Rocca is a solo artist as well as the lead singer for the punk rock band The Briggs. After a 2 year hiatus The Briggs have released a new single titled “Panic!”. Media Mikes recently spoke with Joey about the song and the bands plans for the future.
Adam Lawton: What can you tell us about the bands newest song “Panic!”?
Joey LaRocca: I feel right now I am inspired by music that has urgency to it. Lately I like the feeling of uneasiness in music. That I guess might be the way I feel a lot of the time. This was sort of the inspiration behind the song. The animosity and un-comfortableness is sort of what makes me feel alive and shows me that I am alive. I embrace that feeling of anguish and pain at times.
AL: Can you tell us about the video plans for the song?
JB: The video was really fun. Our buddy Beau Coulon who directed the video is brilliant. He had a concept for the video that has somewhat of a narrative that follows the story line of the song but at the same time it has a lot of energetic shots of the band. We spent a day on a sound stage just banging out the song 20,000 times. I think those shot are probably some of my favorite parts. I feel they really embrace the energy of the song and give it its fury. The narrative is fun also because it gives people something else to look at other than the band. (Laughs)
AL: Now that the band is back after a couple year hiatus what has been the biggest change in the industry you have noticed since your return?
JB: As a band we hadn’t been doing much however a few of us have still been involved in theindustry. I have been working on a solo project under the name Joey Briggs and have also done some touring. I have seen a lot of interesting changes. When we were first got out of doing the Briggs for awhile I was very bitter about how things were. I don’t necessarily feel that way anymore though. I see that there is an amazing breed of bands and fans that are creating a real scene again. It maybe sounds cliché but I have seen all these bands that are doing house and basement shows. In some degree that never went away but there just weren’t the people to support it. I feel now there is a good amount of people embracing the whole world of DIY. There are a lot of cool bands and houses involved in this movement. We haven’t done something like this in a long time. The scene has come back around and people have decided not to pay the high prices a lot of venues charge. There are other options to get people out and interested in what you are doing.
AL: Has there been any talks of a full-length Briggs release?
JB: I think the plan is to definitely do a full-length release. It’s something that sort of has to happen. We weren’t really 100% sure what was happening at the time we started. We were honestly just flying by the seat of our pants. We created a song and then put it out but now there is that expectation. People are going to hear the song and want to know where the rest of the album is. Its cool people want that so we will have to fill our obligations. It’s really fun to write a song but it not as fulfilling as a musician as when you have an entire album. I want 12 songs with 12 different stories and emotions. One song isn’t quite enough.
AL: What are your spring/summer tour plans?
JB: As far as summer goes I am completely booked doing Joey Briggs stuff. I will be doing a few dates on Warped Tour this summer. They are going to be doing an acoustic stage this year and I am really stoked to be a part of that. I then have a month long tour of Europe. When I come back from that I will be back on Warped Tour for a few more shows. The Briggs will be doing a return show at the House of Blues in Anaheim at the end of May to kind of say were back. Before the Briggs get fully back out there I would like to have a new album out. I don’t want to get the cart before the horse so to speak.
