1. Please list all of your members and their roles in the band:
Randy Blount – Vocals / Rhythm Guitar
Mike Pain – Lead Guitar
Robert Gresham –Bass Guitar
John Aragonez – Drums
2. For starters what bands were you guys in prior to this one?
Randy - “Tonight Shall Rise”
Mike – Blood Clot
Rob – “Tonight Shall Rise”
John- “Soulsik” “Waiting for decay” “Day Zero” “Sick Life”
3. How long has the band been around?
The band has been around since the early 90’s
4. What’s the origin of the name and have you had to change the name?
The bands origin is orange county more specific Long Beach. Yes we had to switch from Vagrant to Long beach Vagrant due to another band/business threatening a law suit for using their “name”.
5. Who writes your songs? What are the main themes or topics for most of your songs and do you think these topics will change over time?
We all have our hand in writing, however our current material was mainly composed by Mike Pain(Lead Guitar). We are a horror based band and have been so for quite some time, we believe we will remain along these lines as well. Our interests in horror movies inspire a lot of the lyrics that we use in our music. If we ever run dry from that, we can always get inspiration from real life horror. Life is a hundred times worse than any horror movie that exists today. So while the sheep are instagraming and facebooking what they ate for dinner last night, we will be on stage somewhere screaming at the top of our lungs that the wings of mayhem are always lurking.
6. What bands are currently inspiring the music you’re making?
Together we have a wide variety of bands that we are inspired by but name a few – Slipknot, As I lay Dying, Lamb of God, Killswitch Engage, King Diamond, Ghost, Sevendust, Nothing more ….etc
7. Was there a particular band/artist or concert that inspired you to start a band?
Of course we were all inspired by numerous bands/artists however, for all of us it has been the love of music and ability to perform in front of others showing them our perspective of it.
8. What do you do to prepare for a show? Any flexing, exercise, etc?
Practice, practice, practice!! Some of us do some light stretching and prepare mentally, our drummer (John) will actually go for a light run to get limbered up.
9. What has been the biggest highlight of the bands career so far?
The band over the years has had a lot of highlights from playing alongside of bands that we grew up listening to, to playing at the same historical venues that our favorite bands growing up played on. By far the highlight of our careers has been writing our own music and playing it for others to hear, seeing the positive effect it has on them. When we see and hear fans singing along and praising our music there is no bigger highlight.
10. If you could tour with any bands, past or present, who would they be and why?
That would be a long list but to name a few - Slipknot, As I lay Dying, Lamb of God, Killswitch Engage, King Diamond, Ghost, Sevendust, Nothing more. These are the bands that have inspired us, it would be quite an accomplishment and honor being able to play with these type bands.
11. Is there anything you would like to add?
We would like to thank you for the interest in our music and our band. We appreciate the work you do, bringing exposure to bands and their works. Keep up the great work. As for us, please keep up to date by checking our website www.longbeachvagrant.com and facebook account Facebook.com/longbeachvagrant…. We have a new cd coming out along with our first music video. We will also be hitting the road in late spring – early summer headlining a (4) state tour. Thanks again.