Meet the Musician: Lance Waste (Darling Waste)

Chances are, if you're from Clarksburg you've heard of Darling Waste. The Cleveland-based indie rock outfit, in addition to being a longtime favorite of local music fanatics, has made a name for themselves with their DIY attitude and relentless pursuit of success. The passion has paid off as the band has seen their music featured on MTV and VH1 as well as countless radio stations across the world. From international tours to nationwide treks, Darling Waste has been churning out emotion-laden rock anthems for over a decade. Because of this, they have sold thousands of records and have become a well-respected name in the indie rock movement.

Lance Waste, the creative force behind Darling Waste, has been playing solo acoustic shows as part of the Heart Riot Tour. In addition to the cities he already hit, which includes Myrtle Beach, Lance will make his way to Pittsburgh, Chicago, Indianapolis and more.

This Saturday he will be bringing the arsenal of Darling Waste songs to The Main Street Cafe for a laid back evening of acoustic jams. Joining him is Deerbourne, Tomorrow to Forever and Ryan Glaspell (aka your beloved blogger).

The show begins at 7 p.m. Tickets are $8 in advance and $10 at the door. Come down to the cafe today or tomorrow to get the pre-sale price.

I caught up with Lance via Facebook for a chat about the band, the show on Saturday and his relationship with the bearded beauty known as Daniel Bonner.

[caption id="attachment_264" align="aligncenter" width="570"] Photo from Darling Waste's Facebook.[/caption]

How has the Heart Riot tour been so far?

So far so good. I’m doing the shows acoustically right now and I had to cancel a few of them because of a family emergency, but I’m back on track now and excited to playing some old songs for longtime fans.

What is your relationship like with WV?

WV has been great to us. We started out playing in a church basement years ago and have always had special shows there. Particularly in the Clarksburg area.

When was the last time you’ve played in the area?

We've been playing Charleston a lot the past year or two because there wasn’t a venue in the area. It's great to see one open again. We played a pizza place in Clarksburg last year and I do shows a couple times a year at Almost Heaven when my touring schedule permits.

You’re playing by yourself, right?

That is correct. Solo acoustic all tour doing requests and telling stories.

I hear we might see some Lance-Daniel interaction on stage. Is that true?

I'd say it's up to him haha.

Want to say a little bit about your past relationship and ties with Daniel?

We go way way back. He's been in and out of the band a couple of times. We've been locked up in foreign maximum security prisons together haha. There's really not much we haven't done or accomplished together. He's definitely like a brother to me.

What are you most excited about playing the show this Saturday?

I like doing all request shows because its a lot less preparation. When we bring the whole band we usually have a set list that we are doing the entire tour with the string and drum machine backing tracks and all that. So there really isn’t a lot of room for spontaneity or changing how the song goes. I like to improv and play different versions of songs acoustically. Plus just seeing old and new friends singing along is always fun.

What can listeners expect?

Hopefully just a good time and revisiting a great scene with some really great people. Come sing along.

Anything else you'd like to say?

Most of our discography is now on Spotify. Check it out!

A final random question: if you could duet with any musician on any song, who would it be, what song, and why?

It's hard to say, I've done a bunch of cool features lately and had people feature on my stuff as well. We just finished a remix with Kitty Pryde and I'm working on some stuff with Freeway and some other guys.

As far as someone I haven't yet, I really love the way my slow stuff sounds with spoken word. So I'd love to work with someone like Mos Def or someone really lyrical. I just love producing with other people so it's hard to think about duet as in both of us singing. I think Dolly Parton is a national treasure and I'd love to work with her. I just love being in the room with creative people so who every is creative and wants to create something special, I'm always down.

Check out Darling Waste on Bandcamp for a free mixtape or listen to their Spotify below!

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