LET’S TALK LUCID

The first in-person NPZ interview with Auburn metal band, LUCID, to discuss their debut album, inspirations, and AI

Jan 25, 2025

NPZ #3 — JANUARY 2025 — PAGE 8

January 11, 2025

I recruited Nico to come with for my first in-person band interview, and we pull up to the Lucid HQ. We’re greeted by Gio, and welcomed into a homey studio/mancave most fitting for the young “mountain metal” band.

LEFT to RIGHT: NATE SALADO, DRUMS, 20; CALEB GREEN, LEAD GUITAR, 19; GIOVANNI/GIO TAYLOR, VOCALS + GUITARS, 19; NORSE HOKANSON, BASS + BACKING VOCALS, 19 (CALEB AND NORSE = NOT BROTHERS)

INTRODUCTIONS

FAVORITE METALLICA SONG:
Nate: “The Shortest Straw”
Caleb: “Creeping Death”
Gio: “Hit the Lights” or “Whiplash”
Norse: “Orion” or “Harvester of Sorrow”

FROM: Auburn/Meadow Vista
Been together for 3 years, starting with Gio and Caleb after they reunited as friends in guitar class, later recruiting Nate from their class who had a drum kit, and their friend Cooper for bass. When the latter departed (on good terms), Norse responded to their Instagram ad. They auditioned him 2 weeks before a show—“july 31st, 2023” as Norse would precisely recall—they hit it off, and “the rest is history”

MUSICAL INSPIRATIONS: Megadeth, Death, Slayer, Lamb of God, Pantera, Testament, Norse: “doom metal shit”

WHAT DID YOU EXPERIENCE/LEARN THAT YOU’LL TAKE INTO THE NEXT YEAR?

Gio: “Taking our time a little bit more…we had set up the show for the album release before we even had it recorded!” Caleb: “Instead of throwing all the songs together then kinda working it out, we’ve been taking it way slower”; Nate: “Just putting more thought into it.”; Norse: “Just, like, structuring it a lot better.”

ADDRESSING THE COVER ART AND USE OF AI

I ask who made the cover art for their album: Gio, using procreate (#procreatenation). Then confirm using AI for their single covers, Gio explains at the time, they weren’t super worried about the covers for singles. Like their first, “Final Assault”, they thought the generated image “kinda looks cool, whatever” (Gio) and “it’ll work” (Caleb). For their other single, “Beyond the Grave”, Gio: “I thought it was pretty cool, because it’s a little creepy what AI thinks beyond the grave looks like…But from here on out it’s not gonna be AI.”

The band seems in agreement to have changed their minds about it, open at first, but feeling AI is lazy, easy to tell, “looks a little shit” (Caleb), and “there’s no reason for us to” (Nate); now preferring the more personal touch from real art, like the silhouettes of the band in Gio’s original illustration.

*The Last of Us* album cover, illustrated by Giovanni Taylor

In closing, Gio also points, “AI art is putting so many…really good artists in the shade, because it’s so easy”

“We will say one thing that is 100% sure, we will never use AI for our songwriting...we know a couple of bands that have done that...for us, for Lucid, that’s just not who we are, we like to write our songs.”

[Click here to read about the album release show, pg. 7]

THE LAST OF US ALBUM CONCEPT/THEME?

Caleb: “Just a bunch of songs we were working on.” There are some “doomsday” or “after warfare” themes in the lyrics. One personal perspective comes in their latest single, “Primitive Destruction” (pg. 1), inspired by their wildfire-heavy surroundings—Gio: “All of our houses have almost burnt down, it’s every summer.” Along with the sudden fires in LA, Gio: “Those people aren’t really used to it.”; Nate: “They’re not prepared.”

“RED DAWN”

Inspired by the movie Red Dawn (1984)—despite writing parts of the lyrics, Nate still hadn’t seen it—movie guy Gio gives a synopsis: “WWIII-ish”, a small town gets attacked by foreign entities (Soviet/Communist in typical 80s Red Scare dogma fashion), and a group of “kids-to-adults” liberate the townspeople. The song is “loosely” inspired by the perspective of one of the kids, with an opening sample: “All that hate’s gonna burn you up” and the kid’s response: “It keeps me warm”; focusing on the character arc of a kid going “a little crazy” as he seeks to avenge his family.

“BEYOND THE GRAVE”

(warning: discussions of suicide) The song’s lyrical narrative is “about a person feeling really out of place in life, and hoping they’ll find peace somewhere else” (Gio); the character takes his own life, encounters a vivid hellscape, and at the end feels regret as he is laid to rest. They explain drawing from people’s stories who survived suicide and said they’d felt immediate regret in the moment.

“THE LAST OF US”

At first, I picked up a political slant in the song—with lyrics like brainwashing and censorship. Gio explains: “I wouldn’t say it’s more political, just in my eyes, the last thing I want is to not be able to say what’s on my mind, especially in music. I feel like it’s a lot easier to censor what people are thinking, especially now [having] social media—and there’s for sure stuff that needs to be censored—but I don’t think every little thing needs to be.”

Jury’s out if Caleb or Norse came up with “The Last of Us”, as the debate continued past the interview. Caleb confirms partial reference to the video game (we stuck around while they played TLOU 2 afterwards), but also “has to do with a lot of metal dying out, us being kind of the last of the metal bands, and a dying scene.” They do agree the scene seems on it’s way up now, Gio: “When we wrote the song, it was definitely not looking super good” and especially in their immediate area. Norse: “A lot of Sacramento and Bay, hardcore is like-” Nate jumps in: “That’s what’s hot. And that’s what made it tough for us to book certain venues.”

Despite being @lucid_thrash on Instagram—Norse: “because @lucid was taken”—they explain not wanting to be strictly “thrash” and throw around words like “heavy”, “death”, “groove”, feeling a departure from “straight down the line thrash” as they developed as musicians. They also face some genre gatekeepers or critics, Gio: “As soon as you start to change a little bit they’re like, ‘aw what’s up with that’…but it’s kind of cool cause we’re still in the beginning stages of being in a band so no one can really say anything.”

Going into their next EP that’ll be “a little heavier and more technical than anything we’ve done before”, they may expect more “this ain’t even thrash” comments. While they take their time on that, LUCID has several shows lined up, and a guitar raffle with Auburn Strings (more info pg. 17)!

MOUNTAIN METAL, NEW GENRE?

Definition: Lucid and Volrahven. The band takes a moment to thank Volrahven, especially their close friend, drummer Israel “Izzy” Hawkins who recently passed away last December. Gio: “He was the one who kind of made us a band. He helped us with literally everything.” Caleb: “He was a great guy. He helped us so much in the beginning, we can’t thank him enough.” Their closing instrumental track, “Raven” is dedicated to him.