San Francisco residents (by way of Wisconsin) A B & The Sea have a fresh sound that will be an instant hit for anyone who is a fan of both retro pop/rock and modern indie rock. Their songs, like the catch “Bone Dry,” have a clean sound with hints of California surf rock. The band is currently working on their debut album and will hit the road later this year. Check out the band’s newest release, a holiday song, here. Guitarist and founding member Joe Spargur gave us the details on what the band has planned for the future and tells us about a horrifying tour bus breakdown.
Kelly: Tell us the story of how the band got together…
Joe Spargur: The band started when Koley and I met going to college in Oshkosh, WI.. We both had just ended previous bands and jamming in the dorm lounge slowly transformed into an acoustic version of A B & The Sea. We then moved from Wisconsin to San Francisco and met David Hunt (keys) Zak LaVigne(bass) and Troy Lawton(drums), which now makes A B & the Sea.
K: How would you describe your sound?
JS: We often get compared to 60s pop like The Beach Boys or The Kinks, which is flattering because that is the music we love. We do have a little more modern touch than that older stuff though because of the fact that we do listen to a lot of new/more modern bands.
K: Who are some of your sonic influences?
JS: This is a tough question because there are so many, but of course the heavy hitters like The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Paul Simon and The Stones. Those bands influence us greatly. Lately we have been on a Big Star kick .. such amazing guitar tones on “Radio City”!! Late 50s stuff like The Ronettes and The Shirelles, and new stuff like Grizzly Bear and Local Natives influence us as well. We pull from a lot of different music…
K: What has been your biggest accomplishment as a band so far?
JS: It’s kind of tough to place a finger on one thing because its has been a steady movement for us.. but I would have to say every time we go into the studio and wrap up a session its always the biggest accomplishment up to that point, musically as a band we take in a lot from each other, what we’re all listening to and the people around us.
K: What are your goals for the upcoming year?
JS: We will have our first record coming out in the spring time which we are super excited about! Once that comes out we plan to hit the road hard in late spring.
K: What has been your favorite city/venue to play in?
JS: We always have fun playing in San Francisco because we’re just used to it, hometurf type of deal. One city that kind of took us by surprise was Omaha,NE.. We were going into that show thinking it was going to be kinda slim, but after a super fun show and many free drinks we were amazed at how many rad people we had met.
K: What’s on heavy rotation in the tour bus/ on your ipod?
JS: Dr. Dog “Shame, Shame”, Big Star “Radio City”, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.”Horse Power Ep”, Tommy James and the Shondells “Hanky Panky”, Fats Domino “Greatest Hits”, Kanye West “My Dark Twisted Fantasy”, John Lennon”Double Fantasy”, The Format “Dog Problems”, Brandon Flowers “Flamingo,” Beatles “All Albums”
K: Who is your favorite new artist?
JS: We really dig the new EP that Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. put out, also super into that band Tennis, caught their show in S.F. a couple weeks ago and it was great!
K: What would be your dream collaboration and why?
It’s a tie between Brandi Carlile and Leslie Feist!! They both have such amazing voices!
K: Tell us your craziest/most embarrassing band story, and make it a good one.
JS: The craziest thing that has happened to us was probably while we were on the road to Portland to play a show with The Submarines. We were going about 80mph on the freeway in our POS Astro Van when the whole front right tire flew off the car and went sailing down the freeway. As the car came to a screeching halt we watched the tire continue on to hit another car then literally fly off of a hill and completely vanish. It was a long day, but we ended making it to the venue, borrowed all of The Subs equipment and played the show!
