Kai FlandersSee also:
*Our Best Coast cover story from 2010
Our music feature this week focuses on indie-pop duo Best Coast. They're a band with a lot of fans and a lot of critics — some of whom don't approve of their increasingly-symbiotic relationship with Urban Outfitters, and some who believe their new album isn't as strong as their debut. One thing's for sure, the new work The Only Place isn't going to go unnoticed. Here are some excerpts from our interviews with members Bobb Bruno and Bethany Cosentino that didn't make the story.
Cosentino on designing a line of clothing for Urban Outfitters:
“I feel like it's every girl's dream to design something that you can see someone walking down the street wearing.”
Cosentino on the clothing in the line:
“One of the dresses I designed is inspired by the movie Clueless. The girls that come to my shows always have such great style.”
Bruno on his childhood in Los Angeles:
“I split time between Tujunga and summers when I lived in Lincoln Heights with my grandmother. The people who lived next to my grandmother had a son, we were both into metal, we would go to Highland Park where the movie theaters didn't card for R-rated movies.”
Bruno on what he loves about Los Angeles:
“I really love Mexican food, oldies, slow jams, low-rider culture. For a lot of people that grew up in Los Angeles that's a part of them.”
Cosentino on the new record's cleaner sound:
“People don't know that [on Crazy for You] I was fucking terrified for people to hear my voice. Now I've got more confidence.”
Cosentino on getting the news they were working with super-producer Jon Brion:
“I turned on my phone after getting off the plane from Europe and there was an email saying it was happening.”
Bruno on Brion :
“I was excited because he hardly ever works with bands, he usually works with [solo] artists. When people think of Jon they think of strings and lush orchestral sounds but he let us do our thing. Jon isn't precious about his work. We were really nervous at first because he's such a great musician, but once we got comfortable it really flowed. Both Beth and I are strong and opinionated — all of our ideas are pretty fully formed. But we liked having a producer who had some kind of input.”
Bruno on financial independence through music:
“I didn't stop working until two years ago. [Life's] pretty much the same — I can buy music equipment now. I've been able to give money to organizations I support. People seem more willing to put money into something that will generate more money down the road. That's just the way America is — no money in the arts.”
Bruno on the band's anti-corporate critics:
“It really annoys me when people say how can you work with this company? We can't control what they do with their money but we can control what we do with ours. If everyone actually lived their life the way they portrayed themselves online we'd live in a much better world.”
Bruno on being on Letterman the same night as Bieber:
“We had to show up at 4 a.m. Justin Bieber was on the same show, there was snow on the ground outside and there were rows and rows of teenage girls waiting outside the show. It was full Bieber fever.”
Bruno on their most surprising fans:
“People that are in the military have come to shows, I've never been in a band like that. Before Best Coast I played in dark bands, when I finally got a chance to play [Best Coast's] kind music it was really exciting.”
Bruno on being a homebody:
“Pretty much the only time I go out is to go to shows. Or to look for records. I used to like going to bars, but touring so much has become my party time.”
Bruno on their new record, The Only Place:
“I'm completely happy [with it]. After two and a half years of playing the first songs we ever wrote it's nice to play some new songs.”
Bruno's favorite band:
“Wilco.”
Best Coast plays the Wiltern on May 18
See also:
*Our Best Coast cover story from 2010
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