Petite League on "Thrill Seekers"

Rapid-fire Questions

1. What have you been listening to lately?

Al Green hits, and Poland by Lil Yachty

2. You like baseball?

I’ve been known to dabble in liking baseball, yeah

3. When you were in the 8th grade you wrote a song called Inspiration. WHERE CAN I FIND THAT?

If you DM me asking for it, I’ll send you the unlisted video I just found on my YouTube channel of us playing it. I can’t have it published here though, too many eyeballs.

4. Want to grab some tacos next time you tour in Texas?

If you know the spots to go, I’m in

5. How do Mets fans feel about Nolan Ryan? Is he considered an iconic player after the 1969 World Series?

I’ve been a strict Red Sox guy my whole life but living near Citi Field and hating the Yankees, you’ll eventually start rooting for the Mets. I’d be lying if I said I had that sort of deep emotional understanding of a lifelong Mets fan’s grapple with trade drama. I will say he’s certainly iconic though.

6. Make me cry.

It’s really cool that you do what you do. You run the website well and you make this kind of thing fun. You’re doing it your way and that’s more special than you’re probably allowing yourself to believe. I’m sure people in your life are proud of you even though they don’t say it all the time.

7. You always have the coolest merch. When are we doing a Born Loser Mag/Petite League merch collab?

When the time is right, we strike!

8. You have to pick one to join Petite League on tour. Sammy Sosa or Mark Mcgwire?

Mark McGwire. I feel like he’d be a good tour manager, he’d shake people down for their money way better than us. I could also piggy back on his enormous shoulders when I’m tired.

9. What would we be called if we started a musical duo?

Petite Loser

10. Who are a few local artists or bands that you think everyone should check out?

I love The Dare who is doing big things in New York right now. I don’t know if his song Girls has been getting attention outside of the city as much but it rules and should be played at every party

Isaac Gutierrez for BL Mag: The last time we spoke was back in February! How have you been since then?

Lorenzo Cook of Petite League: Good! We went on a fun tour down to Miami in April and I’ve been relatively heads down since then working on the album. I had a nice summer though and I just moved in with my girlfriend so I’m an adult now

You know what? I think this is our third interview! I’m going to have medals made for bands I interview 3 times or more. What do you want your medal to say?

It’d only be fitting if it said “Born 2 Lose” and it’s silver, not gold.

Congratulations on your new album, THRILL SEEKERS! I’m genuinely so excited for you. I read that you dedicated the past 2 years to these songs/album. How do you feel about finally being able to share them with the world? Is there a sense of relief?

Thank you! Huge sense of relief! I really hate sitting on finished music because it feels very professional and more about the marketing than the music. You carry the songs with you and people ask about when there will be new music and you have to be elusive about it. It just kinda sucks, it’s a lot more fun to say “I just put out a new record!” than “I’m releasing a new record in a couple of months.”

What do things look like for you after a big release? Do you take some time off to relax, or do you just go and start working on whatever project is next?

I’ll probably take a little bit of time to watch over this release and make sure it keeps the momentum going for a little while we work on plotting out the next tour. After that, I’ll jump right back into it, whatever it may be.

Can you talk to us a bit about the writing/recording process for this album?

We spent a lot more time workshopping drums and arrangements this time around. Because there was no timetable, I was able to let go of the pressures of just accepting that we’d already recorded drums so there was no going back. We worked really hard on getting things the way we wanted for Thrill Seekers.

I also didn’t go into it all with a theme or idea that I felt like I had to have come through in the music, I just let it start to speak for itself as I was finishing songs and compiling it all together.

I’ve been a fan since 2016 and I’ve loved every release, but I think this may be my favorite album to date.

You mentioned that you let go of the idea of what Petite league “should” should be and that you broke the molds around your songwriting and your sound. What is your approach now when it comes to creating music?

The minute you start thinking too hard about what has worked in the past, you’re forgetting what it was all about in the first place. In the space we’re in, you have to have smooth, baby brain about this kind of thing. Make what feels right, understand you and your life are constantly changing and let that be your guide, not what songs Spotify thinks are worth more than the other ones.

What do you attribute your growth as an artist?

I’ve been doing this for so long that it’s just a part of who I am at this point. I’m growing up as an artist because I’m growing up as a person. No huge revelation or moment of clarity, just consistency. I’d also like to think I don’t have those kinds of answers yet because I’m not done.

I know that you didn’t really have a deadline or anything for this album. How did you know when the album was ready to be put out?

I was over it! I had a bunch of songs, I was happy with all of them and there was no good reason to just keep writing songs for an album that felt like it already had the songs. We’re releasing some B-sides early next year because there was a surplus by the end.

Nite Stairs is currently my favorite track off the album. Can you give us some background on that song?

The song was built around the lyric “Falling in love like missing every last step in the dark” which I was so hyped to come up with I had to check to see if I was nabbing it from someone else. It's one of those tracks I set out to write as a straightforward love song and ended up being more of an expose of my shortcomings as a partner despite my best attempts. Very proud of it.

I also really enjoyed your song “Patience”. You worked on that track with Sorry Mom. How did that come about??

Thank you! They had reached out about doing a show together which ended up happening and I’m just the biggest fan of Juno as a person and her voice that I knew I wanted to have a song with the feature. Juno came over to my apartment and we banged her part out in an hour or so. It was great, she’s a homie, I’m really happy the song turned out the way it did and I’m really hoping we can work together on more music in the near future.

How did you come up with the song title for Dyslexic Poetry?

I’ve always felt like being called a songwriter is something you earn and not something you just one day decide is true. Some degree of Imposter Syndrome, maybe. I’m getting to be more self-accepting about it but I thought being some kind of dyslexic poet is a much more accurate version of what I do. The songs are not always clear but always delivered with intent.