Using Their Illusion: Ferocious — and funny — locals the Livers hope video builds the radio star

On their perfectionism in the videos:

Freeman: I think I've worked harder on this than on anything I've worked on, ever. There have been times that my actual job has bummed me out, but there have been times with this shit where I wanna cry.

Courtesy of The Livers

The Livers' Luke Roulston and Scot Freeman.

Details

9 p.m. Friday, April 25. The Bluebird, 2706 Olive Street. $7 21-plus, $10 under 21. No phone.

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More About

• BFFs Scot Freeman
• Luke Roulston
• Pixies
• Arts, Entertainment, and Media
• Relationships

Roulston: It's toil.

Freeman: There's been times when we worked on this 50 or 60 hours a week, while still working our regular jobs 40 hours a week. I mean, [we were] working to the point where it's almost ruined friendships and relationships.

Roulston: But the best thing about it is, the other members of the band? They don't seem to argue! [Laughs]

Freeman: On the videos, I'm of the opinion that Luke could pretty much fake it, that he could hit some wrong notes. But he refuses. He refuses to hit one wrong note, even though it wouldn't matter.

Roulston: If there was a bass player [in the audience] that actually had perfect pitch and knew his shit, he would know.

Freeman: And that's why he obsesses. We'll get done taping and he's like "I missed a note," and I'm like "I played it fucking perfectly! I'm bleeding!" and he's like "Let's do it again." And I'm like "Fuck!" and I fucking duct-tape my hand back together, [and] do it again.

On the band's sound and influences:

Roulston: Thus far, we've been compared to '90s music. But I love '90s music. Our big influences are the Jesus Lizard and the Pixies and Nirvana and the Foo Fighters and, you know, just hard-hitting drums. And he [Freeman] plays better than most drummers I've ever seen.

Freeman: Yeah, all my favorite bands are fucking gone. Jesus Lizard and fuckin' Seaweed, Failure, whatever. Bands that nobody remembers.

Roulston: At least the Pixies came back, I guess. You know what I liked? When Frank Black came to the Duck Room. That was a really fucking awesome show. I have nothing but respect for him. Actually, I have nothing but respect for anybody in the Pixies. They're just... God! What a great fucking band! I would say, like, that's the band that I would aspire to lick their...

Freeman: Junk!