Tough Luxury Has Trouble Sleeping

By Brandi Grigg

“This next song is called ‘Happy Endings,’” announced Tough Luxury front man Chris Magana. “And no, it’s not about the massage parlor on Marconi and Eastern.” The music kicked up again, filling San Francisco’s House of Shields with rockin’ sound. Those of us watching the show where crammed together with the band in the hot and stuffy second story mezzanine. Some people chose to chill out at the bar below, but they were graced with live video of the band projected on the wall. And although there wasn’t any room to dance to the catchy tunes, the crowd was still enthusiastic, bopping their heads along to the beat.

The following week, I was given the opportunity to see Tough Luxury’s creative process in action: They were working on a new song when I came to visit them in their studio. As Chris read lyrics off a computer monitor, the band attempted to follow his cues to change from verse to chorus. Like their other songs, the lyrics and the “rough draft” of their new creation was first written by Chris on Midi. “If you listen to the original version of our songs, they sound like ringtones,” quipped bassist Anthony Biagi. These skeletal songs are brought to the next practice and run through the “T. Lux. Machine,” after which the rest of the band members add their input and make changes. The creative process becomes a collaborative effort, with members swapping ideas and instruments as the song develops in unexpected ways and eventually into the finished product. “I’m a big believer in accidents,” noted Chris. “Sometimes a mess-up becomes the new coolest part of a song.”

What is truly unique, though, is the fact that Tough Luxury uses recording as a part of the writing process. According to Chris, they “do the recording as we write, and the re-writing as we record.” “It’s kind of backwards when you think about it,” drummer Jason Raney admitted. “Usually people write the songs and then record it.” Chris agreed. “We are backwards. Maybe it’s not what a lot of people do, but it’s what we do, and it’s getting interesting.”

It seems to be a formula that works well for them, as they have carved out a style that is uniquely their own. When asked to describe their sound, I got the usual “musician eye rolls” at the idea of pigeonholing themselves into a genre.

“Electronic dance rock is what we’ve been saying on the Internet,” Chris told me. “You can dance to it, and it’s got electronic stuff in there.” Audiences have noticed their music spans a variety of genres, and no two songs sound the same. Sometimes rockin’, sometimes poppy, it’s definitely danceable and addictive. It’s kind of like crack for your ears, but probably better for you.

Tough Luxury seeks to set itself apart from other bands in the Sacramento scene. As guitarist and keyboardist David Carl observed, “In Sacramento, either agriculture is going to creep its way into the music and you end up with that alt-country sound, or you have someone rebelling against that alt-country sound and playing nu metal. We’re trying to get away from either of those ends of the spectrum and just create good music.”

According to him, the ultimate goal is for the music to touch the audience, to “move people, either emotionally or through dancing.” Guitarist Brian Holzgang agreed: “I want to get a reaction out of somebody, that’s what I look forward to — the response. It’s an art, like painting; you want people to get something out of it.”

Well, I can personally attest to the ability of their music to do just that. Before the interview, I was listening to them practice their usual songs in the studio. They struck up into their only ballad-style song, “Hard to Sleep.” Although the lyrics are uplifting for the most part, the melancholy feel of the song swept me up, so that I was only vaguely aware of what I was feeling. “When it’s all on me, and the night is free, I find it hard to sleep…” Before I realized it, my eyes filled with tears. In the midst of the biggest breakup of my life, my entire world on shaky footing: oh yes, insomnia was a friend I knew quite well. As the song closed I tried in vain to hide the waterworks, but in retrospect, perhaps I shouldn’t have been embarrassed. If the goal of their music really is, as Chris said, “to touch somebody on some level, even if it’s not the way I saw it,” then maybe they should the tears as a compliment. It certainly touched me in a way that was entirely unexpected.

Tough Luxury may indeed be moving toward their own happy ending, as their music seems to be catching on in the local scene. Like many Indie bands, they have dreams of making it big. “Everybody wants to play in front of a big crowd, make money and not have to eat Spam for dinner every night,” Chris told me. He noted that it’s a hard market for musicians these days, and it requires a lot of sacrifice to keep making the music they love. But, even he conceded that often the difficulties can serve as sources of creative inspiration. “It’s been a pretty rough year for me, but out of the darkness comes some really interesting stuff.” David half-jokingly added that they “find luxury in the toughness.” But Chris found some seriousness in the joke: “I guess it is luxurious. That’s one of the best feelings, being involved in music.”

So, if you haven’t checked them out already, you’ve been waiting way too long. They will be playing at the Fire Escape in Citrus Heights on May 31 with Maldroid and Broken Poet, and keep an eye out for their upcoming EP, which is going straight to iTunes under Cyanide records. More info can be found at: myspace.com/tough-luxury.