April 6, 2018

Center Stage - Coastal Club

Coastal Club is an Indie pop group from Cincinnati, Ohio. The group was formed in 
2017 by a group of friends looking to blend modern indie rock with pop while adding a 
hint of surf music along the way. The group finds its center with slightly modulated guitar
lines, dreamy synths, and tight drum grooves layered with fun, care­free lyrics about 
enjoying every aspect of life. The group’s favorite pastimes include long walks by the 
Ohio River shore and post­concert milkshakes.
Meet Coastal Club - an Indie pop group from Cincinnati, Ohio formed in 2017 by a group of friends looking to blend modern indie rock with pop, while adding a hint of surf music along the way. Their sound features slightly modulated guitar lines, dreamy synths, and tight drum grooves layered with fun, care-free lyrics about enjoying every aspect of life. 



We enjoyed chatting with them and learning where they draw their inspiration, what they've been up to recently, and about their favorite pastimes - which include long walks by the Ohio River shore and post-concert milkshakes.

Get to know Coastal Club for yourself in this latest Center Stage Q&A feature. 


Can you describe your sound in one ramble-on sentence?
We would describe our sound as a blend of modern, indie-pop mixed with a just a sprinkling of surf music.

What are some of artists you guys grew up listening to?
We would love to say that grew up listening to Queen records, deep tracks from the artist formerly known as Prince, and the classics from John Coltrane, but the truth is we were all really weird early 2k middle-schoolers. Most of us grew up listening to bands like Paramore, Panic! at the Disco, and Fall Out Boy. It’s not glamorous, but you have to respect your roots, right?

If you were to cover another band/artist's album, which would you pick and why?
I suppose, we can give a fairly literal answer to this question. We have only ever played one cover song: Blue Christmas by the wonderful Elvis Presley and boy, do we love covering this one. If we were to cover a non-christmas song, it would most likely be the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds. A close second would be Dick Dale’s King of Surf Guitar.

Do you write/compose your own songs? Briefly describe your songwriting process
We write and compose all of our own music. The songwriting process varies dependent on the song and method of creation. Sometimes, we write songs together from start to finish, as band. However, most of the time, Alex (lead vocals, guitar) will write the majority of a song to about 70% completion, and then we come together and focus on the finishing touches as a band. Everyone tends to focus on writing their own individual parts while keeping the energy and emotion of the songs congruent.

What was the highlight for you in 2017? Either personally or for your music career?
2017 was a huge year for us. Our biggest highlight was releasing our songs to the public for the first time. Many of us have been involved in bands over the years, so we know what its like to release music: there are many different artists out there, all creating incredible art - so it is very easy to get lost in a sea of incredible work, and never have your music heard. Our release certainly hasn’t given us any crazy overnight success stories (those are overrated anyway, right?); however, it has certainly gained a better response than any of us had hoped or imagined. It has certainly given us the platform to continue releasing music that we love in the hopes of someone connecting deeply with it, which has really been our only goal.

What have you been working on recently? Can you give us a hint for whats to come in 2018?
Recently, we have taken a very short break from live shows to focus on recording a new record at a studio up in Detroit. We were lucky enough to work with some extremely high-caliber musicians and producers and we are so excited about the music that we are currently creating. We hope to be able to share this music towards the end of 2018 or beginning of 2019, and accompany its release with an amazing release party in our hometown, Cincinnati, OH.

What do you like more: Performing live or recording in the studio?
Man, it is seriously so hard for us to choose between live shows and recording. We genuinely enjoy every part of the music-creation process, from the song-writing, to recording, to playing those songs live. However, we would have to chose live shows over recording, if we were absolutely forced to chose. There is nothing quite as rewarding as seeing people in the audience connecting with songs that you have written and singing along.

What are some artists/bands that you're into at the moment? Or any particular song you find yourself listening to over and over?
We all struggle to choose one “favorite artist” - that’s a very elusive thing. Our favorite artists one week could be completely different than what we are currently listening to on repeat. However, we have a few go to’s for artist that we find inspiration from: COIN, Colony House, Hippo Campus, Young The Giant, Tipling Rock, Knox Hamilton, Vampire Weekend, Alohaha, The Beach Boys, the list goes on...

Any embarrassing on stage moments you'd like to share? C’mon, don’t be shy.
Alex: One time, I played an entire set with my fly-wide open. That’s actually a pretty common occurrence.

What's one thing people should know about you?
One thing that people need to know about the band is that we love milkshakes. One of our favorite things is a delicious post-concert milkshakes. We have played a few where people have offered to buy us some post-concert milkshakes and those are our favorite people ever.
What do you guys enjoy doing outside of music? Do your hobbies rejuvenate your creativity?
Alex (lead vocals, guitar) loves hiking and being outdoors. It absolutely helps him feel rejuvenated and inspired to write more songs. Mobes (guitarist) loves snowboarding, basketball, and “hard drugs.” David (drummer) loves to play disc golf with Avery (bassist, vocals). Avery also enjoys the following: “crying, being on Who Wants To Be a Millionaire, roller derby, and chasing garbage trucks”.
What do you like the most about Radio Airplay?
As music lovers, we always love finding new artists that inspire us. Radio Airplay gives us the ability to easily and effortlessly find those artists. Radio Airplay has also given us the amazing opportunity to have our music to be heard by more listeners. We write music in the hopes of someone genuinely connecting with our music and story in some way, and platforms like Radio Airplay allow that to happen in real, tangible ways.




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