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Black Top Lines: Interview & Review

by Erin Christie

Black Top Lines, an alternative punk band hailing from Norwalk, Connecticut, is comprised of vocalist Julia Breen, guitarists Justin Graff and Angelica Martin, bassist Mateo Roldan, and drummer Asha Locke. This past Saturday, February 11th, the foursome put on their second live gig with another amazing local act, Anxious, at the infamous Darien Depot in Darien, CT.  Upon entering the venue, it was clear that this was bound to be a night no one there would ever forget.  As the night wore on, the air was filled with laughter, the sounds of joyous reunions and “long time, no see’s,” killer tunes, and light-hearted banter, each second leading up to the well- anticipated set.  

As Black Top Lines took the stage, surrounded by friends, family, and other familiar faces, they appeared to be at ease, at home, and ready to knock everyone’s socks off--collectively a fear that they were certainly able to achieve.  Despite this being only the second live performance within their career, it was a show unlike any other, one where the true heart, passion, and drive of each member was blatantly present within each chord progression, chorus, and tempo- change.  The audience drew out their cellphones and lighters, swayed to the rhythm, and sang along to each song throughout the set, much of which consisted of various covers from bands and artists such as Paramore, PVRIS, Halsey, and even a spontaneous rendition of Smash Mouth’s hit, “All Star,” which drew a great amount of laughter from the audience and band alike.  Of the two incredible original songs that BTL performed, the final song was surely powerful, an anthem lined with anger and aggression, one explaining that a woman’s body and what they wear in no sense justifies objectification and cat-calling as explained through lead- singer, Julia’s, inspiring and beyond powerful closing speech, encouraging women to stand and speak up for themselves in the face of oppression.  The entire set was one that radiated positive, light, and warmth, managing to leave the night singed with a perfect sense of euphoria which was truly a beautiful sight to behold.

Though Black Top Lines’ career has just begun, it is without a doubt that within the next coming months, their talent will be able to shine through, allowing them to elevate to heights that they’ve never reached before and gain the recognition and love that they truly deserve.

Following their gig, Electric Daze had the wonderful opportunity to sit down with Julia, Mateo, Angelica, Asha, and Justin to discuss their aspirations, hopes for the future of Black Top Lines, and unapologetic love for their fans and each other.

Electric Daze: In regards to music, have you always been interested in playing?  When did you realize that you wanted to start a band and/or turn to music professionally?

Justin: Okay, well, I come last.

[Everyone laughs]

Julia: So, basically, I met Asha last year and we had talked about how we both wanted to be in a band and that just never happened.  This year, I still wanted to be in a band and I decided to text Asha since we both wanted to do it freshman year, and I asked her “Do you want to be in a band with me?” and she immediately responded “FUCK YES!” in all caps.”

Asha: I think it was like a Sunday night.

Julia: We practiced like once at her house after that. I later texted Angelica about it and she didn’t even know she was in the band until probably two weeks later but she was!

Angelica: I remember we were in science class and we had been coming up with band names and logos and it suddenly hit me… wait, I’m in this!

Mateo: And then here’s where I came in.  Angelica had asked me if I wanted to be in the band and she was basically hunting me down, telling me that I had to join because she wouldn’t do it alone.

Asha: and then, Justin came along.

Justin: Yeah, I came to the last show.  I had texted one of my friends that I wanted to be in a band and suddenly, like two weeks later, I was in.

Asha: You’re welcome [laughs]

 ED: Did you have any strong musical influence when you were growing up?  Who would you say has inspired you the most to either pursue music further or travel down the path that you have in terms of sound, genre, etc?

 Justin: About half of my family is drawn towards art and the other half is drawn more toward music, so at the same time that I was being pushed toward art, I was taking music lessons.  I had always wanted to be like my dad and my mom so I was really conflicted- I didn’t know whether to choose music or art for a while.

Angelica: It’s sort of the same thing with me- I think half of my dad’s side plays music (I’m not going to get into numbers because that’s a lot) [laughs].  I’ve been playing orchestra for about eight years but I wasn’t really interested in playing orchestra so when Julia asked me if I wanted to be in the band and said that they needed a guitarist, I was like “cool, I kinda know how to play the guitar!”

Asha: I think my biggest musical influence would probably be my dad because he’s a rapper so I’ve always gone to him and asked him for help with everything like “I don’t know how to do this band stuff I need your help.”  And my mom’s been a DJ so if I didn’t choose music, it probably would’ve been weird.

Mateo: And for me, my brother has been a huge influence because he started playing guitar out of nowhere—I thought “Nope! Six strings are too many for me so why don’t I play bass?” And that’s exactly why I chose that.

 ED: This is slightly stereotypical but where did your band name, Black Top Lines, come from and what does it mean?

 Angelica: Asha, take it away!

Asha: Yeah so it was probably seven in the morning and I was on the bus on my way to school, hating life as I usually do, and I thought that I might as well think of some band names.  I pretty much would always come up with some ideas here and there.  So I had been looking down at the street, which was a black top, and the lines on the street and it sort of just hit me!  I had the idea in my head already but it had been “Black Top Lives,” because I feel like there are so many people that use and cross the street daily so that inspired me in a way.  There’s so many people on this planet and they all have different stories.

 ED: What is your usual songwriting process?  Do all of you have certain roles that you take or does it shift from time to time?  When you write, where do you draw most of your inspiration from?  

 Julia: Yeah, so with the first original that we wrote, Mateo had written a really awesome bassline and Asha wrote all of the lyrics.

Angelica: I think she tried to record it on her phone beforehand to get it to work—I think we still have it!  We had just tried to play around with everything and see what sounded best and I guess, from there, it just kind of happened?

Justin: Yeah, I think I kind of procrastinated the whole time. I started learning the bassline and two practices later, I just came in an improvised.  I just self- taught myself by watching Angelica play.  I remember hearing Julia’s first song and suggesting that we played it a different way be she said “No.  I don’t like that.  It doesn’t sound like my song!”

Julia: I wrote the last song that we played [laughs].  I mean, I play the guitar a little bit but I don’t really know the music terminology or the scales so I really just wrote the song through imagining what it would sound like and composing it mentally.  Everyone is super talented so it really just fell into place through adding everyone’s different ideas.

 ED: Have you been working on anything recently?  

 Asha: Yeah, actually! We have a song in the works that I wrote a while ago so watch out for that!

 ED: I’m sure it’s a bit nerve-wracking to perform in front of crowds—have you found it to be that way or do you feel relatively calm in terms of live performances?  Are there any pre- show rituals that you have to hopefully ease your nerves?

 Angelica: Oh my god! I’ve been waiting for this!

Asha:  So we have a pre- show ritual that we do before every show.

Mateo: So many people know about it and they always put it on their Snapchat stories.

Asha: We huddle in a circle like we’re a football team and we just sing All Star [by Smash Mouth] and so everyone gets really hype.  It’s really funny.

Angelica: I think it gets rid of a lot of my nervous energy.

Asha: It adds onto mine, though, I don’t know why.  I’m usually really fine all day until like five minutes before the show starts but this show, I was just worrying all day [laughs]

Justin: I was really calm today until right before we went on.

Mateo: What basically happens for me is that I get super nervous right before we play but when we all walk onto the stage, or platform, or wherever we’re playing, I hear everyone screaming and chanting for us and that calms me down.

Angelica: I think it really helps that the crowd is usually made up of a ton of our friends so even if we screw up, we know that they’ll love us anyway [laughs].  It’s really reassuring in that sense.

 ED: What have been your most memorable show/ performance?  

 Angelica: I think our last show here [the Darien Depot] was the most memorable for me.  A lot of our friends had organized fan projects and it was really cool.  I think during Roman Holiday, they had held up colored lights and organized them to make a pride flag.  And during our last song, we had had confetti.  We also met Justin that night so I mean, it has to be!

Asha: The first thing we asked him was “Can you play All Star on the guitar?” and he said yes so we let him in immediately.

 ED: What are your plans for the future? Where do you see Black Top Lines in a few months?

 Asha: I honestly don’t know where I see myself in the next few days but I just hope that we’re all alive, steady, and doing okay.  It’s kind of hard to tell where this band will take us in the next few months.

Angelica: I just hope that we’re going to be able to play a lot more live shows and write more originals (and possible less covers).

Asha: We do have another show coming up really soon for the Homeless Men’s Youth Shelter—it’s a free show for charity to raise awareness for the struggle of the homeless youth in Connecticut. There’s going to be a ton of people there—it’ll be really cool.

Angelica: Yeah! But it’s all really up in the air besides that.

Justin: It’s kinda bad for me [laughs].  Well, I’ll be in college by the end of this year so maybe I’ll come back to play a few shows but I’m just kinda here for now.

Angelica: Just don’t go to college.  You just can’t leave.

 ED: In terms of Black Top Lines, if there was anything that you wanted future fans to know about you, what would you tell them?

 Asha:  I think that I would want them to know that, if anything, if they come to see our show, definitely either before the show, after the show, or during, you can be whoever you want to be and to be yourself.

Justin: Everyone’s welcome, for sure.

Mateo: We don’t care what you look like, where you come from, what you have on your shoulders… we just love everyone.  We want to just throw out so much love to everyone.

Angelica: You’re welcome to come into our arms- I will definitely hug everyone.

Julia: We just want to spread a ton of positivity always.

 ED: Is there anything else that you want to say really quickly?

 Mateo: I love you, mom.

Asha: We should definitely make a shirt that says “I love you, mom” on it now- we have to.

 Make sure to check out Black Top Lines and follow their whereabouts on social media to keep up with what they’re up to within the next coming months: you certainly won’t regret it!

Instagram and Twitter: @blacktoplines

Business Inquiries: blacktoplines@gmail.com