Chatting with Californian Rockers 'Lunar Riptide'

Alternative pop and post-rock band Lunar Riptide are back with their latest single ‘Microwave’. The band hails from Orange County, California, and are following in the footsteps of other great alternative bands from their part of the world: Young the Giant, Cold War Kids, and, of course, No Doubt.

 Microwave is a track about moving on after the end of a relationship and it tackles the subject in a concise way, with most lines in the track being three words long. This doesn’t mean that the track isn’t in-depth though. The tune focuses on the subject with incredible poise and a touching sincerity, with the song being their longest release in track length to date by far.

 Following the band’s first release of the year, we caught up with the guys to see how they were doing and to find out more about the new single.

 

First off, how are you guys doing?

 

We’re doing fantastic. Like most people, this pandemic really hit us hard, financially and musically, but we never let that stop us. How are you doing? Great, I hope. 

 

Was there a specific event that inspired you to write the track?

 

We can’t say for sure that there was one specific event that made microwave what it is, but there was definitely a giant pool of our own experiences that we kind of mashed together to represent most accurately what we want the song to be about, which is moving on. 

 

So 'Microwave' is about moving on, how do you hope this song helps people do that?

 

Microwave is definitely a very special song about moving on. The lyrics suggest that the writer is fighting the aftermath of a bad break up. Most of us have been there, and we definitely try to make it as authentic to our own experiences as well. We hope this song can help people move on because we try our best to explain and show that better things will and are coming. Even though you might be resistant to the change of not having someone in your life, you know it’s for the better and although it will hurt, you do your best to force out your emotions/ feelings for that person and replace it with thoughts of a better tomorrow.

 

Are there any contemporary or older artists that inspired this release?

 

Yes, we have a mix of contemporary and older artist who have inspired us. One of our biggest inspirations from the more contemporary side is a band called “Last Dinosaurs”. Those dudes really can shred. An older artist would be Queen and Tommy Igoe. 

 

Has the pandemic posed any problems with the production of the track? Or has it helped in any way?

 

Oddly enough, the pandemic drastically improved the writing and recording process. After a month, or two, we decided to acquire a lock out studio in the bowels of Santa Ana. The studio gave us a solid place to get some writing done and a lot of tracking done which we would later record at Big Bad Studios in LA. Shout out to them and Kevin.

 

Do you have any plans post-COVID? What have you missed the most in lockdown?

 

As of now, we don’t have any plans that are set in stone, but you can definitely expect shows post COVID. We are looking forward to it! 

Besides shows, we definitely missed some of our family members that we could not see due to safety reasons. We also missed the fans of course. Not just ours, but the fans of music and entertainment in general. We hope everyone is alright. A lot of people lost loved ones during this lockdown, so we just want to say that our hearts are with them and give them our condolences. 

Is there anything you'd like to plug finally?

Please check out our music on most streaming services! Our newest single “Microwave” is out now. Our first full album is dropping soon, so please give us a follow if you want to keep up! Instagram @lunarriptideband and our Twitter @lunarriptide ! Thank you for your time. We appreciate it! Stay safe. 

Matthew Codd

@matt_codd

Image: Provided by the band