Photo by Tim Oxton
Releasing their debut album, Night Of The Living Dreams, earlier this month under our pals at Bufu Records, Littlfeoot brings charm to the local Boston scene with their twangy vintage sound.
Holding no affiliation with The Land Before Time; in fact, Sutherland said the name came from her username choice for her Soundcloud, inspired by her own little feet. “I also like how it doesn’t sound like any genre. I feel like with a lot of bands, you can be like, “Oh, that band’s gonna sound like this.” I like it in that sense.”
Coming through the door of Refuge Cafe, singer Erica Sutherland is hard to miss in her striking bright red coat. Packed full of personality, her wide smile lit up the cramped little cafe. Settling into the only two seats available in the crowded place- so much for seeking refuge- music began blaring from the speakers overhead. This was going to be a challenge.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Sutherland said about the album, sipping her hot chocolate. “It’s been about two years.”
Working through lineup changes, the band had to take time to reorganize their sound and perfect it again and again as the production of the album progressed. Working under Alex Garcia Rivera at Mystic Valley Studios, the whole album was produced using an analog approach.
The whole process was entirely new to Sutherland, and the excitement spilled into her voice as she described going to the post office to mail out CDs and cassettes. “I was there for like, 45 minutes because I had to mail out so many orders,” she said. “I love being able to do that myself, because I get to see where they go. It’s cool, because they went all over the country- to Canada, and Greece. Most of them I didn’t know who they were, so that was cool. It’s always nice when it’s not just your parents buying your album.”
Conveniently speaking with her the day after Billboard’s Women in Music Awards, it was a great opportunity to ask about female prominence in the local music scene. “The more female musicians that are out there, the more role models people have for female musicians,” Sutherland said. “There’s actually this program in Providence, it’s called Girls Rock! Rhode Island, and we played for their group of girls last year. I remember when I was a kid, I don’t think there was anything like that- I totally would have gone if there had been.”
Speaking of girls in music, Sutherland has an affinity for girl groups from the 50s and 60s. “I live in like a musical time warp,” she said. She draws vocal influence from vintage groups like The Shirelles and The Marvelettes, and even Darlene Love, who she recently saw with her mother. “And surf music,” she added to her list of influences.
“It’s really important to get everybody to play music. Anybody can start a band,” Sutherland said, discussing local music. “I like that. [The local scene] encourages people to play music, and to come out and build a sense of community.”
Discussing her favorite local bands, the Littlefoot singer listed off some names you’ve seen around our site- Ian, Krill, Free Pizza, Guerilla Toss. There seems to be a large sense of camaraderie among the local groups around Boston.
“I feel like everybody’s been touring a lot, because I feel like it’s pretty easy to do these days,” Sutherland said. “I feel like these days- it’s not easy, it’s definitely a lot of work to book a tour. But the fact that the Internet exists makes it a lot easier. I feel like a lot of bands are going to tour as much as they can, and I think that’s the ticket.”
Littlefoot recently ended their first ever tour. Sutherland spoke on how her first experience touring was a fruitful one, allowing her to see new parts of the country she would never have dreamed of seeing before. “I think touring was a lot easier than I thought it would be.” She expected it to be really difficult to put together, but she added, “I think I could have gone on for a little longer. I brought an air mattress, which I thought was pretty life-saving.”
Of course, touring is one of the largest money makers for bands. On the topic of making money, Sutherland says she supports streaming and isn’t in it for the money. “I just want people to have [my music]. It would be cool if people wanted to buy it, but I don’t really view music as a money maker for me. The way I see it, I work, and I also do music. Music’s my priority, but I don’t see it as something that is going to make me money. I’d rather people have it.”
She added how offering physical copies of their music is a draw for listeners. By offering CDs and cassettes at affordable rates- ranging from $5-$7- it makes buying copies more appealing.
In addition to listening to their music, Sutherland also wants fans to be able to see it. Littlefoot has been finishing up work on their first music video for “Black Hole”, so watch out for the release of the video. The band is working with Nemo Allen to produce the video. Since it’s her first time working on a music video, she said it’s been an interesting process. “There are a lot of details to remember, and I’m kind of a perfectionist.”
Further discussing the local scene, she mentioned how she’s seen an increase in people bringing their parents to house shows- and enjoying it. This extrapolated into a conversation about bringing dads to shows, and ultimately- dad rock. Standing as one of the most monumental genres of all time, Sutherland finds it important to preserve the integrity of dad rock, so naturally we came up with the only solution- a dad rock festival. Stay tuned for lineup announcements. You can check out Sutherland’s father’s old band, The Moderns, here.
Stream Littlefoot’s new album, Night Of The Living Dreams, below, and get a physical copy through their bandcamp!
Photo by Chris Mongeau