Oceans apart

Imagine being thrust headlong into a Berlin winter with nothing more than an airplane ticket in your pocket and a couple of meetings with German record companies penciled into your diary.

When the Coral Sea launched their debut album, Volcano and Heart, in 1996, not only did the local ensemble find itself touring across North America, but the release of the single “Look At Her Face” in the UK also led to them venturing across Atlantic for some shows — including an appearance on the infamous BBC. UK-based management was subsequently enlisted and interest from Europe quickly followed.

At the end of 2006, at the urging of his manager, the Coral Sea’s founder and songwriter Rey Villalobos packed his bags and headed to Germany. In the midst of a German winter, Villalobos set about establishing himself there. Everything was seemingly in his favor: The album was receiving glowing praise by all who heard it, and interest in the band was at its peak, with a number of Germany-based labels wanting to talk. But the adventure wasn’t as easy as Villalobos was led to believe.

“The German experience came about through the manager we had at the time,” Villalobos says. “There was some strong interest in the band across there, and it was at his urging that I ventured across there. But when I got there, I found all these obstacles in my way of getting settled. I couldn’t get a job there, and I even needed a permit to get an apartment. In the end, it just didn’t make sense because things weren’t set up for me. And we already had a whole thing happening here in California.”

With the meetings not yielding anything concrete, Villalobos decided to bid farewell to the solitude of Germany and venture back to the warm embrace of Southern California.  By that time, guitarist Duncan Wright had left the band to return to school. So when a local bar extended an offer to the Coral Sea to help ring in the 2007 New Year, Villalobos called up former Coral Sea bass player James Garza and asked if he wanted to play guitar.  

With Garza on board, the pair recruited Austin Beede to sit in on drums. After a few rehearsals the ensemble gallantly took to the stage for New Years Eve. It sounded so good, in fact, that the foundations for new Coral Sea lineup were immediately cast.  And with Eric Ahlgren and James Van Arsdale consolidating their presence in the lineup on keyboard and bass respectively, the Coral Sea quickly became an entity unto itself again.

Having now been together for the better part of a year, the Coral Sea have made a concerted effort to refine their sound. And with Villalobos’ almost obsessive approach to songwriting, the band hasn’t been short of material to embrace. It seems the injection of new-found energy into the ensemble from the reshuffle was just the inspiration Villalobos needed to set the Coral Sea upon its way toward a new album.

“I started writing differently,” Villalobos says.  “The material that I am writing now is not only a lot more experimental, but, as a result, I think it is also a lot more moving.  And a lot of that has to do with the band. Austin’s playing is a lot more musical and James’ guitar work is very atmospheric. And even Eric’s keyboard playing is completely different from the way he played in the old lineup.”

For the past 12 months the band has made worked to establish itself in the dynamic musical hub of Los Angeles. And through easing their way into the bristling Silver Lake scene, they have established strong ties with bands and venues alike, something that is serving the ensemble well in their attempt to broaden their musical horizons in the city. The irony of this, of course, is that it took an adventure half way around the world to consolidate such an approach.

“When I went to Germany and was talking with record labels, I was also meeting all these German musicians and bands,” Villalobos says. “And they were like, you are from Los Angeles?  Why are you here?  And that really got me thinking.  I was born in Los Angeles, so I figured that I would go back and focus on Los Angeles and Southern California and nowhere else.  We have great support here. All of a sudden that made sense.”

The Coral Sea have not only recently teamed up with Los Angeles bands such as Sea Wolf, but have also found themselves supporting the likes of New York’s indie-rock exponents the Walkmen and Sufjan Stevens collaborator Annie Clark’s band St. Vincent.  In so doing, they have introduced their romantic pop to a myriad of new venues, who are in turn now soliciting the band for shows.  

“We try not to play a lot up here because it is important to try and keep it fresh,” Villalobos says. “But, when we do, it is always nice because there is always a big crowd and people are always singing along. After all, it is home.”