Little interview I conducted with the rising-to-stardom band, Ocean Park Standoff. Their music is great for a variety of genre-lovers because they personify a little bit of everything. Try them out today and listen to “Good News” and “Photos & Liquor” đ
I got to talk to Ethan Thompson, one-third of the sunny L.A. band Ocean Park Standoff. Their hit single âGood Newsâ video was recently premiered on Conan OâBrien Presents: Team Coco, and the trio is getting ready to release their highly anticipated EP this March. They are also currently touring and are set to tour the nation this summer. Their eclectic, chill vibe mixed with catchy beats makes their music the perfect added edge to your day at the beach. My personal favorite, âPhotos & Liquor,â was inspired by a seemingly romantic picture of Thompson kissing his ex, when in reality the photo was captured during a fight. The addictive melody about distorted memories has skyrocketed to popularity alongside âGood Newsâ which already has over 2 million listens on Spotify. Singer/ songwriter Ethan Thompson, along with internationally famous DJ and musician Samantha Ronson andâŚ
I interviewed AMG artist of the month Aniel, who manages and produces his own music at Sempra Sol.
Hi Aniel how are you?
Good.
Tell me a little a bit about your group.
I started this project after I left my previous band back in February of this year. And itâs kind of just me, like I write and kind of mange myself but I do have friends that have been interested in playing with me, and we have played together in a couple shows so thatâs been fun. But mostly itâs just kind of like a âmeâ thing. Eventually I do want to bring in other members, but itâs sometimes hard finding people who are interested in the same kind of music you are, which in my case is electronic-indie-pop.
How do you create and produce that?
Sometimes I hear ideas in my head, and Iâve become pretty good at creating music using FL studio, for the PC, and I kind of just do everything through there for the most part. I also mix and mash up stuff myself, which isnât too good of a quality because I donât have professional equipment, but I have been trying to do that more professionally lately, and to do that you have to pay someone to do that whoâs a professional.
Well thatâs awesome that youâve been able to create all this on the equipment that you have, how long have you been doing this?
I think Iâve been doing this for maybe four years now.
semprasol.com
Now you mentioned something about doing a show, so have you performed for people?
Oh yeah, in my previous band we performed in many places, including in the Del Mar Fair, that was thanks to my friend AJ whoâs also in a band, and he kind of helped me get there. Weâve played at the House of Blues, Soda Bar; there arenât a lot of all-ages venues, most of them are bars.
 Have you had any issue with that? Are you under 21?
Iâm 23, but sometimes the band members are under 21 and they can only perform and then they canât be there after.
Right theyâd have to basically perform and then leave after.Â
So you said your previous band; when were you in a band before this?
I think we started early 2014, and my friend and I were in another band with my other friend and that was called Small Talk and that was more punk-grunge, and thatâs great like I love punk and grunge but I kind of wasnât feeling it so we started an indie-rock band, and that was in 2014, and that was called Hand Drawn Tree. And then I kind of wanted to do something different, you know, use more electronic instruments and music, but they wanted to stick with that so I kind of departed and started this thing on my own.
So have you every sold any of your music or performed what youâre doing now for anybody?
Yeah Iâve played⌠I wanna say maybe in three shows since I started Sempra Sole.
semprasol.com
And youâre just doing that on your own? Thatâs impressive.
Yeah you see a lot of bands doing that nowadays, doing stuff on their own. I can tell you about the equipment I use; itâs a sampler. You know a sampler makes it easy to record your sounds and play it live, plus keyboards and a guitar, and I sing. As for drums and a bass guitar I use the computer for that and then if you have the sampler it plays when I want it to play.
Who would you say is your music idol? Kind of a hard question.
Yeah it is a hard question. I fee like I have a lot, but if I had to narrow it down I would say John Lennon. When I first started playing I think I just kinda wanted to be similar to him. He inspired a lot, and reached a lot of people with his music. Also Beethoven, and for more recent maybe like Julian Casablancas from The Strokes.
Nice. If itâs different from what youâre playing now, whatâs your favorite genre of music to listen to?
Definitely indie rock, classic rock too.
Alright cool. Why do create music? You do you put time into this and energy and effort?
I create music because I think music is very powerful. Itâs one of the few things that can like bring people together from around the world, no matter your race or religion or whatever. Music is music; itâs a language that everybody speaks. If Iâm able to create music and be able to do that, thatâs just amazing. Itâs also an outlet for my creativity. Expressing myself, itâs just an enjoyable experience for me, I honestly canât think of anything Iâd rather be doing.
@anielrod
Awesome. And with the few shows youâve done on your own now, how does that feel when youâre able to show someone your music, perform for somebody; how does it feel having someone else share in what youâve been creating?
Itâs amazing. Itâs obviously, like, sometimes when you play some shows you have some really crazy audiences that are really into it, and others are pretty chill, just a little harder to tell. And I think itâs a feeling that you canât really get anywhere else. Especially when itâs your own music, and someone comes up after the show to tell you, âOh hey I really like how you did that,â or they give you feedback, thatâs really the best that you could ask for. Itâs an amazing feeling.
If someone wants to listen to your music, where can they go online to check it out?
So right now I have pretty much everything on my SoundCloud. I did have a website before that looked a little more band-y but Iâm kind of working on that again.
Iâm actually in the process of getting my first official single, âBreakdown,â released.
Oh really? Wow thatâs exciting
Itâs an exciting process, definitely. Itâs something that I had already created before and now Iâm just trying to get it on Spotify and iTunes.
The name is actually Latin; it stands for Always Sunny
How did you come up with that?
I guess I really like what âSempraâ stands for, like âalways faithful,â and then I like the sun. I think the sun is very important, especially here in San Diego [laughing].
Right now, you can check out Anielâs music at semprasol.com