Imagine being in a rock band with your brother, your uncle, your friend and his brother.
That’s Bryan Garza’s reality, and when his San Francisco-based indie pop band Scissors for Lefty takes over the Marquis Theatre on Tuesday, it will be an upbeat and dancy family affair.
“He’s only two years older than me,” Garza said of his uncle, Robbie Garza, who plays guitar and bass for the band. “As time went on, it just made more sense that we needed to add more people so we could free ourselves and move around more – especially because I’m a pretty horrible guitarist. I guess our family members were just the easiest to reach.”
Scissors for Lefty hardly comes across as a haphazard family reunion jam session. It’s obvious their big-beat, electro-pop influences are shared and widely appreciated. The Denver Post caught up with Garza by telephone to discuss the family ties and the responsibility of a lead singer.
Q: What’s it like playing with your brother and your uncle?
A: (Brother) Stevie’s the surprise here, because we didn’t know he wanted to be in the band. At first, Robbie couldn’t make all the shows, so Stevie learned how to play bass to fill in for him. It was a crash course, and it was heart-attack land for a while, but now he’s totally proficient.
Q: I’ve seen you guys at the Noise Pop festival in San Francisco and also here in Denver, and you aren’t afraid to dance. Have you found that the more you dance, the more your crowds dance?
A: Oh, yeah. There are plenty of bands that are technically great but boring to watch. When you put on a live show, you’re no longer a musician, you’re an entertainer. … And we don’t have lighting or sound, so we move around. Plus it gives us a chance to burn off calories from the … food we eat on the road.
Q: Speaking of entertainers, you’re touring with Juliette Lewis and her band. What do you think of her live show?
A: When we were first offered this tour, we checked her music out, and we loved how rambunctious she is. It was like, “Finally, somebody who actually puts on a show.”
Q: Being a frontman yourself, what do you think of her as a frontwoman?
A: She’s great. She has a much better sense of where she is in a night than I do. We kind of get lost in our sets. It’s like a big anxiety attack, with us jumping around sweating and watching out for crashing gear. We get lost in our performance. And I’m sure she does too, but she has a better sense of where she’s at, likely because of her acting training.
Q: What do you mean, you get lost?
A: Sometimes we even forget to say that we’re Scissors for Lefty, and in the meantime, she has this one back-bending move that I’d have to take yoga for a couple of years to be able to do it.
Ricardo Baca: 303-954-1394 or rbaca@denverpost.com
scissors for lefty
Indie pop. 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Marquis Theatre with Juliette & the Licks. $15.
