Spinning Platters Interview: 10 Quick Questions With Levi Weaver

Levi Weaver and I have an interesting background. I saw him open for Imogen Heap several years ago at the Warfield when I was working as an usher. During her set, he climbed up on top of the speakers to play a guitar solo. It was dark up there, and some people wanted pictures, so I said I would “light him up.” So I shined my flashlight on his guitar for pictures. Later, he blogged that some security guard was trying to blind him and he almost lost his balance, falling to his death. Yeah, that was me. I apologized and explained myself; he apologized in kind.  With that history, is it any wonder I’ve become a big fan, especially of his real DIY ethos, going so far as to book him to play Steph’s Backyard in San Francisco this Saturday the 14th? We’d love to see you at the show, and we’re still selling tickets. Keep in mind that 100% of the ticket price goes to the artists.

Thanks to Levi for taking a few minutes out of his busy schedule of driving around the country to play in people’s homes to answer my email questions.

1. What inspired you to begin booking your own tours?

I had a couple of bad experiences with other people doing it, and I couldn’t get any booking agencies interested. It was necessity, really. Book them myself or stay at home.  

2. What are you driving around in these days? How many in your “entourage?”

A Honda CR-V. Usually it’s just me, though I’ll have 2 other guys with me from July 14-21

3. What are the biggest and smallest audiences you’ve played to since doing this?

Biggest – Around 100? I think? I’ve opened for some local bands with good followings. The biggest house show was around 75. The smallest? 4.  

4. Any “Worst Show Ever” stories you can share?

Yeaaaah, but not without throwing people under the bus. Usually, though, what contributes to a “bad show” is the local host not making an effort to invite their friends, assuming that I have a huge fanbase that will just show up. And even that is not as bad in cities I’m established in, but if it’s a “new” market, I’m really reliant upon the hosts to bring their friends and kickstart the fanbase there.

5. You’ve got tons of time in the car: what music are you listening to most these days? Ever listen to podcasts? AM Radio? What else?

I listen to a LOT of baseball talk radio. Spotify has also been helpful when I want to check out a new band I’ve heard about.

6. How did you get involved with live looping? How does it compare to working with a traditional band?

Again; necessity. I’d just moved to England and didn’t know any musicians, but I’d been asked to play a show. I didn’t want to be a boring dude-with-a-guitar, so I started looping a bit and it grew from there.

7. What is it about Kurt Godel that made you name your album after his letters?

This answer *could* get really long, but for the sake of brevity, his struggle with the idea of incompleteness. His was in regards to mathematics, and the album dealt more with the human condition, but we both struggled to maintain sanity in the face of it.

8. Your bandcamp page has lyrics and chords so people can cover your songs, no problem. Who would you most want to cover your songs?

Ryan Adams or Damien Rice, I think.

9. There will be documentary filmmakers traveling with you for a week. What’s one thing about your touring that you definitely want to see on film? And what’s one thing you’ll want to leave out?

Definitely Include: the amount of work that the hosts go to to make a show successful. They are the stars, for sure.

Leave out: my jokes that are not funny. There are a lot.

10. Kittens or puppies?

Probably kittens because they don’t chew up my stuff and they are easier to potty train. -0

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We really, really want you to go to this show, so we’re giving away a pair of tickets! Email levicontest (at) spinningplatters.com by Friday, July 13th at 5:00pm PDT, with your full name and the name of the musician you’d most want to hear cover your own songs (if you have songs), and we’ll randomly pick a winner to receive two general admission tickets to the show.

You can also buy your tickets here.