If you like bands that keep Austin weird, you’ve come to the right place.
Meet Lord Friday the 13th, a “trash-glam punk” band fronted by siblings Felix and Sloane Lenz. The duo — Felix on vocals and Sloane on guitar — is celebrating their second year as official SXSW performers.
Growing up in East Texas, the pair said they were “raised as twins,” despite their two-year age gap, and shared a love of performing arts and musical theatre from a young age.
While working in filmmaking and costume design in Austin, the siblings banded together to create Lord Friday the 13th as a type of performance art. With songs like “Bigots Beware,” “Wallace & Vomit,” and “Patent Leather,” the band is happy doing things their own way.
We sat down with Felix and Sloane ahead of their final festival performance this Saturday, March 18, to talk about what their music means to them.
What did you do before Lord Friday the 13th came to be?
Sloane: We grew up in a really small town in East Texas, and there was not a lot to do there, but they did have a really great little community theater. We were so shy as kids, but we got into doing that, and it kind of helped break us out of our shells.
Our dad always, since we were little, said, “One day, they’re gonna be in a band.” There was a little music store in our hometown and he would trade the owners stuff for musical instruments. He was like, “One day you’re gonna want these.” And then they did come in handy, so it’s funny because he didn’t really play music or anything.
We were in theater, which led to film jobs as extras, we taught a little bit at the Austin School of Film when we were teenagers.
What was your mission statement for starting Lord Friday the 13th?
Felix: We’ve always been different in ways that are complementary. We were trying to be playing the role of like, “bad people.” So I had cigarette earrings, I would wear biker gear, and just be rough and tough because I am so meek.
Sloane: Growing up, everyone (thought) we were goody two shoes. We don’t drink, we don’t do drugs, we’re really very plain.
Felix: I wanted an outlet to be angry, and ugly, and bad. I used to model and I got very tripped up with appearance issues, felt hideous, and wanted all this plastic surgery. Then I was like, “This is not going to work,” so I wanted to be as ugly as possible to fully let that go. It has gotten progressively more chaotic, for sure, as I’ve gotten more comfortable.
Who is Lord Friday the 13th?
Felix: At the beginning, it was just the band name, and like, it still is just the band name. But I also feel like I’m kind of embodying Lord Friday. I feel like it is the character, but then it’s also the whole dynamic.
Sloane: It’s kind of that twin thing — kind of like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
How have you changed since starting the band in 2018?
Felix: Weirdly, my voice has gotten deeper, the more consistently I’ve been singing. I feel like overall, I’m just settling into myself more and more by exploding.
Sloane: I was a pretty reserved person, very shy and like, I made crazy clothes for other people and crazy videos for other people, but me, like I was so self-conscious. Everyone should get the chance to (get on stage). Like it would change the population of the world if everyone could just like get on a stage and scream.
Felix: It’s therapy.
What’s your five-year plan?
Felix: I would like to continue touring as much as possible. I would like to have a second album before five years. And then, I would love to go tour in Japan.
Sloane: We’ve been like toying a lot lately with spending more time in Los Angeles for projects.
Felix: It seems it’s very tempting to think about living in LA, but logistically we’re not there. We’ll definitely be traveling a lot more this year, but this is a beautiful place to return home.
You still have time to see Lord Friday the 13th live for SXSW at midnight on Saturday, March 18-Sunday, March 19 at Esther’s Follies. In the meantime, be on the lookout for the release of the band’s first full album, “Murder Music,” this fall.
