The Lost Millions New EP “Pile Of Robots” is a New Found Treasure

With the latest release Pile of Robots, The Lost Millions has given us an album that pulls teeth while gently stroking the soul, well written songs with talent that is obvious and a pleasure to behold.

One of the things I really love most is finding new bands that have the real spark of originality that cannot be ignored,

Recently I learned about a band called The Lost Millions out of Texas, and they are hard deep in the mix! They have a dark edge that draws you in and the music is a great blend of hard rock and a dirty grunge sound that punches you in the gut.

With the latest release Pile of Robots, The Lost Millions has given us an album that pulls teeth while gently stroking the soul, well written songs with talent that is obvious and a pleasure to behold.  Obviously, I like them…!

I got in touch with Heath McBurnett, he is the Bassist of the band and at the time he was in Europe, probably up to nefarious shenanigans, but he took time to give me the low down on the band and who they are.

IPM: In your words, who are “The Lost Millions”?

We are a three-piece band from Austin Texas. We have heavy influences from several different genres of music. Classic, punk, post punk, alternative rock. We all blend our personal styles together to define our unique sound. the beginning it was just Matt and myself, I played guitar and Matt played bass. This is prior to any recording we did but just how we started. We began writing songs together shortly after we met. Matt had been in a pretty big band in the 90’s that toured for several years called Gwen Mars; he was the bass player. He was a much better guitar player than I was so he gave me the bass and a few pointers.

I still write most of the main rhythm lines on my acoustic guitar and only translate them to the bass when the three of us get together. Pretty early on David Lines joined and played lead and a few other instruments on the first two recordings 101 and Novellas. Our friend Steve, a drummer, was playing with us early on but had personal reasons he had to drop out. We stayed like that for about a year with a batch of songs playing with pickup drummers until one night David brough over Scott to sit in and the band was born. We never looked back once we got him; it really solidified our sound. When David decided to leave the band during the pandemic, we just said we were not going to be able to replace him and that’s when we became the 3 piece you hear today. 

IPM: Can you tell us of your beginnings, and how it has shaped your band’s music?

We started in 2016 and just threw all our individual songs on the table and started to blend them together to find our sound. Our sound is always changing based on life events and what we are listening to at the time we are writing and recording. We pull from our real-life experiences or that of our friends and current events or our interpretation of them to create our songs.

IPM: Your sound is much like early 980’s hard grunge, but has a modern spin with a punch, well composed and clean, which I enjoy, you have taken time to create a great series of songs on your EP Pile of Robots, how was the creative process and how did everything come together so well?

This album was us taking a step back and taking a more primitive approach to our music. We stripped these songs down to just the driving grooves of the tracks and tried to really bring that to the forefront. Less frills, a more direct approach to just what the song needed to be understood. We left some of the complexities on the cutting room floor this time around.

IPM: I understand this is a prelude to things to come on a full-length album, any clues as to what to expect?

The rest of the tracks on this album are a little different from the EP in that they may show a bit of a softer side or more exposed vulnerability in a few of the other tracks. These songs are personal and some have a more narrative feel to them than the ones selected for the EP.

IPM: My favorite tracks on Pile of Robots are “Wake Up” and “Snakedriver”, these 2 tracks really give me a sense of the power in the sound you are creating, but also gives me a feeling of what it must sound like to see you live, do you try to replicate the live performance experience in the studio, or is this just a taste of what your live performances are like?

We have really been working to perfect the performance of the songs and we are now working on the best way to convey that in our live performance. We have a few tricks up our sleeve when it comes to how we execute this album in a live setting. You have to show up to find out. I guess.

IPM: Any news you want to share about upcoming tours, gigs or music events?

We are headed back into the studio and should have another collection out by the end of the summer. We are playing around Austin and working on new material currently.

 IPM: Where can our readers find you online?

Thelostmillions.com and follow us on Instagram @thelostmillions and on Facebook

Catch their videos on YouTube

SoundCloud