Getting to Know… Trout Club | Interview 🎤

In the 404^th Q&A in our Getting to Know… series, we get the inside scoop from Santa Barbara, genre-fluid band, Trout Club.

“If we had to shoehorn ourselves into a genre, you might call it “sock rock.” Rad, Trout Club! In response to our first burning question, the band expounds, “We are a unique conglomerate of different sounds and influences ranging from the 1950s to modern day, and every style in between. We are a genre-fluid band of friends who met nearly twenty years ago.” Rock on!  In our 404^th interview on The Musical Hype, get the inside scoop on the Santa Barbara, Cali band’s genesis, goals, musical influences, and current, and future musical endeavors. So, without further ado, let’s jump right into Getting to Know… Trout Club: Interview No. 404!

For those who may not be familiar with you, what would you say makes Trout Club distinct or unique? How do you rock the audience’s socks off?

Well, what makes us unique is that our SOLE MISSION in life is to rock socks. If we had to shoehorn ourselves into a genre, you might call it “sock rock.” We are a unique conglomerate of different sounds and influences ranging from the 1950s to modern day, and every style in between. We are a genre-fluid band of friends who met nearly twenty years ago. You could say our musical chemistry has been years in the making, which is why we’re so good at rocking socks. We all genuinely love and believe in the music we make, which can be seen in our live shows and records.

Okay, let’s explore some juicy backstories. How did … form and what were some of the goals or visions you had early on?

We’re from a small beach town in Southern California called Santa Barbara. It’s a groovy scene that lends itself to fostering natural creativity and good vibes. We met at a now-defunct hippy elementary school, which was almost a concentrated version of that Santa Barbara vibe. We’ve stayed friends ever since and started playing classic rock covers at Malcolm and Cedric’s old place in the Trout Club neighborhood, from which we got our name. We didn’t really have a goal other than figuring out how to make our instruments sound good in congruence.

Let’s talk more about goals.  Have your goals or your perspectives changed since first starting out? What do your aspirations or goals look like now?

We’re still figuring out how to play ‘em! Our goals haven’t really changed all that much. I think between the four of us, the biggest priority is getting our music heard. We’re still knocked out that people like our original, hand-baked tunes so much that they’d add them to their library amongst their other favorites. At the end of the day, it’s all about making music we dig ourselves, which is what we aspire to keep doing.

Everybody is influenced by somebody else. Whom would you consider some of your biggest musical influences and how are they influential?

In terms of strictly music influences, the common denominator for us is the Beatles. It’s hard to say otherwise. We cut our teeth learning their songs, Rolling Stones covers, and an occasional Led Zeppelin tune. We are lucky in that we all share a collective taste in music, with each of us having our own specific interests too. When we come together to write music, it has a blend of influences. For example, because Malcolm likes Swan and Kai likes Mapache; Quique Oingo Boingo and Cedric Bob Dylan; the result is a unique fusion of genres mostly aimed at being something that the four of us enjoy listening to. The fact that other people enjoy it too is a dream come true.

Ah, the fun stuff.  What’s your craziest tour story or the wackiest thing that’s happened during a performance?  Feel free to be creative.

Once, Quique performed a gag fall in order to make the rest of us laugh. While he didn’t really fall over, he banged his head on Malcolm’s bass head in the process and split his forehead wide open. We didn’t realize what was happening until Quique proceeded to sing with a bucket of blood pouring from a gash above his eye. We have it all on recording, and it’s a fun story we’re all fond of. (While Quique was harmed in the making of this wacky tale, he has made a complete and full recovery, as far as we can tell.)

Up until this point in your career, what would you describe as your favorite song you’ve recorded or performed live? What makes that song special?

The quintessential Trout Club song might be “Stage Door”, because it has so much of the band’s history encapsulated into Quique’s introspective lyrics. It rocks, it rolls, it varies keys and tempo, it’s a gas to play. It’s incredibly challenging to remember all of the weird changes, which makes it that much more special when we do pull it off.

Is there anything else awesome, cool, or left of center the world should know about you? Secret talents or surprising tidbits?

We are all swell dudes who love each other dearly.

Closing out, what is Trout Club currently working on, promoting that you can share with us or want us to know about? We love secrets, but there’s no pressure. 

Trout Club has a string of gigs lined up this year across California that we’d LOVE to see you at. Here’s a look at the year so far: 3/16 @ Blue Lagoon in Santa Cruz, 5/4 @ Soul Bites in Santa Barbara, 6/20 @ Winters Tavern in Pacifica and 7/20 @ Milkbar in San Francisco. More in the works, but here’s a good start to your calendar year.

Aside from live performances, we’re incredibly excited to be working on our next album. We met up recently to kick some songs around and are eager to start laying down some tracks. You might get to hear some at our aforementioned gigs! Stay tuned.

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Getting to Know… Trout Club: Interview No. 404 [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; Trout Club; Clker-Free-Vector-Images, Królestwo Nauki, OpenClipart-Vectors, Pete Linforth, Tumisu from Pixabay]