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Lovelife is a London and Los Angeles-based indie rock band. They’ll be at the Midland October 29th, opening for Alt-J. Guitarist Sam Jackson recently discussed his earliest musical memory, the formation of Lovelife and their songwriting approach For more info on Lovelife, check out http://lvlf.info/

Did you come from a musical family? Were your parents musical?

Yeah, my mother plays piano and my father plays guitar. He gave me my first guitar and taught me how to play a little bit. Also, my cousin was in a band and I always looked up to him so I guess he had a part to play.

What was your earliest musical memory?

When I was about 3 years old I put the Dark Side of the Moon cassette on and couldn’t understand why nothing was playing so I kept turning it up and up until finally the alarm clocks went off VERY loud… it blew my head off. My dad came tearing into the room like WTF Sam you daft little beggar.

What do you remember most about your first time onstage?

I remember being so nervous I threw up. I think I was 13. We played “Blitzkrieg Bop” by the Ramones.

How did Lovelife come together?

Lee, Frank and myself were in a band previous to Lovelife and Ally was producing our 2nd record. When we came to the end of that record process Lee and Ally were writing a lot of music separately. It was a lot more electronic and poppy. We decided to put the 2nd record on ice and move to NY to give these new songs they’d written their own life, and Lovelife was born.

How does your creative process work when writing songs?

They can come from anything. Sometimes we start with a melody and write it on a guitar, other times we’ll begin with a beat. Sometimes we write entire tracks front to back then send it to Lee and he’ll finish it. There really is no set formula and there certainly aren’t any rules.

What inspires you lyrically?

Everything and anything! Most of our songs come from personal experience, but it could literally be anything. NY was great for that, being constantly surrounded by inspirational things. It was a magical time.

How did the song “Your New Beloved” come together?

We wrote and recorded that one in Brooklyn. I think it took about 2 hours. We wrote it during hurricane Sandy actually.

What was the first song written for Silk Road?

Its a collection of 3 old songs and 1 new. So I guess the oldest one on there is “Invisible.”

How do you approach your live show differently than your studio work?

When we’re in the studio we write the songs, then we go to a rehearsal studio and work out how to play the songs. We even designed our own light show!

You’re playing Kansas City with Alt-J this year. What are you most looking forward to about the tour?

We’re all just looking forward to getting out and playing every night. Especially with the Alt-J lads, they’re really top boys. We’ve been to Kansas before so we’re all dead excited to come back and rock your socks off.

Do you have a quote or motto that you live by?

YOLO

What have been the biggest challenges you’ve had to overcome in your career?

I guess every day we face a new challenge. Some days less so than others but yeah. We took a real risk moving to New York in 2012. We barely had any money and just a handful of songs, but we hustled and made it work. It turned out to be the best summer of our lives.

What advice would you give to musicians just starting out?

Write a lot of songs and don’t get disheartened if it seems like things are taking a while. And practice A LOT. Theres no excuse for being bad live.