Coasts Interview

Coasts Interview UK band Coasts are creating a buzz after their debut single ‘Oceans’ was posted on youtube in January and BBC Radio One DJ Zane Lowe featured the single on the show’s ‘next hype’.Coasts Interview  We caught up with lead singer Chris to find out more about the Bristol-based five-piece and what we can expect from them in 2013.

Hi Chris how’s it going?
Hi not bad thanks, cold!

Could you talk us through the formation of the band?
We’ve been in various bands before, but as Coasts since around 2011. I did bits and bobs before, but this is the first project that really stuck. We all went to University in Bath and that’s where we all met. I’m from Bristol, but the guys are from all over, Lincoln, Essex, all over the place.

Where are you currently based then Chris?
Mainly Bristol but a lot of the guys went back home for Christmas, we are all going to meet back up in Bristol before the tour and start rehearsing.

How is 2013 treating you so far?
Yeah pretty well in terms of releasing the video for ‘Oceans’ and stuff that seems to have gone really well. I didn’t really know what to expect after the release of the video, but we’ve had some good reviews on blogs, it’s all been kind of bizarre.

The video looks really polished and manages to capture the mood of the song. Where was the video filmed and who directed it?
It was filmed just outside Bath and the beach scenes were filmed in a place called Burnham-On-Sea, the locations were awesome. Our mate Duncan Roe from uni is basically our director now, just a good mate we met at uni.

There seems to be a heavy beach theme running throughout your work so far, from band name and single title, to the label you are signed to. Is this intentional?
Not particularly, it’s probably a subconscious thing more than anything, we are all generally drawn to that lifestyle and regularly find ourselves going to the beach. Our drummer and bassist surfs a lot, so maybe it’s just ingrained.

Would you say you are all from similar musical backgrounds and could you tell us about your musical influences and what made you want to start making your own music?
We are all into loads of different things, our drummer Ben is really into Dance and House and stuff. Influences are just so varied man, personally I’m a big fan of The Police.

What are you listening to at the moment?
I got Tame Impala’s ‘Lonerism’ I think that’s an incredible album and I’m looking forward to Foals new album. I’ve got this blog I go on called ‘Awesome Tapes’ with loads of African music and it’s been really interesting hearing new sounds from different cultures.

Could you expand on your song writing process?
I write the lyrics and our guitarist mainly writes most of the music but we all come together with ideas, so it’s a group effort in some ways.

How has your debut single ‘Oceans’ been received?
It’s been mainly positive, obviously you’re never gonna get 100% positive reviews and stuff, but it’s been better than I had anticipated. It’s gone really well, NME featured the song which was a nice bit of exposure, but even more interesting is blogs seem to have picked up on it loads and given good reviews.

When is ‘Oceans’ officially released?
You can get it on pre-order on iTunes but it isn’t released officially until February 25th. It will come out before the release of our EP ‘Paradise’.

Would you say ‘Oceans’ is a fair reflection on how ‘Paradise’ is going to sound?
I guess so yeah, the songs are in the same vein, it will be interesting to compare the reaction to ‘Oceans’ and the next single release.

How many tracks are going to appear on the EP?
There’s four tracks.

You’re touring the UK in February and March, how are you preparing for it? Are you nervous?
No not at all we’re really looking forward to it man! There’s loads of places we haven’t played before, our last tour was just before summer and it feels like a while since we’ve been out there. Should be fun!

Where are you most looking forward to playing?
We decided Doncaster, as we actually have quite a few fans up there. And I’m looking forward to Bristol obviously and also playing the Camden Barfly.

For a music fan that has yet to hear Coasts describe your sound in three words?
Brooding Party Pop.

And finally Chris what do you hope to have achieved as a group by the end of 2013?
Just to tour as much as we can and hopefully get out of this country and get to tour in Europe which would be awesome. Looking to the future we just want to keep on writing and hopefully release an album, we’re all just really excited.

By Harry Dillon

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