Guest Blog: Being In A DIY Band By Zach Moyle of Lost In Society

In a renewed segment for Mind Equals Blown, we will have band members write from their own experiences. We’ll have some diaries from the road, some tales from the recording studio and more to come. This entry is from lead vocalist/guitarist Zach Moyle of New Jersey-bred punk rock band, Lost In Society. Moyle briefly chronicles first hand, the ups and downs of a DIY rock band trying to make their dreams come true. The band is currently getting ready to release their new album, Modern Illusions on February 26th via Handsome Stranger Records.

 
From Zach Moyle:

Being in a DIY band involves a lot of give and take on the bands part. Sure, we don’t have anybody to answer to, and we make our own touring schedules, and decide when we want to record and put out an album, but it also hinders our ability to sufficiently reaching broader audiences. Since we started touring in late 2011, we have planned and booked all of our 11 U.S. tours (excluding Warped Tour 2012/2014 and a tour with Dead Sara). Not only does this take a ton of time, but it makes it harder to secure guarantees, and even to be treated fairly by promoters. It also takes away time from the creative process, which is pretty much the most important part of any band.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I love the DIY lifestyle, but it comes to a point where we have just taken on so much on our own, that we simply cannot keep up with everything we have to do in an efficient manner. That is why we finally made the decision to bring in some help for this new record, Modern Illusions. The ultimate goal is to find like-minded individuals that love our music and want to help us push forward, but understand that the final decisions have to be agreed upon by everyone.

There have been plenty of ups and downs over the years, especially while touring. An ultimate low was our van breaking down in Atlanta, and having to ditch it at my Uncle’s house, and rent the biggest SUV they would give us (nobody was 25 at the time, so they wouldn’t let us rent a van). They gave us 24 hours to get the van back to NJ, or we would be charged an ungodly amount. This resulted in us cancelling the remaining dates of the tour, and me driving for 15 hours straight (voluntarily) from Atlanta to NJ in a Ford Flex. The driver’s seat was the most comfortable spot, so I figured I would drive rather than be crushed in between amps, guitars and drums. We’ve also gotten into accidents, shown up to venues and the people had no idea there was a show there that night, Nick drank his piss one time on accident, and I almost got kidnapped in Boston. It comes with the territory, I suppose.

Fortunately, more ups come to mind when I think of the past five years. We have been able to share the stage with bands who have influenced us greatly: The Bouncing Souls, Bad Religion, Descendents, Face to Face, and so many more. We also got the chance to be support for the LA band Dead Sara, which ruled. Recently we played in NYC and met this kid who flew from the U.K. just to see us that night. We also had a kid from Mexico fly to Salt Lake City to see us there, since it was the closest we would be getting to Mexico. Those were surreal experiences and make all of the difficult times more than worth it. We are also lucky to be a part of the DIY punk culture, where everybody does their best to help each other out, whether it’s a floor to sleep on, or a storage container transformed into an apartment. We have honestly met the most amazing people over the course of being in the band, and it’s awesome knowing that we have such good friends everywhere around the world now.

So here’s to you, anyone that has ever bought a shirt, went to a show, booked us a show, gave us a place to sleep, food to eat and a shower. The world isn’t too bad of a place when you meet the people we have.

 
Listen to Lost In Society’s new single, “I Want To Know” below.