Entertainment
band crush: beach day
escape the rain with sunny tunes!
It's gross and rainy in New York all day, making it super easy to feel depressed and sleepy. But rather than spend your time refreshing weather.com or looking plane tickets for your imaginary vacation to Bermuda (we've done both today... swear), here's a more worthwhile alternative: Take a listen to our latest Band Crush, Beach Day. Hailing from Hollywood, Florida, the nostalgic trio with '60s surfer melodies just kicked off their debut tour this week. We chatted with Kimmy about their love of The Ronettes and desire to improve their tans!
How did the three of you first come together as a band and how long have you been a band for?
All three of us met on the same night. We were in three separate bands at the time. But the stars aligned for us! We've been a band for about ten months now.
What bands/musicians are you most inspired by?
We really love The Black Lips, The Ronettes, Vivian Girls, The Ventures, The Shangri-Las are a really big influence! And then garage bands like The Seeds, The Mysterians, The Yardbirds. We're also really inspired by The Sonics & anything on the first Nuggets compilation is awesome.
What inspired the song 'Beach Day'?
Well we were up in the mountains for like two months and it was really cold and rainy. We were thinking about how awesome it was to be at the beach in Hollywood. And how sunny and casual it is living there. You know, like living in sandals and jean shorts everyday. In contrast to where we were it sounded like paradise! So we were listening to a lot of Ventures & thinking about the beach and just messing around with those kinds of sounds. "Beach Day" was the first song we wrote as a band. We thought there was something special to it. It really inspired us to create the band.
What are you working on now?
We're touring a lot right now! Heading to Canada today. Then a short fall tour in Europe. We're planning our video for our next single "Walking On The Streets" which is coming out sometime in late October/ early November. Our full length LP is already recorded and it's being mixed by Jim Diamond in Detroit. He did the first two White Stripes records. We're really excited to be working with him. When we get home next week we have serious plans for working on our tans!
Who writes the songs? Is it a collaborative effort?
Well I (Kimmy) write the melodies & the lyrics. And then we'll arrange the songs together. And sometimes we'll write to Skyler's drum beats which is always fun. A good drum beat is so important to our band! Sometimes it's a collaborative effort. It really just depends on the song.
