I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to do an interview with Marshall Lee aka Ladybug Landslide. Check out his music!

Myspace.com/ladybuglandslide

Hello, how are you doing today?
I’m doing okay. Just wrapped up a photoshoot last night for some new promos and now working on some Facebook ads.

Can you introduce yourself and your alias?
My name is Marshall. Ladybug Landslide is my acoustic/indie/alternative band.

Ladybug Landside is an interesting name. How did you come up with it?
When I was in High School one of my best friends wanted to start a really heavy band with a sissy name and we decided on Ladybug Landslide. A year or two later he
got a rare form of cancer at the age of 21. He fought with the cancer and beat it then it came back and he beat it again. When I started this in 2007 I needed a name and this was the first one that came to mind.
I wanted to pay homage to him in a way basically by remembering the good times before life started getting crazy.

What instruments do you use for your solo project? Do you play them all yourself?
Normally I just use acoustic guitar but there are some songs that I have recorded full band and when I do that I play everything myself such as bass electric guitar and drums.
I played drums for 8 years prior to this so that is the easy part.

When did you get interested in the music business?
I wouldn’t say I got interested in the business really, it was more just the art aspect of it. When I was in 6th grade I’d always act like I was playing drums on my school books and desk to Green Day songs
and eventually I got a drum set when I was 14. After that I didn’t go to college and went straight into music pretty much full time, touring, recording and playing shows.

Who were your inspirations growing up?
Snow days, skateboarding and the night sky.

Currently, you are unsigned. Do you wish to become signed any time soon, if so to which label?
If you had asked me 5 years ago I would have said “Hell yes!” However with the industry so saturated with music right now I almost feel I’d be better off with just a public relations person
and an investor. I’m not saying that if a label called I’d turn them down but they would have to offer me a good deal. If I had tochoose a label though it’d be someone like
Tooth and Nail Records, Equal Vision Records, Hopeless Records or something like that.

What are your goals for the future?
To keep myself from going even more insane on a daily basis from all the crap involved in the music industry, to put out another record. I also want to move back to Alaska or move out to Washington state in the next year or 2.

How did you start playing drums for Backseat Goodbye’s live concerts?
I met Chad from Backseat Goodbye in 2007. We had played a few shows together in Indiana and places like that. Somehow we became friends
and we did a month long tour together with Backseat and Ladybug in August of 2008. We were sitting in the car driving to a show on that tour when he showed me
some of his then newer music. I told him if he ever needed a drummer I’d be down for it. Fast forward a year. I got a call from Chad while he was on tour sometime in mid 2009.
He said he was going to get a band together for live shows and wanted to know if I was still interested. We did the first full band BG tour in October of 2009 and since then we’ve
played three tours and put out another record. When he recorded the new cd of his “The Good Years” he had me play drums for it. It went really smooth because he just said
“Okay man, I just want this song to be like this..” and he’d tell me what he wanted to hear and I’d play it. I’m happy I was able to be a part of what is his best release yet.

What is your favorite thing about touring, whether with your solo project or Backseat Goodbye?
I’d have to say that it’s watching cars pass while we are driving through another state hundreds of miles from home and knowing that those people are going to work and
doing their normal daily thing while I’m seeing the country and doing what I love every night. I feel super lucky that I’ve been able to even get as far as I have
and it’s almost like a drug to me, touring that is.

For those who never listened to your music, how would you describe the sound?
Melodic rock minus the band.

What else do you like to do, besides write and play music?
Right now I’m working on a book. I’m 27,000 words into it right now and hoping to have it finished by the end of the year. It’s a fiction book and that’s all I’ll say for now.
I also love to snowboard and be out in the mountains and forest. Recently though it’s been mostly sitting at the apartment and working on promotion stuff.

Any last things you want to say to your fans or newcomers?
Obviously I’d like to thank my fans for being awesome and you guys for the interview. To newcomers…I don’t know really. I hope you guys can grasp what I’m trying to do with my music.

I’d like to say thank you for taking your time to answer these questions! It’s greatly appreciated. (:
THe interview was a nice break from my work so thank you!