Trainwreck --- Album --- www.t-wreck.net

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Now Lance, you’ve been described by some as "The reason birds sing and rainbows shine". Why do you think people feel this way about you?

Why do people like the sun? Because it give them nourishment. I draw people in; it's unexplainable. I am like the sun of Trainwreck, and the other members are my planets. Darryl’s from Mars, Klip is from Venus, Kenny Bob is like my Mercury spinning around all fast and stuff, Shreddy is like Saturn with magical rings of power, and Boy Johnny is Uranus.

How do you feel about being associated with rainbows… has anyone ever questioned Lance Branson’s heterosexuality?

Constantly… when you go on stage blazing a kilt there’s gonna be questions, but I think the whole band is in question. We are a very gay-friendly band.

So how did the kilt become part of your stage attire?

The kilt was my homage to the rock legends of the late 70’s and early 80’s. That was always one of those iconic rock things. Lance is all about the show; something people will see from row 268, even though we play tiny bars.

What does one traditionally wear under a kilt?

Nothing, but we usually play on elevated stages and I sit down at the keyboard, so my ball sack would be exposed and that would probably do more to damage the popularity of the group. So I take one for the team and wear underwear.

So I take it you’ll leave that for later in your career?

When I do my solo-project, I’ll go sans underwear for sure.

Where are you originally from?

I’m from Paw Paw Michigan; it’s a little small town.

Was there any culture shock moving from a small Midwestern town all the way out to Los Angeles?

When I was a kid I moved around the east coast a lot. I lived in Manhattan, DC, and Philly for a while, so I was pretty city-fied. Moving to Paw Paw was the bigger culture shock. Basically my high school experience was like Footloose. I came to the school with blonde streaks in my hair… so every guy with a truck wanted to kick my ass, and girls took me to lunch. That and I made people dance.

So touring have you played any of your old towns?

No, but Chicago is pretty close to me, my parents and some of my high school friends came down for the last show.

Speaking of Chicago, you guys flew all the way from Los Angeles to New York for a gig, and you didn't make a stop here! What’s the deal?

Well, this may seem harsh, but we're not in it for the fans, Joe. Fans come and go. Trainwreck exists to make money... for Kyle. I mean, Klip. Seriously though, NYC was an orchestrated showcase for some big wigs. Say no more. Next question.

Have you worked in front of the camera before?

I was a re-occurring character on the sitcom Ellen. There’s like eight episodes that you’ll see me in. In a lot of the stuff I’m not even saying any lines; I’m just reacting to Ellen like hitting me or kissing me or throwing something at me. I was an amazing "Customer #1" on that show for some time. It's some of the greatest extra reaction of all time.

What was your first experience with Trainwreck?

I was at the first Trainwreck show at Largo. Tuffy was there, as well as lots of Klip and Darryl's other friends. It was... interesting. But I knew Trainwreck had the potential to be kick-ass once they started down the road of forming a full band. It started to differentiate itself from Klip's evil twin's band "Tenacious D" which I felt was important if it was gonna stand on it's own. Plus, it allowed Darryl to step out of any Tuffy shadows and show how kick ass he is. Darryl is an amazing showman. I always like watching him on stage.

How did you become part of the band?

They were kind enough to ask me if I wanted to come and play keyboards. So I went over to Kenny Bob's… I was gonna bring my keyboard, but they were like “no, no, Kenny Bob's got one”. So I go over there and it’s some shitty little Casio thing that they want me to try to learn all these new songs on. I got all frustrated because I was sounding horrible and Klip… I love Klip, but unless you’re a really good musician, he’s hard to learn from cause he goes really fast. So I basically walked away not wanting to be in the band and them not wanting me either. Then a couple months later Klip called me again to see if I wanted to do a special guest spot. So I came out and did Faithfully for a show, and from there I slowly inked my way back into the band.

How did you first meet Klip?

The first time I met Klip was to write the Tenacious D movie. I met with him and Tuffy at Ben Stiller’s office. And then subsequently they came over to my apartment and we worked on the Tenacious D movie together. That’s actually where Fuck Her Gently, Dio, Inward singing and a few other things were all written; on the couch in my apartment. I have the original tapes of the very first attempt at both Fuck Her Gently and Dio; written and recorded in one take.

I know a lot of people that would seriously kill for those.

I’m waiting until I get really poor and then I’m going to put them on Ebay. I think that might be the way I put my kids through college. So yeah, that’s how I met Kyle. He didn’t like me at first… well he either didn’t like me, or when he wasn’t busy not liking me, he would forget who I was.

Are you working on any projects at the moment?

Right now, I’m writing a television pilot for NBC starring Jennifer Coolidge, she plays Stifler’s mom in American Pie. I’m also writing a movie for Paramount about a college for video game programmers. On top of that, I’m working on a secret side project with Boy Johnny. You see, Klip comes out with a new side project every fifteen minutes, so we decided to do one of our own. It’s for all of those that enjoy the sensitive side of Trainwreck; that being Boy Johnny and myself.

So have you guys thought of a name yet?
Klip came up with "See You At The Grammy's" which I like. It encapsulates what Boy Johnny and I are about pretty nicely.

With all the side projects between you guys, do you think it drains energy from the band?

Not at all. What you need to realize Joe, is that competition, jealousy and pettiness are the creative backbone of Trainwreck. It is the fuel that has gotten us this far. So anything that'll keep us competitive.

Being a writer, what are your favorite movies?

My all-time favorite movie is Amadeus. Then, Meatballs. That is Lance's ultimate double bill.

So your love for Amadeus… is it related to your being a pianist?

Have you ever seen it?

I don’t think so.

Alright Joe, this is your homework; go out and rent Amadeus! I would say Amadeus is probably one of the most perfectly constructed film stories I’ve ever seen. Every edit, every line written, every music cue, every film shot, is intentional and just so tight. And Meatballs is kick ass too.

You guys have played some pretty legendary clubs; does it ever blow you away to be standing on the same stage as some of the greats?

The Troubadour was huge for me. Being a keyboardist, it was my big thing that that was where Elton John made his American debut. The Roxy was big too, cause that was the starting grounds for Poison and Motley Crew… and a lot of actually good bands too.

Who would you consider your strongest musical influences?

Rock Responsibly is definitely inspired by Styx, Journey, REO Speedwagon, and that group. I like them, but they’re not my all time favorite bands. I just wanted to tap into that kind of a spirit. But songwriting wise, I’m a huge fan of Elvis Costello, Paul Simon, Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen, the lyrics guys basically. I’m a sucker for lyrics; you don’t even have to have a great voice.

With you and Darryl trading off as lead vocalist, do you guys ever have creative differences?

We have our power struggles, but he sees my value and ultimately knows I bring in the chicks… I bring them in, and then he steals them from me with his ass wiggling.

What does Lance Branson do in his spare time?

I collect bad art; I have a collection of bad oil paintings that I think I might actually have to get rid of. So maybe we’ll have an art auction for some of Lance’s choice pieces on the website.

With the new live album, how does it feel to finally have something tangible?

It's why I do anything creative, I suppose. To have something at the end that I can say "that's cool". I like being a part of that. I'm taking lots of pictures and keeping lots of mementos, so I can say "I was in a band, check it out we did some cool stuff. Now would you like to Super size that?"

With all the fights on the last big tour, are there any that were funny or over especially trivial stuff?

It's well documented that Darryl has an explosive temper, but when his anger comes out of his mouth, it becomes instantly hilarious... unless it's directed at you. Luckily, I never felt the wrath personally, but I witnessed some golden nuggets like the time he yelled at his (then) girlfriend about losing a bag of peanut butter and water.

What’s Lance Branson’s personal philosophy on life?

Why do less, when you can do more? Why spend less, when you can spend more? Why live less when you can live more? And why love less, when you can love more? That’s my philosophy that I came up with in the last two minutes, but I’ll stand by it for the duration of this phone call.
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