Today we’d like to introduce you to Lowell Heflin.
Lowell, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
: It’s difficult to determine where the story begins – even as a slowly waking zygote I was dreaming of cave-paintings and banana splits – I feel like the American cartoon – I’ve always had a passion for the sort of extreme and ridiculous – somehow this pursuit has been inextricably linked to music. I was an Army brat, so I moved around a lot – my father was a musician/draft dodger/career combat medic and odd job man who killed himself when I was young – I bounced around living with my mother who also served in the Army as a lab tech. I was always fascinated by the tools of music, my dad’s bass guitars and amps – I drew fake album covers for fake bands I imagined I played in. I took up trombone in middle school band but it was a put-on – I was terrible at it, and it was difficult to motivate myself to get any better.
I didn’t feel any kinship with the band geeks – my playing was feral and imprecise – not in a savant kind of way – straight clumsy and dumb. I was living in a small suburb in Texas that was full of other military families – there wasn’t much to do but get into trouble, look for UFO’s in the sky, and cross the barbed wire fences in the back of the house that led to pasture land where we’d “moo” at the cows and find old bones. Things seemed lonesome and I had no idea who I was – so I looked to imbue the unknown with a religious sense of wonder and purpose. One boring perfect nothing nowhere afternoon at a friend’s house that had access to MTV2, the video for At the Drive-In’s “One- Armed Scissor” blurred across the screen, branding my black ink squirting teenage brain for life – it was a Nirvana moment. I heard noise, saw violent writhing – their performance was fierce, physical, emotive, possessed. From that moment I looked at music as a volatile means of expression – if these weirdos from El Paso could do it, so could I.
Soon after I found myself in San Diego, in Saturday School, where I was lucky enough to hear about a DIY space called the Che Cafe – which opened the door to the local community of freaks, and the DIY punk ethic. It is no embellishment that the cathartic, visceral shows completely altered my life – it felt like home – I’d sneak out my window on school nights, putting on the longest record I had with the door closed to my room so my mother wouldn’t suspect anything. I had finally found the magic, and sense of belonging I had always yearned for, and I’ve pledged allegiance to this world ever since. Up until now I’ve played in, and had several bands that have criss-crossed the country on a mission from God – or the Devil, whichever you prefer. My new project is my first attempt at doing something completely alone – which is very exciting for me.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
We all know art is hard, so I don’t try to cry about it too much – but the self-doubt, hospitalization, an often volatile home, financial instability, false take-offs, accepting yourself for who you are and just trying to be happy, crawling back to my job after the first go at “professional” full-time playing; My former boss seemed to relish the moment – I said never mind and applied somewhere else . Life is wild and beautiful and hard.
One moment that really captures it all happened on the first day of my first US tour playing in my friend’s band Weatherbox. We drove to New York in two days and before we even played a note, our van was stolen in Brooklyn. I had used a lot of the social security money I received as a child from my father’s death on all this irreplaceable gear I had accumulated. I had never been so sad about losing things – but I really had to fight to even play and be doing what I wanted, and all of it was kind of a tribute to my father in that way – it was pretty tough.
But honestly, that’s the least of everything – we are all clawing and trying our best and I think everyone, no matter what they are doing deserves a pat on the back for surviving and being here.
American Slang – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from others?
I just make the music I wanna hear – communicate and share the passion and reverence I have for simple emotive songs. I was feeling real meek as an “artist” for a time, and I’ve really reconnected to the spirit of myself. And if it helps anyone else at all, to do the same, to feel less lonesome, or even to just have a good time at a show, then it’s all worth it.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Doing the damn thing, keeping it from the heart, and constantly learning on the way.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://americanslang.bandcamp.com/
- Email: americanslangjams@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/american__slang
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/americanslang666/?modal=admin_todo_tour
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/american__slang
Image Credit:
Brooke Grillo
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