La Sera is an indie rock band from California fronted by “Kickball” Katy Goodman, bassist of Vivian Girls. She is the primary songwriter for La Sera, and, as she will admit, songs about break-ups and broken hearts are her specialty. La Sera’s new record, Sees the Light, was released on March 26, 2012 via Hardly Art, and before their first show at SXSW 2012, Ian Jones was able to catch a few quick words with Goodman.

Let’s do this quick.
Before the band starts.

Yeah. So, when we were talking before, I think you said every song on your album is about break-ups.
Not true — not all of them are about break-ups. Most of the songs are about break-ups.

Are they all true?
They are all true. On the first album, there are some songs that are made-up stories — this album is all real stories.

Yeah, so there’s no song about getting chased by an axe-murderer.
Yes. Like on the first album, I have a song about being chased by an axe-murderer. That’s not true…somewhat.

It could happen.
At anytime. Who knows. I’m on the look out constantly.

How is SXSW so far?
It started an hour ago for me — I just got here. I just went and parked my car on the east side, and I was like, “Is that Cold Showers?” and it was my friend’s band playing. They are the band that we’re on tour with. It’s like I’ve been at SXSW for five minutes and I’m already at my friend’s show.

What are you most excited for?
Well, I’m playing like five shows. [Otherwise], I’m going to relax a lot. I’m not going to rage. I don’t wanna lose my voice or anything. Drinking some apple cider vinegar drink…[other] people are already drinking, and it’s 11 in the morning. It’s crazy.

That’s what happens when you get sponsored by Sailor Jerry [rum].
I guess so.

We spoke earlier about you being into coding.
Yeah, I’ve been really into computer programming lately.

How did that happen?
Well, I almost went to college for it, but then I [studied] physics instead. But recently I was getting back into computer programming because my friend and I wanted to make a website, and we were wondering how we could make it because I could design a website in HTML or CSS, but not much else. So I spent a day looking for someone else to design it and then thought, Fuck it, I’ll just teach myself web development.

When are you leaving SXSW?
We leave Sunday morning.

What show are you most excited to play?
The French Legation Museum at 4 is going to be awesome. I’m playing not that many — I doing quality over quantity. With the Vivian Girls three years ago, we played 17 times in one SXSW. We played seven shows in a day. Quality over quantity, that’s what this year is all about. Minimizing the amount, and making them count — wow, that rhymed and I didn’t even mean to.

What song are you most excited to play?
My favorite song to play right now is a song called “Break My Heart” because it kind of comes in real loud. There’s also another new song called “Love That’s Gone” — it’s the first [track] on the new album, [and] it’s really fun to play. We always play it last. It’s one of my favorite songs I’ve written.

Any tips for virgin SXSW people?
Don’t drink at 11 in the morning like a crazy person! Everyone is drinking already; they’re going to crash and burn by six. This might be controversial, but I would say don’t drink until it’s dark out. You can’t do no wrong if you don’t drink while it’s light out. It’s a cardinal rule.

Verbicide Free Download: Click here to download “Devils Hearts Grow Gold” by La Sera