Q&A: LA-Based Duo Lucky Me is Trying to Get Back to “How It Was”
Introducing indie rock duo Lucky Me, your newest listening addiction. Born through a shared love for music, Connor Rivaldo and Kyle Briskin are taking over Los Angeles by storm. Their latest single, “How It Was,” reflects on being free-spirited and chasing past feelings as they try to make it back to them. Their goal with this project is to bring a new sense of community to the LA music scene through their honest lyrics and The Strokes-like sound. Pleaser caught up with the band to discuss the making of their new single, their Halloween costume ideas, their upcoming LA show and more.
PHOTO BY BRYCE GLENN
PLEASER: You guys are coming into the indie alternative scene at a great time. How did the band form in the midst of this resurgence?
CONNOR RIVALDO: Kyle and I met in 2021 in LA. We were playing a couple of one-off shows where I was drumming and he was playing guitar. He ended up going back to Nashville for a little bit, and I went back home to Arkansas as well. We connected while in different states, remotely. I had this season of self-discovery and wanting to make my younger self proud. I felt the need to create this indie-rock band inspired by The Killers and The Strokes, a lot of music that’s starting to cycle back around. I was sending a couple of demos around to some friends, Kyle being one of them, and we really connected on some of our influences and a similar sound.
KYLE BRISKIN: In this season of being away from LA, we both knew that we wanted to move back to LA, and it just came up naturally in discussion through talking about bands that Connor and I love. In that conversation, Connor had the idea for Lucky Me and came to me with [his idea] and a couple of demos. I heard a lot of the early ideas of what Connor wanted to make, and I was like, “This is exactly the lane I’m trying to be in.” So, when we both moved back around the same time, we hit the ground running with getting these songs produced and writing more.
With the sound too, this indie rock, it’s what feels the most authentic and the most natural for us to make. During the first few months of us being here in LA, we had a little Rock Band set up, the video game, and we’d have our friends come over, and we’d all play songs from The Strokes, The Killers and Phoenix. It was almost this foreshadowing of [knowing that we want] to make music like this.
Now that you’ve begun to release songs last year into this year, what’s your goal with the band at this moment?
CR: We definitely want to keep playing shows and get our reps in, but also, we really want to lean into building a sense of community and a scene out here in LA. I feel like that's something that’s definitely at the root and the core of Lucky Me, wanting to be the change… feel like there's not as much of a scene compared to New York or London or Paris, at least a scene for bands with our sound right now. The Pillbox shows, what's going on on Friday, it'll be the third one. That's part of this early inkling of this scene that we definitely want to help facilitate and create.
As far as what's next for us, we've got a lot of songs that will see the light of day, some very soon. There's no drought of ideas and demos floating around. That's something that, at the very beginning, we made sure not to make one song and then put it out. It was a lot of ideating and creating, and figuring out what feels right. So, there are a lot of ideas that we have since revisited that are even up to two years old at this point that will eventually see the light of day soon.
KB: I would say our process is definitely a little bit different than a lot of bands out there. We’re a two-piece band, so a lot of ideas will be started on the computer, demos that are sent back and forth as voice memos, instead of a band playing the songs together in a garage. Even our new single, “How It Was,” was an old idea that almost got lost in our text messages, and I remember hitting [Connor] up one day being like, “Yo, what is this? How did I miss this?”
What happened to that age of music with The Viper Room, the Sunset Strip, all of these bands playing everywhere? How can we tap into what’s already going on? There are a lot of bands out there playing and doing really cool stuff, so we want to be a part of that community.
CR: Something that I really trust Kyle with is his instincts. If he has an idea or something pops up, I’m like, “Okay, I trust you, that’s the one we need to move forward with.”
PHOTOS BY HUNTER LYON
Sometimes it feels like a rare occurrence that people go to shows to discover new music, versus only going to shows to see artists they’re already familiar with.
CR: With culture and history, I feel like, in tandem, you have these 20-year cycles, then you also have 100-year cycles happening at the same time. On the 100-year side, we're in the roaring ‘20s again. In the 20-year cycle, in everything: fashion, music, lifestyle. It’s all Y2K. There are people who want to cram into a tight underground space and be sweaty again and let loose. It’s never really gone away, but people haven't had a hub or a place to express it and to truly live like what they're feeling inside and what feels right to them. And that's in the same way of how we make music and how we make decisions and move through being Lucky Me.
That feeling ties into your new single, “How It Was.” Can you dive deeper into what that song represents for you both?
CR: I was listening to a lot of Bloc Party and Two Door Cinema Club, and they have this very disco, punk drum beat in a lot of their songs. It makes you feel like if you’re not dancing, then you’re strutting really cool. I started out with a little drum beat and just had this idea. I sent it to Kyle with a little voice memo of me humming the melody, and that was it; that’s how it got rediscovered. I want to leave [the song] up for interpretation, but it’s more of a train of thought connected to what I mentioned earlier about wanting to make your younger self proud. In a way, it’s less about nostalgia and more about a feeling and trying to get back and lean into a feeling of how it was, both the good and bad sides of things.
We have to have these checkpoints and this addressing of things head-on to make sure we keep the train moving. Keep moving forward, baby.
KB: People really like it. We start playing, and people are dancing. It's just checking off all the boxes that we really wanted the song to be, and we’re super proud of it.
What’s the ideal setting for listeners to listen to your music?
CR: Anything and everywhere. If we could be the soundtrack to any part of someone's life, especially if it's a part of them doing something while expressing who they are, like, if we’re playing as they're picking out the outfit that they feel most confident wearing before they go out. Or if they're like, “I'm gonna do this thing that I've always wanted to do, and it makes me who I am, and I'm so stoked to do it.” If we can be the music playing during that, I feel like that would be really sick, but also driving, maybe even going a little bit over the speed limit. The soundtrack to your sweaty late nights going out to one of our shows.
KB: I saw this girl who loves our music recently, and she came up to me and said, “I really love listening to your guys’ music while I clean my house.” (laughs) But I would love to listen while driving in the car through Hollywood or through the desert.
That’s actually a very high honor!
KB: We need to put music for cleaning on our Spotify bio.
PHOTOS BY BRYCE GLENN
Speaking of shows, you have one on October 24 at Silverlake Lounge in LA. What can fans expect to see at the show?
CR: Well, you can expect to see Lucky Me in its purest and coolest form. First of all, thank you to Shellshaker, Chris and the Pillbox crew for this opportunity to play. This is going to be the first opportunity for us to really play with a sense of, “Oh yeah, we’re a part of something. This is a hub for people to be a part of.” You're gonna see a f*cking sick show, and it's going to be high energy, and it's going to be inspiring, hopefully, and it's gonna feel authentic and down to earth. I think the energy feeding from the audience to us will cultivate a whole new kind of amazing experience for everyone in the room. Friday's not here yet, but I know that after it, we're going to want to do it again and again and again.
KB: We’re excited to be a part of this world that we’re all trying to build, where you go see new bands and people genuinely want to be there to explore new indie rock music in LA. We’re honored and very excited to be a part of it. It’s a costume party as well.
What are you guys going to be for Halloween then?
CR: For many years in my life, I would use Halloween as an excuse to be the person I actually wanted to be. Throughout my high school years, I was afraid to fully express myself in the way I wanted to. I'd use the opportunity to paint my nails, wear eyeliner, and the craziest outfit I could. And if people asked who I was, I just said a rock star or an exaggerated version of myself. It's kind of funny and almost a full-circle moment. As far as what I'm gonna be, I don't know, dead? (laughs)
KB: I just saw One Battle After Another, and Leo DiCaprio has got the glasses, beanie and robe thing going on, so I think that would be a great costume. I don’t think I’d wear that to the show, but I guess you’ll have to come to find out. (laughs)
Any final messages for fans and new listeners?
CR: We are being the most true and authentic versions of ourselves. We are two dudes from the south battling a force called Los Angeles. I feel like there’s a dark energy in parts of this city, and we want to be the light. It's easy to get lost and stuck in a loop of trying to live for other people and trying to be someone you're not. I just hope that people understand that we are coming from the deepest, most honest, down-to-earth, authentic versions of ourselves. We're into what we're into. This is not a temporary trend.
KB: This band was founded on our love for music that we love listening to, and we hope that we can bring people together at our shows. We want Lucky Me shows to feel like an escape where people can be themselves and dance.
