light beam rider
Light Beam Rider, originally from Corinth, Mississippi, has released A Place to Sleep Among the Creeps as its follow up to 2013’s Mississippi after sitting on the completed album for over a year.
Lead singer Thomas Sweat spoke with us on where the band is at now and what the move to Nashville meant for them.
“We actually recorded [A Place to Sleep Among the Creeps] in Mississippi before we moved,” said Sweat. “It just took a while to get out because of management stuff, the member changes, and getting a tour ready.”
The group has since recorded more work that they plan to release.
“We actually recorded an EP in January,” said Sweat.
The EP marks their first time recording outside of their home state.
“We recorded that in Nashville,” said Sweat. “We’ve got this young guy from Belmont mixing it who’s super hungry and wanting to do something awesome to pump up his résumé We’ve just got all these people who are hungry and wanting to do something new and interesting.”
Surrounding themselves with young blood was a refreshing change for Sweat.
“Recording in Mississippi, we did it with Winn [McElroy] and he’s done it a million times,” said Sweat. “He didn’t really have the fire that this new young dude has.”
The EP was recorded at Dark Horse Institute in Nashville thanks to “some random free studio time through [the band’s] manager.”
“We thought it was gonna be a chance to get some demos done, didn’t really have anything prepared,” said Sweat. “Once we heard the quality of the stuff and the thousands of dollars we could save, we’d spend ten hours in the studio and then come home and work on stuff all night trying to get it ready. It was chaos but we ended up getting six songs done, so that’s pretty cool.”
With six tracks put down and their record just over a month old, the band has not yet decided what they’ll do with the material.
“We’re definitely going to release an EP, but it might be a split with someone else with a few of the songs on it,” said Sweat. “We’re just ahead of the game right now. We don’t know what we’re gonna do but we have something to release at the end of the year.”
Sweat attributes where they are now largely to the impact moving to Nashville had on them.
“We wouldn’t have pushed ourselves as much if we didn’t move here,” said Sweat. “I see so many shows every week and I’m like, ‘Damn I want to do something like that or better than that.’ You really have to find a way to set yourself apart in this city.”
Light Beam Rider will host their official album release party at Proud Larrys’ on March 31 supported by Holy Ghost Electric Show and Delta Springs.
