Pacific City has run into its share of problems.
From disagreements on the band’s musical style to the departure of band members, the road has been bumpy. Now with the release of their first album on iTunes and online, the group of Cal Poly students is excited to finally share their love of music with fans.
The band first came together in lead vocalist and guitar player Carl Taylor’s freshman year when he, trombone player Patrick Holder and a friend decided to put together a ska band.
Within a year, they were ready to blend different styles of music to include reggae, and various Latin genres such as salsa. After the departure of other band members, Pacific City now includes Taylor, Holder, piano and keyboard player Jimmy Martin, bass player Ken Verbosky and vocalist and trumpet player Katie Greenstein.
Their unique blend of reggae, Latin and ska came about as a result of muscial influences such as Pink Martini, Sublime and No Doubt. The different musical preferences of each band member also played a part. Martin said he prefers listening to jazz, samba and soul music and tries to blend his tastes with the band’s to create their sound. Even though Martin prefers jazz music to the blend Pacific City has created, he said he plays because he enjoys music.
“I come from a different background of music but the guys are fun to play with, and we played some fun shows, and I think some of the stuff we have is really good,” Martin said. “I just like playing music.”
The Latin influence to their music extends beyond the beats to the band’s lyrics in head-bopping songs such as “Love Songs” and “¿Donde Estas, Yolanda?” a Pink Martini cover. Taylor, who writes most of the band’s songs, said the incorporation of Spanish lyrics came from not only his notice of an untapped market, but also from him wanting to become more fluent.
“I’m nervous I might offend some Latin Americans by singing in Spanish and not speaking it fluently. I don’t want to sing in Spanish as a gimmick or anything; I just want to pay some tribute to the music we play,” Taylor said. “There’s so many people that speak Spanish around here, but there’s not much music out there that reflects that, it seems.”
The band spent the last 11 months recording “Leading Line” in Taylor’s house and garage. As renting a recording studio is so expensive, the band bought recording equipment and built a sound booth out of fiberglass boards. Holder said even though the band would sometimes spend over 40 hours a week recording and mixing, the process was worth it because it was able to have more control over its sound.
“There was a lot of trial and error involved because we didn’t have anybody there to hold our hands, but we were able to spend as much time as we wanted to really perfecting our sound and getting it right,” Holder said. “It was sink or swim, and it was all up to us.”
With the release of their album, the band hopes to perform in the area and is already in the process of booking shows. Holder hopes that their professional-sounding album and blend of muscial genres will set them apart from other bands and give them the edge to perform at higher profile shows.
“We bring something new to the table nobody else has: our unique style, the way we incorporate different genres together and blend different kinds of music,” Holder said. “I think it’s unlike anything most people have ever heard before.”
Learn more about Pacific City at pacificcity.bigcartel.com.