The Boys of LANY Choose Between L.A. and New York

Having just returned from playing Summer Sonic in Tokyo, the boys of LANY are kicking back in what they think is TriBeCa, “potentially.” Four albums and nine years into making music together—with a fifth album, A Beautiful Blur, dropping next Friday—Jake Goss and Paul Jason Klein have come to know each other as well as anyone. So for this week’s Tour Diary, in the spirit of full disclosure, we decided to make them interview each other. Below, they tell us what’s on their riders (“peen” is short peanut butter, by the way), which of them you’re most likely to find naked on the tour bus, and what they’re doing for self-care. And given that their band name is an acronym for the two great American cities, Los Angeles and New York, they give one another a real Sophie’s Choice.

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PAUL JASON KLEIN: Hey, what’s your name and what’s your role?

JAKE GOSS: Hey man, I’m Jake and I play drums in the band LANY.

KLEIN: Hey man, I’m Paul and I play keyboard in LANY.

GOSS: How long have you been making music with me?

KLEIN: We’ve been making music since 2014, so that would be 9 years, everybody.

GOSS: What’s the story behind the band name?

KLEIN: I really wanted a four-letter word and all four-letter words are taken in the English dictionary. So I started thinking about acronyms. I started thinking about our beautiful country of America and the two great cities on opposite ends of the coast and the spectrum of culture and vibes. So we landed on L-A-N-Y, LANY.

GOSS: Golly. Speaking of vibe, where are you now? What’s the vibe?

KLEIN: The vibe right now is… I am in New York with you, Jake, and we’re sitting here on the edge of my bed looking out the window.

GOSS: That’s true.

KLEIN: Into the lower part of Manhattan. Looking at Tribeca, potentially.

GOSS: Okay. Somebody knows his stuff.

KLEIN: And we got a day off and the vibe is elite and we’re on the road quite a bit. So who wakes up first and what are your self-care routines, Jake?

GOSS: I’d say, call me out if I’m wrong, but I wake up first. Start the day with a little cup of coffee, hopefully get a workout in, self-care routine. I don’t know, write stuff I’m grateful about?

KLEIN: Period.

GOSS: And then just go kiss Paul right on his lips.

KLEIN: Right on my butt. What’ your pre-show routines, anything you do to pump up?

GOSS: I like to get my hair wet before we play. I don’t know why I do that, but I just think it feels great and looks awesome and I like to get the JBL and play our favorite songs really loud and just be around you.

KLEIN: Who controls the aux? We talked about this.

GOSS: I think we kind of do a good job at just sharing the aux. Honestly–

KLEIN: It’s true.

GOSS: Sometimes Paul’s on aux, sometimes I’m on aux. Sometimes you request for me to play some stuff on aux. What’s on your rider, my brother?

KLEIN: We love Celsius. A little splashy, caffeine, a little sparkling something-something. What else do we have? Some protein bars, some peen– which is peanut butter–some avocado, some Greek yog, some Coke Z, and some Zimas.

GOSS: And potato chips.

KLEIN: Who are you most likely to find naked on the tour bus? In the hotel room?

GOSS: Dude.

KLEIN: Who’s getting naked all the time?

GOSS: Probably Paul. I just see that guy just so naked all the time.

KLEIN: That’s not even true. We just played Summer Sonic. What was your favorite thing about Tokyo, my dog?

GOSS: The people, the fans. We had so much fun playing that show, but the fashion, all the shops, the food. Tokyo is just unreal. What’s your favorite thing about Tokyo?

KLEIN: All of the above, really. You kind of nailed every single thing I would’ve said.

GOSS: Speaking of that, who takes longer showers?

KLEIN: I feel like you’re pretty chill about it.

GOSS: Chillish until sometimes it’s cold and I’m just like “I’m staying”.

KLEIN: Do you ever sit down in the shower?

GOSS: I haven’t. In a second, I’ll try. What’s your favorite song to perform?

KLEIN: I’m gonna go with “You.” I love playing that song. What about you?

GOSS: I love this song called “I Don’t Care.” We haven’t played it in about seven years, but that one just pops off.

KLEIN: Who’s most likely to lock the door?

GOSS: Definitely not Paul, because when we live together and he’s dropping a D, he’d just have the door open. We’re like, “So what’s our vision for verse one of ‘Hot Lights’ today?”

KLEIN: That’s true. Thank you for telling the world that. What songs yield the best reaction from the crowd?

GOSS: Dang.

KLEIN: “Congrats,” always. It’s such a reactionary song.

GOSS: That’s true. “Super Far.” When we start it. “Think and Thin.”wh

KLEIN: When they hear that little intro part on “Through These Tears,” they go pretty nuts too. And “Malibu Nights.” Anyways, who’s someone dead or alive you’d love to play alongside?

GOSS: I would just love to play one of our songs and then build a section where John Mayer just comes up and solos for two-and-a-half minutes and you’re just there and he just plays.

KLEIN: I love that. And then Celine Dion just comes out and just leads us acapella.

GOSS: Into “National Anthem”? Yes.

KLEIN: L.A. or New York? L.A. all the way.

GOSS: Yeah, since we’re in New York, I’m going to say L.A. Copy that.