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Long Island Enertainment
The Light of LUXX
By Jacqueline Bonura
Rock 'n' roll that makes you bleed inside and scream at the top of your lungs. A sound that stirs up all of your emotions and allows you to feel into the pit of your soul. The sound that I am speaking of is that of the talented band LUXX. This rock group has a diverse sound that ranges from Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison to modem bands such as Creed and Godsmack. The band began five years ago and is continuing to kick-ass on the live rock circuit today. The group consists of four talented musicians that have a unique style and a diverse back round. The lead vocals are those of Katrina Chester, the guitar is strummed by lan Hatton, the drums are beat by Dave Silver, and the bass is played by Beni Selzer.
I had the pleasure of inter-viewing LUXX and seeing them perform live at the well-known rock club "Lamour" lo-cated in Brooklyn, New York. And now for a personal look into the life of LUXX.
Interview before the show:
L.I.E.'s Jacqueline:
What brought you together as a group? What made you be-come one?
lan:
Basically I was staying with a friend in New York and I came here to see what was going on. I wasn't particularly looking to do anything when I first got here. I went to a bar in New York and Katrina was playing in a band. I was just blown away and I started pursuing her to see what she was doing. After a couple of months we got together and started writing and it clicked. We came together as a band in about three months.
Katrina:
I knew Dave from playing in New York. We all quit are jobs and that was it. We didn't have any money or anything, we just had to do it. lan: It all just fell together, it fell into place.
L.I.E.'s Jacqueline:
As a band, who were your greatest musical influences?
Dave:
The reason I started playing drums is because I saw Buddy Rich.
lan:
I was brought up more on the blues. I listened to Freddie King, and all the greats like Beck and Hendrix.
Beni:
I'd probably say the Doors and Jim Morrison.
Katrina:
I think my biggest influence was my Dad because he was why I really found music at all. The first singer I saw was when I was five years old and it was Judy Garland. That was it. I was five-years old when I said to my mom, "That's it, that's what I want to do with the rest of my life." I found so many pieces of so many different genres.
L.I.E.'s Jacqueline:
What do you enjoy the most about performing?
Katrina:
Getting off! That's my favorite part. I get oft' on these guys. There could be nobody out there. I have to feel that and the only people in the world that could make me feel that way are these three guys and if one of them is off there depriving me of getting off. Dave: This is the way it works with the band; I play to Beni and Beni plays to lan and lan plays to Katrina and Katrina gives it back to me. When we play with the energy between us and then when the crowd gives it back, that's when it hits. It's like having sex with hundreds of people.
lan:
When you've got a good crowd — that's the best part of it.
L.I.E.'s Jacqueline:
How did you come up with the name LUXX?
Katrina:
A friend of ours I told him we wanted something that represented the band, we are all pretty spiritual people and it means "light" in Latin. I think the actual Latin dictionary term of it means light bulb, but it didn't mean that to us That energy that transpires on stage actually feels like a light, it connects, that's that light, it's LUXX.
L.I.E.'s Jacqueline:
How long have you been involved in creating music? Have you always been around it?
Katrina:
Yeah, all of us, all of our lives. It's a gift. Anyone who says it's not a gift is lying.
L.I.E.'s Jacqueline:
What do you see for the future of the group? What are your goals and visions?
Katrina:
Touring and making records. We're in the pro-cess right now of gathering our army of believers, right from the beginning with the Street Team to Paul Geary our manager and to more people that are getting on board now to finding the exact right label and then spreading it all over the world. We want to tour, we are a touring band, we like to make records, but personally I think that the four of us get off more on playing live.L.I.E.'s Jacqueline:
Where have your toured?
Katrina:
we have toured the whole country, Korea and England.
L.IE.'s Jacqueline:
What do you feel are your stron-gest points as a group?
lan:
Live shows.
Katrina:
Our friendship.
Beni:
That's one of the things that make our live shows so good, we connect.
Katrina:
We're like brothers and sisters because we are pretty mean to each other, but I like that. L.I.E.'s Jacqueline: What allows you and pushes you to be so diverse in your sound?
lan:
Everyone's individual back round. All the best bands have very different back rounds. Bands like Led Zepplin, individually they are all into very differ-ent things.
Katrina:
We're all from different places.
Dave:
It allows you to be more innovative.
Katrina:
None of us had any one idol. That is a com-mon ground that we all have. I think that we're the type of band that could go into studio and whatever our heart and soul tells us to write we write. It's real.
L.I.E.'s Jacqueline:
Here is a hypothetical for fun. If you were not playing music, if that was not an option and there was no such thing as music, what would you do?
Dave:
Nothing, probably digging holes!
lan:
If there was no music, I'd be sitting in the pub.
Beni:
I'd be in the pub, chasing girls, and maybe play a round of golf.
Katrina:
I would have gone to school for archeology. I love archeology. I'd be in Egypt digging!
L.I.E.'s Jacqueline:
What do you feel brought you this far?
lan:
Pure madness.
Dave:
The street team.
Katrina:
Part of the reason why the band is so connected is because we have such great believers in the band. I don't know why, I think on a business angle it's because we don't take no for an answer. We don't wait for other people to do things for us, we do it ourselves and we get our street team and they do it. I think it's determination and not giving up.
L.I.E.'s Jacqueline:
What inspires you to write your lyrics?
Katrina:
My f***ed up brain! My lyrics are f***ed up! I think I'm two different people and I don't think those two people have ever met and that's why I'm O.K. If they ever meet I will not be held accountable! I don't know how it happens, it just comes out. A lot of people can write, it's just because anything is new because it's from you. No-body else can write like that because your you. I love Emily Dickinson, she is the darkest poet ever, I love to read her stuff.
L.I.E.'s Jacqueline:
How did your father influence you Katrina as to where you are today?
Katrina:
He was always there to tell me not to get into the business, he thought it would be horrible for his little girl. When I was five I decided I wanted to sing & I just bugged him, I did commercials as a kid. I just kept bugging him.
Showtime
LUXX enters the stage with a presence I have person-ally never had the pleasure to see before. I witnessed roy-alty entering their palace. The crowd gazed upon them with wonder, excitement and hunger. The band begins to play and I immediately become consumed by their sound and lyrics. I felt like every emotion and feeling that I had hidden in the depths of my soul was released. LUXX per-formed with power, anger, poetry and determination. They were up on the stage as one, not four. This band ,is rock n' roll in the true sense of the word. I can see the light!
Post-show interview with Katrina:
L.I.E.'s Jacqueline:
What type of musical training did you have before LUXX began?
Katrina:
We'll I never really wrote. Now I am really writing. I look back at the stuff I wrote before, I don't think I ever really wrote before LUXX. I feel that LUXX was the begin-ning of my life. I was in a cover band for a year and that really helped me. "Soul of Me" comes from a lot of different parts. I was a producers performer. I had three producers that found me. I was a different person before this. I was very eclectic in music and I believe that everything I did I had to do to get with LUXX. All of our different back rounds bring a lot to the band. Dave is an R&B rock drummer, lan is a Blues rock guitar player, and Beni has got all different influences.
L.I.E.'s Jacqueline:
Where does Blake Foster come into the lyrics?
Katrina:
Blake is my best friend, we met six years ago. She is like a poet, she has since had cancer and she is now in remission and I have been going through it with her for the past two years. It's been horrible, but she's O.K. now and everything is going to be O.K. I think when we met she brought a lot out of me, like "My Indian", that is on the first album and it is written about when my father died, it is the first song I ever wrote in my life. Me and Blake locked ourselves in a hotel room in NYC for three days and she would ask me about what happened that night, she wrote everything down, and then she would tell me to sing it. She was bringing this out of me and it started everything for me. After "My Indian" I wrote "Inside Your Head", a classic LUXX song, then I wrote "Invade Me", those are two of the best songs I ever wrote in my life. It just started it for me and I love her to death. It's because of LUXX that I found her.
L.I.E.'s Jacqueline:
What is your mantra?
Katrina:
Never give up, do what you love and follow your heart.
Post-interview:
The night is coming to an end and the sun is preparing to rise. I had a wonderful experience tonight in my intro-duction to the light, love, and sound of LUXX. They should be noted for their talent and sheer determination. I wish you all the best, guys!