Together with American Songwriter, we had the pleasure of interviewing The Only Ocean over Zoom video! With a steady stream of buzz-worthy singles, EP’s that have received rave reviews, and a new, re-energized line-up, the L.A alternative-rock band The Only Ocean is making waves in L.A’s music scene. Formed in Lompoc, CA, during bandleader Wesley Hill’s high school days, the band has evolved from an auspicious bedroom solo-project to a flourishing four-piece that’s carved out its own unique place within the sea of playlists and festival stages in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara, eventually settling further south in Los Angeles, where all four members are from originally and their sound has continued to evolve and deepen with the addition of new members guitarist Tamara Simons, drummer Jonathan Palmquist, and bassist Jordan Kaufman. Bandleader Wesley Hill’s love of the loud, wall-of-sound guitars of shoegaze favorites My Bloody Valentine and Ride, as well as the infectious pop rhythms of the Spice Girls has found a kindred spirit in Jonathan DeBaun (The Mars Volta, Omar Rodríguez-López, Antemasque, Mastodon, and Rituals Of Mine, Le Butcherettes) who has engineered, produced, and mixed all of their music to date. From 2015’s self-titled debut, it’s vulnerable, mature follow-up, TOO, singles such as 2017’s “Good Morning” 2018’s “Replaceable”, which found a stronger emphasis on rhythm and experiments with the production, opting for a style uncommon to alternative rock music, to last year’s “Fake Sunflowers”, their larger-than-life “Still You Won’t” EP and their newest single “Watch It Fall”, this fruitful creative partnership between The Only Ocean and DeBaun as a band and producer has shown no signs of slowing down. All the while The Only Ocean has went from Hill’s brainchild as a four-piece hometown favorite, as a trio, and a solo-venture has led them to return back to a tight energetic touring quartet with releases that are consistent not only in quality, but in praise, earning features in Grimy Goods, Impose Magazine, Northern Transmissions, Alternative Press for 2018’s “Replaceable”, a song whose lyrics were inspired by Hill’s own struggles with body dysmorphia and anorexia and was featured as part of their “10 New Songs You Need to Hear this Week”, to last year’s single “Still You Won’t” being heard in regular rotation on KROQ’s “Locals Only with Kat Corbett”, where it was voted #1 for three weeks and remained within the top 5 for seven weeks straight. The band has continued to record and tour at its own steady pace, supporting acts such as Cherry Glazerr, Dante Elephante, and Sure Sure and recently performed as a featured artist as part of Buzzbands.LA’s “Artists to Watch 2020” showcase earlier in January 2020, in what has shaped up to be another promising start to another year together as a band. We want to hear from you! Please email Tera@BringinitBackwards.com. www.BringinitBackwards.com #podcast #interview #bringinbackpod #foryou #foryoupage #stayhome #togetherathome #zoom #aspn #americansongwriter #americansongwriterpodcastnetwork Listen & Subscribe to BiB Follow our podcast on Instagram and Twitter!
Together with American Songwriter, we had the pleasure of interviewing The Only Ocean over Zoom video!
With a steady stream of buzz-worthy singles, EP’s that have received rave reviews, and a new, re-energized line-up, the L.A alternative-rock band The Only Ocean is making waves in L.A’s music scene.
Formed in Lompoc, CA, during bandleader Wesley Hill’s high school days, the band has evolved from an auspicious bedroom solo-project to a flourishing four-piece that’s carved out its own unique place within the sea of playlists and festival stages in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara, eventually settling further south in Los Angeles, where all four members are from originally and their sound has continued to evolve and deepen with the addition of new members guitarist Tamara Simons, drummer Jonathan Palmquist, and bassist Jordan Kaufman.
Bandleader Wesley Hill’s love of the loud, wall-of-sound guitars of shoegaze favorites My Bloody Valentine and Ride, as well as the infectious pop rhythms of the Spice Girls has found a kindred spirit in Jonathan DeBaun (The Mars Volta, Omar Rodríguez-López, Antemasque, Mastodon, and Rituals Of Mine, Le Butcherettes) who has engineered, produced, and mixed all of their music to date.
From 2015’s self-titled debut, it’s vulnerable, mature follow-up, TOO, singles such as 2017’s “Good Morning” 2018’s “Replaceable”, which found a stronger emphasis on rhythm and experiments with the production, opting for a style uncommon to alternative rock music, to last year’s “Fake Sunflowers”, their larger-than-life “Still You Won’t” EP and their newest single “Watch It Fall”, this fruitful creative partnership between The Only Ocean and DeBaun as a band and producer has shown no signs of slowing down.
All the while The Only Ocean has went from Hill’s brainchild as a four-piece hometown favorite, as a trio, and a solo-venture has led them to return back to a tight energetic touring quartet with releases that are consistent not only in quality, but in praise, earning features in Grimy Goods, Impose Magazine, Northern Transmissions, Alternative Press for 2018’s “Replaceable”, a song whose lyrics were inspired by Hill’s own struggles with body dysmorphia and anorexia and was featured as part of their “10 New Songs You Need to Hear this Week”, to last year’s single “Still You Won’t” being heard in regular rotation on KROQ’s “Locals Only with Kat Corbett”, where it was voted #1 for three weeks and remained within the top 5 for seven weeks straight.
The band has continued to record and tour at its own steady pace, supporting acts such as Cherry Glazerr, Dante Elephante, and Sure Sure and recently performed as a featured artist as part of Buzzbands.LA’s “Artists to Watch 2020” showcase earlier in January 2020, in what has shaped up to be another promising start to another year together as a band.
We want to hear from you! Please email Tera@BringinitBackwards.com.
#podcast #interview #bringinbackpod #foryou #foryoupage #stayhome #togetherathome #zoom #aspn #americansongwriter #americansongwriterpodcastnetwork
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(2s):
(1m 2s):
I appreciate your support. If you follow and subscribe to our podcast, wherever you listen to podcasts, We're bringing it backwards with the only ocean. Thank you so much for doing this. I appreciate it. Thank you. Yeah. So our podcast is about your journey in music and how you got to where you are now. And of course, we'll talk about the band and, and, and all of that. So I did it. So you guys are, you are the best of my LA. Are you originally from Los Angeles? I am originally from Lompoc. Okay. Where does that? Lompoc has about two and a half, maybe three with traffic hours away from it's like North of LA.
(1m 42s):
Okay. Yeah. That's where I am. I'm in San Diego. I just, I don't no, I don't have, no, I don't think I've heard that a lot. Yeah. Yeah. Do you have to be the thing about Lompoc is like, you're going out on the one on one for a bit, and then you'll kind of see a thing that says, like, that says Lompoc and you have to get on the one. I'm not sure. Yeah, I know. I, okay. Yeah. So the one that goes through our town kind of, I think, I don't know, but you have to get off the one Oh one to get to us. So we're like a little bit out of the way, but not really Sure maybe. Yeah. It's funny. I know. Maybe if I saw that, I don't know, like I have lived in California my entire life, you know, and it was just so funny that I am, so tell me about growing up there. Like fairly close to LA you say that North?
(2m 24s):
Yeah. Or you, yeah, it's North So. We're like, We were close to the water. Yeah. That's the thing. So we're, we're a coastal town, but not really a coastal town, if that makes any sort of, okay. We had like a beach, but it was like maybe 10 minutes away, like from the town. And it's not really a beach that you go to to like, you can go to relax, but you don't go in the water because the current so strong and many people have died from either just the current or a shark attacks. Oh, really? Well, throughout the years. And it's owned by, or the air force base kind of controls everything there. So when you go, you're like, you can't really, you can't really walk on a whole lot.
(3m 7s):
Sure okay. So yeah. Gloomy feeling when you're down there, but yeah, San Diego, like we have a lot, a lot of in the way. I mean, we have a ton of beaches, but there, there are a majority areas, like areas of the beach that are just all military that you can obviously get access and stuff. Yeah. Like Cornado is some parts I'm up in Oceanside area. So yeah. There's, there's some pockets or you, you have to have, you know, you have to be in the military to be able to access that. So, yeah. That's interesting. That's cool. Yeah. I've never had, I saw that. I never heard of the town. That's cool. Yeah. So you grew up there then the rest of the band was not from there. Just, just, you know, The rest of the ban is not known. They just kind of came on actually today.
(3m 48s):
I need to text him about that today. It was our one year anniversary. You get the first show that we ever played together. Congratulations. Thank you. So you're about that show where it was, it, it, it was in LA, at a bar called the federal. Okay. And so how it all happened was really, really quick. They all kind of just joined and then they got like, they got us a show and then we went and played it. And I think it probably a week, couple days prior to that, I like officially asked them if they wanted to be in the band. And they were like, yeah, sure. So it was like our first like cable, we're a band now. And I was really nervous because I had just gotten so used to looking at the other members of the band. I was like, just to look at them to like, kind of like the old, old members, if I was feeling a little bit weird about something, I could just look at them and think like, Oh, all right, I'm good at like, that's my boy right there.
(4m 36s):
And I was such a, I felt like the new kid in school because everyone knew each other. I was like, they all are a part of the scene. I was just kinda sitting there by myself. Oh shit. I don't know anybody here other than just my band. Right. No one knew about us, but they all knew who they were. And like, there is. So we, we played and, and it was like, you can instantly, I felt like, I felt like you've ever seen the movie to the new guy. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Actually I have. Yeah. If it felt like that, like I felt like I was like, I want everybody over. Like, it just did like a really crazy shit. And then one was like, yeah, like I like this guy.
(5m 16s):
Yeah. Okay. But the rest of the band members that you have, our, all our, we are already in the scene, they knew everybody. So you were just the w the one guy, the one that you guys are. Yeah. Yeah. The one new guy that I think everyone was just kinda looking at it like, Oh, this, this, this, this, this, this new band. And it's funny too, because the CET we play at everything's already been so established. And so like, yeah. And I knew the set, like, it was the same set that I've been kind of playing to the last, like two years, like we're. And they were a little bit, like, I don't think that song really fits their, and I was like, no, trust me, like, it's going to work, its going to work. And then I think they were even a little bit surprised like, Oh shit, like it works. It works.
(5m 57s):
That's awesome. Okay. I want to get it. We'll get to the, the formation of the band. But I want to go back a little bit in a, just how did you get new music originally? Umm, you know, growing up, my uncle always played and I would always go to like, if you played like a farmer's market's and stuff like that, but that was cool. And I was always around it, but it was never like I want to do that. My mom had a guitar around and so I was always around it, but no one ever really forced me to play it wasn't until I saw a school of rock. Oh really? Yeah. I was like, I S I S I watched it and I thought like, Oh, well I'm the same age as them. And they did it.
(6m 37s):
I'm sure I can do it. And my neighbor, she had just like her grandpa was like getting her to play bass. So it, it was like, okay, I had all these like things around me to where I could just actually do it. So I, I just decided to do it. So, yeah. That was like 12 years old and a guitar you started playing. Yeah. It was a good job. And yeah, In your neighbor is my base. You guys is like jam Together or are you kind of learning? Well, we try to, we were both in to the same kind of music and we like always joked about starting a band. I think we had like a MySpace band and we were like took promos and stuff like that. Oh yeah. Yeah. I love it. I love hearing about the people's first bans like that. Cause it's, it's always like the Are in the name and like the image is like so important and I'm like, well, we'll figure it this long.
(7m 22s):
Yeah. Yeah. The musical cup. And I think they were kinda taking it as a joke and I was going to be a little bit serious about it. We never had a song. We never had a practice. We just had a MySpace page and that was it. And it felt pretty legit. Yeah. Nice okay. So you got you didn't and that was with your base or with your day? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Yeah. And she, she quickly, but she doesn't play anymore. She went on to be like, she's kind of following up on YouTube right now. She just plays the SIM Santa she actually just like got a, a a hundred thousand subscribers. Wow. That was a gamer. That was the gamer. Yeah. It was incredible. Yeah. It's a really cool, yeah, it wasn't until maybe eight grade.
(8m 5s):
And so I started playing at seventh and then eighth grade I started singing only because no one else was singing and I can kind of try to play with people. Yeah. Well we were all like old, so let's have a balance to have a band and none of us were like one to be the singer. And I was like, okay, well I guess to make it work, I'm going to have to just like, I'll just try singing. And then everyone was like, Oh, you sound good doing it. And I thought, okay, cool. And then I just kinda ran with roll with it. So yeah, Eighth grade, you know, you start singing and then from there, just more of like how to high school, you're just playing and more bands and more bands. Like what kind of, Yeah, I've actually only been in two bands my entire life Yeah so the first band was just with me and my friends obviously.
(8m 48s):
And we were just kind of dicking around and then decided like we were in high school, it was like freshman. And we decided like we wrote like five songs. Cause we knew that that was enough to place. It was a way to show so that we wrote five songs and then we just like bugged all the older bands. So you had the, at the time, there were only like 17 brought to us. We were like, well, Hey, there is so cool that they're going to tell it to us. You know, it's a big age gap, but yeah, we just started putting a bunch of, we booked a bunch of shows like 14, 15, which in hindsight is really weird. I didn't, I didn't never really realize how weird that was, that we did a book and did so many things like that at 15.
(9m 28s):
Right. And I was looking back. Yeah. And we were playing with bands. I like would come in and come through on tour. And they were like in there, like early twenties or like mid twenties and they would ask to borrow stuff and we'd be like, yeah, sure. Like it's a, my mom's fan. And my mom would just be sitting there, like waiting for us to play. So I never realized how weird that was until I got older. And I was like, Oh, that was kind of a really tough and some 15 year olds a bit to me now I'm at a show. I'd be like, what is your, Yeah, that's funny as well with that band. Did you like From what did it kinda fizzle out high school and to high school or It fizzled out? Probably we had a good like year and a half and just like recording and playing shows and like writing and then everyone just kinda wanted it to, you know, we were just so young and everyone was just wanted to do different things.
(10m 21s):
The band just broke up and then I started Only, Ocean probably my junior year of high school. Oh, wow. So you've been in, this has been the ban pretty much All of my identity at this point. Oh my gosh. Okay. So the original formation of the only Ocean was, it was just you and then you added your friends or how, how does that, how did it all start? Yeah. Well, yeah, I guess in a way it was me. Cause I knew like I wanted to have a band, but everyone was already in bands and I was like, okay, I guess I just got to write a bunch of songs to coax people, to come play with me. And once I did that, I got like, I got two of my childhood friends to play drums and bass. And then I just had another guy that I was like a part of the scene who ended up becoming like a really good friend of all of ours.
(11m 7s):
And we like kind of finalized the lineup a year after high school, maybe a couple of months after high school. And then from like 19 to Jesus' it would have been like maybe 27, I think 28. That was just like, it was just us. Wow. Yeah. So up until pretty recently the, the, the lineup changed or No yeah. Yeah. So the start of 2019, the drummer and bass player, we were just kind of like, you know, I just, I wanted to do something else, my life, you know, this, this, this has been fun, but you know, I, I, it wasn't didn't feel like it was really going anywhere, given where we were at being in one book and I have known they quit.
(11m 48s):
And that was like, okay, well, acquitting, for me, it wasn't really an option. Like I got to figure out what to do. And it just so happened. The guitar player, her band had broken up. And I, I knew her from just playing shows and I've known her for about maybe like five years at this 0.6 years. Okay. And we never really ever talked about trying to be in a band with each other. It just kind of like, I think she was like, he's in a long Polk. I'm in LA, like that it's not going to work, but you know, Oh, you guys have come down to LA and in play shows, it's that kind of how you meet that work. Yeah. We would always go down to LA her plate in place shows her band actually had played in Lompoc a couple of times. That's how I met her. It was in Lompoc.
(12m 28s):
Okay. So she asked to join, she knew I didn't have anybody. And I was like, yeah, of course. And then she brought the drummer along because the drummer and her were in that band together. And then the drummer, we needed a bass player and he was like, well, I have this guy that like, I used to be in a bandwidth. I don't think he is doing anything. I'll ask him. And then he joined, I think he joined. And then he started playing with us in, I think, August of 2019. Wow. Okay. By the end yet at the start of 2019 I I was banned lists. I just had like the name and like a record, but I was trying to do, and then at the end of 2019, we ended up being voted. Number one on Chiraq.
(13m 8s):
Locals one of those Locals Only with Kat Corbett that's amazing. Yeah. It was, it was such a weird year that, that I didn't even realize that it just didn't feel like a year. I don't know. It was just so bizarre. I didn't really give myself too much time to like to dwell because I was like, if I dwell, I know I'm going to get sad and I won't do anything. I'll be farmed out. So once they join and I was just kind of like, all right, well, I guess LA is just where I'm going to be. And then did you, is that, did you move to LA or you still in? I am still in Lompoc so I just thought about it. I just kind of bounced around from place to place. My girlfriend lived in orange County, so I'm, I just spend my time in orange County a lot.
(13m 51s):
So I'm probably in orange County to maybe like three weeks out of the month. And then like a couple of like a week in Lompoc met Shirley just to come back and like get money and like close like that and, and pre pandemic. I that's, I was like here for maybe three days there for four and just kind of spending my time in orange County. In LA. Yeah. And with, with COVID, like you said, 2019 was like the year that you guys are going. Yeah. And then it shuts down, like, what were you, what were you up to in that all kind of unfilled? Where are you guys touring or anything like that? Yeah, we were just kind of it, what sucks about it? It's like, I have always been, and I'm not like a, they don't like saying like, Oh, like this year is going to be my year.
(14m 35s):
I always try to just make it, like, I'm going to make the best of every year, but this but 2020, it really felt like everything was in motion. We kind of had all of this, like all of this eyes on us and like some Momentum and stuff. Yeah more Than I had ever, like hadn't had before in my life. And I was really excited. We had a bunch of Cool shows, but up, we were on a single Watch It Fall was actually going to, I was supposed to be released in March or like around that kind of like a, like a spring release. And once when, you know, third or what was the third or second week of March when all that happened and we just kind of like, you know, no one knew what to do. So we were just kind of chilling and just really just waiting for like, okay, well, what is going to be the appropriate moment for us to kind of like start making moves again?
(15m 24s):
And w the Watch It Fall was the one that, is that the song that Kat Corbett has been playing or was it a different one? Yeah. Is it an old, old one? That actually, that was called Still You Won. That was like with the original band. Oh, wow. Yeah, it was recorded in 2016 and a guitar player. Just send it in, asking her how to play it. And she did. And then Watch, It Fall was on the last one as well, and then a year. Yeah. That's amazing. So, yeah. Cause you had a record out, you yourself had a record in 2015. That's when I'm like, I mean, it was for Spotify. I was telling me that, so, yeah, so that was with the old ban. And even in like all of these, these other, like Songs that you guys have put out Good Morning Replaceable those are all in all of that. It was all done with you with the prior band.
(16m 6s):
And was that all released independently and recorded it independently? Or did you have like a label or So we it's really weird. Cause like everything, it seems so normal to do in like a bigger city. We don't like in Lompoc it's so small. So we were always just brought up. Like we didn't, I didn't even know how to really get pressed until the first record came out or the second the EAP came out like that. It wasn't even like a thing that we even thought about. We were like, Oh, well let's just put it out. We'll put it on everything. And then we'll just go and pull. It shows because like bands prior, like they were older than us. That's what they would do. So we just thought, okay, that's just kind of the way to do it and be like, again, we can, you know, we kind of came from like, Right kind of come from the air of like, when my space was a thing and you had, that was like a, a big you'd have all of those bands, like just constantly touring and going through.
(16m 52s):
And you kind of knew all of it because I think my space had like the tour dates, like you can have shows booked up on that. Oh yeah, you could. Yeah. They did a really good job of actually my space for, for their, with their music, with bands and stuff. And I think they did, they really do. Yeah. We were kind of just brought up like that, like, cause we thought of that. So I guess just like what you do. So I know we didn't really put on it. No records are a I'm sorry, no labels now or anything like that. We met Jon to Bonn just from like a mutual friends. And he had said, Oh yeah, he's done a couple Mars Molter records. He has done this. He had done that. And at the time were like, okay, like that's what we need to do is to really take our sound to the next level.
(17m 33s):
It's like get with this guy. It just so happened that he was willing to work with us. And then he's continued to work with us throughout the year. So we kinda always had like once we had that, we were like sick. And then the first record we just kinda thought of like, let's just get people to know who the hell we are at the time. We were only really pushed out, like just singles in the world, on Spotify yet right now. And then it wasn't until the second, like the EPA, when we started to get some, like once I learned how to get press and stuff like that. Okay. And once with that, yeah. Once when that happened, it was like, okay, this is like, can actually maybe be a thing. Yeah, Sure. Yeah. And that was, and what, what, like what have you recorded with the new band?
(18m 17s):
Like Fake Sunflowers was there any of that with, with, with your new band or was that all old? Still it's still the old, yeah. Oh, wow. So the newest Watch It Fall on wasted days are with, with the current lineup. Oh my goodness. So have you guys have been able to have to hit the studio as a, as a band yet? Or Not yet? No. We'd been at, at the beginning of quarantine, we were like, yeah, it was, I think it was Jonathan the drummer's idea to like, let's just all send demos in like a Google drive and then we'll just, and then from doing that, I think at this point we had, we had like 25 songs just like ready to go.
(18m 57s):
So yeah, we were just kind of like when we safely can be like, well, I'll go get tested and then we'll go practice and we're just kinda of plugging away. And I think we were just trying to get as many as we can before we think like, okay, let's just go record. Okay. Okay. So yeah. So the songs that are the ones like, cause a wasted day, is it just came out like last week or I think it was last week. Yeah. So like that. When was that song written and recorded your use? Yeah, that song was written maybe the end of 2018 or like mid 2018. Yeah. Okay. And was that it is that it was just that in another single, are you going to put it out or that is because that's not going to be a part of a body of work. Is that because of the new band in, how, how has that all going to kinda come together?
(19m 41s):
Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I think we were still kinda trying to work through all of that. We don't really know how it goes. What had happened was is the drummer and bass player. God bless him. They had quit it. They quit as soon as they finish their parts. Oh, okay. So they finished the record and then stopped. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Like the, the day that the drummer quit, it was on a Sunday and Saturday. He had tracked, he did his last drum, his last drum take like that day. He was like, Hey, I'm done. And then the bass player, it was just kind of like, he did the same thing he finished and then he was just kind of like, yeah, I think it's time for me to, Okay, so you are sitting, are you sitting on a bunch of songs then? Yeah. Yeah. It was like eight songs that were just kind of just kind of waiting it out.
(20m 22s):
Okay. Yeah. And so I think given like with everything going on, we were kind of like the spots that we're in. Cause we say, you know, obviously we can't play shows and we can't do anything like that, but we can still release music and we don't really have to like, we're in a pretty fun position where we don't really have to force ourselves to get into the studio because we do have all these things. And I just kind of told them like, you know, I love all of the songs because I was sick. So a part of him in that last record. Yeah. And so like wasted days and Watch, It Fall I was like, it's really, you guys can kind of pick, which one's you feel comfortable that you want to release? Oh, I see. Okay. Just to kind of like, I don't want to be like, Oh, these are Mine like, I can give them some voice to It.
(21m 5s):
Yeah. It was like whatever they were on the record. Yeah. It was like, whatever you guys feel comfortable releasing are one to play live. Like I'm fine with all of them. But yeah. I think that now though, we don't really have to play any of the us. So we were just, every practice was just kind of spent like just hashing out the songs that we have. Okay. So you have a bunch of stuff. So prior to quarantine, you guys are playing mostly the old songs that you had written prior, and then now is when you write when like COVID hit or whatever. And everyone's inside of that is when you just got to start writing, what will it be? All the new material. Very cool. Yeah. Is that a pretty exciting or was it hard to Right over the computer? No, I mean, it's pretty, it's been pretty fun actually like, cause on the last, so before them, I was kind of really doing a big majority of the work, like in terms of like parts and writing and not all of that.
(21m 60s):
Yeah. So, and with With with them, it's like they're musicians, shit. Like all of them were such great musicians, but like some days I have to be like, okay, I really got to bring, bring my a game because like they were bringing some like really cool, really cool shit. And I'm over here just like not putting it, like I'm not bringing anything to the table. So sometimes it's, it's gone like one or two ways. Someone will like a guitar idea early on, you know, all finish it or, and then we'll just kind of have someone make a demo or like the bass player Jordan, he's like a real secretive with it. And then out of nowhere Hill like upload is a Google drive with like three demos. Like that's awesome.
(22m 42s):
So it is, it's been real fun, like just seeing where everyone's coming from and we all pull it from such different areas, but the same area at the same time, that makes any sort of sense. So everyone's play style is completely different, but it's really fun to kind of like try to make it all work. Right, right. And a wow. So that's cool. So it's all basically done through Google drive then and like you upload something because I would imagine trying to do something like that. Like we were driving like zooming, it would probably be like latency issues and a whole bunch of other noise that can assume it would be a problem. That's cool that you're doing it that way though. Do you, is that something like you would continue to do or do you, would you prefer to write with everybody in the same room?
(23m 31s):
Honestly, both. Cause I think even a before all of this, like that's kinda how the old band operated to like, we were just, if I wanted to go and make it a demo with John, I would just send it to him and just say, Hey, listen to it. And this is kind of like a rough outline of like what the song and what the parts are gonna be. And we will just go from there this way. It's, it's pretty quick too, because like, there is nothing worse than being like a river rehearsing something and not having an idea right away, or like not knowing how to articulate what your trying to play. So then you just sit there and like everyone's watching you, waiting for you to like, get your shit again. Sure. And if you can get It, you just kinda feel like God, I'm wasting everyone's time, but this is cool because you know, I can just kind of play them and just kind of sit with them for a long time and kind of bring my ideas to the table.
(24m 20s):
Yeah. I actually kind of prefer having a both ways. Yeah. I can imagine you might be able to get some interesting takes and maybe sounds and tons of just like things that are happening, you know, like you're a recording at your, your house and if you're just running the whole time and you're not worrying about, you know, the clock ticking and costing you a ton of money. Yeah, totally. We can probably come up with some pretty creative things I would assume. And that sense. And like if you sent a take two or have you sent a demo out to everybody, we'll like your guitar player is sent back, like five versions have different, you know, and maybe you have a chance to pick through and, and, and the different ideas. So as usually how, how that happens. But what we've been doing was just like, I think everyone's just kind of REITs it and then just kind of saves it for like, cause we, we, we try to practice pretty consistently.
(25m 6s):
So I think we're going every, like every Sunday at this point. Oh, well that's not That hard to get together in everything that's Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, no, I usually what happens is, is just the way I think the only one where it's a little bit weird is there's two demos of someone has a demo there's one with drums and one, without that way, the, the charge the drummer can lay on top of it. Yeah. Yeah. Gotcha. Right. And Jonathan is such a, like a, he is such an animal that like, he writes all of this drum parts out, so you can remember them sometimes. Well, that's cool. Yeah. And then I usually, if I feel like the drummer just goes in there and just bangs on stuff and you're like, Oh, what are they doing?
(25m 46s):
The same thing every time. Yeah. Him and him. And Jordan went to school for music that's Dell. So like, there were like IQ of It like, I understand what their saying, but sometimes we lose, we lose some of the stuff that they say it is going to have to like me and Tamar or in the vein of like, we know what they're saying or were also just kinda of like we learned all of this is just being in the garage, Sponging it up from all of that's cool, man. Well, yeah. Well, since you guys can get together and have you done any live streams or anything like that? I have done a couple of like a Instagram lab where I'm just playing by myself. Okay. Yeah. That was doing, it was mainly more in like the beginning of quarantine because like everyone was doing it and I, we just, just kind of decided to do it as well.
(26m 30s):
And it was, it, it felt pretty fun cause everyone was at home. So like when people would tune in, right. And once summertime hit, I think people's just energy shifted 'cause they were able to get outside and they didn't have to kind of quite focus on just only being inside. Right. And I think, I, I think it, obviously it went longer than a lot of people who assume too, like he was like, Oh, this it'll be, this will blow up in a month. Like, well, you know, this took us nine months later, whatever. And it's like, yeah, it was in the beginning, like Ben gibber from deaf Africa, you always use this example. He was like, Oh, I'm going to do a live stream every day. And I'm like, well, how long did that? I mean, I don't, no, I didn't follow it, but it's like, I can assume he probably stopped about four or five weeks in was like, I can be doing this for the rest of my life every day.
(27m 19s):
And like this rate. So It got kind of stressful too, because I was like, okay, well we only have like so many songs that are in our set that we still play. And I was like, I don't want to play something that no one's ever heard before, because I don't even know if I know how to play at anymore. It was, it really was kind of like every week I was like, shit, I got to get some sort of Cool set together. And I got to get, like, I got to make it interesting. I can't just like sit there and play. And I would always have to just like, I did a really bad job of learning covers. I like the day of as well, I'm going to ask her, who did you have to try to fill it in with a bunch of covers? Yeah, yeah, yeah, Yeah. I was doing covers and I was, I would always think like, I'll do that one. I'd be cool. That'd be Cool. And of course, like, you know, those beginning months of you would just get it, get so lazy right now.
(28m 2s):
Like the day would have been, I was like, Oh, I don't know it. I mean, I would do it a really bad job, so I was still good for it, but it wasn't a good, I'm glad you like you couldn't no one was recording. Yeah. That's awesome. Very cool animal. Thank you so much. Wesley for talking with me today. I appreciate it. Yeah. Thank you. Yeah. I did have one more question for you. I wanted to know if you have any advice for aspiring artists. Honestly, just do it. I know it's a, it's, it's a really bad one, but I've watched a lot of bands and a lot of like, my friend's band is kind of a breakup because one bad thing happens and they think like, okay, this is terrible and I don't want to do it anymore.
(28m 45s):
And sometimes it's like, you just got to get through all that shit and get to the other side. Because once you do, it's like once you fight through it, everything works out and just go for it and know that it's going to its kinda like life. That's like a relationship, almost it it's going to be bad and it's going to be hard. But if you really love it and you love playing music and you love everything that comes with it, then don't just do it.
(29m 13s):