New Indie Rock on the Block

© Heavy Young Heathens

Some say rock is dead, but Heavy Young Heathens swept into Los Angeles last year like a flash flood and took the alternative indie scene by surprise. Since the release of their self-titled debut in September 2009, followed by their critically acclaimed EP titled Make Room for the Youth, Robert and Aron Mardo boldly established Heavy Young Heathens with an aggressive, psychedelic, invigorating sound, comparable to a super-charged defibrillator that got the heart of indie rock beating hard again.

Drummer and vocalist Robert Mardo humbly takes the time to tell the story of him and his brother, who came to LA with their instruments and a mission; a mission that has already paid off sweetly for them and for us.

Heavy Young Heathens is comprised of two members—you and your brother Aron. How long have you two been playing music together?

Pretty much our whole lives. He’s a few years older than I am and played in bands while he was in high school. I would sit in and watch during rehearsal. Eventually I got to the point that I wanted to be playing myself. It’s been many years. We’ve been in a bunch of different incarnations over the past fifteen years.

I read online that the name of the band comes from the way a neighbor described you two as kids during a run in with the law. What’s up with that?

(Laughs) We were setting off some fireworks in the street and our neighbor called the police. His exact words were “those two heathens around the corner were setting off fireworks again.” We were selling fireworks to all the neighborhood kids and just testing the product.

Whenever you begin composing a song do you have a particular goal in mind?

To please ourselves first. We don’t want to sound like aristocrats, but I definitely like to think that we hold ourselves to certain standards in terms of putting music out there. There’s so much music out today and it just seems like the intrigue or story behind some bands is what keeps them from being a faceless entity on the internet these days. I think setup for the song is still king. The first thing we look towards is the song and the elements of the song to make sure it’s something we want to listen to and a good song all the way through.

I read in a press release that several of your songs have been used in TV shows, like “Jackie Comes Lately” as the theme song for MTV’s Ultimate Parkour Challenge. You’ve already touched on the reality that there are tons of bands out there, especially in LA, so are TV shows helping you guys to break away from the pack?

Absolutely. A lot of people ask that question and we’re very fortunate to land those spots in TV shows. I think there was a period in popular music a few years ago when it wasn’t so cool to license your music, but when you look at how much you’re competing with today and you look at the avenues that have been taken away from us in terms of being in a band, it’s not a bad opportunity. I think a few years ago it was cool to wave the indie flag and stay to your roots, but the truth of it is these days you’re going to be starving and dying on the vine if you think that just putting out a record will keep you alive. There’s so much pressure to stand out since you’re not the only band on the block and I think you have to look at the opportunities in front of you. Those shows reach a lot of people. MTV has been a great partner for us in terms of releasing our music. It has to be something we’re comfortable with. We’re not licensing our music to tampon commercials (laughs). But yeah, I think it’s definitely one of the leading ways to get new music out to people.

Your latest EP, Make Room for the Youth, was produced by JP Bowersock (The Strokes/Ryan Adams) and mixed by Ryan Hewitt (Red Hot Chili Peppers/Johnny Cash). What was it like to work with these guys?

JP’s influence was great because he’s the ultimate guru in musical history and style. He really brought a lot to the table in terms of just assuring us of the right way to go or helping us to choose a different direction. Hewitt brought a new vibe to our music in the last stage of mixing. He’s such a fantastic mixer as it is and he took all the elements we incorporated into our music and added a wider palette to the whole thing and it really opened it up.

What does the near future hold for Heavy Young Heathens?

More recording, first and foremost. We’re working on our second full length, which will hopefully be coming out sooner than later. Touring is a big part right now, but at the same time I think our focus is on a new release to come out sometime in the fall. We’re trying to contribute more and more to the changing ways in the business. We want to make sure to keep contributing to the positive side of the business, even though everybody likes to dump on the music business right now because it’s “dead.” But I want to contribute something a bit more positive to help build a new model so young bands have a chance.