Pop, Punk, and Hot Sauce: A Q&A with Love, Robot

Hailing from Stony Brook, pop-punk band Love, Robot is on a journey to break out complete with performances, music videos and loyal fans. Members Alexa San Roman, Jon Biegen, Matt Clunie, Sean Murphy, Taylor Schwab and Anthony Rega shared their thoughts about music, their history, and the future of the band after performing their newest single "All The Walls" at Christmosh '10.

Patch: What is your inspiration?

Alexa San Roman, vocals: Life. Anything that happens in our lives. We all contribute with the writing.

Patch: Any bands inspire your music?

LR: Glassjaw, Brand New, Kiss, The Motion City Soundtrack to name a few.

Patch: If someone wanted to know which band Love, Robot sounds the most like, what would you say?

Sean Murphy, guitar: Nobody. That's bold to say, but I would say nobody.

San Roman: If we had to pick it would probably be Paramore or Voyager Strong.

Jon Biegen, vocals: No, not Paramore. Because only a girl sings in that group.

Patch: Take me back to the beginning of Love, Robot. How did you meet and form a band?

Biegen: Well, me and Matt had a band together and Taylor and Sean had one together. We kind of all met in high school and college and started playing together. Me and Matt had a metal band where I just screamed the whole time; I never sang once. And now Anthony, who plays the drums, is the newest member, only a few months in. But all together we have been playing together for two years.

Patch: And where did the name Love, Robot come from?

Matt Clunie, guitar: It's kind of a contrast. A contrast between love and robots [who] cannot love.

San Roman: Sort of an ironic name.

Biegen: We don't know where we came up with it. But my brother is convinced he came up with the name when we were like 15, talking on AIM.

Patch: Since you are in a local band from Stony Brook, have you ever performed or been involved with the community?

San Roman: Yeah we have performed at the university before.

Taylor Schwab, bass: We were involved with RockYoFace Case, battle of the bands and cancer benefits.

Biegen:  We would definitely love to perform there in the future.

Patch: After seeing you perform at Christmosh '10 at The Crazy Donkey, Farmingdale, I was impressed with the amount of interaction you have with the fans. Is this ordinary for a Love, Robot show?

Biegen: If I see someone singing the song, then I'm their friend immediately.

Clunie: Yeah, I reflect what I see when I play. Performance comes before playing.

Patch: I heard people in the audience talking about the cover of Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream" you performed being better than the original. What made you choose that song?

San Roman: We always talked about doing covers.

Schwab: We were sitting in Jon's basement and it just came out. Sean pulled out a guitar and that was that.

Murphy: I feel like that cover was potential driven, because that song was so bad all ready.

Patch: How have you been getting your music recorded?

Schwab: A recording company called "The Recording Company" in upstate New York. We would like to thank Tim Lynch and Rich Sullivan.

Patch: And what is next for Love, Robot?

San Rosan: We have an EP coming out within the next month. More music videos on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/lovecommarobot) and hopefully on MTV and Fuse next year.

Patch: Is there anything else you want to mention?

Schwab: Hot sauce.

Check out Love, Robot music on Myspace, follow their every move on Twitter, or buy a t-shirt here.