Published on December 7th, 2021 | by Darren Paltrowitz
0Lit’s Kevin Baldes On The “My Own Worst Enemy” Podcast Series, Lit’s Next Album, Van Halen & More
The Orange County, California-based quartet known as Lit — as co-founded by brothers Ajay (lead vocals) and Jeremy Popoff (lead guitar) and Kevin Baldes (bass) — is considered one of the preeminent bands to have come out of the post-grunge era of the late 1990’s, helping to define an entire generation of SoCal power punk with hard-charging hits like “My Own Worst Enemy,” “Miserable,” “Zip-Lock,”, and “Lipstick & Bruises.” The band has released 6 studio albums, including the platinum-selling full-length A Place In The Sun. Its double platinum mega-hit “My Own Worst Enemy” is one of the most broadcasted, covered, karaoke’d, recognizable rock hits of the last 20 years and won the group a Billboard Music Award for “Modern Rock Song Of The Year,” while “Miserable” — its music video featured Pamela Anderson — was one of the top 10 most played songs of 2000.
Fast forward to 2021, Lit recently released a new single, “Yeah Yeah Yeah,” via Round Hill Records. “Yeah Yeah Yeah” will be included on the upcoming full-length studio album by Lit, which is slated for a spring 2022 release. Prior to the release, Lit will be hitting the road, including a 2022 UK Tour with Bowling For Soup. Meanwhile, Lit is the focus of a new multi-part podcast documentary titled My Own Worst Enemy, which features contributions from musicologists, music industry professionals, and artists who the band had toured alongside — including Noodles from The Offspring, Adrian Young of No Doubt, and singer/songwriter/producer Butch Walker — about the longevity and lasting power of the earlier-mentioned song “My Own Worst Enemy”; the series wonderfully includes content about Lit’s founding drummer Allen Shellenberger, who tragically passed away from brain cancer in 2009.
On December 1, 2021, I had the pleasure of speaking with Lit bassist Kevin Baldes about Lit’s forthcoming album, the My Own Worst Enemy podcast series, future touring plans, and his success as a photographer away from Lit. More on Baldes and Lit can be found by clicking here, here and here.