Greg Cataline Interview's Richard D. Leko!
Interview with BROOMFILLER's Richard D. Leko!
www.myspace.com/broomfiller
Date: Nov 10 2006 - (Somewhere in California on their 2006 Tour of the States)
Richard D. Leko - guitar, vocals, songwriter
Dylan Broda - drums, backing vocals
Trip - bass, backing vocals
MUEN: TELL ME ABOUT WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO WRITE THE SONG "YOUR FADING AWAY?"
RICHARD D. LEKO: "Your Fading Away" is basically about 'heart cleansing'. everyone has to do it at one time or another in their life. I went thru a very heartbreaking relationship - something that meant alot to me, and it was that point in my life when I 'realized' that I didn't care about her anymore, and that she was fading away out of my life / mind.
MUEN: HOW MANY CD'S HAVE YOU RELEASED BEFORE BROOMFILLER'S 'ENTER THE STORM?" AND IS THIS CD THE FIRST THAT FEATURED YOUR SELF ALONE, DOING ALL THE VOCALS AND INSTRUMENTS?
RICHARD D. LEKO: BROOMFILLER has had a few cd's out. There was a very small pressing of a 4 song cassette ep called "Yunta" back in 1997, which I played all the instruments on. A 4 song cassette called "...goggles" was released with me writing all the material, but only singing and playing guitar on the recordings. Then a 7 song cd ep was put out (in 2000) with the same music remastered and other songs on it. One of the early versions of a song "Herb Eaverstank" was put on the 7 song cd ep as well...which I played all the instruments. In 2002 the band's first full length album came out "Watching the girls go bi", and I played all the instruments on about half that album, with some other people playing bass and drums on some of the other tracks. In the years that followed, some band member changes occurred, and I felt most comfortable with just demoing everything myself, which was just easier at the time. So I ended up recording all the demo's (45 songs) for "Enter the Storm" myself... and then I had to choose the best 20, and then re-record them in good. From the 20.. I had to choose 12...but ended up putting 15 on the album. Thru this entire process for "Enter the Storm" ...I engineered, and played all the instruments on the album.
MUEN: WHERE DID YOU RECORD THE ALBUM?
RICHARD D. LEKO: I built my own studio in Toronto where I live... So it allowed me to procrastinate, as well as work till 6am whenever I wanted to. It was great!
MUEN: WHO DID THE ARTWORK FOR THE COVER?
RICHARD D. LEKO: A good friend of the band, Pierre, did all the actual art work for the band. He also was the creative force behind all of our recent merchandise, as well as the www.broomfiller.com site. Stephen Scholtz is also the other creative team member behind www.broomfiller.com. Both Pierre and Stephen were incredible people to work with, and have been fans of the band for many years. For the album cover... I had always loved tornadoes, and have a fascination with them, and I had this album cover pictured in my head for years... so it took several revisions ...and we mean SEVERAL!... haha.. but we finally got it to look like what I wanted. Pierre was amazing to work with ...absolutely amazing.
MUEN: WHICH INSTRUMENT DID YOU START WITH WHEN THE DREAM OF DOING MUSIC FIRST BEGAN?
RICHARD D. LEKO: My parents bought my brother and myself an acoustic guitar back when I was 8 or so. I still have this guitar actually. Then I moved onto drums and played them for about 15-20 some odd years, and putting the guitar to the side... but still while writing songs. I was really a drummer at heart, and a songwriter / frontman...second.
MUEN: AND WHAT TYPE OF MUSIC DID YOU START OUT WITH? IT WASN'T ALWAYS PUNK WAS IT?
RICHARD D. LEKO: I played drums in a country wedding band, a metal band, some rock bands, alternative bands etc. however, I never did get ANY enjoyment out of playing covers (if/when we did). Punk was not really what I played. I just kept having people tell me that the stuff that I was playing was punk, or punk influenced...and I was like....um..ok cool!!! thanks!!??!! lol.
MUEN: HOW IS THE TOUR GOING SO FAR? ARE YOU HAPPY WITH THE TURNOUT? WHAT SHOW SO FAR, DO YOU THINK WILL BE THE MOST MEMORABLE?
RICHARD D. LEKO: The tour is going great! It's the band's second tour this year. We will have clocked in 15 weeks in the US this year after this tour is done. Our California shows were really awesome! We started working with our new 'partner in crime' (manager) Haley, out of California, and she's been really REALLY helpful beyond words! Our last show in California was at a venue called Fitzgerald's. That was a stellar show. we also had another great time in Glendale, AZ.
MUEN: HOW LONG HAS THE CURRENT TOURING VERSION OF BROOMFILLER BEEN PLAYING TOGETHER AS A BAND? AND IS THIS THE FIRST TOUR "IN THE STATES?"
RICHARD D. LEKO: This is the band's 3rd US tour. Dylan is drumming currently in the band, and drummed on the last tour. We have meshed quite well and I can see him touring with BROOMFILLER for a long time in the future. On bass, I asked an old friend of mine from Toronto named 'Trip' to play on the tour. BROOMFILLER has never really had a permanent bass player. We'll see how it goes.
MUEN: HOW WOULD YOU COMPARE THE LOCAL MUSIC SCENES IN CANADA WITH THE ONES IN THE US?
RICHARD D. LEKO: We have received a HUGE reception in the US. People go out of their way down here, after seeing our show, to come up and talk to us, buy our merch, and tell us how much they enjoyed the show. I think it's also 'cause we are not from the area, which also sparks alot of interest as well.
MUEN: WHAT CURRENT ARTISTS ON THE SCENE NOW, DO YOU ADMIRE MOST, OR FEEL INSPIRED BY MOST?
RICHARD D. LEKO: Dave Grohl has always been a huge inspiration for me. From drumming in Nirvana, and then fronting the Foo Fighters ...that was around the time I started BROOMFILLER (1996 / 1997)... so for myself, being a drummer, and then fronting my own band ..it was highly influential. I also think he is an amazing songwriter.
MUEN: ANY OTHER NEWS OR INFO YOU'D LIKE TO SHARE WITH THE READERS?
RICHARD D. LEKO: Well, we have just released our music video on line for the song "The Cause". You can check it out on our myspace page!! www.myspace.com/broomfiller And look out for us on tour in the US in the spring!!
www.myspace.com/broomfiller
www.broomfiller.com
Interview by G. Cataline G.Cataline www.MUENmagazine.net www.MUENmagazine.com