Several months ago, we featured Coast Modern and their second single “Animals” right before they took the stage at SXSW. Now, the duo is on the road supporting The Temper Trap, and working on their album which is set to drop next year. We had the opportunity to talk with the guys about their music, why they choose to be genre-less, and what they’ve learned on tour. Read what they had to say below.
You mentioned your early influences included The Beatles, The Beach Boys, and Led Zeppelin. How much do you think those influences sneak into your current sounds?
They trickle in sometimes more in spirit than in sound. The playful, fearless energy of early Beatles is a huge inspiration. The Beach Boys and their insane melodies and harmonies definitely find their way in. Led Zeppelin might be the furthest from our sound, but we both had heavy Zep phases as youngins, and theres a grandiose, commanding spirit that we admire. But really we pull inspiration from anything and everything… no limits.
One of your interviews cracked me up when Luke mentioned his first song was called “Bob Saget.” Can you tell us more about it?
Ha yeah. It’s literally just me screaming “Bob Saget” over a track that I made with a keyboard and drum machine that were older than me. I like to think some of that early freedom exists in the Coast Modern sound.
Let’s talk about your tour history, which is already impressive and continuing to grow! You’ve shared stages with BORNS and The Wombats. What are some lessons you’ve learned from being on the road?
Own your mistakes onstage. We’ve had stuff break onstage, computer stopped working, flubbed whole sections of songs. You can pretend it’s not happening and it’ll be awkward or you can let everyone in on the mess and it becomes fun.
Now you’re on tour with The Temper Trap. What’s that been like so far? Which songs have gotten the best reactions when you play them live?
The tour has been incredible. The Temper Trap guys are some of the nicest dudes we’ve ever met. They even let us sleep on their bus. Our new tune “The Way It Was” has been really fun live with “the drop” ending. People get buck wild.
Your bios have listed your sound as West Coast, electro pop with elements of hip hop, indie rock and psych-pop. That being said, do you get asked a lot or find it difficult to pinpoint your sound to a specific genre or style or two?
Yeah. Genre is dead for us. Mainstream and indie are blending. Everything is blending and it’s beautiful. We explore a lot of musical ground because we love so many types of music. I think the spirit and our “voice” tie it together.
What’s next for the band?
We wanna touch a lot more continents, hands, hearts. Collab with other artists. We have an album almost done, ready for next year. It’s gonna be a wild ride.
Filed under: Interviews Tagged: coast modern, interview, music creates us, the temper trap
