Hailing from the beaches south of Los Angeles, LOST BEACH combines the sentimentality of sun in your face, while pining for the unknown in what we call indie rock n roll. Native Texan Jonny Perdue came to California to further his pursuit in music, finding guitarist and collaborator Steve Stout via a chance encounter while both playing for siblings of two different bands.
During his time on the coast, Jonny met Hermosa-raised drummer Davey Latter and bassist Zacc West, also linking up with keys player Davey Allen after seeing his performance at a soundcheck in LA. “Perdue,” meaning lost in French, and the band’s residence on the coast inspired their moniker LOST BEACH. From Otis Redding to Elliott Smith, the group draws inspiration from the sounds of older records and a DIY mentality of self-production.
In this interview spotlight, we speak with Lost Beach about their influences, the new release, and more.
Full Q&A, links, and a stream of Novocaine (now available) below.
Let’s dive a little deeper into You, the artist and your music. What attracted you to this genre(s) or style(s)?
I would say growing up, older records were always playing in the house. Also, growing up in Texas there was always a rich music scene there and really great songwriters in town that you could go see.
What led you into this journey with music? And further, what drives you to push it out to the public?
My uncle was a bluegrass player and gave me his old ovation when I was a kid. I was hooked from there. Steve, who co-writes and produces with me had music in the house, his dad played Knights in White Satin on an old Juno-60 every night and eventually he begged his parents long enough to get him a Strat to play along.
Who or what influences your creativity? Have your tastes in music changed over time?
All kinds of things can influences the creative process for us. A lot of the time, even the feeling of competition can influence the process. Going and seeing a great show with great writing and performance can light a fire under us. Just inspiring us to continue to focus and be about the songs and music. Another is just great story telling. Hearing some of the older country records and the way they were able to tell those story is really inspiring. We are striving to get to that place in our songs/lyrics.
Taste has definitely changed over the years which has helped us evolve as songwriters. We’ve been really excited about the newer bands over the past 5 years like Tame Impala, Father John Misty and Dawes just to name a few.
Were you trying to accomplish anything specific on this new project? Creatively or otherwise?
We really wanted the songs to get back to sounding like the older rock n roll records that we grew up loving. Having the vehicle to write/record and produce all the music ourselves allowed us that freedom. We wanted to record the songs as live as possible in order to maintain that integrity when we get on stage.
What was the last song you listened to?
Shelters – Rebel Heart
Which do you prefer? Vinyl? CDs? MP3s?
Vinyl. Vinyl as always had an emotional quality to it that seems to take us back to that place when it was recorded. A nostalgia.
How about this one…. Do you prefer Spotify? Apple Music? Bandcamp? Or something else? Why?
We use Spotify on the road, it’s great for playlists on long drives and for us personally as a band having it as a vehicle to release our music is great.
Other than the digital era overwhelming us with access to an abundance of music, what is the biggest challenge you face when trying to connect with or find new fans?
With the digital age, it’s really great being able to reach fans all over the country, however that brings about challenges economically with getting to those fans. As opposed to before, you could really just build that solid local foundation gig after gig in town because it was the only place for them to hear you.
Where is the best place to connect with you online? Discover more music?
Spotify and Soundcloud at the moment is best place. We also post a lot of teasers on our Instagram page where you can hear what’s to come.
Anything else you’d like to add before signing off?
One, we would like to thank you guys at Middle Tennessee for being so supportive of us! This industry can be tough at times and having that support can really keep the train rolling down the tracks.
Also, we will be releasing singles every month until the end of the year, then releasing an EP. So please stick around and feel free to reach out and listen!
Tell us more about your latest project
‘NOVOCAINE‘ is our latest single. We recorded and produced the song here in Steve’s studio, Manzanita Studios here in Silverlake, CA. It was a labor of love and we are really stoked on how everything came out!
