In the back of Inman & Perk, looking out onto a brick-walled alley of Gainesville, Georgia, I got to chat with three abstract guys who found their passion in creating alternative music. Love(craft) is an upcoming, local band consisting of Cameron Conner, Graham Dowdy, and Jimmy Weaver who originally found each other within their favorite coffee shop. These young men have developed their sound with inspirations from The 1975, Panic at the Disco, and other of their favorite artists. This mixture of unique ideas unfolds as they collaborate and write songs together that reveals their relaxed and interesting personalities. They have recently participated in North Forsyth’s Tinier Desk Concert and have a Soundcloud featuring their songs “Monsters” and “Abandoned Ship.”

What brought your talents together as a band?

G.D. – It is kind of a funny story, actually. I was here one night, and [Cameron and Jimmy] were doing an acoustic show. I was watching them set up on the stage, and after Cameron asked if I wanted to go smoke a cigarette outside with them. I knew we would be friends ever since.

C.C. – The funny thing was that Graham didn’t even listen to us play. He took us at face value and trusted us to jam with him- little did he know what he was getting into.

How was recording time in a studio? How did that advance Lovecraft’s popularity and uniqueness?

C.C. – It was not the first time we had studio experience. I recorded with The Crash Years, and Jimmy and I have recorded terrible, derpy songs in his room. It was a cool experience to actually make quality stuff the first time we recorded together as a unit since we knew what we were doing.

G.D. – Definitely the best recording experience I have ever had with a band.

C.C. – Recording “Abandoned Ship” was better than “Monsters” because it went a lot smoother, and we had an idea of what we were doing. I do not think recording will ever be bad though. I mean, doing something you love, like playing music, never gets old, and recording quality material makes it even better.

Where was the first venue you played together as Love(craft)? How did you feel during it?

G.D. – We actually haven’t played a show as a band yet.

C.C. – We can talk about the first time we attempted to go to the monkey barrel! That’ll be a good story.

Well, we were supposed to go and play at a bar in Gainesville called the Monkey Barrel, but when we got there the place was actually closed for some holiday. We had everything we needed to play, and our friends were already there to listen to us, so instead we gathered the group of enjoyable people and spontaneously played an acoustic show at my house for the night.

G.D. – That’s the closest we have been to a live show playing our songs.

How would you describe your style of music?

C.C. – I think it is different for each of us.

G.D. – In the finished product I often hear we sound a little like Panic at the Disco

C.C. – I have even heard someone say we have a little Mayday Parade for our song “Monster.”

G.D. – Now, I love Muse which is often a part of my work, and I find myself listening to old soul music that influences the way play and the instruments we use.

C.C. – Jimmy is more about the singer/song writer music. As a drummer, I really focus on music such as Daughter, and This Will Destroy You, and Lydia; songs that have just really good, talented instrumentals.

G.D. – One thing we all have in common is our love for the 1975, and that has a huge influence on all of us. Our band kind of formed around the mutual love for them, so that taste is a major part in how we play.

Where does the inspiration for the songs come from? Who writes the songs?
(ALL)-We all write the songs.

G.D. – It is a collective process.

C.C. – One of us will have an idea, and then we will start playing something. Graham will have an idea, or I’ll just start playing drums, and Jimmy will just have some neat guitar riff or even vocals to add on to it. It just builds up. Each song also sounds unique that way. One cool thing is that we have never written a song the same way twice.

G.D. – For “abandoned ship” I was just like “hey, I have this sound on drums!”

C.C – It was a leap of faith. Graham was like “Guys, this will be cool” and it actually turned out to be awesome. We have all really learned how to work together with one another, and how to trust one another. We all incorporate our own work into our final product.

G.D. – This is by far the best experience I have ever had with a band. We all just know what we are doing.

C.C. – The three of us are like a core. People come and play with us, but it is always just us in the end. We are the epicenter of the group. With a lot of the bands I have been a part of in the past, there was always one person in charge. Now, it is not like that. We all work together which is so convenient.

G.D. – Gosh, I was always that person in my last band. Ha- it was stressful!

How was the Tinier Desk Concert Experience for North Forsyth’s Journalism?

J.W. – It was cool to trip back “crying shame.”

C.C. – Yeah, we took our fastest, most complex, and hardcore song and slowed it down for this. I really thought the different style of the song was great. It took us back to the formation of everything and where we originally started- playing acoustic in an empty room.

G.D. – I liked how informal it was…but the unloading and loading from the parking deck was a pain. Other than that, I loved the experience to play in the classroom.

Where do you think the next step for Lovecraft is?

G.D. – I think we could become famous because we are creating something unique, riding the line of inventive and relatable.

C.C – We are willing to work with together in order to get to the point. It is way easier than it was a few years ago. I can see Lovecraft touring. It is not hard when you do something you love with the people you love and through that you can achieve some level of proverbial fame. It is easier and harder actually because it feels so easy now, but if we want to get noticed it will take some effort.

G.D. – You have to cut through all the noise. Getting found and discover is the hardest thing to do these days, to get found within the noise is almost impossible with all these huge recording labels throwing out huge advertisements to anyone who asks.

C.C. – There was actually a point in time when we tried really hard to stand out, but when we tried we ended up sounding terrible. Then we just started playing what we enjoyed which came much easier. Naturally, the more it sounded like us, the more different it became. Simply by not giving a shit we created an original sound.

G.D. – We all like Panic at the Disco, I like Muse, we both like My Chemical Romance, and they are never pigeonholed into a genre because they change up their sound each album. They produce incredible stuff every time, and we want to be like that. We do not want to be considered a single genre because we like trying so many styles, and we do not want our audience to expect anything except quality music.

C.C. -Whenever you add a border around your life and box yourself in, you just miss out on a lot of opportunities.

Will you be putting some more songs on Soundcloud anytime soon?

C.C. – Oh gosh, we have a whole list. We are first trying to finish up our EP, and record some more songs and find some new things to tie in. Like once Graham and I were in this music store and found two pianos on opposite sides of the room and just started playing. Stuff like that gives us some ideas of what to do next.

G.D. – We are just waiting on recording time since my dad is a producer. The only problem is that we have to wait until he is ready or not busy for us to record since it is free for us. It is a really long process on top of that.

C.C. – We are focusing on quality not quantity for our songs. I would rather wait and release music when people will be like “shit, this is cool” rather than being the band that has an album on a Memorex CD after being together for a week.  We will definitely have some new material being up soon though.