LovelyBones Takeover Week: Artist Interview [Part Two]

Day-Four of the ‘LovelyBones Takeover Week’ we are going to continue to introduce you to the duo with another cosmic collection of questions. These two have been hard at work these past three days and we are ecstatic to know more about these anatomically abnormal aliens.

Lauryn and Craig Labanow, Mr. Lovely & Mrs. Bones, or collectively known as LovelyBones, is a San Antoinio, Texas-based married duo who create maniacal and out-of -this-world dance music. Creating supernova-like bass-lines, otherworldly wobbles, with bone-rattling results, they are solidifying their place on this planet as their new home. The two interstellar individuals are more than just producers; they are parents, veterans, role-models, ultimately they are arriving in peace. Get ready to break a leg, crack your knuckles, and break your necks.
Please welcome LovelyBones back into to the storm for Part Two.

Q1: Mrs. Bones, your tattoos have so many stories! How many do you have? Your neck ink is my favorite for sure, how did you decide on that?

A1: Honestly I have lost count on how many tattoos I have. I have two sleeves, my neck, my shoulders, my legs, my ribs and my foot tattooed. Most of my tattoos are geared towards my family mostly and things I enjoy in life. For my right sleeve for example is all things related to my little family, like my son’s names, DOB and Mr. Lovely and my anniversary date. My neck was one I have always wanted and I love all things Victorian gothic style which includes dark elements with jewels which is where my neck design came into play.

Q2: How’s the cattle country where you live?

A2: Mrs. Bones was born and raised in Texas where Mr. Lovely was born and raised in Arizona. Texas is such a big and amazing state, the music, the food, the people and the weather. Texas has lakes, rivers, water parks, beaches, amusement parks and more. When people say ‘everything is bigger in Texas‘ they mean it.
Mr. Lovely– I love Texas, we have done nothing but grow, and create positive friendships since we have moved here. I do miss the Arizona mountains, and being so close to snowboarding, but I wouldn’t trade moving to Texas for anything. Its really been the best for Lauryn and myself, as well as our children.

Q3: Where do you guys go to snow board?

A3: We used to live in Northern Arizona and lived 20 minutes away from Sunrise Ski Resort so we would snowboard all the time. But now living in Texas the closest place to snowboard is 10 hours away in New Mexico. We plan to go to Denver next month in hopes to snowboard at least once.

Q4: What DAW do you use? Favorite plugins? Sound packs? Equipment? What is your studio setup vs dream studio setup?

A4: We have Ableton 10, and we love it. We have some buddies that use FL and they love that too, so I’m sure its just personal preference at this point in technology. We really have been using the Fab Filter bundle for everything, along with some others like Shaperbox, Serum, Trash2, and a few others. We really have been finding a love for SPAN recently as well which has really helped us start balancing our mixes way better. As for the studio, We really just want a space to set up our computer, monitors and some midi keyboards, along with a mic. That’s really all we need, and
hopefully moving into our new house next month we will be able to achieve that. Right now we are just on a laptop and some V-Moda Headphones.

Q5: What was both of your favorite sets you ever played? What has been your favorite shows you’ve gone to?

A5: Mrs. Bones-I would say both Disco Donnie shows we have played were both amazing. We opened for Steve Oaki, Lucii and Deorro. This show was absolutely amazing and a lot of our fans showed up early to watch our set. We really enjoy Freaky Deaky every year which is all Halloween themed and multi-genre.

Mr. Lovely– We have played some pretty awesome shows, but I would say the DirySnatcha and Rico Act show was my favorite. Everything just went right at that show, plus everyone’s energy was so awesome. My favorite show we have been too might be a tie between Sun City 2015, and Bassrush AZ 2018. Sun City was just an overall amazing festival, but Bassrush was the first electronic show I took my sister too, and I feel like it was really life changing for her. Pretty awesome feeling when you get to show someone you love, something you love, and then they love it too.

Q6: If you could give advice to people on relationships in the EDM scene, practicing music or not, what would it be?

A6: Mrs. Bones-Make sure you trust one another and trust the process. You want to be able to trust your partner and know where you guys stand as a couple. Don’t let other people in your relationship and live for each other. If you want to conquer the world together make sure you guys do it without the opinions of other people. If you love each other, shout it from the rooftops.
Mr. Lovely– I feel like trust overall is super important. I think you should be able to understand each other’s strengths and weaknesses and be able to understand that while no one is perfect, you are each putting everything you have into making each other happy. I like to think of two warriors standing back to back, sometimes you will be attacked and you have to be ready to defend each other at all costs. Demons will come knocking, but true love will always win.

Q7: I feel like there are a lot of artists who propagate on sacrilegious symbolism. How does LovelyBones express death and creepiness better or more accurately than other other artists who promote satanic symbolism?

A7: You know we have had this discussion a lot lately. Art is art, and expression is expression. Who are we to tell people how to express there emotions into the world. We may not agree with it, but that’s okay. We just want to put love out there, and sometimes love just means accepting that you aren’t going to agree. If artists use satanic symbolism we usually don’t stick around for the sets, but that doesn’t mean we done respect them or love them for who they are. As for us, we do use skeletons and death as our main aspect, but we try to stay as fun as we can. The skeletons are as
we explained earlier a representation of us as raw as we can be, and death is a part of life. The alien thing is kind of play on the fact that I Mr. Lovely am super terrified of aliens. My dad let me and my cousins watch this movie called ‘Fire in the Sky‘ when we were kids. Needless to say my dad wasn’t allowed to babysit after that.

Q8: I know you guys are Harry Potter fans. If you could master 3 spells, what would they be?

A8: Mrs. Bones– The three spells I would master would be the three unforgivable curses, Imperious Curse, Cruciatus Curse and Killing Curse. I am definitely a Slytherin and would need to master these curses to survive.
Mr. Lovely- I actually read the books so, and was the biggest fan. I still love them, but not like when i was a kid. If i would most certainly be in Gryffindor. Spells… there are so many, I would just want to be the best wizard I could be i guess. Being an Aurora would be pretty cool.

Q9: The push to decriminalize drugs is to help people with pain and depression. Do you think drugs could also cause depression? What demographic of people have you experienced having more counts of depression? And of drug abuse?

A9: I think there is such a thing as people who take too many drugs and that can cause depression and cause drug abuse. There is a fine line between socially doing drugs and doing drugs every day where it causes you to not be able to function. Personal responsibility is absolutely the key here. We hope people that decide to do drugs do it as recreational and not to the point of it messing with their mental health. If you or someone you know has a problem with drug abuse please call your local hotline for more help.

Q10: What are yall’s favorite and least favorite parts of EDM culture?

A10: Our favorite part of the EDM culture is the PLUR aspect of it. The peace, love, unity and respect part of it. You can literally go into a crowd at a show and ask for a hug or gum and receive it like nothing. You can make long term friends in the scene and just enjoy music together. The least favorite thing about the EDM culture is how people can take advantage of other people who are too nice or too kind. People who take advantage of people sexually or physically is definitely the downfall of our scene.

Q11: How would you describe the music scene in Texas?

A11: The music scene here in Texas is one of the best in my opinion. You have Austin, TX which is the music capitol of the world which also hosts SXSW which is one of the biggest music festivals. Then you have other cities like San Antonio, Dallas and Houston which are all heavily into the EDM scene. Texas is the best state to be a DJ/producer because you have so many opportunities to grow and share your music.

Q12: What is the story behind your track, “Better Than Her” ?

A12: The story behind “Better Than Her” is basically about a lesbian couple who recently just broke up. The story is that the couple who just broke up but both found different partners. The girl singing in that track is basically saying even though you have a new girlfriend I am always going to know you better under the covers and be better than your new girlfriend. This track is an amazing track with our good friend and producer Legend of Shellda which together makes us “The Lovely Legend”

Q13: Mr. Lovely, what advice would you give to young couples who rave together?

A13: Don’t ever stop, the world will tell you that you’re getting old and need to find a real hobby. If you love dance music and the culture then you love it. Do it until you’re 100, and never let anyone tell you different. Couples who rave together are some of the most amazing people I know. If your reading this and your a rave couple WE LOVE YOU!

Q14: What has been the hardest part of being a married DJ duo?

A14: The hardest thing about being a married DJ duo is trying to find a sitter so we can both go play a show. If we were a duo with someone else other than each other we could just have the other people watch our kids. But since we are both apart of LovelyBones finding a sitter is the most stressful and hardest thing to do as a married duo.

Q15: Mrs. Bones, would you win in a DJ competition against REZZ?
I am a huge huge fan of REZZ but I noticed she does not mix that much and just plays her entire tracks. REZZ also plays only mid tempo and I would play more than one genre and would mix all my tracks. But I definitely think REZZ‘s visuals would win over mine for sure.

Q16: What is something you wish your fans knew about you guys that your music wouldn’t express?

A16: Each song is careful thought upon and takes weeks to months to finish. Each song always has a certain inspiration behind it and takes all our heart and souls to finish it. We make music for the world to hear and we hope that one day the entire world will hear our music. Our music and brand is based on our love for each other and we want our fans to feel the love when they hear our music.

Thank you so much LovelyBones!

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