Sometimes, all you need is a little California sunshine and the beach to feel inspired. After spending a summer in Venice Beach, a light bulb of creativity switched on for Cody Simpson, ultimately leading to the formation of his new band Cody Simpson & The Tide.
Teaming up with drummer Adrian Cota and bassist Shareef "Reef" Addo, the trio blended their unique sounds together to create their own as a band, and released their debut four-track EP, appropriately titled Wave One.
Simpson told iHeartRadio that he "experienced a pretty cool, very relaxed, but very creative year living down by the beach" and that he already had a few songs in mind that would be right for the the vision of this band.
"All I needed to do was meet the right musicians,” he explained. “I'd known Adrian, we met recently before that, and we just met Shareef actually after we played some gigs, and Reef was playing in another band. We all came together and kind of started jamming every week as a trio and playing a lot of different styles of music; blues, rock, reggae, different things like that. And, it ended up being just a perfect combination, and we all became good mates and love playing music together.”
Originally from New York, this was Addo's first time in California, and Cota is originally from northern Mexico. Simpson, who is Australian, said: “That's why we all kind of are able to bring our own musical backgrounds, because we come from such different backgrounds, and bring it all together to create this kind of a unique blend of music."
The unique mix of music fans hear from Cody Simpson & The Tide is "a blend of pop, rock, blues, and surf kind of music. It's a blend of all of those kind of genres. And different songs showcase different aspects of those sounds."
Writing, recording and producing their music is a group effort. “Adrian actually produced all four songs off the record, but we all had a hand in cutting and writing our own parts,” recalled Simpson.
The band had banked 30 to 40 songs, but decided it was these four that were the best introduction to Cody Simpson & The Tide. “We thought it represented the different facets of our sound and different aspects of our sound quite well,” he said. “We wanted to release four at once to give people a taste.”
The songs on Wave One touch on a multitude of subjects, from love and unity, to topics like environmentalism. In fact, "Waiting For The Tide" was inspired by a poem that Simpson wrote about rising sea level.
With Wave One officially released already, is Wave Two on the horizon? The answer, according to the band, is yes.
Original article by Nicole Mastrogiannis at iHeartRadio