LAM's FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions). These are just a small handful of questions that have been sent to LAM. If you have a question, just ask (see the Contact link on the left):
- London After Midnight (LAM) CDs aren't available where I live. Why?
Actually LAM CDs ARE available ANYwhere in the world at all record stores, through any and all online stores, through all legal download services like iTunes, Rhapsody.com, Amazon.com/mp3, and direct from the LAM website. Hell, you can even buy LAM CDs through the Target website, the BestBuy.com website and many more major stores!
If you can't find LAM CDs in your local store it simply means they are sold out or never bothered to order them in the first place. So, all you have to do is ask that the store order the CDs. Simple, huh? They can, no problem. LAM's CDs are distributed in virtually every part of the world, so they are readily available to any local store, anywhere in the world. If the store tells you they can't get the CDs then they are lying to you. However, record labels can also be VERY lazy, so you also can send an email to LAM's record labels and ask them to stock your local stores! (email addresses listed below)
YOU CAN HELP LAM! Contact every store you can and ask them to order LAM CDs, shirts and other products and contact LAM's labels and tell them to stock your local stores.
If you are having problems getting your local store to order LAM CDs please tell LAM's record labels immediately:
USA: label@metropolis-records.com
Europe: info@trisol.de
Russia: info@irond.ru
- Does LAM have a song called "Gothic", "Love Song", "Goth Club", "Wrathchild America", etc?
These are not titles of LAM songs, and "Wrathchild America" is not an LAM song. And many songs labeled as LAM are often not LAM songs. But, the LAM song "Spider and the Fly" is often mislabeled on illegal download services as "Gothic", and the LAM song "HATE!" is often mislabeled as "Love Song". These songs are available for legal download at iTunes.com at a much higher quality, and/or available on the CDs 'Selected Scenes from the End of the World' and 'Psycho Magnet'. Both these CDs are available in any music store, online from metropolis-mailorder.com (USA, but they ship world wide), Amazon.com, or Amazon.de (Europe), and directly from the LAM Online Store.
A general request about illegal filesharing: Please tell people who illegally fileshare LAM's music that they are hurting the bands by stealing their music. PLEASE do not put LAM music or videos onto file sharing services, on YouTube, etc. If people want to sample LAM music please direct them to the LAM website, the LAM YouTube page, etc. See the Links page of the LAM website for a complete list of official LAM websites and online profiles with samples of LAM's music. If you must put an LAM song online, please only place a partial song online, not the entire song. This way, people get a taste but will have to support the band and buy the CD to hear the full version.
- Did LAM's name come from the 1927 Lon Cheney movie?
From an interview with Sean Brennan: "SEAN: I got the name from the lost 1927 silent film. Being familiar with film since childhood after reading about it in film books, I chose the name because no one knew what it was at the time (early 1990s) and the name was atmospheric, evoking a mood and emotion. To me the name evoked imagery ranging from danger to romance; from a foggy night in London during the blitz in WWII, to simply a name that is open and can interpreted by the listener any way he likes. When I named LAM no one but a handful of film fanatics knew what "London after midnight" (the movie) was, and that was the intent. But just a couple of years later the internet was born and now everyone knows. It's a lost Lon Chaney film that's actually not a horror/vampire film, as often stated. It's about a murderer who is "mind fucked" into confessing to his crime. The police utilize the Lon Cheney "vampire" character, an actor in the story, to fool the murderer into thinking he is surrounded by vampire type creatures, driving him to the point of insanity and eventually confessing to his crime. So, in reality, it's not a horror film. It's about effecting the state of mind in order to achieve some truth. Much like I try to do with music, effect people's minds and emotions- sparking thought or feeling or making them face (sometimes uncomfortable) truths. Or it's just a cool name."
- Is there an LAM song called "October"?
A discography with this information can be found on the History page of the LAM website (see link to left). LAM used to play a song called "October" that was originally written by Sean for a band he played in briefly just prior to starting LAM. LAM only performed this song for about the first year of existence and released it on the original 4 song demo tape. The song was soon taken off the tape and replaced with "Revenge", which was soon released on the CD "Selected Scenes from the End of the World".
- Was LAM on the Montel Williams talk show?
Yes, LAM was guest on Montel Williams in 1992. The topic of the show was supposed to be "Gothic rock and its effect on kids". This is why Sean agreed to be on the program, and why they asked LAM to be on the program (one of the most popular US bands related to the gothic scene). But once the day came to film the show, the producers 'dumbed it down' to grab some ratings; they changed the theme to "Vampire Rock" (Montel's interchangeable phrase for "Gothic" and a phrase they felt would grab viewer's attention). The program's producers booked some other bands that were there to simply shock with little else to offer, and also booked an ultra-conservative republican guest as a counter-point who made insane accusations against the bands.
The other bands were essentially joke bands there for shock value: Dark Theater was an absurd Chicago-based band with a singer who claimed he was a "real blood drinker" and sang all about vampire fiction. The other band was Haunted Garage, an old Los Angeles garage band that played comical music and spat fake blood at their audiences, sort of Rocky Horror meets Monty Python. The right-wing republican attacked the bands saying the music corrupts youth, etc. However, having announced that LAM was to be on the show by flyering local clubs, many of LAM's Los Angeles-area fans packed the audience (at least 350-400 LAM fans showed up, some had to be turned away), who luckily helped to drown out the right-wing republican fanatic.
It was clear when LAM arrived and the program began that the program's producers didn't have a clue what LAM was about and were simply diving into the realm of shock TV for rating's sake. Sadly, they just wanted controversy and not a real discussion of how music can influence kids. So they focused on image and their misconceptions of the gothic scene and misconceptions of the bands on the program. They even had LAM's name wrong in the Chyron (Chyron are the graphics you see on TV, the names of people talking on screen, etc). Some fans noticed this and corrected the TV crew before filming started. So the program clearly had no clue what LAM was all about from the start.
The show aired the day the LA riots broke out. It was the last "normal" TV show before several days of 24 hour riot coverage.
Anyway- Its REALLY not worth seeing. LAM is hardly in it and the rest of it is quite boring.
- Who is pictured on the original Metropolis Records edition of 'Psycho Magnet' and the cover of the 'Innocence Lost' video tape?
Many people, for some reason, assume this is a picture of Sean despite the image looking absolutely nothing like Sean. Again- it's not Sean. No, it's not. Yes, we're sure. Yes, we're positive. We would know, right? That photo was taken from an old issue of Interview magazine years ago - it's just a little girl all dressed up as an adult, symbolizing lost innocence, the theme of the CD 'Psycho Magnet'. Duh.
- Were there other members of LAM?
There have been other people who played live in LAM. Like NIN or any other evolving music/art project, there has never been a regular live line up. Sean Brennan writes all the music and records it on CD. You can check the liner notes to each CD for specific details.
- Who is in LAM and who writes the music?
Sean writes the music in LAM and performs it for CD. The live band that plays concerts on tour varies but includes Sean Brennan, Randy Mathias, Pete Pace, Matthew Setzer, and Trouble Valli.
- When did LAM play the first concert?
LAM first played in the early 1990s at the legendary death rock/gothic club Helter Skelter in Los Angeles. LAM was the first band to ever play the club after it had opened a few years earlier. Other bands to play there included Nine Inch Nails, Nitzer Ebb, the original Christian Death on one of their ill-fated reunion tours, and countless other acts.
- Did LAM contribute to the 1994 books "The Vampire Encyclopedia" and "The Complete Vampire Companion", in which LAM is mentioned?
No. Don't buy these books! These authors used LAM's name in their books without permission and the information contained about LAM is completely inaccurate. For example, "The Vampire Companion" stated someone else sang for LAM, that LAM was somehow related to the "vampire scene" (whatever that is), and also that the band no longer existed. "The Vampire Encyclopedia" made claims that were similarly untrue and inaccurate. Sean Brennan wrote to both authors in 1994 when the books were first released, and asked them to remove any mention of LAM- because the band wasn't related to the vampire subject in any way and the information they printed was wrong. The authors were linking (without reason) the goth scene - and LAM - to people who thought goth was all about vampires, while completely ignoring the roots of the scene or the facts about LAM.
"The Vampire Companion" author didn't respond. The author of "The Vampire Encyclopedia" wrote a rude letter back stating he refused to alter his book, even though the information it contained was wrong. In 2005, after another edition of this book was released with false information, Sean Brennan wrote directly to the publisher. They assured him that they would remove all references of LAM from future prints. We're not sure that they actually did or not. Again, don't buy these books!
- Is LAM a vegan band?
Sean Brennan is a vegan and live bass player Randy Mathias is a vegan. Since LAM's inception Sean has pushed the ideas of animal welfare, veganism, and various progressive political issues in LAM's music and/or LAM's literature. Flyers from as far back as the very first concert show advertising and articles on various animal rights and progressive political causes/organizations.
- I saw a live video where Sean dedicated a song to someone named Sarah. Who is Sarah?
That performance was during a the 2007 European tour LAM did with the European band Kirlian Camera. KC's violinist, Sarah, was a big fan of that particular song, "Heaven Now", from the new LAM CD 'Violent Acts of Beauty'. That was the last concert of the tour and KC had some problems with the local promoters that night, so Sean dedicated the song to Sarah.
- Is LAM political? Why did LAM turn political?
Wait, you're joking right? Have you been living in a cave? Did you hear "Your Best Nightmare", a song purposely written in the style of an Edward Gorey story, and think that defined LAM or something? Are you that stupid? Have you attributed other's views (or lack of) to Sean? Sorry, but you need to be set straight- Sean has always been political, addressing social, environmental and political matters in his music and other LAM-related literature and forums (and stage performances) as far back as the first LAM concert. If you didn't know that then you haven't been paying attention. In addition to certain songs that address political or social concerns, LAM's flyers and literature (as early as the first days of LAM) showed pages of information about animal rights, human rights, and similar issues. VERY political. LAM didn't "turn political", Sean has always been political, even from his very early childhood! If someone thinks LAM "turned political" then this shows they know very little about LAM and Sean.
- Is the LAM page on Wikipedia accurate?
No, it contains some false and wrong information. There was a crazy guy (who was briefly banned from Wikipedia for "hostile" editing of band pages, including the LAM page) who added a lot of false, useless and/or misleading information to the page. Every time the page was edited to be more accurate this guy would revert it back to it's inaccurate state, thus making the page utterly useless. The LAM page on Wikipedia, therefore, is a very poor source for information.
- Who sings background vocals on "Carry On Screaming"?
Sean, of course. Read the liner notes. There are no other singers on any LAM song with the exception of the song "Blessing", which features Lore singing some background vocals.
- What country is LAM from?
The USA. Sean was born in Connecticut.
- Is LAM male or female? Is any person who plays in LAM gay?
Sean Brennan and all live band members are male. There has never been a female live member. There are no gay members of the live band and Sean is not gay, though LAM fully supports gay and lesbian rights.
- What's the Gashlycrumb?
The Gashlycrumb is the LAM newsletter and merchandise catalog, which has largely been replaced by the LAM website. The Gashlycrumb still exists and the final issue can be downloaded for free from the LAM website (see LAM Store link, bottom of page).
- Is Sean a Communist?
No. This is a question that only surfaced after people saw the cover artwork for LAM's new CD Violent Acts of Beauty, which is reminiscent of old Soviet-era propaganda art. The similarity is intentional as the CD reflects the struggle against fascism and a society that welcomes dysfunction and self destruction rather than self empowerment. See more on the interviews of this website page about this very subject. If you read Sean's interviews and writings on the LAM Community, you'll see Sean is not a Communist.
- I saw a live video where Sean dedicated a song to someone named Sarah. Who is Sarah?
