Photos Courtesy of Oddysseys and The Tide Trio
The Pacific Sounds Music Festival is Saturday night, and with it comes the opportunity to hear fellow students perform live on the stage. Opening for the headlining artists are two student bands, Oddysseys and The Tide Trio. Both bands sat with the Graphic to talk all things music.
Oddysseys
Jokes scribbled onto sticky notes cover the walls of KWVS Radio station, Pepperdine’s student-run radio station. Band posters and event flyers complete the decor. This is where the members of Oddysseys met, as they were all working at the station. Now they’re back to discuss music, memories and opening for Pacific Sounds.
The hypnotic indie-rock band is led by senior Christian Treon, juniors Paul DiRico and Josh Corbin, and sophomore Mark Pangilinan.
“I didn’t expect to be in a band in college at all. I think for me, it’s like a high school dream,” Corbin said.
“Yeah I know what you mean,” DiRico said. “As much as you try to grow and you want people to listen to your stuff, in the end you just do it because it’s what you want to do.”
“Once we had our little chat in the radio room right here, you know, we realized we listened to some pretty similar stuff, and it all took off from there,” DiRico said.
Pangilinan is the latest addition to the band, ending the long search for a drummer.
“He picked it up super quick. Literally, we started hitting him up like a month ago, and now he’s got everything down,” DiRico said.
DiRico and Treon are both from Boston. Their music fuses East Coast influences with an L.A sound.
“In Boston, it’s like a very moody environment for music so it’s like all these sad boys in basements playing post-punk and this really dreamy ambient music,” Treon said. “And you come out here and people are a little more pop-punky and surf rock, too. Going back and forth, you leave pieces here and there … different pieces start to flow around.”
Treon will graduate in May, leaving the future of Oddysseys in question.
“I might be going back to the East Coast,” Treon said. “I got it in my veins.”
However, this is not slowing Oddysseys down.
“The thing is, with modern technology the world has gotten so small so he might be in Boston or wherever, but we’re just a stem file away, you know?” Pangilinan said.
Oddysseys have played a number of shows, with the help of KWVS. They’ve also recorded much of their material, which is available on all platforms.
The Tide Trio
The Tide Trio will perform their first show ever on Saturday. The group is made up of of three friends, junior Lizzy LeBleu, senior Becca Blair and senior Andie Smith. They’ve often jammed together, but this semester they decided to make it official. The Tide Trio formed in anticipation of the opportunity to play at Pacific Sounds.
“Andie and I had talked about it being one of the things that we wanted as like a capstone for our senior year, and we both love Lizzy’s voice,” Blair said. “So we were like ‘You know what? Let’s all just get together and put this group together.’”
LeBleu and Blair say that worship brought them together as friends and as musicians. All three perform at The Well and Celebration Chapel.
“Worship is such a community thing as opposed to ‘hey, all eyes on me’ and that’s what I want my music to be like; a community experience as opposed to all about me,” LeBleu said.
The all–girl group describe themselves as ‘voice heavy’ and a little folksy, drawing inspiration from groups like Joseph, Brandi Carlile and a little bit of the Dixie Chicks.
This isn’t LeBleu or Blair’s first time opening for Pacific Sounds.
Last year, LeBleu opened for Hunter Hayes at Waves Weekend and for St. Lucia at Pacific Sounds.
Blair opened for The Oh Hellos at the 2016 Pacific Sounds, alongside students Wilson Howard and John Anderson.
“It’s different every year though because the vibe of the headliner really sets the tone, so getting to set the stage for them is different,” Blair said.
As veteran Pacific Sounders, the trio looks forward to taking the stage again, this time without the nerves.
“Pacific Sounds is such a fun time and to be stressed out would take away from it,” Blair said.
“My goal is to just have fun and invite the audience into that space,” LeBleu said.
Pacific Sounds will start at 5 p.m. on Alumni Park. This year’s headliners are Coin and Electric Guest. Tickets cost $5 for students before the concert and $10 at the door, and $15 for others.
___________
Follow the Pepperdine Graphic on Twitter: @PeppGraphic
