LIVING THINGS CONTINUE POLITICALLY DRIVEN ROCK WITH HABEAS CORPUS

The always political and out spoken Lillian Berlin of Living Things talks about their upcoming album “Habeas Corpus”

Living Things are set to release their latest album “Habeas Corpus” on Feb 17th and the band will look to build on the success of their debut album from 2005 “Ahead of the Lions.” For “Habeas Corpus” Living Things decided to record the album at the legendary Hansa Recording Studio in Berlin, Germany which has been home to many recordings by David Bowie, Iggy Pop and Brian Eno back in the day. Lead vocalist, Lillian Berlin, who has been known to be very politically outspoken onstage and off, was inspired by the Bush Administration’s clear disregard for the U.S. Constitution and once again writes lyrics portraying his disdain for what’s going on in society.

We caught up with Lillian Berlin to get his thoughts on recording the album in Germany and why the band chose the title “Habeas Corpus.”

“We were recording in this big ballroom overlooking where the Berlin Wall used to be and it was a constant reminder of power being abused. Obviously with The Wall and I was out socializing in Berlin a term that kind of came up a lot was Habeas Corpus and people were talking about Habeas Corpus and the Nazi society. I had a lot of conversations with people about Guantanamo Bay and things like that. So, I thought that was an appropriate title since wherever I went during the five months I was in Berlin that word and that conversation about Habeas Corpus kept popping up.”

So did the band, which also includes Lillian’s brothers Eve and Bosh, get any added inspiration from recording in the same legendary studio as Bowie and Eno?

“Yeah, absolutely. Wherever you went they would have equipment that would be something that was left by David Bowie. Brian Eno, in the control room at the recording console, Brian Eno had etched his name in it. So for us it was cool and the people who ran the place and the rooms that we stayed in Iggy Pop used to stay up there. So, it was really inspiring for us.”

Living Things have released the video for “Let it Rain” which is the first single off of “Habeas Corpus.” The video was directed by Floria Sigismondi, who happens to be Lillian Berlin’s wife. Sigismondi is a very accomplished director as she has already done music videos for David Bowie, Marilyn Manson, White Stripes and Christina Aguilera to name just a few. Living Things will kick off their first tour of 2009 in support of “Habeas Corpus” with dates with Eagles of Death Metal beginning Feb 3rd in Solana Beach, Ca. The tour will conclude Feb 20th in Toronto, Canada. Look for Living Things to announce a more extensive run of tour dates in the very near future.