Best Coast Interview: A Chat With Bobb Bruno

Best Coast

Best Coast was formed in 2009 and comprises of Bethany Cosentino and Bobb Bruno. Cosentino was previously a member of the band Pocahaunted. After moving from New York to Los Angeles, Cosentino began recording demos with Bruno. Best Coast has released three studio albums, including their May 1st released album, California Nights.

On the subject of their new album, Bethany states,

If you have ever lived in California, you know what nighttime here feels like. You know what the sky looks like when those epic sunsets begin, and you understand that feeling and the way things change when the sun finally sets. In LA, or maybe just personally to me, when the sun sets – I feel like there is a large sense of calmness in the air, and I feel like everything that happened to me prior in the day, whether crappy experiences or good ones, at night, it all goes away and I sink deep into this different kind of ‘world.

We had the opportunity to chat with multi-instrumentalist Bobb Bruno, while the band is out on tour promoting their recent release.

AltWire [Danny Benavides]: Hi Bobb, I understand you are on tour right now?

Bobb Bruno / Best Coast: Yeah, we are in Boston right now.

AW: Awesome. I wanted to ask you a few questions about the earlier years, Do you have any memorable or standout moments when Best Coast was first coming into the scene?

Bobb Bruno / Best Coast: The most memorable thing was that people were actually going to the shows. Our first show, We didn’t even have a record out. We just had a bunch of 7” that were pretty much out of print. We did a whole headlining tour and most of the shows did really well, considering that when we first started, we didn’t even know if we were going to play any shows.

AW: When was the first moment you realized you wanted to become a musician?

Bobb Bruno / Best Coast: I always just imagined playing music and I thought it was just going to be a hobby. I didn’t have any aspirations about playing in front of people or being on tour. It was all going to happen by accident, and I was prepared to have a 9-5 job and play music when I’m at home.

AW: What was your job before?

Bobb Bruno / Best Coast: I worked at this club in Los Angeles called Largo. I worked in the office there for about 5 years. Before that I had a bunch of different jobs.

AW: What’s currently on your playlist?

Bobb Bruno / Best Coast: Dr. Hook and the band Bully that we took our on tour with us. I’ve been listening to them quite a bit. A band from LA called Winter. I really like their album.

AW: If you could only listen to one record for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Bobb Bruno / Best Coast: Fiona Apple’s 2nd album. The one with the 70 word title. When the Pawn… That’s my all-time favorite record.

AW: How does the song writing process work between you and Bethany?

Bobb Bruno / Best Coast: We both like to work independently. So Bethany, at her house, will record a demo that’s usually vocals and guitar. Then she will email it to me with some notes about what kind of vibe she was going for and then I will just do all my stuff. Drums, bass, guitar, and I’ll send it to her. That’s usually it, until we get it into the studio.

AW: California Nights… Great Album. What were some of your inspiration for it?

Bobb Bruno / Best Coast: It was all over the place. Gwen Stefani, Jane’s Addiction, Primitive, Go-Go. A lot of 90’s post-hardcore stuff is what I grew up listening to. Most of it was on that Revelation record. It was really buried which makes this album unique. One the previous record, we sort of had a set of influences that we would kind of incorporate and on this one we would kind of approach on a song-by-song basis. Whatever influenced it we would go for it and I think it really pays off. We have a record that really phonically and musically blows the last two away.

AW: Outside of music and touring. What are some of your hobbies?

Bobb Bruno / Best Coast: Watching a lot of Movies, Watching Pro-wrestling or UFC. Buying records or music equipment. Cooking at home. I miss cooking at home. I miss that a lot while on tour, just not being able to cook my own food.

AW: Do you guys have a favorite place or venue that you absolutely love playing at?

Bobb Bruno / Best Coast: 9:30 Club in DC. Probably the best venue ever. Also, Granada Theater in Dallas. Those two places are my personal favorites to play aside from hometown stuff.

AW: Favorite on the road experience?

Bobb Bruno / Best Coast: First time we went to Australia, We went to an animal preserve and we got to hang out with kangaroos and koalas. That’s probably my all-time favorite moments.

AW: It’s pretty well known that Bethany is a huge Seinfeld fan. Do you have any favorite series or even all time favorite movies?

Bobb Bruno / Best Coast: As far as shows go, I really like Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Louie. There is this show called Unsung, it’s on TV One. It’s sorta like Behind the Music, so those are really really good. They do hip hop, r&b, reggae, gospel. I learned a lot about music in general from that series.

AW: I’ll put that one on my list of shows to watch.

Bobb Bruno / Best Coast: Yeah they just started the new season recently I think.

AW: Any upcoming shows or tours that you’re excited to hit?

Bobb Bruno / Best Coast: We aren’t doing a ton of festivals this tour. Northside is fun because it’s us, Bully, and Alvvays.

AW: I just started listening to Bully actually.

Bobb Bruno / Best Coast: Yeah they are great. They opened for us a couple of years ago, it was their third show. I kept up with them and I’m really glad they got to do this tour with us.

AW: Cool. Well, thanks for chatting with us, Bobb. I understand you guys are currently out on tour. When you guys come out to Austin later in the month, I’ll have to come check you guys out.

Bobb Bruno / Best Coast: Thanks, take care.

Best Coast latest album California Nights is out now via Harvest Records.

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California Nights track listing:
1. Feeling Ok
2. Fine Without You
3. Heaven Sent
4. In My Eyes
5. So Unaware
6. When Will I Change
7. Jealousy
8. California Nights
9. Fading Fast
10. Run Through My Head
11. Sleep Won’t Ever Come
12. Wasted Time

BEST COAST Remaining Tour Dates:
6/18/15 Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall*
6/19/15 Detroit, MI @ Majestic*
6/20/15 Toronto, ON @ NXNE
6/21/15 Chicago, IL @ Taste of Randolph
6/23/15 Austin, TX @ Emo’s*
6/24/15 Dallas, TX @ Granada*
6/26/15 San Diego, CA @ Observatory North Park*
6/27/15 Los Angeles, CA @ Wiltern*
7/24-7/26/15 Sydney, Australia @ Splendour In The Grass
7/26/15 Melbourne, Australia @ Corner Hotel
7/28/15 Sydney, Australia @ Oxford Art Factory
8/15/15 Tokyo, Japan @ Summer Sonic
8/16/15 Osaka, Japan @ Summer Sonic
9/26/15 Santa Barbara, CA @ Santa Barbara Bowl (with Death Cab for Cutie)
9/28/15 Reno, NV @ Grand Sierra Theater (with DeathCab for Cutie)
*Support by Bully
# With Unknown Mortal Orchestra

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