By Nicholas Jason Lopez
San Fernando Valley, Calif. punkers No Parents will surely look back on this year with big accomplishments behind them.
On Sep. 16, 2019, they released the music video for “Middleground,” which featured skateboards, head-banging, crowd-surfing and an elongated sofa on a halfpipe because reasons.
Less than two weeks later, their EP with the same name was put out via via GRNDVW. It was recorded at Balboa Studios with help from Danny Nogueiras. No Parents also played Riot Fest and toured with Plague Vendor to support the ‘Middleground’ release.
The Music Bugle recently spoke with Vocalist Zoe Lambert about recent happenings.
Music Bugle – How would you describe the experience of playing Riot Fest and the tour with Plague Vendor overall?
Zoe Lambert – Riot Fest was an absolute dream! We were touring with Descendents at that time, which made it 1000 times more fun. I found an old interview of ours asking what band we would love to tour with and we all simultaneously said “Descendents,” so for that to become a reality, we were ecstatic.
Music Bugle – How would you describe your music to someone that’s never heard of you?
Zoe Lambert – We sound like a good party with fun-loving people. Distortion & melody. We love ya!
Music Bugle – What’s something people should know about the band?
Zoe Lambert – Our live show is epic. We want to meet you “IRL” and not just online! The goal is to have as much fun as possible! We’ve been trying to communicate this through recording. I think this year we have with ‘Middleground’!
Music Bugle – Who are some of your musical influences?
Zoe Lambert – We always love to say our influences come from things that arent music, like food and friendship, but if we have to identify some specific bands, I’d have to say vegan fried chicken sandwiches.
Music Bugle – What are your thoughts on the “Middleground” song? What made you come up with that as the name?
Zoe Lambert – I wrote this song thinking of how people need to meet in the middle.
Music Bugle – Describe your experiences shooting the “Middleground” music video? Did it come out how you hoped it would?
Zoe Lambert – This was the first music video we did where everything was figured out for us ahead of time. It was really fun to just show up to a skate party and play our songs. It came out exactly as we hoped!
Music Bugle – What are your future plans?
Zoe Lambert – Right now, we are continuing to play around Los Angeles while we wait for a tour to line up, then we’ll release new music as things happen for us.
Music Bugle – What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned together in your time as a band?
Zoe Lambert – Being in a band is like a relationship and if you don’t voice your opinion or how you feel, it wont work. You gotta put in a ton of love and you’ll get it back!
Music Bugle – What’s your biggest frustration with the music industry and how can it be fixed?
Zoe Lambert – I think that support bands are undervalued. I know bands who make big guarantees every night and pay the support trash. Huge bummer. These bands work the hardest and if we don’t raise the standard, a lot of great music will never get to see the road.
Music Bugle – What’s your most meaningful song or set of lyrics that you quote the most?
Zoe Lambert – “I’m fucking in an In-N-Out bathroom, I’m in-n-out in this bathroom.”
