Locals Los Coast Break Out at ACL Fest
Singer Trey Privott on the band's origins and influences
By Kahron Spearman, Fri., Sept. 30, 2016
Trey Privott howls with such unbridled authority it's omnipresent. No escape. Guttural and unruly, his voice emits a high-frequency radiance, like staring at the sun.
Not a large dude by any means – in fact quite the opposite – the Los Coast frontman occasionally lifts off terra firma when he's at full throat. During a recent performance at the Scoot Inn by the local psychedelic soul outfit, Privott performed sans footwear and levitated upward on the balls of his feet throughout. Co-commanded by multi-instrumental wunderkind John Courtney, the fivepiece tore through a set highlighted by their new single, the soulful and straightforward "Simplify," on which the singer's voice is barely contained.
"When we talked about making 'Simplify,'" recalls Courtney, "we wanted to make something rooted in the old-school vibe, that old-school funk. Sometimes the best stuff is simple, y'know, catchy, and spacious, and isn't trying to cram too much into it at once."
Los Coast's earlier 2016 single, "Summer Samaritan," features a slight taming of Privott's larynx over mature and tempered indie rock and soul. Like the band's brief career together, it runs just long enough to require more both musically and biographically. How does a 21-month-old act – filled out by bassist Megan Hartman, drummer Damien Llanes, and keyboardist Natalie Wright – with no catalog to speak of become a trending Austin buzz band?
On the surface, the tale begins with an on-again/off-again residency on South Congress at C-Boy's Heart & Soul, where without any homegrown profile whatsoever, the group starting drawing a growing number of college kids week in and week out. Now, that same band boasts a slot on the opening day of ACL Fest 2016. What is Los Coast – and what about that voice?
"I don't know there was ever an 'aha' moment," says the exceedingly humble Privott, both bashful and at something of a loss to pinpoint the crystallization of his gift. "There was a time when I realized I could sing loudly, like in the car. I could always peak if I wanted to."
From a lineage of musicians, the Columbus, Ga., native and University of Alabama graduate comes to music as the nephew of jazz fusion guitarist Hiram Bullock, who worked with Miles Davis, Gil Evans, Sting, and Steely Dan. Cancer took Bullock in 2008, but not before leaving an impression on his relative. Meanwhile, Privott's Southern Baptist father had him in church regularly, where down-home gospel choirs – a clear influence on his register – moved him emotionally.
"Music's one of those things I did for pleasure so much that it snuck up on me – that I felt so comfortable doing it in public," he acknowledges. "When I was 15 or 16, I had a lot of weird voice cracks and stuff, so after that was over, I felt a lot more comfortable.
"Then developing a style I wanted to sing in, that was important – rather than sounding like someone else."
Privott met Houston native John Courtney after moving to Austin, and formed Los Coast as a duo in early 2015. Originally a classical trumpeter, Courtney graduated from the University of Colorado, and subsequently went through a summer program at the Berklee College of Music to study jazz guitar and music theory. Molding his life for all things music, he's currently studying entertainment and music law at UT.
"[Being in a band] was always the thing," says Courtney. "Even when I was choosing where to go to law school – and I got into some good ones – I wanted to come to Austin, because you know, 'live music capital.' My agenda has always been to find a band.
"In college, I was in the African Ensemble and the Caribbean Ensemble, so I try to get that world music vibe in. Then, I've just been in rock and funk bands over the years."
Privott led a band in Georgia, one with many stylistic iterations (including indie-rock sobriquet Trey + the Mighty Hopefuls), as recently as 2013.
"At first it was a punk band, then an emo-type thing," he ticks off. "As we grew up, it became more rock & roll, like alternative, more all-encompassing and less specific. I think that shaped me."
There's a residual wistfulness and regret about the band's closure in Privott's tone, even if venturing away has proved highly beneficial.
"Everyone had gotten engaged. [My bandmates] told me it was probably over, which was kind of heartbreaking. So I wanted to move to a place like Austin, a city with a bunch of musicians to play with."
Cue Courtney and Los Coast. While an EP and full-length are forthcoming, the excitement surrounding Los Coast isn't what they are, but what they could be. Live, at a modern speakeasy like home base C-Boy's, the band grooves an extended, Grateful Dead-like pocket one moment, then parts to allow Privott to loosen his best Wilson Pickett cry, a force of nature which hardly ever evinces visible effort from its source. Everyone agrees they're still toying with their influences.
"We're inspired by a lot of traditional music, but we also like to add something different," explains Courtney. "We like big bass, soul, and just rock & roll, but we also spice it up, whether that's psychedelic or jazz or something. Just to mess with people's expectations."
Courtney creates the musical foundation for Privott's lyrics, which are constantly being penned into numerous composition books.
"I'll have maybe a page or so of poetry, then John will start with instrumentation, and I'll just listen to it over and over and search for a melody," reveals the singer. "I'll take the little pieces, and collage it.
"'Summer Samaritan' was less stream of consciousness, and more calculating," he continues. "We got out a dry erase board, and said, 'This is what we're doing.' We wanted different phases.
"For 'Simplify,' we just wanted a groove, and a message lyrically that was 'less-is-more,' minimal. We stuck to it as a concept for the entire song."
The extended play, You Are Here, drops during ACL season. The upcoming album will be an "American Dream" concept, "based in the classic soul sound, but with a few modern tweaks." While there's hit potential, Privott and Courtney aren't chasing them.
"If you worry too much about the commercial side of it you're shooting yourself in the foot," cautions Courtney. "I think at the heart of music, in the modern era – and to be heard – it's a necessary evil. But if you use that as your starting point, you really do compromise your sound. The best way to do it is just to use the ideas in the artistic process as the starting point, and then see how people react after the fact.
"If we try to build music to fulfill people's expectations, we're not really innovating."
Coastal Influences
Trey Privott
Angel Olsen - "She's kind of got a country sound, but she's got a beautiful voice. It's straight rock & roll."
Chance the Rapper - "Really dope. And I really like that he's putting out all this music for free."
Young Thug - "His new record is ridiculous. It's a guilty pleasure, but it's cool. He's got a lot of weird vocal intonations. He's got one part where he starts sounding like Louis Armstrong in the middle of a song."
John Courtney
Stereolab - "That kind of posh, synthy pop vibe has definitely been an inspiration, because it gives me a reference point for dialing in some synth tones."
Herbie Mann - "I've been listening to old-school stuff – groovy Blue Note jazz-funk – around the house."
Los Coast nestles among the first acts playing this year's ACL Fest, slotting in at Zilker Park on Friday, Sept. 30, on the Tito's Handmade Vodka stage, 12:15pm. The band showcases Weekend One only.
