EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Brian Lopez

February 22. 2012 | By Hillary Smith


Brian Lopez is one hell of a trooper. At twelve, he picked up a guitar and chased his dreams — seventeen years later, he made it. With his first ever solo album, Ultra, set to be released on March 6th, Lopez will be starting tour on March 12th and beginning it all. Or according to him, continuing it all. Read why it feels so damn good to finally be where he is, and why it means so much to him. Oh, and if you haven’t checked out his music yet, do that too because you might just get excited about this tour as well.

The Owl Mag: I heard that you also work as a part-time teacher, how/why did you get  into this?

Brian Lopez: Not too long ago. I’ve been certified for a couple of years. I started doing it a lot once I came back from France. I started trying to leave other odd jobs. I like teaching, I’m good with people, I like being in that mentor position. Right now I’m teaching medical office support.

The Owl Mag: How long did it take you to put together Ultra?

Brian Lopez: I put out two live EPs within a span of a year, kind of prefacing this album. Two years from the start of doing a solo project, it’s a pretty new project. I’ve been done with the album for a year.

The Owl Mag: Your first solo tour is coming up pretty soon, how do you feel about that?

Brian Lopez: I’ve toured in Europe, now it’s my turn for the U.S., and it’s really exciting because I’ve been working my ass off for ten years doing everything. I even went to music school. I feel like a lot of the hard work is paying off. The fact that I’m doing it off my own name, no fancy tricks or anything, just me, is pretty exciting.

The Owl Mag: You say you’ve been at this for quite a while, how long have you been playing for?

Brian Lopez: I’ve been playing guitar since I was 12, I’m 29 now, so 17 years.

The Owl Mag: What is one of the weirdest things to happen at one of your shows?

Brian Lopez: [Laughs quietly] Well in France we had a bass player’s birthday and our friend in the band had a stripper come out of a cake in the middle of our show.

The Owl Mag: What is your process on song writing?

Brian Lopez: I guess it’s just taking advantage of inspiration. Once you get it all out of you, just go on with your life until it comes back again. You’ll go for a while with no ideas, then all the sudden for a week you’ll have too many ideas but you gotta take the time and get the bits and pieces down. I like to write the music and melodies first, the lyrics always come later. The melody can transcend language. It doesn’t matter what language you speak, a melody can always touch you.

The Owl Mag: I read that you are a Beatles fan, if you could meet any of the four Beatles, who would you meet?

Brian Lopez: I’m a big, big John Lennon fan, I suppose I’d love to meet him, but I think I would rather just meet George Harrison. I think it would just be more of a pleasant meeting. He seems like such a chill dude to talk to and I’ve always loved his guitar playing, he seems like he’d be very insightful. I don’t know what Ringo would say…maybe I should just talk with him because I really have no f-ing clue what that guy would say.

The Owl Mag: Is there anything you will never do before a show?

Brian Lopez: Well [laughs], I definitely can’t smoke weed before a show or I might end up playing TV commercials for two hours. Usually I’ll have a drink or two to loosen up before shows. Not that I’m an alcoholic or anything, it’s just a way to loosen up before a show.

The Owl Mag: What is your favorite part of what you do?

Brian Lopez: I love traveling and meeting people day to day, meeting faces, and hearing stories. Fellow humans are so different from person to person, country to country. I like taking the time to understand different people from different places. You can touch people and heal them with music, sometimes I forget that I’m writing a song for my reasons but it may be a completely different song for someone else. I love how music does that.

 

Tour Dates
03/30/12 – Club Congress – Tucson, AZ
03/31/12 – Crescent Ballroom – Phoenix, AZ
04/02/12 – Belly Up – San Diego, CA
04/03/12 – Echoplex – Los Angeles, CA
04/05/12 – The Fillmore – San Francisco, CA
04/06/12 – WOW Hall – Eugene, OR
04/07/12 – The Media Club – Vancouver, BC
04/08/12 – Aladdin Theater – Portland, OR
04/09/12 – The Crocodile – Seattle, WA
04/11/12 – Neurolux – Boise, ID
04/13/12 – Belly Up – Aspen, CO
04/14/12 – Bluebird Theater – Denver, CO
04/15/12 – Santa Fe Brewing – Sante Fe, NM

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