The Ocean Blue plays The Troubadour Sept. 6
The Ocean Blue is an all-American indie pop group that was formed in Pennsylvania over two decades ago. In fact, The Ocean Blue‘s debut record on the well-known Sire Records label accomplished widespread acclaim and MTV along with radio airplay back in 1989. Catch them at The Troubadour in LA on Sept. 6.
The OC Concert Guide had the opportunity to speak with Ocean Blue regarding their origin, upcoming fall tour and latest release, Waterworks.
OCCG: How did you come up with “The Ocean Blue?” What’s the story behind it?
OB: Well, we were young when we started the band, and had several goofy names before we settled on “The Ocean Blue”. As I recall, the name came to me late one night while driving home from a practice through a long stretch of Lancaster county (PA) farmland. I was looking out at the dark, rolling fields and was reminded of the ocean at night. I always liked the deep, dark, vast and mysterious side of the ocean. The poetry, the constancy, the sound and the effect of the waves on the shore. In the early days, a lot of people thought we were from England or California. But no, we weren’t sailors or surfers.
OCCG: How did you guys come together and what do you ultimately want to accomplish as musicians?
OB: We meet in Jr. High through a shared love of new wave, post punk, British and American underground music of the 1980s. The band was an extension of our friendship but eventually became a more serious thing in high school when I started writing songs and we did recordings, and Steve (our original keyboard/sax player) started reaching out to managers and agents. We didn’t know what we were doing in many ways, and certainly weren’t that good. But we loved making music together, and I really began to love writing and recording. That’s always been the driving force for me. I like to make music. The public performing and business side of things was less appealing, though we’ve had incredible experiences and good fortune as a band over the years. And I am very grateful for those things.
OCCG: How would you describe your music in your own words?
OB: That is always a difficult question. I guess I’d say simple, melodic, atmospheric, impressionistic, and mostly melancholy.
OCCG: What do you want for your fans to gain out of your latest release, Waterworks?
OB: Waterworks was an EP we did about 10 years ago on our way to a full-length album. At the time, we didn’t have the bandwidth to finish up the record as a full length so decided to just release it as an EP. When we sold out of copies of the release last year we thought it might be interesting to re-release it with some additional tracks that didn’t make the original release. So we went back and finished them up and included some of them on the latest release. Another big thing is putting this one on vinyl. It was wonderful to work with our partner label, Shelflife, to release our 2013 record, Ultramarine, on vinyl, so we asked them if they’d work with us on this one too.
OCCG: What are you most looking forward to on your upcoming fall tour?
OB: I love traveling with the guys in the band, and playing the shows without all the fuss and production of the big tours we used to do. We have a nice, manageable set of dates, in great cities and venues. And of course, it is fun to play the music for people who want to hear it.
OCCG: How did it for you guys when you found out that the video for “Sublime” became an MTV favorite?
OB: By the time Sublime came out on MTV, we’d already had quite a few videos on MTV and did some “live” performances, so in one way, it wasn’t a big jolt. But it was I think the first time we ever had a video in MTV’s normal/heavy rotation, and that was really helpful. It reached a lot of people in the mainstream who’d never heard of us. The coolest thing about the Sublime video was getting to spend a mid-summer’s week in the sublime country of Iceland. What an incredible experience that was. You see some of that in the video.
OCCG: What are you most looking forward to your show at The Troubadour in LA on September 6?
OB: Playing LA has always been one of the highlights of our tours. We know so many wonderful people there, and our fans in Southern California are just great. We played the Troubadour in 2004 when we released the Waterworks EP, so it will be great to go back there for the release of the Waterworks LP.
OCCG: What’s next on your agenda in terms of your career?
OB: I am working on 2 side projects at the moment with some friends, which should be out within the next year. And The Ocean Blue has started work on a new full-length record. We don’t want to take another 10 years on this one!