It's All An Illusion: A talk with Coast Modern

On your way home from the beach, sand in your hair, Corona in the cupholder, and philosophical metaphysically-driven songs on the radio? Don’t let the summery guitars, pop songwriting, and vibrant color schemes fool you, the boys in Coast Modern are crafting songs of substance.

Luke Atlas and Coleman Trapp first came together as songwriters and producers for other people when they realized they had something bigger on their hands. Their working relationship eventually evolved into what it is today; Coast Modern, a realm of indie pop that blurs the lines between a house party and your psychiatrist’s book collection.

Interview and Photography by Andy Gorel

Andy: You guys were songwriters and producers before artists. How did you get into that as a profession?

Coleman: A while ago there were a lot of fun beat-making things like Acid DJ that kids were downloading and messing with. I started doing that really early on. But when I turned 18 I got Reason, and got really into beat-making. (To Luke) You used Reason really early on too.

Luke: Yeah I had Reason. I still use Reason. I just got into making beats in my room, and started a little band up in Seattle. When that band ended I was like “I wanna make songs with other people.” – of all different genres.

Andy: Were there any huge successes you guys had?

Coleman: Yeah, there were some huge successes before Coast Modern.

Luke: Like what? (laughs)

Coleman: Like your band.

Luke: It was called Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head.

Andy: (Laughs) For some weird reason I’m pretty sure I’ve heard of that before.

Luke: Yeah, we toured around. It was a high school band. We didn’t know what we were doing – but yeah then moving to LA we were writing for various different people.

“I think some of the opportunities we had were successes more than the people we worked with.”

Coleman: I think some of the opportunities we had were successes more than the people we worked with. Like we met through our mixing engineer named Tony Maserati.

Andy: He’s incredible.

Coleman: Yeah! I feel like being around him was a success because we learned so much about how to produce, and how to think about music.

Andy: When did you realize there was a serious creative chemistry between the both of you?

Coleman: Did we ever?.. (grinning) – realize there was a serious creative chemistry?

(Luke laughs)

Coleman: It started out as just having fun, and stayed that way until the label offered us a record deal. There was never a point of like “It’s go time.” It was just a smooth transition into where we are now.

Andy: I read online you guys had to collab on a project for NASA, what was that like?

Luke: That was one of the first things we worked on. Pre-Coast Modern. It was just a random connection. Someone hit me up and was like “Yeah NASA needs hip-hop songs for this show,” and I was like “Shit, I need someone who can do some hip-hop stuff.” This was the guy.

(Coleman snickers)

Luke: So we made these five hip-hop songs. That was like the first time – us intensely working for like two weeks on a project.

Coleman: This was for a show that tours the United States, teaching middle school kids. It’s like a presentation but with actors and dancers. It was a huge thing. They invited us out to watch it once. It’s a whole production, that we did the music for.

Andy: When you shifted into Coast Modern, what was the first Coast Modern song, and how did it come together?

Coleman: There were songs we made – there was no shift into Coast Modern. We wrote “Dive” like five years ago. It was what, “Wild Things” and then “Frost”? And then “Hollow Life.”

Luke: I think “Hollow Life” was kind of the first one.

Coleman: I moved back to LA after we got offered a record deal. Then that’s the first song we made after I moved back.

“I definitely stopped paying attention to what the trends are in pop music… not worrying about what other people expected.”

Andy: Did your influences change as the vision of Coast Modern came to fruition?

Luke: I definitely stopped paying attention to what the trends are in pop music, and started reaching more into my past, and the things that struck me when I first started listening music. 0Like Weezer and Sugar Ray. Digging more into that kind of stuff and not worrying about what other people expected.

Andy: Who are some of your other influences?

Luke: The Beatles, obviously. Prince, Bowie.

Coleman: The big’ns. Led Zeppelin was a huge musical influence for me. Surprisingly, the album Californiacation by Red Hot Chili Peppers made me want to drum. I’d be like tapping out beats on my chest and I was like “I can do this.”

Luke: There was a lot of freedom in 90s music. It was an interesting time and it’s kind of resurfacing now.

Coleman: The 90s were good for alternative rock.

Andy: Where did the inspiration for the songs on the album come from?

Coleman: Everywhere. They all have such different stories.

Luke: We were really just thinking song by song. It was like “What weird avenue can we take today to come up on a song?” Instead of like “Oh, this is how we do it, we start with a guitar…” It was like “How do we start something differently? How do we spark something new?”

“I think we have the same obsession with new sounds. I can’t think of a single beat where I would be like ‘Oh, yeah I’m going to use that sound.'”

Coleman: I think we have the same obsession with new sounds. I can’t think of a single beat where I would be like “Oh, yeah I’m going to use that sound.” Although we do have a signature Coast Modern synth that’s buried in every song.” But that’s different (smiling).

We’ve got thousands of beats, and every single one of them is me searching for a new sound or vibe.

Luke: The album is like a collection of those moments.

Coleman: And perpetually, we’re always talking about philosophical concepts. And weird woo-woo metaphysical stuff. Like society –

Andy: It’s all an illusion.

Coleman: (laughs) Yes!

Andy: Has your idea of what Coast Modern is changed as the album took shape?

Coleman: I don’t think it has to do with the album or the music. I think it’s as we toured the nation four times.

Andy: Aside from music, are there any other things that inspire or influence the Coast Modern vision or vibe?

Luke: A lot of what we’re reading ends up in the lyrics, inevitably, because we’re always chatting about new things.

Coleman: We’re always thinking about shit. I’m very observant.

Andy: Lot of iPhone notes?

Coleman: (laughs) I know better cause I’ll never go back and read them. Hundreds of iPhone notes that I never go back and read.

Andy: I never go back and read them either (laughs).

Coleman: I just like to study people, and observe social interactions. See how angles meet. I feel like if you’re mindful of your surroundings, when it comes time to write it’s just really easy to put shit down.