The Los Angeles-based alt-rock trio Left of the Slash leaves listeners anticipating their forthcoming album with the release of the heavy-hitting single "Call On."
Taking inspiration from the sounds of psych-rock, blues, alt-rock, punk, and grunge, Left of the Slash always promises a thrill. Created by Stephen Reid Nemeroff in his hometown of NYC in 2005, Left of the Slash quickly grew into a powerhouse trio, working alongside producers like Wyn Davis, Steve Ornest, J. Randy, and Thomas Queyja.
Now releasing their recent single "Call On" from their upcoming album slated to release later this year, Left of the Slash gets down and dirty on this track, demonstrating their vast influences and inspirations. While Stephen Reid Nemeroff lyrically expresses his loyalty for someone through thick and thin, the supporting instrumentals deafen our speakers with the vigor and power of rock.
Hitting play on "Call On," the track begins its venture through a throbbing bassline and snazzy drum patterns. Once Nemeroff starts singing of reminding someone to call on him when they're down and out, we can't help but keep our toes tapping to the exhilarating instrumentals that begin pouring through our speakers with incredible magnetism and energy.
Left of the Slash picks up the instrumentals about halfway through the track, as the supporting drums punch their way through alongside the powerful rhythm guitar and thumping bassline, pulling us deeper into this blazing tune. We adore the sonic transitions and switch-ups that Left of the Slash delivers within this track, as they keep us entirely captivated with each savory melody.
Find Left of the Slash's latest single, "Call On," on all streaming platforms, and follow the trio as they prepare to release their forthcoming album later this year.
Hello Left of the Slash and welcome to BuzzMusic. We're bopping our heads to every beat and break of your latest heavy single, "Call On." What inspired the song's heartfelt and passionate concept? Really appreciate you taking a liking to it. That’s a good question and hopefully, this is a decent answer. The instrumentals and the lyrics in the second part of “ Call On,” were written around 2005. I was going through a breakup and dealing with some other issues that led to a lot of introspection and internal debates. Last year, I was finishing writing and recording our debut LP “WON" and I realized the lyrics weren’t finished. I had to go back to that mindset of my single, 20-year-old self. This was an interesting experience given I’m happily married to my beautiful wife and best friend Ashley. Once I put myself back in that mindset, it just kind of poured out of me. The lyrics and theme of the song always were about portraying the internal debate of whether to move on from a feeling or to stay complacent and do nothing. The first part of the song’s lyrics and instrumentals depicts the vulnerability of a human being, where the second part of the song shows someone that has regained confidence and is ready to put the past behind them. Personally, this has always been one of my favorite songs that I’ve composed and I think it came out great... just how I imagined it in my head all these years. Seeing as the lyricism within "Call On" is rather heartfelt and emotional, why did you choose to amp up the instrumentals and contrast the expressive lyricism? At the time I was listening to a lot of 90’s hard rock and Grunge. I thought it would be cool to build up a song to really express the spectrum of emotions you deal with when debating to let something go, move on, and then what that feels like after you do move on. I’m really proud of how the song builds up and has two different movements. Or at least the progressive rock part of my brain is. I guess you can say it's our rock ballad if those still exist. Could you take us through the members within your group and what each member was responsible for during the making of "Call On?" “Call On” was played with the original Left Of The Slash lineup back in NYC circa 2005 and then re-recorded last year at The Lip Studios in downtown L.A with the great Thomas Queyja. Half of the album was recorded there and the other half was recorded at Total Access Studios in Redondo Beach with Wyn Davis and Steve Ornest. Wyn and Steve connected me with Julia Lage who plays bass and does backup vocals throughout the entire LP. She is insanely talented and just a bad-ass throwback female rockstar. I was introduced by my music older brother, Tony Santana aka J.Randy, to Alex Lugwa to play drums on the second half of the album and we really hit it off. Honestly, when you play with people this talented, they kinda have a way of getting stuff out of your head without giving them too much direction. I would say it took no more than 4 takes to nail it. Does "Call On" drop any hints as to what listeners should anticipate from your forthcoming album later this year?
Yes for sure, I really think “Call On” shows the range and versatility of what Left Of The Slash represents. The more I think about it, it’s probably the most complete song I’ve ever written. I have always been fascinated by the spectrum of human emotions. Not just in the lyrics, but how instrumentals have layers and tell stories within stories. I’m very old school when it comes to music and only listen to complete albums, so I put a lot of thought into selecting the songs for our debut album 'WON.' I want to take listeners on a journey that they haven’t been on in years. What's next for you?
Well first off, I think that we are getting geared up for some fucking shows, which used to be the base of all rock music like Left Of The Slash. We started recording this album a week before COVID broke out, so we have had to pivot a number of times and put a lot on hold. I’m really thankful for all I’ve been through in the last year - I feel like the world really needed to be humbled to truly appreciate the little things we took for granted. In particular live music. We are based in L. A, so it’s going to be interesting to see how the venues respond to all of this, and hopefully, we will be playing locally very soon. We are releasing the album in singles each month leading up to the full album release this fall. Our next single, “Two Minds One Head,” is dropping on 5/14 on all major DSPs worldwide. That is another one I’m very proud of and excited to share. I'm grateful that I've been inspired to write music throughout the past year, and it has kept me as sane as I can possibly be. Be on the lookout for our second album, which we are starting to record next month.