Best Coast undoubtedly garnered the most buzz of the festival, and it showed in the crowd Bethany and the band commanded at their show at The Garrison on Friday of the festival.
After leaving El Mocambo, Dave and I took a BlackBerry ride (gained by BBMing a certain number, and they happened to be going our way) to the venue, only to find ourselves stuck in the way back with the set having already started; that, by the way, doesn’t particularly matter to me. I could hear just fine, and I could see what was going on onstage, but the pictures we tried to take didn’t come out well. So, my apologies for anyone who wanted close ups of Bethany and Co. in action. You won’t get them from us.
Live, the band is pretty straightforward. Whatever you have heard of the band musically will be what you hear from them when you see them live. There aren’t a lot of embellishments, but I don’t think that – with the type of music Bethany plays – one should expect it. Our particular trouble was because we’re not really well versed in Best Coast; as a part of our interview with Ms. Costentino before NXNE, we were sent her album online to listen to, and while it’s excellent, we didn’t memorize it. So while there were some songs we recognized – “Our Deal,” for example – every song seemed to run into the next. Dave wanted specifically to hear the first song on the impending album – “Boyfriend” – but since we missed some of the beginning of the show, she may have played it earlier. Dave did not get his wish.
There’s no denying that people came out to see Best Coast. Over half the venue cleared out when the band was done with their set. And while Dave and I were happy with the space we were subsequently provided, it would have been nice to maintain the venue’s energy for the next band.
Click “Continue Reading” to read the interview we did with Ms. Costentino prior to her NXNE appearances. Where we talk about her cat, the differences between shows in Europe and North America, and her songwriting process.
Best Coast – Our Deal (mp3)
Tympanogram: First and foremost: How’s Snacks?
Bethany: He’s good. He is asleep right now in the corner of the room. I wish you could see what he looks like. He’s lying on his back with his paws straight in the air. That’s kind of like his signature sleep pose. He’s just chillin’. I think he’s glad I’m home. I’ve been gone for a while so we’re just spending some quality cat and mom time together.
T: Is he a lap cat?
B: He goes back and forth. He likes to do his own thing sometimes. He sleeps in cardboard boxes, he sleeps in paper bags, he sleeps on top of computers. He sleeps anywhere. And other times he’ll come up to me and want to snuggle. But, I let him do his own thing.
T: They pretty much do anyway. My cat does the same thing. So, with all of your 7-inch releases, I would imagine that you built up at least a little bit of label talk. What made you decide to go with Mexican Summer for the album release?
B: A lot of labels were getting in touch, and there was a lot of talk going on, and we just wanted to do it with a label that we felt really comfortable with, and we met Keith who runs Mexican Summer. And he’s one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met in my life, and you could tell that they really wanted to treat this record well and promote it well.
It’s our first record and we wanted to make sure it got treated well and that it was being promoted properly and that we were working with a family of people that understood us and that we understood. It just felt like the best match out of all of the other labels and offers. We really like that label.
Mexican Summer is actually run by another label which is called Kemado which we also really like; we were just excited to work with them and we’re also really excited because everything that they’ve done up until now has all been limited, and our record is going to be their first non-limited, big promotion kind of record. So we’re excited that they’re doing that with us and they’re excited that we’re doing it with them. We’re both kind of working together on this new sort of thing.
T: Now, if I did my research correctly, none of the songs that were on any of the 7-inches – except for “When I’m With You” – made the album. Is that correct?
B: Yeah. I didn’t want to record a record of re-recorded songs. Everything that’s come out on the singles is it’s own thing, and it means what it means to me and other people, and I didn’t want to change that. I had a bunch of songs written, and then I wrote a couple of songs specifically for the record; we just went in and recorded a bunch of new stuff and we decided to put “When I’m With You” on there because obviously it’s the most known song we have at this point. I wanted to include it on the record but the reason I chose it as a bonus track was because sonically I don’t think it really fits in with the rest of the record; I thought it would be a nice little surprise at the end. I think people will be glad that it made it onto the record.
T: You just got back from touring in Europe. Is there a difference in crowds between Europe and North America?
B: Definitely. People in Europe are a lot more reserved. I think that when you play shows in North America, people are more inclined to dance or yell things at you. With the exception of a few places in Europe, most of the places we played the crowd was really still, and would just kind of stare. It makes you feel awkward because you can’t really tell if they’re enjoying themselves.
The weird thing is that they come up to you afterwards and they tell you “That was amazing. You’re my favorite band. Thank you so much for coming.” And you’re sort of like: “Really? You liked it? Because you looked like you were miserable.”
It’s just different there, but we still had fun – even on nights when we would play to a group of people that were absolutely silent. I would try to make a joke and no one would laugh, but Bobb and I would joke around. We tried to connect and have fun together. We want to make sure the audience is having fun, but we’re more focused on making sure that we’re having a good time, and making sure that we’re playing the songs right.
T: How did North by Northeast come about? It seems to be more of a showcase type thing, and I guess it doesn’t seem like you would need to do that anymore.
B: To be honest with you I don’t really know much about North by Northeast. I think it’s similar to South by Southwest, but I don’t think it’s as much of a showcase as much as it is a weekend long festival. It’s sort of the same idea; it’s spread out throughout the city, and different venues have shows all day long. Different labels or companies or blogs have their own shows. We got asked to do it, and it seems like it would be really fun, and there’s a lot of other cool bands playing.
Toronto’s a really awesome city; I love Toronto. Actually, one of the places we’re playing at North by Northeast is this venue called The Garrison. We played there last time we were in Toronto, and it was one of the best shows we played on the tour. We have a little bit of time off. We fly up there, play three shows and fly back, and then we have a few weeks off. It will be kind of a nice segue before we go and do our big summer and fall tours.
T: Are there any bands you’re looking forward to seeing while you’re there?
B: There’s a band called The Bitters that I really like. They’re playing on Thursday, I think; I’m not sure what time. I don’t really know a lot of the bands. I think Cold Cave is playing; they’re friends of ours and it will be cool to see them. It’s cool when you do stuff like that because you always end up running into your friends. We’re playing with Thee Oh Sees which is really cool because I’ve never seen them before. I’m looking forward to seeing and playing with them.
T: With the whole scene that’s come out of LA and San Diego, who do you think is next? There’s been No Age and Wavves and Crocodiles; what are some bands that haven’t received exposure yet?
B: My friends play in a band called Abe Vigoda; they just did a tour with Vampire Weekend, and they have a record coming out in September. They’ve kind of always been this band in LA. They’ve been playing shows for years and have done really awesome stuff. They made a record that’s completely different than their old sound. It was recorded and engineered and produced by Chris Coady, who did the last Beach House record. It sounds amazing. We’re trying to take them on tour with us; in October we’re doing a West Coast tour. Their record comes out in September; I think that this record, for them, is going to do well. And I hope it does because it’s really good, and they’ve worked really hard, and they deserve it. They toured with Vampire Weekend; that’s a pretty big thing.
My friend Kate is in a band called Dunes; Mexican Summer just put out their 12-inch. They’re really awesome as well. Kate is in school and she said that she didn’t really want to tour, but the band is so good that I don’t think they’re going to be able to avoid it. Those are two bands that I really like that are out of LA right now that I think will go on to do some awesome stuff this year.
T: With your album: how long has it been finished?
B: We recorded the record in January. It was pretty much mixed – or at least there was rough mixes – before we went to South by Southwest. I cannot even remember what month South by Southwest was.
T: That was March.
B: Just because every month I’m somewhere else. Today I look at the calendar and was like “It’s fucking June?!” It gets confusing. But, there were rough mixes before South by Southwest. Right before we left for Europe we got mixes of it, and we listened to it and sent in our comments, and they fixed everything and mixed it, and it got mastered while we were in Europe. So, it’s officially been in its complete package I guess like a month ago. But it was actually recorded in January. It’s been a while.
T: When do you start working on your next move? Have you already started working on new stuff or are you just taking time to sit back?
B: Because our schedule is so busy and there’s so much touring going on, it’s difficult. But we actually have a log of stuff, so I’ve been writing a lot and I’ve been sending it to Bobb and we’re actually planning on recording some stuff in August. I don’t know if it will get released any time soon, but we’re going to try to record some stuff.
I think the record has kind of been anticipated enough that when it comes out we might not have to do anymore releases for a little while. It sucks because when you’re on the road you don’t really get a lot of time to yourself, and I’m a stickler for being able to write on my own. I can’t write a song if there’s someone else in the room with me. I have to do it on my own. While I was in Europe, I would record on my iPhone – melodies or a guitar part – and then when I got home, I listened to some of that back, and a couple of days ago I started recording some new demos. I’m looking forward to recording again because recording is a lot of fun.
T: Are you planning on making any videos from tracks on the album? Do you think that’s something that’s still necessary for bands to spend their time on?
B: Yeah, we’ll definitely do a video for the record. We haven’t chosen the exact single yet. We’re still trying to make sure we pick the right one. We’re picking it soon, and I’m sure whatever the single is we’ll do a video for it.
I don’t necessarily think it’s a requirement that a band makes a music video, but it is fun, and I think it’s fun for your fans to see a video. When we did our video for “When I’m With You,” it was a lot of fun and people really liked it. I think that it showed people our personalities. That video’s just really fun and silly and sort of like how Bobb and I are. I’m sure we’ll do a video and it will come out a little bit after the record. That can be expected.
T: Thanks a lot for your time. We appreciate it.
B: Yeah, definitely.
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