The Heavy Pets have had a milestone year in 2014 – releasing a three-part EP series and celebrating their 1000th show which took place at Suwannee Hulaween. The Ft. Lauderdale based band is kicking off a Florida show run starting on December 18th in Tampa at Crowbar. The Tampa show is part of the 4th Annual MG Entertainment Holiday Drive, an annual tradition for THP. Following Tampa, the band heads to Jacksonville for the Passion Project / 1904 Music Hall Xmas party on Dec. 19th before hitting the Culture Room in Ft. Lauderdale on the 20th.
Jeff Lloyd, guitarist and vocalist for THP, shared with us some special plans for the performances, which include guest appearances by Roosevelt Collier, Greenhouse Lounge, The Funky Nuggets, and Squeedlepuss. He also talks with us about all the lucky – and unlucky – circumstances that have led to The Heavy Pets’ long history as a popular touring act.
Tell us about your latest project Stolen Smile. It’s a two song EP. Why did you decide to keep it short?
We released three of these EPs this year. From an economic standpoint, whether it’s time or money, we have the ability to crank out these things a little easier when we have smaller undertakings with two or three songs. We can get in the studio and get the recording done in a couple of days, mix them and finish them up. It allows us to get our newest material out quickly. We tour so much it’s hard for us to take off a month or two to finish a whole record.
How many albums did you put out before deciding to take this new approach with mini EPs?
Our very first record was 20 songs and then we followed up with two more full-length releases and an EP. We released a double-disc live album and then decided to do these EPs to get the music out as fast as possible.
Is this release strategy working out better so far?
It’s definitely working better for us on a lot of different levels. More people are hearing all the songs. If we released a 10 song record, people would have to pick a few songs to give the most airtime to. By releasing songs like this, more people are getting acclimated to our catalog. Creatively it’s serving as a good catalyst for new songs. We can write something now and in a month or two it’ll be released on a record, rather than wondering when we can record a full album. It’s pretty exciting.
Is the band handling everything on their own, as far as the business side of things, or do you have a label or management company?
We have a great team. We work with a company called Brotherly Love Productions that manages us and does our PR. And we have many lawyers and accountants helping us out all the time. As far as the music itself, those are all self-produced. We’ve worked with various producers and I think some of our best stuff comes from just the five of us.
You mentioned having a busy tour schedule. How did it grow to the point where you were traveling and doing shows full time?
When the band first started, we were fortunate to have some good things happen to us early on. We won our way into a couple of festivals. We all worked together at this internet company so we had been putting aside money for the first couple of years so we could take that leap and go full time. It’s been about six or seven years now that we’ve been doing this full time. We just kinda got lucky. We’re from the northeast and have a lot of friends up there, and living in South Florida we have a lot of great markets to play down here. We started touring very early on and it’s benefited us greatly.
That’s interesting. Since you all worked together, was there a day everyone walked into the job and quit? Or was it a gradual process?
It was gradual, when everyone felt comfortable quitting. That job allowed us to have a touring schedule. There was a whole lot of “hey, half the company is taking off for the next three weeks.” [laughs] Finally it got to the point where it was just time.
You’re about to do a Florida tour run. Tell us about the show plans.
Yeah, it’s three shows for the holiday season. It’s become a holiday tradition. We’re playing in Tampa, Jacksonville, and Ft. Lauderdale. We have several Florida bands on the bill with us and they’re all good friends.
You have Roosevelt Collier, Greenhouse Lounge, and who else on the bill?
Squeedlepuss is on the Jacksonville show. Our friends The Funky Nuggets are opening up the Culture Room show in Ft. Lauderdale. We’ve played a lot with Roosevelt and we’re looking to do something a little different than past shows. He’s going to be performing with us a whole bunch. We’re also talking about having a portion of the show be led by him with various members of the other bands backing him up.
I watched a video from your 2013 performance at AURA festival. What’s the story behind your guitarist having a broken hand? That’s pretty amazing he was still playing.
That was Mike. I don’t really know what happened. We’ve performed under so many various circumstances over the years. Our keyboardist sliced his hand open on a wall sconce once and had to play one-handed on a couple of shows. I had vocal surgery and we had to perform for a month or two without me singing. There was Mike’s broken hand incident. The show must go on. We certainly wouldn’t perform if we weren’t giving people the real deal Heavy Pets. We find ways to make it work. Mike ended up figuring out some really interesting ways to play guitar with one hand. I thought it was really cool. We adapt pretty well, which leads to our longevity.
If someone is just now hearing of you, which songs would you have them to look up first to best represent the group?
I think “So Thank You Music” epitomizes the band in a way. It’s jammy but it has some really cool structured parts. It’s about how music can bring us all together. I often point to that one, but it’s also one of the older songs in the catalog. I’d direct them to that and some of the other stuff off of Whale, the very first record, and definitely the brand new EP. Our sound has matured a lot and the direction it’s going in now transcends and can reach a lot of new listeners outside of the jam realm. So listen to the three EPs from this year – Rags and Aces, Two Horses, and Stolen Smile. The brand new EP is just two songs but it’s a lot of music.
This year is about to wrap up in a couple of weeks. How has The Heavy Pets progressed in 2014? What are some achievements that make you proud?
This was a milestone year – we played our 1000th show on November 1st at Suwannee Hulaween. It was good luck that we were able to play a big Florida festival for our 1000th show. That’s something I’ll never forget. It was a great experience regardless of the number. We’ve been playing for about 9 years and it’s as much about looking ahead as it is about looking behind us. 2015 is going to be a big year for the band. We’re all really excited about it. We have a lot of material out there and we’re going to continue to crank it up.
What is on the agenda for New Year’s Eve?
For New Year’s we’re playing a Phish after party in Miami. Whenever Phish is done with their show, we’re going on directly across the street and playing until sunrise. We’re doing something ambitious that night. The place has one of the only 24 hour liquor licenses in Miami/Dade County. We’re going to have fun with it, get delirious and play jams all night.
And then from Miami you head to Atlanta to play with Umphrey’s McGee?
Yeah, we’re playing with Umphrey’s in January, and then we’re taking the rest of January off, other than some side projects we’ve been very busy with lately. After that we’re heading back to the northeast for a February run.
For more on THP, including new music and show information, visit www.theheavypets.com.
