Chapter 3
Two Years Ago
Excerpt fromLong Beach Postarticle, “Local Band on the Long Journey to Breaking Out: ‘The Trick Is Never Quitting’” (April 15, 2022)
The Future Saints, described by their label as a “feel-good indie rock band,” call the City of Long Beach home. We sat down with the musicians, who are releasing a new album titledSo Bad You Can TasteIt next week, to pick their brain about what it’s like to spend years in search of success in today’s hypercompetitive music industry.
INTERVIEWER:Let’s start with where you hail from. I think it’s safe to say we’re not dealing with any nepo babies, right? No “my producer father handed us a record deal” stories?
KENNY:Damn, I wish.
RIPPER:Nah, man. That’s bullshit. Pretty much the opposite of who we are.
KENNY:I mean, at this point I wouldn’t be mad if someone handed us something.
HANNAH:We grew up all over the state, but the thing we have in common is we’re all suburb kids. And I don’t mean the wealthy suburbs like in Orange County, where sixteen-year-olds drive Range Rovers. I’m talking about strip malls, the best restaurant in town is an Olive Garden, everyone you went to high school with is either in the military or sells leggings through an MLM. Those suburbs. If you’re an oddball or a dreamer in one of those places, you’re clawing to get out. I would say every member of this band was shaped by that feeling. That’s what made us.
KENNY:Being losers, she means. We’re the anti-quarterbacks and homecoming queens. But that’s what I love about music. Historically, it’s always welcomed weirdos.
RIPPER:If you can’t tell by looking at him, Kenny was a grade-A band nerd.
KENNY:And Ripper loves to remind people he got laid a lot in high school. Clings to it, you could say.
RIPPER:No need to cling because nothing’s changed. For any fellow sluts reading, I highly recommend playing in a band.
HANNAH:Ginny was the nerd. People expected her to grow up to be a doctor. Little Doogie Howser genius.
GINNY:I used to have a bright future, is what she’s saying. Before the Saints corrupted me.
INTERVIEWER (to Hannah):And you? What were you like as a kid?
HANNAH:A troublemaker, probably. I don’t know. No one thought I’d amount to much, even though I knew I wanted to make music from a young age. I never quite saw the point of being trapped in school for eight hours a day. Sorry, Mom.
INTERVIEWER:So, a bunch of suburban geeks, sluts, and troublemakers meet at college. Sounds like the beginning of a joke.
KENNY:Freshman year. It was love at first sight. Okay, not so much for Ripper and Hannah. But everyone else, we jammed together one night and fell in love with each other’s souls.
GINNY:Forgive Kenny. He believes in the healing powers of crystals, if that tells you anything.
KENNY:We had the same fire in our bellies, you know? That drive to do something real with our lives. Contribute art to the world. It’s magical to meet people who really get you at the tender age of eighteen.
RIPPER:Freshman year we drove everyone in our dorm nuts playing all night, so we decided to get an apartment together the next year. Once Ginny graduated, we set out on our first tour, which consisted of driving around California begging people to let us play for free. We always thought our big break was just around the corner.
KENNY:Remember how shitty our first van was?
GINNY:My god. The floors were disintegrating. We were this close to driving around using our feet like the Flintstones.
INTERVIEWER:And it’s been how many years since that first tour?
RIPPER:Uh . . . three.
INTERVIEWER:Would you say you’re happy with how your career is going? You got signed to Manifest Records, one of the biggest labels in the industry. And one of your singles, “Head in the Sand,” was used in a Nissan ad. Do you think you’re close to breaking out?
GINNY:Uh . . . since no one else is talking, I’ll take this one. No shade to the commercial. Without that income to fall back on, we probably would’ve had to fold up shop and start selling leggings. But you don’t exactly dream of making soundtracks for car commercials.
RIPPER:The thing people won’t tell you is that even if you sign with a label, a big one, and they give you an advance for an album and everything . . . I mean, that used to be our dream. We thought if we could just make it to that level, we’d have our careers in the bag. But the truth is, it doesn’t amount to much. It doesn’t mean your songs will get radio time or anyone will even know your music. If you’re in the majority, you’ll still feel like you’re an impostor, releasing songs into the ether.
INTERVIEWER:Even with the might of Manifest behind you? Musicians without record deals are going to feel disheartened reading this.
