Q&A: Interview with Phoenix Local Band, Les Palms

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by Norah Jerinic-Brodeur

Photo by Robert John Kley

Les Palms are an up-an-coming alternative rock duo based in Phoenix, Arizona. Les Palms consists of lead guitarist, Sean Fitz, and lead singer, Seth Laurent. Both Sean and Seth have been in bands prior to Les Palms and met at a show they both played in Las Vegas. About three years later (in January of 2026), a mutual friend reconnected the boys, they cliqued musically and the rest is history. The boys released their debut single, “Second Chance”, on April 10th. Since then, they have released two additional singles, “Empty Handed” and their newest drop, “Like A Chemical”. 

Sean and Seth have both been passionate about music long before the beginning of Les Palms. They have been enjoying the creative freedom that comes with being an independent band and highlight how natural and seamless their musical connection and transition into Les Palms has been. With Sean being originally from Chicago and Seth from Texas, they have found themselves bouncing back and forth between Phoenix and Las Vegas. However, they have claimed Phoenix as their homebase. As a member of the local live music scene, I can confidently say that we are happy to have them. 

ECHO MAGAZINE: How would you describe the sound of Les Palms?

SEAN: We’re a rock/alternative band for sure. We just released our third single, “Like a Chemical”, and that is definitely the most alternative track that we’ve released. “Southwest Alt Rock” is what I’ve been calling it.

SETH: I feel like it’s a pretty broad term, “alternative rock”, so that’s safe to say. 

Did you have a specific vision or goal in mind when you started the project in January?

SEAN: Just to be the biggest band ever, you know [laughter]? But yeah we’re having fun with it. We’re writing music that we like and have ideas that we want to put out there. We’re fully independent and we back everything ourselves. We don’t ever want to be in a position where we’d have to give up creative control. We’re giving it our all on this one. 

Tell me a bit about yourselves outside of the band. If you’re not playing music, what are you doing?

SEAN: We just got the new Call of Duty so we’ve been doing that. Honestly, my life consists of work and doing music.

SETH: I just sold my PS5 so I’ve been hogging Sean’s for sure. I don’t really party anymore so I have a lot of free time when I’m not working. Work can be inconsistent doing stage production. I go to the gym and we like sports. 

Who are your biggest musical inspirations? 

SEAN: I think the three biggest ones that we kind of narrowed down when we were deciding “what is this band that people are going to listen to?” are the Killers, the Strokes, and then a lot of guitar influence from Prince. I think that’s what everything so far has been a mix of. 

SETH: I would agree with that although I feel like our music doesn’t directly translate to that though. I feel like it doesn’t necessarily sound like a mixture of the Killers and the Strokes. It’s kind of what inspires us though. I grew up with the Killers as my favorite band.

Your 3rd single, “Like a Chemical”, just dropped this week. Tell us about the process of the drop.

SEAN: We actually did a Tuesday drop this time. This week in particular we chose Tuesday because we didn’t want to release it on the Friday before or Monday after the holiday weekend. We dropped the other two songs on Fridays but we just wanted to change it up. As an independent band we have more options for release days. 

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SEAN: I think we’re in a time of a lot of good music coming out. Historically there are certain years that have been flooded with good music and I think we are in a very good time for music right now. 

With the release of “Like a Chemical”, is there special meaning behind the track?

SETH: To me, it’s just about anything in your life that is detrimental to you. You kind of know that it is, but you keep it around. The song is kind of framed to be about a person but it could really be about anything that is hurting you in any way. Even when it shows what it’s doing to you, you still keep it around. It’s subjective though.

SEAN: I agree with that. It’s about what you keep around in your life that is hindering you. It is our transitional song so we’ll tease it with you first. We have an EDM version of this song that will be dropping the next couple of weeks which will be a bit of a crossover. We do alternative rock but we want to do some EDM versions of our songs. 

Being a newer band, do you have a favorite show you have played so far?

SEAN: We’ve only played one acoustic show so far. 

SETH: You know we’re still building for sure. 

SEAN: We did the show in Vegas for an organization called Life by Music that helps at-risk youth by providing instruments and funding to music programs in Las Vegas schools. They had a benefit show and we debuted Les Palms at that at the end of May.

Do you have a dream venue or location to play?

SEAN: I would love to play at the Rebel Lounge. I think that would be a cool spot for our Phoenix debut and it fits well with the vibe of this band. I like small/intimate shows like that and supporting the local venues too. 

SETH: I don’t have a particular place I want to play but just anywhere outside of the U.S. would be super cool. To have the experience traveling outside of the country and playing anywhere really, maybe Tokyo. 

For any new listeners, which song would you recommend they listen to first?

SEAN: Listen to our new song “Like a Chemical” but the fan favorite “Empty Handed” has been the single that has pushed our following. We’re surprised every day by how many people connect and have the song in their rotation. 

SETH: I would definitely say “Empty Handed” because it has a mixture of a lot of our elements we try to incorporate. It’s also our most organically written song too and came together super effortlessly. 

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I highly recommend you take a listen to Phoenix’s newest contender within the alternative rock scene. With their current discography sitting at three singles, new listeners have the opportunity to explore a new band or genre without necessarily getting overwhelmed by which tracks to pick first. Their newest single, “Like a Chemical” is both lyrically relatable and musically catchy, and will be accompanied by the second version of the track in the next couple of weeks. Plus, you get to support a local band!