LEKTRON’s Randy Moore Discusses Genesis of Band with Matt Skiba, Hunter Burgan & Atom Willard (The Witzard Interview)
LEKTRON, L-R: Matt Skiba, Atom Willard, Hunter Burgan & Randy Moore (CREDIT: photographer unknown)
Matt Skiba (Alkaline Trio, ex-blink-182) has another new band called LEKTRON featuring Hunter Burgan from AFI, Atom Willard from Against Me!/Rock from The Crypt, Randy Moore from DOKI DOKI/Get Married. Asian Man Records put out a limited edition 12-inch this past May. It was available on baby pink and electric blue-colored vinyl variants; those are long sold out, but it’s also available digitally on your streaming service of choice. So, aside from or in addition to the usual suspects you may well know and love, Randy Moore is a one-man guitar ax-wielding machine! Moore, otherwise known as Bones Shredder, has played with and/or lent his talents across recordings by Dan Andriano & The Bygones, The Bruce Lee Band, Decent Criminal, DOKI DOKI, GET MARRIED, SpiritWorld, ROVE, Stickup Kid, Stellar Corpses, Moore Bros. (oddly enough, an Alkaline Trio tribute,) and 5:25 (a Misfits tribute band.) Moore also works for Asian Man Records founder and owner, Mike Park, which seems to have been essential to helping him secure a spot within the complete murderers row that is LEKTRON. Long story short, I got a chance to interview Randy Moore about LEKTRON and much, much mo(o)re and admittedly, sat on it for far too long… but, regardless, now it’s being published right here at The Witzard! At the time, Randy seemed to be alluding to it within a coupe of his answers, but we can report that his LEKTRON bandmate and world-class drummer, Atom Willard, has effectively become a member of his other LEKTRON bandmate, Matt Skiba’s long-running and beloved band, Alkaline Trio. The new Atom Willard-assisted incarnation of Alkaline Tio has released a couple singles and is gearing up to release a new album, Blood, Hair, and Eyeballs, on January 26, 2024, and while Willard does not play across the album—it’s still Alkaline Trio’s long-time and now-former drummer Derek Grant—although, Willard can be seen within the album’s promotional music videos and will likely tour with the band behind the new album. Check out my interview with Randy Moore below, which has been lightly edited for general clarity.
I. Who are the members of LEKTRON and what is each member's role within the band?
Randy Moore: Matt Skiba - vocals and guitar
Randy Moore - lead guitar
Hunter Burgan - bass
Atom Willard - drums
II. How did all of you meet and initially decide to form LEKTRON together?
Moore: Matt [Skiba] & I got together through [Alkaline Trio’s] Dan Andriano and [Asian Man Records’ founder/owner] Mike Park. I work at Asian Man, so that’s how I was put in contact with Dan. We made a record [Dear Darkness] and toured together and that’s how I met Matt. Mike again pitched me to Matt when he was planning on coming up to San Jose, California to record some ideas he had. Matt & I got together, started laying stuff down and it kinda snowballed into getting Atom [Willard] & Hunter [Burgan] involved later.
III. What made you guys decide to go with Mike Park's legendary Asian Man Records to release your debut two-song self-titled EP?
Moore: Matt & Mike have a long history and have always been great friends. So, it just made sense to do it through Asian Man.
IV. Who or what would you readily cite as some or your greatest sources of inspiration and influence while creating The LEKTRON EP?
Moore: I wouldn’t say we had an initial vibe we were chasing. We just followed intuition through a JCM 800 [2203 guitar amplifier].
V. What did the typical writing, recording, production, etc. processes behind the LEKTRON EP typically entail?
Moore: Matt had the ideas and we would bounce back-and-forth in the live room. Just playing the songs and messing with arrangements until it felt “right” to us. Ryan [Perras] from District Recording [Studio] has a great ear, so we [trusted] he [was] going to make everything sound as rad as possible.\
VI. Were you a fan of some of your LEKTRON bandmates' previous and still functioning bands while growing up? If so, what are/were your favorite releases?
Moore: I don’t think it’s a huge secret Alkaline Trio has been my favorite band for a long time… but, of course, I love AFI, Rocket [from The Crypt], Angels & Airwaves, [and] every other band Atom has played with. As for releases, [AFI’s] All Hallows EP, [Angels & Airwaves’] We Don’t [Need] to Whisper, [Rocket from The Crypt’s] Scream, Dracula, Scream!, but my favorite record is [Alkaline Trio’s] Goddamnit.
VII. What would you say are some of the greatest lessons you've learned about the music industry (or just life in general) from Matt, Atom & Hunter?
Moore: I learned life is crazy and anything can happen!
VIII. How did you experience working with GET MARRIED, DOKI DOKI, The Moore Family Band, SpiritWorld, Dan Andriano & The Bygones, and more help prepare you to work with your much more seasoned bandmates in LEKTRON?
Moore: With each project I do, it adds to the colors on the palette. I just pull out tricks I’ve learned along the way to see what works.
IX. What was it like working on and being involved in the processes behind creating The Bruce Lee Band's 2022 effort, One Step Forward. Two Steps Back?
Moore: [Jeff] Rosenstock is an absolute genius. Another rad experience to see unfold in real time.
X. What's planned next for LEKTRON?
Moore: Hopefully, more music and touring. They know where to find me.
XI. In addition to LEKTRON, what other projects are you currently working on and/or preparing material for release?
Moore: Things are a bit up in the air, but I’m sure I’ll be putting out more music soon.
LEKTRON band info-graphic (ART CREDIT: Mark de Salvo)
