Meet Long Neck

Why the long face? We’ve got Long Neck in the house!

Helmed by Lily Mastrodimos, this solo-project turned into a full band experience, and trades in thoughtful metaphors, excellent scientific references, and palpable energy. They may or may not have a love of giraffes (I forgot to ask), but do proudly rep their home state of New Jersey.

Last year’s release, Will This Do?, established Long Neck to be a lo-fi powerhouse. Below, we discuss her early days in Jersey, Hoboken’s baby pizza, and her favorite tour memories.

Grab a pal, grab a libation, and get to reading!

A self-portrait by, Long Neck

Would You Rather…

your skin flash like a fast strobe light, or be incredibly slippery? Why?

Slippery skin. You know how some eels will produce a slime that makes it harder for them to be grabbed? It’s a defense mechanism. Just like that. I wanna be so slimy no one can touch me. That way, old men can stop trying to hug/touch me at shows. Ha ha ha!

Some Questions with Long Neck

Do you write music in your head, in a notebook, on a computer, or your phone?

Mostly a notebook and the notes app. Sometimes I’ll have an idea for a melody and will hum it into a recording app. But it’s really like putting a puzzle together for me. I have individual lyrics written down in a list and I’ll keep reading them until something strikes me and I can see a thread. Then I’ll take it from there.

Did you study music growing up?

I didn’t really. I took guitar lessons when I was a kid. I was in concert band and marching band in high school, and took some ensemble classes in college. But my focus was always on biology—animal science, ecology, conservation.

What type of sandwich would your music be?

Goddamn, that’s a good one. Gotta say a classic breakfast egg sandwich—you can add bacon if you’d like (I’m trying to eat less meat) but I like egg-and-cheese-with-tomato-avocado-and-onion-and-SPK-in-a-roll. Any kind of egg sandwich. It just spells comfort to me. It’s what I associate with long trips and friends and late nights after gigs going to a bodega.

Did you take part in the local music scene while growing up in New Jersey? Did it shape your music today in anyway?

Yes and no. I wasn’t as involved as I would have liked. My family moved out of Hoboken to the burbs when I was 7–going from THE pivotal music hub in North Jersey to the heavily sport-oriented town of Glen Ridge. There was no “scene” there, I didn’t know what a scene was. All I knew was that I hated my town and wanted to get out. I’d been in bands since 4th grade with some of my friends (including Long Neck’s guitarist Kevin Kim), but my first “serious” bands were founded in high school with my friends who still lived in Hoboken and Jersey City. Most of our shows were either Battles of the Bands in my high school, but I signed us up for something called JerseyShows. Any Jersey musician can attest that it was a pretty shit deal—one of those pay to play groups that booked gigs for you with bands that definitely didn’t have anything in common. They always booked us at a venue called Crossroads in Garwood. The last show we ever played for them was a Battle of the Bands at Starland Ballroom (we left immediately after our set cos we cut ties with them). But I never really traveled for a gig—I was terrified of driving on the highway—so we were confined to our area, and it bummed me out. I think all of that—having to stay totally local but wanting to explore—is something that fueled Long Neck’s early days. I wanted to take my music anywhere and everywhere.

What are the major differences between being in a band versus a solo project?

The collaboration. I love bringing a song to the band and it becomes something completely different or exactly what l imagined. And in every case, it’s exciting and better than what I thought it could be.

What three items do you never leave the house without?

My water bottle, my wallet, my headphones. I bring so much more with me, though. My tote bag straps are starting to rip.

What is the best pizza in New Jersey?

This is a very dangerous thing to ask a Jerseyan because everyone has such ironclad opinions and loyalties. I don’t know if it’s the best, but my favorite pizza is Benny Tudino’s in Hoboken. Their slices are the size of a human infant.

What was the process of writing your album, "Will This Do?" Did you find it anyway cathartic?

The songs on that album were written during a very specific time of my life, and cover specific events that transpired in that time. Post-grad, back home, starting end of the summer 2015 and finishing up maybe April 2016. Oh yeah, found it extremely cathartic. Those months were an absolute terror. If I didn’t write those songs, I think I really would have lost it.

You've played in New Jersey, upstate New York, and NYC. How do the music scenes differ, if at all?

I think upstate and NJ scenes are way more close-knit. NJ gets shit on so much, so the part of the scene is just pure Jersey pride. Plus, we’re the most densely-populated state—there’s not a lot of room to spread out, so I think everyone is more willing to open up their networks and help people out. Upstate NY is so varied—the scene that I’m more familiar with is the one in the Hudson Valley. Very close knit, and I feel like it’s because the local bands are so excited when anyone is coming through. There are great venues that are cultivating a music scene, the college music scene is pretty active, fucking great bands. It’s chill as hell and welcoming. With NYC, I feel like I missed out on the “heyday” of the scene. My band in college was close with the DIY scene associated with Silent Barn, Shea, and Palisades. Long Neck played those spots too, and they’ve been some of my favorite shows. But those spaces are all gone now, and I feel like it’s harder to make those connections.

If you could have any musicians career, whose would it be, and why?

Any musician living comfortably and paying rent and their student loans without getting overdraft alerts every other day.

What is your best memory from on tour?

OK I have a lot and will provide a list and I know I will definitely still be missing some:

Our night off in Nashville with Karaoke, pool, and a mechanical bull
yelling at ducks in a park in Tallahassee
driving out of Phoenix after a show through a dust storm to go sleep under the Cabazón Dinosaurs in California cos we didn’t have anywhere to crash
accidentally crashing a swinger orgy in Northern California
camping in Oregon
doing Audiotree

What would the title of your memoir/biography be?

“‘I’m Fine’: She Wasn’t”

What are your most important values as a musician?

If you are privileged enough to have a platform, it’s your responsibility to use it for good and not abuse that power—especially if you are white and cis (and especially if you’re a man). We may not have the expansive platform that other artists do, but that’s not an excuse to sit back and do nothing. We don’t live in a time where inactivity is an option.

Any final comments? (This is your electronic soapbox for one last answer.)

Do as Paddington says: “If we are kind and polite, the world will be right.”

Long Neck