Photo courtesy of Crooked Coast
Cruising back onto the scene, Cape Cod’s own Crooked Coast returns with their new single “One Hundred,” a brash & sentimental summer jam about sticking by your loved ones through thick and thin. This is something the members of Crooked Coast understand all too well, having built up families of their own while maintaining careers as touring musicians. We spoke with band members Luke James Voss and John McNamara about inspirations, balancing personal lives and getting the juices going into the rest of 2024.
Allston Pudding: This is your first single since 2022, correct? How have the waters treated you for the last two years?
Luke James Voss: Really well. We did a fair amount of touring all over the east coast, down south and the midwest. All while promoting the last album. Then, we really took our time with this new [album]. Some of the songs we started working on right after the last one was done. We worked with a couple different producers. Produced some of it ourselves. Spent a lot of time writing and wrote about three or four times as many songs that actually ended up on the album. Every time we do a project, we want to step it up. Make something we are really proud of.
AP: Can you talk about the intro to the song? I know it’s remixed audio of a group of singers in a shopping mall, but when exactly did you know this was going to be part of the song?
Luke: It was on Instagram. An account called @Dusttodigital, it’s my favorite. It’s just regular people from around the world just playing [music] and I saw these guys singing and was fascinated. Immediately sampled it and made a little loop of it. Then we sat with the band and figured it out. I wrote some lyrics almost right away, I was obsessed. John made this great hook. We sketched it out and made a whole song out of it.
Photo courtesy of Crooked Coast
John McNamara: The general theme of the song got fleshed out a little later, but we were like this is a cool sample, we gotta write something to this.
AP: When was this song written compared to the rest of the upcoming album?
Luke: Fairly early, maybe the third or fourth one we had written. We should take better notes when we’re in the studio.
John: It was one of the first ones. We had a bunch of others we kind of sent back to the drawing board, but this one stuck around through all the edits. Definitely showed promise, for sure.
Luke: Thankfully we have so many demos that if we do ever die in some untimely plane crash, and there’s any interest, then people will be able to dig things out and-
John: Don’t manifest this, you’re manifesting it, that’s not… *sighs*
Luke: That’ll be our big break!
AP: It’s good to know fans have that material on reserve. No one has to worry about being rid of you guys no matter what.
Luke: You can’t get rid of us!
AP: This song is about support systems and always being there for your partner through thick and thin: what advice do you have for other partnerships working through things like recording and rehearsing an album or going out on tour? How do you stay grounded?
John: When I talk to other bands, other people are like “you guys are all married and have kids?!” I mean I can’t believe it sometimes too. You have to work twice as hard. You have to be flexible.
Luke: We spend so much time rehearsing, playing shows and on the road that when we are home, we have to go above and beyond. I’m just gonna do the best that I can. All you can really do.
John: A band is basically like another girlfriend, you gotta put in the time for both.
Luke: I don’t know if it’s advice, but just giving people the benefit of the doubt. Whether it’s creative partners or romantic. In a band, obviously there’s disagreements over direction, but just try and take a breath and understand that the other person has the same intentions that you do. To make something that everyone is proud of. I trust this person, they’re my creative and/or life partners. You have to keep that in mind when things get hairy.
AP: Was there a point when it didn’t feel realistic or possible anymore? How do you work through that?
John: COVID definitely hurt, but we don’t really have to talk about that. I don’t really feel that way though. We watched all of us get married and we’ve all been in it since the beginning. I think our families are all very supportive of us to follow this dream into becoming a reality. We’re lucky that we’re all on the same page with that.
Luke: That’s all true. I feel like I’ve definitely had moments of doubt and moments where you get where you thought you wanted to go, but there’s a mountain past the other mountain. The closer you get, sometimes the further it feels. I just try to remember that at the end of the day, all we can do is make what we think is great music and put on a great show. So much after that is out of our control. If we can live lives where we are not completely destitute, then we can look back and say we made something that we’re proud of and really love.
AP: How have your significant others & families affected your musical processes? Have they influenced you or perhaps been featured on tracks?
John: That would be hilarious. Obviously you have to write for your family a lot, and now we all have kids and there’s songs for them too. I think my wife would probably kill me if I wanted her to sing on an album.
Luke: Obviously we draw from our lives and it’s a totally different life now. I feel like it’s let us all know how important music is. It’s woven into every part of our lives. My kids listen to our music, and my oldest daughter is starting to play piano. It’s like the air we breathe.
AP: If you had to choose a song that reflects your partner, what would it be?
Luke: Oh, what’s that Buckcherry song? “Crazy Bitch”? No, I’m kidding [both laugh]. That’s a tough one… wanna take a stab at it Johnny?
John: Maybe not a song specifically, but my wife and I are huge Kings of Leon fans. A couple of those albums we would just listen to over and over. They’ve influenced us as a band as well.
Luke: “I Wanna Dance with Somebody” by Whitney Houston, that song is special for me and my wife.
AP: What’s on the horizon for you guys? What does the next year look like?
Luke: The album is basically done, just getting it mixed and mastered. We’ll probably release a couple singles over the next few months. Get the juices going. This album is more rock than some of our past reggae vibes and this summer we’re heading to New York, we’ll be playing Strange Creek and then headlining our own Coast Fest again.
AP: Was moving away from reggae into more of a Rock sound a conscious choice? Or just something that happened?
Luke: It’s just what we’re writing. We never set out to make a certain kind of song, it was just the nature of writing. Shaqed, who joined the band almost five years ago, definitely brought more of a pop-punk energy, musically. We just do what feels right and this is where our feelings were.
AP: You guys aren’t opposed to performing in different venues, such as the harbor shows you once performed: in that spirit, where – if anywhere – would you perform if you could?
John: Red Rocks is always the one.
Luke: I’d love to do one of those iconic Beatles roof-top performances. Down near the Citgo sign in Boston. Pick some iconic venue, go on the roof and just play until the cops shut it down.
For more information regarding new music and upcoming tour dates, follow Crooked Coast on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and check out their website here!