If you have a hankering for cinematic surf disco and encounters of the third kind, you may want to consider stopping by The Outer Vibe’s concert Thursday night at Last Exit Live.
Fresh off a month-long recording spree in December, the Michigan-based band is touring the country and playing tunes that evoke classic pop, sunshine and surf.
“We write the type of music that we write because we’re from Michigan, and there’s just, like, nine months of snow,” said bass player Andrew “Wonderboy” Dornoff. “You never see the sun, so we have to put the sun in our songs.”
The band’s latest album, “Full Circle,” was recorded in collaboration with Bay Area-based producer Brad Dollar, who has worked with rapper G-Eazy, Father John Misty, Slightly Stoopid and the Grateful Dead. “Full Circle” was released in June 2015 and supported by retail, commercial and college airplay, with tracks featured on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”
All five band members work together to write music and they all contribute equally, which means each member’s favorite artists collectively inspire the band’s musical concept.
“We kind of consider ourselves a five-person songwriting team, and so we had to find a middle ground,” said vocalist Sean Zee.
He recalled a moment when the band members were in the process of writing their latest album and worked together to determine the specific sound they wanted.
“We all sat down, put on a bunch of music, and we all agreed on certain styles that we all like…as a unified group,” Zee said. “A lot of that music was old soul music, old funk music…surf music…classic pop, a lot of great songwriters…They’re just stuff that we all agreed was great.”
Some of those influences include The Beach Boys, Paul Simon and the Grateful Dead.
Thursday is The Outer Vibe’s first-ever Phoenix show, and this is the band’s first tour stop in Arizona. On Sunday, they played in Tucson at Hotel Congress.
The band members couldn’t say if they had a favorite show or venue.
“I would say what really makes the venue are the people,” Zee said. “It’s kind of that thing where you walk down the street and you smile at someone and they smile back, we get a lot of smiles, so, I don’t know. We don’t really have any bad experiences.”
Dornoff said one of the hardest things about being on tour was leaving behind the friends they made; many at small, intimate venues filled with people who might not necessarily be die-hard fans, but who were enthusiastic about the band’s surfer vibe.
“We meet so many cool people, and the hardest thing is not getting to see them until the next time,” Dornoff said. “It’s great, but it’s kind of bittersweet.”
Trumpet player Lisa Kacos recalled a recent Monday night tour stop that was just that.
“By the time our show came around, the place was pretty full, and I think we learned the first name of everybody in the show,” Kacos said. “They came out to hear some surf music because I think they just wanted to be happy.”
The band has toured nationally and internationally, but the strangest place they’ve been is not of this world, according to Zee. He shared a humorous version of the history of the band and its name.
“Nick Hosford, the guitar player, and I, when we were in high school were abducted by UFOs,” Zee said, to laughs from the other band members. “The next morning, we knew how to play instruments and we were told that we must fulfill our legacy of being The Outer Vibe…Over time, we met a few other people that randomly had been abducted and shared a similar story.”
The band’s next album is expected to be released sometime this year. Drums player Noah Snyder said the new album will allow the band to branch out and explore different genres.
“The theme is sort of exploring beyond where we normally were, and taking the listener on a musical adventure,” Snyder said. “It doesn’t have a title yet, and you’ll just have to be patient and wait.”
Contact the author at Faith.Anne.Miller@asu.edu. Contact the columnist at Emily.Liu@asu.edu
