We The Common- surf alternative R&B
Interview conducted on June 17, 2020
by Dan Locke
Hailing from the Southern California surf scene, brothers Cam. Jordy and Lenny, define their sound as surf alternative R&B. It’s a sound they’ve developed growing up on the classics; influences that are so deeply rooted that the brother’s first collective musical memory were singing along to Stevie Wonder on their boombox. The Commas music is grounded in their shared background, but as the brothers grew as musicians they also developed respective musical tastes, all of which have been fused together and integrated into the music they’re ready to release.
Cam (17), Jordy (19), and Lenny (23)
What was your upbringing?
We grew up in San Diego in the beach scene and were always outside exploring and making our own fun. Our family is really close and our relationship with each other has always been very important. Even when we were kids and very immature, we were still each other’s best friends.
How did you discover music?
Music has been a big part of our lives for as long as we can remember. Our parents didn’t’t let the three of us watch a lot of TV or sit around being unproductive, so we filled our time by listening to music together as a family and singing along to our favorite songs. We had no choice but to be creative because it kept us excited and free from boredom.
How did you start to write music?
We started writing music together after about a year of music lessons, with our music school called Rock University. We started off learning covers and jamming together and finally wanted to take self-expression through music a bit further. We would all come together with either a full song, or a part to song and then let the other band members get inspired to write their piece. Our connection as brothers would always lead us to have three parts of a coherent story.
What is surf alternative R+B?
Surf alternative R+B or “S.A.R.B” is the name we have given to our sound. We think it perfectly describes the combination of mellow beach rock vibes, and soulful R+B.
Do you remember how you got your first instruments and do you still have them?
We all got our first instruments as children on Christmas morning in 2008. Eventually, we grew out of our beginner level instruments and we donated them.
What was the first concert and last concert you went to?
The first concert we ever went to was the Nease Jazz Festival. We watched several of our favorite artists like Ben Howard and Lianne La Havas. The Last Concert we went to was a Young The Giant concert in their hometown, Irvine.
Why did you decide on We the Commas, as your band name?
Comma is our last name, but the “We” behind the Commas signifies unity just like the “we” in “we the people”
What was the first performance that you performed together?
Our first performance together was at a recital for our music school Rock University. The three of us, joined by our music instructor played a small set of rock songs including, “Basket Case” by Green Day, “Holiday” by Green Day and “Trooper” by Iron Maiden.
Tell me about your cover “Get you” by Daniel Caesar?
Daniel Caesar has been one of our favorite artists for a long time. We love his song “Get You” and wanted to do a cover of it “comma style” with harmonies to accompany each other.
Are you planning to release an EP or LP soon?
We do plan on releasing our first EP soon, right after we release our first few singles. We also have the first full album ready to go and the plan right now is to have both EP and Album out this year.
What are your feelings about streaming music?
We enjoy streaming music. It’s an entire library at your fingertips, whether we’re at the beach or in the car, whatever mood we’re in we can access anything. We can also conveniently reach a lot more people with our own music.
Digital vs. vinyl?
We enjoy vinyl. The aesthetic of listening to a record on a record player can give a song a whole new life. We are living in a very technologically advanced time, so digital is typically more convenient and utilized more often for us. We appreciate both.
Any plans to tour?
Yes, we really want to tour. As soon as music starts popping off and we have a loyal and big enough fan base. We want to travel everywhere our fans are at.
What song from the past is in your mind right now? And what is the meaning that song means to you?
Stevie Wonder “Knocks Me Off My Feet” was one of our favorite songs as young boys and now that we are grown up and experiencing our own romantic relationships, we realize the power love can have.
How do you feel the Covid-19 virus going to affect the music business in the future?
We think there will be a lot of emphasis on streaming and live video concerts.
What have you been doing with your self-quarantine?
We have been writing a lot of music, recording a lot of songs and instrumentals. We are spending a lot of quality time together as a family. We’ have also started cooking a lot more!
Have you discovered or rediscovered any new hobbies?
We started playing Xbox again! Just like old times, but without all the arguing haha!
Lots of people are doing nightly concerts over either YouTube, Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. You are doing something a bit different. Five Song Friday. How did you come up with that?
We tried our best to make five song Friday a repeating event for everyone to look forward to. We want to help shake off the quarantine blues. We came up with the idea when we were looking for a new way to perform and share our music live without coming in contact with large groups of people. We went with “Five Song Friday” because it’s a day when most people need a mental break from the week and five songs is just enough time to give people a sense of community but not too much that you can’t sit for 20 minutes or so and just vibe with us.
Do you think it will be possible to make a living doing concerts this way?
We don’t think it will be easy to make a living doing only this, but anything is possible if you work at it hard enough. More realistically, I think these live performances will work as a supplement to all the other endeavors artists pursue.
it hard enough. More realistically, I think these live performances will work as a supplement to all the other endeavors artists pursue.
First it was an article in the New York Times, then Rolling Stones talked about it and finally Live Nation CEO said that concerts may not start again until fall of 2021. Do you think this could happen?
We aren’t entirely sure what the future holds, but what’s most important is that whenever we start doing concerts again, it needs to be completely safe to do so.
With Social Distance being the norm. Do you feel that it may be the end of music festivals for the next couple of years?
We hope that this is not the case, but we are ready to adapt to whatever the new world norm brings.
What about Holographic concerts in our living room?
Holographic concerts would be so cool, that is definitely something we are open to exploring in the future. We think It will be a different experience to in person live concerts and won’t completely replace them, but it will be an amazing experience in its own right that people will come to love.
What would be your dream tour? And with what band would you like to support on the tour?
Our dream tour would be a tour of the world so that we could share our music with all nations and the band we would like to support on tour is Young the Giant!
How do you see yourself in the next five years?
We see ourselves hopefully touring and sharing our music with the world and by then would like to have had multiple Albums and projects released.
Anything you would like to say in closing?
We want to do our very best to unify the people of this world in all that we do.
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