Going With The Flow: An Interview With Coast Modern

Hi, KXSU. I understand it’s been awhile since we’ve spoken and my only excuse is that I’ve been in the same place for probably six days of this entire summer. But, to make it up to you, I snagged an interview with the coveted alt-pop stars of the summer, Coast Modern. Technically one half Seattle and one half LA, Luke Atlas and Coleman Trapp have been taking this summer’s festival scene by storm. Bumbershoot is no exception, and although I won’t be there, these two will be, and you need to be front row for their set. They only have four songs out in total, so it won’t be hard to get familiar with them before Friday. I’m also going to let you in on a secret I just found on the Bumbershoot website (I don’t know how much of a secret this is because it is publicly online but…): in Coast Modern’s bio, they talk about some unreleased song titles…do what you want with this information but it looks like there’s at least four unreleased songs coming our way in some form soon. My lips are back to being sealed. Anyways, I talked with Coleman on the phone to chat about the four singles, internet relationships, and of course, Bumbershoot. Read the full interview below.

CoastModern
Photo courtesy of Clash Music

AK: How has your day been so far?

CM: Pretty good, I didn’t wake up too long ago. But I got to meditate for like 40 minutes before our call so that’s always nice.

AK: You don’t get a lot of time to do that on the road, I’d assume.

CM: Yeah on the road there’s not a moment to like, go down to that level of chillness.

AK: “The Way It Was” dropped about a week and a half ago; can you talk about the song a little bit?

CM: “The Way It Was” was made in response to hearing music that was kind of…not really based in reality and concerned about nostalgia/wanting things to be different. And so we were just trying to make a fun way of showing another side of the coin, like reality can be intriguing too. It’s part of it. When we sit down to make a song there’s so many different aspects and things going on…

AK: Yeah I saw on Twitter there was a glockenspiel mallet on the song. How much of your time is spent experimenting before a song is made?

CM: Well, a lot. There’s so many songs that we start that don’t actually go anywhere but the ones that really do catch momentum—there’s nothing we won’t try. There’s no sound that we’ll be like “That’s too crazy don’t put that in.” In the bridge of “The Way It Was,” there’s like a part where Luke is playing a fruit bowl. He got a mallet and started dinging on a fruit bowl.

AK: I saw on Instagram you guys were celebrating something secretive I’m assuming it has to do with an album…

CM: [Laughs] Yeah…

AK: Last time we talked you guys were saying you wanted to skip the whole EP thing and go straight to an album and just do singles for right now—is that still the plan?

CM: Yes. Our timeline has shifted a little bit—we were telling everybody that there wasn’t going to be any specific album release date or season we wanted to put it out in, but now we’re completely going with the flow. The farthest I know into the future is, is maybe another single in the next couple of months. We have so much music, we have more than enough to make an album but we want to be really mindful and conscious about what that looks like when it comes out because we want it to be the best it can be.

AK: So Luke is from Seattle?

CM: Yes. He’s there right now actually.

AK: Are you guys super pumped to play Bumbershoot?

CM: Oh yeah, Luke is, for sure. As for me, I’ve never been to Seattle so I’m just as excited to see the city as I am to play Bumbershoot.

AK: Do you guys have a lot of time off?

CM: Yeah, I decided to stay longer so I’m going to stay until Tuesday of that week so I’ll have time to explore. I extended my trip a little bit so that I could see the city.

AK: You guys have a expansive set of online relationships with a lot of other bands who are just starting out, like Bishop Briggs and Dreamers. Did you guys meet at festivals or did you meet on the Internet or how did it come about?

CM: So Dreamers I’ve never met but we have a lot of mutual fans, which is really cool. Bishop reached out to us…well she didn’t reach out, she tweeted us about one of our songs. So when we bumped into her at Mo Pop in Detroit, we hung out and she’s so cool. We’re kind of on a similar path—new bands, only four singles, catching some buzz. It’s always cool to meet people along the path that are like doing the same thing.

AK: Bishop Briggs is playing at Bumber, by the way.

CM: Ahhhhh, yes!

AK: Any specific sets you’re trying to catch at Bumbershoot?

CM: I don’t. I’m totally going to go with the flow. I keep forgetting to look at who else is there! I’m excited—festivals are kind of new to me. Before I started playing festivals myself I hadn’t actually been to one so it’s been really cool getting to see what this whole other culture is like.


Catch Coast Modern at this year’s Bumbershoot! They will be playing on Friday, September 2, at the Starbucks Stage (Mural Amphitheater) at 5:40 p.m.

COAST MODERN: FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | TWITTER | WEBSITE


ANNA KAPLAN | Thought You’d Seen the Last of Me? | KXSU Reporter

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