‘Balancing act’
Members of American Football in ‘dad mode’ when not making music
Steve Lamos is spending the day watching his children play in the front yard.
These are moments he never takes for granted — mostly because he’s often on the go with either music or teaching.
“It’s always a good time to get back into dad mode,” he says in an interview from his Denver home. “My life is a balancing act, because I’ve got so much going on. The No. 1 part of my life is family.”
Lamos is a member of the rock band American Football. He is joined in the band by Mike Kinsella, Steve Holmes and Nate Kinsella.
The band’s history dates back to 1997 when Lamos, Holmes and Mike Kinsella were students at the University of Illinois and the trio decided to form the band.
They made music for three years and then took a hiatus from music until 2014.
American Football recently released its third self-titled release on March 22.
Lamos says the recording for the album took a long time, with tracking done both in Chicago and Omaha, Neb.
The writing process was also completed in pieces, because the band members live in Denver, Chicago and New York City.
“Technology has really helped make this album possible,” Lamos says. “The first time we made a record, we were all in the same college town. This time, we would start songs and send pieces of them back and forth to each other.”
The new album has eight songs, although the band took 13 songs into the studio.
“There were a couple of songs we immediately thought that would make the album,” he says. “There were other songs, like ‘Life Support,’ that we couldn’t decide and it landed up closing out the album. I remember not liking what we were playing at the beginning, and this song has grown so much.”
Another obstacle each member had to overcome was finding the time to work on music.
Lamos says each member of the band is a father now.
“We have very limited time to get what we need done,” he says. “While we’re out living out our rock star dreams, our spouses are picking up double work while we’re on the road. It’s a lot different and takes a lot of compromises on all parts. After the music and tours are over, we’re grownups. It’s great to get off the road and go home and be responsible.”