Lethal Peanut can be described in three simple words: intoxicating, innovative, and inspiring. Their music style is a fusion of hard rock, bluegrass, with a dash of alternative. The lyrics off of their newly released self-titled album, Lethal Peanut, present some of the most creative and awesome content on a rock album. These guys are usually laid-back but when it’s time to perform they put on a rockin’ performance for fans. Members, Nick (vocals), Jeff (guitar), Steve (drums) and Bruce (bass, violin) have had a long history together since 2009. Lethal Peanut is 100% focused on the fans and committed to their music. They are one of the hottest bands in D.C. rocking out shows at ShamrockFest, Uncle Sam Jam, NOVA (Northern Virginia) Summer Brewfest and many other venues in the Delmarva (Delaware-Maryland-Virginia) area.
Lethal Peanut hosted an album release party at the Rock and Roll Hotel, teaming up with two popular bands of D.C., Once Okay Twice and Fight the Lion . A portion of the show’s proceeds was given to the Duke Ellington Shool of Arts to support their music education programs. That’s Lethal Peanut in a nutshell: hard core rockers with a soft side.
I attended the album release party and got a chance to chat with Lethal Peanut about the preparation of their long anticipated debut album and some of the guys’ favorite tracks.
From Left to Right: Nick, Bruce, Jeff & Steve
Lawanda Johnson: So what is the inspiration behind the name, Lethal Peanut?
Nick: Lethal Peanut came about after several failed attempts to come up with a band name. I thought there were a lot of names of there that were overtly “trying” to be tough. We thought it would be kind of fun to make fun of that by being goofy with the Lethal part (Laughs).
LJ: I got it! (Laughs)…Well, congratulations on your debut album and the release party. Talk a little bit about the preparation and some of your favorite tracks off the debut.
Jeff: Thank you. There was a lot of preparation for the album. We spent a number of months before we went into the studio. We had to put together several tracks and figure out the arrangements of things. Then we got into the studio and spent probably about 50 to 60 hours in there. It was 5 days of fun. We are very happy about the product… In terms of some of my favorite tracks, I would have to say Said and Done, Liquified, and Walking Shoes.
Steve: I would add on that, this process has been over two years. Gosh, almost close to three years that we have been playing together. So we kind of felt that it was kind of overdue. It was exciting for us to get a chance to get a professional opinion from Jim Ebert (Meredith Brooks, Cowboy Mouth) our producer. And sort of balance our ideas off him. Finally, we ended up with a project we were really happy with. My favorite tracks are Zeno Machine and Said and Done.
Nick: Our producer was really great. We tried to record the album at home on our computer. We would turn out one song every six months, if that. For this album, we did 50 hours in a studio and completed 9 very well done tracks. After all that work, at home and the studio, it was pretty cool to see how everything came out. It was a great expereience. My favorite tracks are Zeno Machine and Groover’s Road.
LJ: I love Groover’s Road… What about you, Bruce?
Bruce: Yeah, my favorite songs are Zeno Machine and Walking Shoes. I’d like to add that I have been playing with these guys for like six or seven years now. It was good to have a third party involved like our producer Jim. It was good for Jim to tell us what doesn’t fit or doesn’t sound good. Really, none of us would’ve taken that criticism from each other because we are all equal members. To have another guy come in and tell us what to do, works.
Performing at Rock and Roll Hotel
LJ:You do a lot of live performances; is there anything that you have to do before a performance?
Jeff: Have a beer. (Laughs).
Steve: (Laughs). Yeah, just to calm our nerves down a little bit. But we don’t have any rituals or anything like that.
LJ: OK, you mention that you have to calm your nerves a little bit. Do you guys still get nervous?
Steve: We haven’t played a live show in like 4 months, so it gets a little anxious. I wouldn’t say that I’m nervous as much. I’m ready to just go out there and perform.
Nick: I get nervous all the time.
LJ: Really?
Nick: Yeah, but it goes away when I get up on stage. The 10 minutes prior to a show, I still get nervous. That never has changed. It’s been that way since middle school.
LJ: What’s next for Lethal Peanut?
Steve: A world tour (Laughs). We are just excited about the album and to see the type of response we will get. We are just going with the flow.
Nick: I’m just happy that we have a product. It’s been a long time. So I’m looking forward to find out if everyone likes it or not and just like Steve said, I’m going with the flow and just enjoying it. I try not to worry too much.
For updates and more information on Lethal Peanut: www.lethalpeanut.com
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