1. Thank you very much for your time! Before we introduce your new release to our readers – what kind of drink would you recommend to sip on while they listen to your new music?
„Oh definitely a raspberry lemonade with a little bit of mint, a splash of lingonberry syrup, and a spoonful of passion fruit.“
2. Please give us an update about – new single, new album, tour dates, new videos?!
„Our very first single, ‚house on fire‘ just came out last month. We started this project more than two years ago, so it’s been incredibly exciting to see it out in the world! We were thrilled to get a placement of Spotify’s Fresh Finds playlist, and we’re just getting started! We also put out a music video for the song, it’s kind of crazy but we think you’ll like it. We have a new single coming out on April 3rd called ’summer days,‘ and we hope you’ll check it out too!“
3. Name 5 things we all should know about you as a band?!
1) Beach!
2) We love sparkly guitars, 80s synth pop, and short shorts
3) The band is composed of 2 friends who met at Popakademie in Mannheim, Germany: Asher Witkin, a California born singer-songwriter who got his start singing with Coldplay, Kehlani, Daveed Diggs, and other artists in the San Francisco Bay Area, and Jonas Sercombe, the lead singer for The Planetoids, a disco inspired pop band with regular performances all around the world. Jonas is one of the founders of Pubic Hair Records.
4) Asher and Jonas worked on the album in Jonas‘ studio basement, listening to the dulcet tones of Germans playing card games and drinking oh so many beers in the discount furniture store just above.
5) More beach!
4. What fashion style or brand would best describe your music?
„Whoever sells the shortest shorts.“
5. We live in times of many conspiracy theories. Which harmless theory do you wish were true? (For example Dinos living inside Earth or E.T. living in a home in California)
„Definitely aliens. If there are any aliens out there interested in working with us, please don’t hesitate to reach out anytime.“
6. If you could change anything about the industry, what would it be?
„We’d love to work with more female producers! There are so many cool women producing music, and not nearly enough of them are allowed to break into the industry or given the respect they deserve.“
7. Tell us more about your songs! Topics! Message!?
„Asher here. house on fire was the second song we ever wrote together. It was incredibly hot, and the two of us were working in Jonas’ bedroom because all the studios were booked. The track started out with a much more synth driven, carefree feel, but I think as soon as we found the melody we realized it needed to go in a bit of a different direction. I’ll often do a full take of improv once we have a basic idea of the production, and it’s always an absolute trash fire in terms of the lyrics, but for this particular song we kept most of the melody from that first take, and then wrote lyrics around the one phrase we liked: house on fire.
Our next song coming out, on April 3rd, is called summer days. summer days was the first song Jonas and I ever worked on together. We’d never met, so neither one of us knew what to expect going into the session, but by the time we’d finished I knew I wanted to work with him forever. We started with a chord progression I’d had bouncing around in my head for a while, and then Jonas layered in guitar and drums; the whole thing came together pretty quickly.
Sometimes I’ll write a song that in retrospect is clearly autobiographical, but it often takes a while for me to figure that out. At the time, I would have told you summer days was fictional, but it isn’t. It’s about my best friend. Now, when I listen to the words, it seems inevitable. It could only ever have been about her. But we were living a thousand miles apart, and I was afraid of getting hurt.
She’s looking over my shoulder at my phone as I write this. We’ve been dating for more than six months now.
I hope you’ll listen to summer days. And even if you aren’t ready just yet, I hope someday you figure out who it’s about for you.“
8. A question you’d like to answer, but never been asked in an interview before?! + Answer pls
Can you describe some similarities between songwriting and macro photography?
„So during the pandemic, I got super into macro photography, mostly as a way of getting myself out of the house. Macro photography is basically just photography that’s very up close. So instead of taking a picture of a river, maybe you take a picture of the unbroken surface of the water sinking slightly below the leg of a water strider. Or maybe you take a picture of a ladybug framed by a towering spiral of green stem and a parachute of orange poppy in the sky. The idea is to look for details, to paint a broader picture of a place by capturing a few of its small particularities. And in doing so, you can not only present something in a new way, you can also try to convey what makes it special to you, what you love about it. That’s how I try to think about songwriting.
Instagram: @bandcalledbeach