Interview: The Catchy Chaos of Road Trip
If you’ve ever attended a DIY punk show, whether it be in a muddy backyard, a dimly lit venue, or an echoey warehouse, you’ll know that there is a tangible, magical energy that hums through the air, one that gets louder and wilder with each successive band. I’m no stranger to these productions and the people who put them on, and in all my time with the scene, I can confidently report that no one I’ve ever met is more in tune with, and in love with, this energy than Los Angeles DIY punk band Road Trip.
Having truly come into their own over the past six months with a solidified lineup, a California tour and a bitchin’ in-home recording/rehearsal studio, Road Trip’s latest milestone is marked with the release of their debut album Off Duty Millionaire. I sat down with the band in their Valley studio space to discuss the album and how it came to be.
Caden Cantwell, John Mariano and Alex Straniere at their studio. Photos by Brady Harris for Kerosene Magazine @bphmedia
Singer/guitarist Caden Cantwell gives me a warm welcome into the space. Bassist John Mariano and drummer Alex Straniere hang out around the drum kit with giant cans of the iconic Australian beer Foster’s. I feel at home already as they buzz with energy and… well… beer.
To get to know Road Trip, you have to know what it’s like to experience their live shows, the beautiful chaos of a hundred young fans thrashing and shouting and lifting each other up, figuratively and literally. Over the past year or so of gigging, the band has fallen head over heels in love with creating that experience.
“Live shows are kind of our passion, it’s what we think about when we write. I mean, it's my favorite part of the band. There's nothing like being all the way at the back of the stage and just seeing everyone moshing, like… wow,” Alex explains.
John, the newest member of the band, felt drawn to this energy immediately. “As soon as I saw them play for the first time, I knew this was something I wanted to be a part of,” he says.
“When I write music, I try to just picture a live audience. I like to write to a beat of people jumping… That's kind of the whole vibe of the album, just like adolescence and having fun while you’re young, you know?” Caden agrees. “I feel like a lot of things in the album were shaped because of what happened live.”
Comparing their sound to artists like the Chats, FIDLAR, Blink-182, Skegss, and local heroes Chicano Mosh, Road Trip explains that their album is a combination of the sounds they love with “unexpected” turns, according to Caden, with tempo changes within tracks (i.e. the playful bass solo on “Beer”) and more.
One of the album’s defining features are the larger-than-life gang vocals present on most tracks, which feature Alex, Caden, and their friends from neighboring band Love Letter shouting lyrics that lie anywhere between hilarious to heartwarming. With these tracks, notably “Hartland” and “Mosh Pit,” there is no better way of invoking the DIY sound and spirit into an album, as anyone can effortlessly add their own voice into the mix and transport themselves to a Road Trip backyard show.
“So,” I ask, “What’s the story with the gang vocals?”
“Funny enough, the reason we did the gang vocals is because I was not expecting to be a singer of a band. And at the start of this band, I didn't know how to sing… at all. I actually was looking back at our first recording of “Bed Cat,” and I was like, dang. It was off key. It was off key like crazy,” Caden recalls as the band cracks up.
“But it was just so fun for all four of us, in a square, just like, yelling at each other into the mic,” adds Alex, recalling that day in the studio. “That was definitely my favorite moment of recording.”
Another highlight of the recording process was laying down drum tracks in Alex’s home studio, especially for “Hold Me Fosters,” one of the album’s most sonically unique and chaotic tracks. A ‘90s alternative-inspired drum track called for a unique recording experience.
“One really cool moment was with the last song we recorded, ‘Hold Me Fosters.’ And we did that without a click track. All the other ones did have it, but like, there was something so natural and fun about recording that song. Because it also had to be a perfect take. We couldn't go in and fix stuff,” Alex recalls.
I inquire about the name, and the band gleefully points to their Foster’s cans.
“There was like a comment on YouTube that was like, “Oh, Australian punk is dead.” Then it's like, the Chats, in quotes, “Hold me Foster’s.” And then we just played in Santa Cruz and I had never seen a Foster’s beer before. Then I opened the fridge of this liquor store, and there it is,” Caden says.
“That was the most exciting moment of tour,” Alex agrees. “Caden comes in with this brown paper bag and sets it down, and he just opens it up, and these holy grails are sitting there!”
The aforementioned tour, the band’s latest jaunt around Southern and Northern California (in John’s Kia Soul, the “official band vehicle”) was chock-full of unforgettable and defining moments. I ask for some highlights, and the band practically jumps out of their seats.
“GRASS VALLEY!” they all shout. I’ve never heard of this place in my entire life. A tiny town north of Sacramento proved to be “the best city in California, maybe even the United States” for Road Trip.
“Five seconds into the show. I hadn't even played a single note yet, and someone just gets killed into my microphone, it slams on my hand,” John describes. “I was like, Jesus Christ. And then they all get back up and they just keep going!”
“One of the bands did a backflip off of a half pipe into the pit,” Caden adds. “The people, the energy, they’re so cool. And they're just like, all for each other. They're there for every band. They stay the whole time. It always gets packed.”
With their glowing review, the band has me ready to pack my bags for Grass Valley. Santa Cruz, another favorite stop of the tour, brought its own set of adventures.
“We met so many cool people and then went to a beach party afterward. Granted, it got shut down within the first 15 minutes…” Alex says.
Almost inaudibly, John mentions, “We were briefly detained.”
Pause. “Detained?!” I ask. “Hang on, get into that.”
Caden laughs, “We were sat down on the stairs.”
“But we didn't do anything! All we were there for was to bring Little Caesars pizza,” John argues.
“It's not DIY without police interactions,” Alex sums it up poignantly.
Despite all the fond memories from the recent tour, the band only has their sights set forward to new shows, new venues, and connecting with more people, aided by the release of their new album. The conversation is drawn back to their passion for the stage with every topic.
“After we played four shows in four nights on this tour, the next night we got home and it was nice to be home,” John remembers. “I was like, ‘Oh, I can sleep in my bed and, you know, whatever.’ But then that night I was like, ‘Oh, damn, we're not playing tonight? Like, where’s the show?’”
“That's actually what ‘Bedcat’ is about!” Caden adds. “There's a line that’s like, ‘Seven days feels like forever,’ because we were just playing every weekend. And I was just like, I want to play every day, if we can, you know?”
The announcement and release of Off Duty Millionaire over the past weeks has rallied music scenes from Los Angeles to Grass Valley and everywhere in between – a testament to the powerful connection Road Trip makes with their fans on and off stage, by simply sharing in their passion for DIY music.
“What makes this all work for you guys? Why do you click?” I ask. Their first reaction is to raise their beer cans, and fall over laughing.
“I feel like I've never had a more solid, professional relationship with a person than like me and Caden,” Alex says. “Because kind of from day one, I feel like we were just like, so locked in on this project, all these goals and it just hasn't gone away… there's nothing that feels just more naturally productive than this band.”
“I've recorded stuff with other bands sometimes, but this felt the most kind of natural, and it's the proudest I've ever felt of something I've been a part of. It was really fun. It also sucked. There was a lot of driving back and forth to Glendale in rush hour. But I don't know. It's like, there's nothing else I want to do. You know what I mean? So we're just going to kind of deal with it,” Caden says.
Up next for Road Trip is a release show celebrating their debut album, and I’d like to pass along an official request from Alex: “I would love if, like, seven to thirty people just shotgunned beers during ‘Beer.’ That's kind of a dream vision of mine.”
After the delightful conversation with the guys from Road Trip, I’m reminded how powerfully joyful it is to belong to a music scene like theirs. This feeling is best described in the powerful chorus of the track “Mosh Pit,” which confesses adoration for the joy and freedom that their DIY music community lends them.
While it may be difficult to specifically express to each other how important the shows and music are to us, thankfully, the music does the work for us – the tempo change in “Mosh Pit” after its heartfelt chorus explodes with energy, symbolizing the release of energy kids can find in the pit, a place to let it all go and find yourself as a part of something greater.
So while Road Trip is, at the surface, a group of guys who love to be loud and drink beer, they represent much more – namely, the love we all have for our DIY community. I speak for us all when I say that music like theirs, however crass, loud, or homemade it may be, means the absolute world to us.
Stream Off Duty Millionaire on Spotify and follow along on the Road Trip @roadtrip.band
