The December - "Parking Ticket"

The December was one of the first local bands I ever met. The young punk-rockers had an instant energy to their music; I first saw them back in 2022. Their sound leapt off the walls - a wild crossbreed of punk and grunge full of attitude, long hair, and freefalling feedback.

On March 1, the band released their first studio release - a single called “Parking Ticket.” The single represents everything I dig about the band from the numerous times I’ve seen their gigs. There is a young, angry but honest attitude to their music. The band usually covers a few of Ramones’ songs in their sets, and they pay homage to this influence in the single’s time of just under a minute and thirty seconds.

Lead vocalist and guitarist Levi Sapp and bass guitarist William Scott make up the core of The December. Jake Wright played drums on the track. Sir Timothy Groce, of Lyon’s Den Recording Services, produced the track.

“When we started, we played a lot of live shows but didn’t really focus on studio stuff, and now we’re hoping to get out more music to prop our live shows up when we play,” William Scott says.

I interviewed Sapp and Scott about the track:

London Penny: How did you get into music? 

Sapp: I got into music at a young age - my grandpa Alan helped facilitate the interest more, and as I got older I just fell in love with it.

Scott: I remember the first time I heard Metallica's “One” and Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit” - I loved how it felt they took me to a different universe. Although I've always loved music, I didn't start playing an instrument until I was 20 when a friend gave me his guitar. I played it every day after that. 

LP: Who are you influenced by?

Scott: Pixies, Nirvana, Ramones, Local H, Doo-Wop music like Frankie Valli, The Doors, Hendrix.

Sapp:  I am influenced by many artists and bands: a lot of the bands that came out of the CBGB scene had a huge impact on me and a lot of the 90s alternative/grunge scene helped shape the musician I am.

LP: Tell me about the single “Parking Ticket.” What was the writing and recording process like? 

Scott: Levi was playing a lot of different riffs, and I didn’t know how to structure it so he played a lot of stuff. I then cut three pieces together and we decided to have a pause and shift the second chorus a whole step up - definitely a nod to Ramones with that one! We both have had bad luck with parking tickets, so why not make the song about that. 

Sapp: The process was fairly simple for writing the song: we sat in my old studio apartment I had, and I came up with the riff and lyrics and showed it to William. After that we kinda played with it for a while until settling on a final version and we started playing it live. The recording process was great; Tim Groce is an easy and amazing producer to work with. He really knows his stuff - we were in and out in a few days. 

LP: How would you describe your music in your own words?

Sapp: I’d describe our music as a blend of alternative, punk, with some hardcore/stoner rock roots. We really like to style bend music and just have fun!

Scott:  I would say our music is chaotic and all over the place which is great, we love a lot of different music and our range represents that. Right now it’s safe to say we’re punk af!

LP: What are your plans for the upcoming year?

Sapp: In terms of this year, we really want to get back with Tim and work on a few other singles we have and eventually get a music video shot and put out there. We have album concepts that have also been talked about.

Scott: Record more singles leading up to a bigger release, mostly a lot of punk. Maybe release some music videos to help grow the music. Might play some shows but we definitely want to focus more on the studio side. . .