The Los Angeles duo discuss their serendipitous meeting and the fun ride it's been since then.
When Luke Atlas left Seattle and moved to Los Angeles, he didn't know what would really happen but was looking forward to the new adventure. Then he me Coleman Trapp, who just so happened to have heard a few of Luke's tunes. After finally meeting, the two realized that they had to form a band, and Coast Modern was born.
We had the chance to chat with Luke and Coleman before they performed at Brooklyn's Rough Trade back in June, which was the band's first headlining show. We learned everything from their stint writing songs for NASA (Yes, the space agency) to how Kate Hudson gave them props on Instagram.
Homebase: Los Angeles, CA
I heard you guys met at a party and then started making music the next day.
Luke Atlas: It's pretty close to that. A friend of ours introduced us, and I had just moved to LA. I had been there for about a month. I didn't know anybody, and one of the first people I meet is Coleman, which is crazy because now we're here. It seems like it was meant to be.
How did you two start talking about collaborating musically?
Coleman Trapp: It's funny because someone showed me Luke's music a week before I met him. Completely unrelated to us meeting through a mutual friend. They played some of Luke's jams, and I was like, "Dang this is good. Why aren't I making it?" And then I meet him, and we're showing each other some of our music. And he was playing one of the songs that I had heard just a week before. I was like, "No way!"
Atlas: I think we met for coffee and then went to make a song right after that.
Take me back to that first writing session. How was that first time collaborating?
Trapp: We started out just having fun — making beats and writing. Actually we had a really odd job toward the beginning of us working together. NASA hired us to do educational songs for a show that tours the US with actual dancers and stuff.
Atlas: We were just doing any weird music work we could get but also trying to pitch songs for artists. We were trying to fit in where we could. But it took a long time before we realized we wanted to make music for ourselves. It was a few years of working on other stuff before that.
What was the weirdest gig you guys had? Was it the NASA one?
Atlas: That was pretty weird actually.
Trapp: We have some secret projects that the public will never get to hear. [Laughs]
Atlas: Yeah, it was space and Newtonian physics. It's hard to beat that.
Trapp: Yeah, it was all about Newtonian physics.
Atlas: They told us, "You have to learn Newtonian physics and put it in a song."
Trapp: Rap songs.
After all that, how did you get to the sound you play now as Coast Modern?
Trapp: It's different every time. Some songs will start with a beat and throw lyrics over the top. Other times we'll have lyrics and make a beat over it. Luke, you like a lot of that reggae sound, right?
Atlas: Yeah, it all came really quickly. We'll vibe on a beat or something. The lyrics come from stuff we've been talking about and thinking about.
Trapp: It's pretty much flowing. The rap session in "Guru," word for word, that's exactly how it is straight through.
Atlas: The key is not overthinking it and getting into the weird subconscious stuff.
Speaking of "Guru," Kate Hudson put it into her Instagram video. So how did you find out about that?
Atlas: It's still a mystery how she found it. Nobody actually knows.
Trapp: You know what. She doesn't even know.
And the song hasn't been out for too long [only a month since this interview]. So how does it feel to be recognized in that way?
Trapp: It feels great.
Atlas: It's pretty crazy, but thankfully, it's kind of a theme for this project. It's all been moving a lot faster than we expected, and it's all been a big surprise to us like the reaction. All we're doing is making music that excites us, and we're having fun and just being weird. People like it, which is just a bonus.
You guys went on tour with Børns. How were those tours?
Trapp: The tour with Børns was epic. He and the crew were cool. We were playing sold out venues that weren't small. So that means our first-ever New York show was sold out and at Terminal 5. It's so cool.
Atlas: And we're huge Børns fans. So to watch him perform every night and learn some tricks.
Trapp: Dance moves.
Atlas: Dance moves and belly shirts.
What are your plans for the rest of the year?
Trapp: We're finishing up our tour with The Wombats and then will be doing a fall tour with Temper Trap through October. Then maybe more.
Atlas: We're trying to keep it flexible and not locked down too much.
Trapp: World tour. Let's just spill the beans now, Luke. We're hitting every city in the world even small towns.
How are you going to prep for it? That's a lot.
Trapp: This is it!
Atlas: This is our practice.
