It's been three short months since Keith Walker and Brett Davis came together to form the brooding, synthesizer-inflected sounds of The Holy Coast, but in that time they've released two singles and have become a trio.
Dead Wildlife's Braden McCall has officially joined the team.
The boys initially planned on releasing their debut record on April 30, but that date has since been scrapped as they continue exploring their options for an official release. In the meantime, they dropped "In the Dark" along with a new video for the moody track.
Walker filled us in on recording and explains how McCall fits into the fold.
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Up on the Sun: How have you been?
Keith Walker: Really busy. My fiancée and I are expecting our first child. We have a baby girl joining us in June, so we're very excited and preparing for that.
The last time we spoke was at the beginning of all this. It was just myself and Brett Davis that started the project, but we were looking for other individuals that we could get involved. At that point, we had three or four songs that we were finishing up.
Someone that I had a lot of respect for -- and who I thought was doing something very interesting -- was Braden McCall from Dead Wildlife. Braden had done a remix for me a couple of years ago, which is how I came into contact with him. He heard some of the stuff and loved it, so he came on board with Brett and I, and the three of us began to dial into the material.
What does McCall bring to the table? What does he do for The Holy Coast that no one else could have?
Well, first and foremost, he likes soccer and so do I. He's got a very keen ear for unusual sounds and he's an excellent vocalist [who] brings along plenty of production ability. We couldn't have asked for a better guy.
How is the record coming along?
The album is almost completed. We're about a week away from it being done. We recorded and produced it all by ourselves, which is really quite nice to have the luxury of time. So it's nice not to have to stare at that clock in the studio telling ourselves, "We need to finish this song now." It gives you more liberty to experiment with sounds and ideas. If they work, great, and if they don't, we can just move on without having wasted $400 worth of studio time.
It's been a really, really fun experience for Brett, Braden, and I. Now we're just excited to get the record out so we can start rehearsing.
Do you guys have a date locked in for any upcoming performances?
We haven't played any gigs or anything like that. We decided to do the album first [song] and get the material written and recorded. We're doing a DJ set at Vial of Sound's vinyl release party which is happening at Crescent Ballroom on April 30. So we'll be bringing the party atmosphere to the place with some good music, all the while getting ready to do our own thing.
We changed our own release date from the 30th because we're looking at different options and avenues that are available to us. But it will be within the next couple of months -- there's no doubt about that. With all of you guys having different projects and different things going on, how have you guys managed to record this album without time being an issue?
Obviously, there's a certain format for recording and strategy that bands go by. There's a certain template that generally works, but in regard to making our sessions very productive, we've been very fortunate. There's a lot of chemistry that's required when making a record. It's got to be right between the music and the individuals. Also we've all been in plenty of bands and we all have plenty of experience in relation to recording. But making sure that we're not banging our heads against the wall is very important, so we're very lucky that each session we've had is very productive. The entire time that we've been recording I think there's only been one session where we had a bit of a moment where we said, "All right we need to go down to the pub and have a couple of pints and not work on this right now." That is a blessing.
But to be honest this has really been one of the most enjoyable recording experiences I've ever had -- and I've done a lot over the years. There hasn't been a record label over our shoulders, so that also alleviates a lot of stress. We're in that age where technology has allowed us to be able to put together equipment to make a record without costing you your home.
What about the new song, "In the Dark?"
We created the current single, "In the Dark," and made a video for it. At this point, we weren't about making a performance video with the visuals being all about the band -- we liked the idea of it being kind of a washed-out archived video, which is essentially what it became.
We approached Shanice Malakai, who had done some work that we liked and got her on board and she did a great job. We're really happy with it and happy with the single and the video, and it's actually a good precursor for our album.
