PERMANENT ABILITY (Rock)

PERMANENT ABILITY interview w/ Frontman Brian Lanese.
Posted Jul 9, 2008.


as Lige would say…the Funk was on


I’m sure you get this a lot but what does Permanent Ability mean?
Well I had this philosophy that a god given gift, straight out the womb when you are born, in our case being art and music, is a permanently rooted in you for life; and even if you wanted to get rid of that talent, whatever it may be, that talent is an ability that will always be yours, and its up to you to decide whether to use it, abuse it, or let it go to idle. So based on that philosophy, we thought Permanent Ability was suitable for us, and the creative abundance given to us as individuals, when coming together as one unit, has proven that we are using such gifts to inspire hearts and minds and using them as our canvas.

Could you tell us a little about your E.P. "From the Womb to Hollywood"?
Well the album features legendary funk bass player of George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic Lige Curry, who was such an honor to work with. Especially since Parliament is one of our big influences.
Lige and I instantly hit it off, and all the chemistry and shenanigans can be seen in our documentary of the recording of “From the Womb to Hollywood,” that will be released on myspace in August. We cut the album at Eagle Rock Studios here in Los Angeles, which hosted a number of major label acts. It was mixed and engineered by our good friend Rudy Haeusermann who has worked with Snoop Dogg, Matchbox 20, and Rob Zombie to name a few. Rudy is one of the most talented, and professional mixers I have ever met, and his passion really shines on our recording.
And finally, Brian “Big Bass” Gardner at Bernie Grundman Mastering in Hollywood mastered it. I should also mention, the album will be available for download via paypal on our website come August as well.

How did you get in touch with Lige Curry of George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic?
The way I got in contact with Lige was through Dwayne “Blackbyrd” McKnight who had a quick stint in the Red Hot Chili Peppers soon after the death of Hillel Slovak in 1988. I emailed Blackbyrd back in December of 2007, and he referred me to Lige. Once Lige took a listen to our material, he immediately contacted me and jumped aboard, and as Lige would say…the Funk was on. For musical veteran like him to dig what we are doing, and like it, has given us the confidence in knowing we are headed in the right direction.

Do you guys have any show coming up?
Yeah. Quite a few actually…as a matter of fact, on
Friday August 29th 11:30pm we have a HUGE show at the Whiskey A Go Go in Hollywood, which we will be headlining. The best way to get all the up to date details, and info regarding our live shows is to goto myspace. com/permanentability.

You guys have a great sound, but what influences you the most when it comes to writing your lyrics?
My lyrics are influenced from pretty much my life experiences and philosophies ranging from sex to loss. But I try not to limit myself. I like to set a vivid lyrical stage for the listener to implement the characters as I he would see them, so the listener can relate to them universally to his own experiences. When I write a song, I want the listener to be haunted by my lyrical hook as well, if they can’t come up to me after a show and say I like this song or that song then I’m not doing my job as a lyricist or a vocalist for that matter. But writing was always a natural form of expression for me, but I must admit it runs in the family. I’m actually related to two famous writers. One is the great writer Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) and the other is Harriet Beecher Stowe. And to be honest, I don’t even think I’ve ever read any of their literature, which I should do. But I still gather inspiration from journals I kept since college that sometimes instantly time warp me back to that period in my life, and flooding me with tons of old emotions and immediate creativity.

What are some of your favorite bands when you were first getting into music? WOW. How much time you got? It’s a long list. I love Hendrix-Wu Tang Clan and any great band that came out of the 90’s who has influenced us. But I gotta specifically mention: the Red Hot Chili Peppers, LL Cool J, Sublime, Rage Against the Machine…all have major influences on our sound, and lyrical ingredients. I was a HUGE Michael Jackson fan growing up, and watching him perform gave me the passion to be a performer. Then I found the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Need I say more?

What are some of your favorite bands as of today?
My favorite bands as of today are: Foo Fighters, Incubus, Linkin Park, TOOL, and a new band called Permanent Ability. But recently I’ve been listening to a lot of older Hip-Hop and Rap, studying how the different MC’s deliver their rhymes making lyrical melodies almost like instruments. This inspires on how I want to flavor my delivery for some of our newer songs I rap in that aren’t on the album, but we play live, and should be available for download later this year. My favorite MC of all time would have to be LL Cool J for his longevity, whose song “Mama Said Knock You Out” inspired me to write the track “The One” where I pay homage to L with a lyrical verse.

What can we be expecting from you guys in the next few months?
Gigging, gigging and more gigging. Pretty much anywhere we can play really. We like to promote like crazy, and right now “From the Womb to Hollywood” is our focus. We need to get our music out there and build an even bigger fan-base. We even have something brewing with ESPN, who is interested in using our music for some Sports Center highlights due to its “raw energy.” Also towards the end of the year we are planning to record new material. But ultimately, we’re just excited and delighted to take the ride wherever it takes us, and hopefully we get to meet the wizard.

As an LA band you have to find some ways to promote better than everyone else to be seen? You guys seem to be doing pretty well, but is there any promoting secrets that you would like to share with me and our readers?
We just let the music speak for itself, and perform with such intensity onstage our whole set which definitely sets us apart form other bands here in LA. But like any business we can’t give away our promoting and marketing strategies cuz they keep us ahead of the competition. If anything we want to set the bar, and promote with originality making us stand out. Meaning, if other bands tried to copy our style of promoting, the public would know that it originated from Permanent Ability. But I will let you in on this, we get creative, are very persistent, and we aint afraid to make mistakes to find out what doesn’t work. We like to think outside the box when it comes reaching new fans with our music giving us a very diverse fan base, and we don’t discriminate.

What do you think of Big Smile Magazine?
I think Big Smile Magazine makes me smile with professionalism, due to their diverse ear and fun questions. Thanks for the opportunity, the interview, and especially the press.

Anything you would like to say to your fans reading this?
Definitely! Thanks for the support, and for the overwhelming response to our new album “From the Womb to Hollywood”…more to BIG things to come we promise…so stay tuned!