Interview: Softjaw
Tanner Duffy & Dustin Lovelis Discuss Power Pop, The Nerves & The LBC
Power pop is alive and well in Long Beach, CA.
That’s where two local songwriters, Tanner Duffy and Dustin Lovelis, connected over bands like Big Star and The Nerves. Throw in other major influences like Raspberries, Cheap Trick, Teenage Fanclub and The Exploding Hearts and you have the perfect recipe for Softjaw’s impossibly hooky sound.
“It’s very intentional that we are emulating power pop bands of the past, but trying to do it some justice and not just be another stale pop punk band. If you aren’t intentional about your sound with this kind of music it can turn into some Offspring bullshit real quick,” Duffy told me for the interview below.
Softjaw arrived at a moment when the local guitar pop scene was exploding, a fact made apparent by the inaugural Shaky Town Strut festival where they shared a Friday Night bill with The Reflectors and The Speedways.
“There is a ton of great music coming out of Long Beach right now. It’s always had a tight knit music community, but it really feels like it's boiling over,” Lovelis said.
“I think it’s just a small-town vibe. It’s a walkable city and that brings a lot more to the table then you might think. People talk to each other and go to each other’s shows and support like mad,” Duffy added.
I caught up with Duffy and Lovelis by email as they put the finishing touches on two new tracks and prepare to back the “King of Power Pop,” Paul Collins (The Nerves/The Beat), on a handful of West Coast dates in December.
Tanner Duffy and Dustin Lovelis Interview
Your self-titled 5-song EP is one of my favorite releases this year so far. Can you tell me a little about the writing and recording of those tracks?
Dustin Lovelis: Thanks! Tanner and I do all of the writing for Softjaw. We typically write individually and send demos back and forth. Sometimes we collaborate on a jam. Once we have a keeper we hash it out as a full band then hit record.
Tanner Duffy: High praise! If it bops, we move forward; if it don’t, it flops. Easy as that. Dustin has a sweet studio we get to mess about in here in Long Beach and once the song passes the dinner table test we show the rest of the band.
This EP was done pretty quick, the mixing process probably took the longest. We wanted to make sure it sounded right and brought the right kind of energy to the table. Often times great pop songs fall to the way side because the mix is just a touch over done. I think we found a sweet spot with that EP.
"Pleased With Me" and "Waiting At The End" strike me as pretty perfect power pop songs. Is that a genre you embrace? How do you define it?
Tanner Duffy: Dustin and I met at a bar after bumping around each other in the scene for a few years. He spotted my Big Star T-shirt and hit me up to ask if I had any plans of building a band, and that he wanted to start a power pop band. Little did he know I was trying to build something similar for a few years and I immediately said, ‘Fuck yeah, I’m down.’ We’ve been chugging along since.
Dustin Lovelis: Totally. Tanner and I met over our mutual love of Big Star, The Nerves and Teenage Fanclub. Big fans of rock and roll. In my mind, power pop is just a louder, faster version of early Beatles stuff, basically With The Beatles on amphetamines. The most important thing is songwriting. All the great power pop bands know their way around chords, melodies and harmonies. That said, I don't think there are any strict rules. Honorable mention to the first couple Cheap Trick records. Those were huge records for me as a teenager.
The song "Sleepy Eyes" has a slightly harder edge to it, hinting at some other influences. What kinds of bands were you playing in before forming Softjaw? Do you have other current projects?
Tanner Duffy: I was listening to a lot of Offspring when I wrote that one (lol)—probably more like an Exploding Hearts thing, I think. On a more serious note, it’s a song about a falling out I had with a friend.
I have a solo project called Glue Shoe. That stuff is a lot more personal then the Softjaw stuff tends to be, more of a singer/songwriter/rocker type thing with some Americana and southern tinges (i.e.; Outlaw Indie), but its where I put most of my writing to task. ‘Sleepy Eyes’ was a little too rock for Glue Shoe, so I tried it out with Dustin. We rocked it up a lot more and made it what it is today. Super fun to play live, especially cause our drummer Vin makes it his personal goal to play it as fast as he can. Haha.
Dustin Lovelis: “Sleepy Eyes” is super fun to play live.
I have a handful of solo albums, sort of ‘60s jangle pop stuff. Prior to going solo I was in a band called The Fling with my brother for years. It was more late Beatles influenced. Mildly psychedelic mid tempo stuff. Softjaw is much more upbeat.
I recently caught your excellent show at the Shaky Town Strut festival in Long Beach, CA. The LBC is hotbed for rock and roll activity these days. What other bands should we be checking out?
Dustin Lovelis: Some of my favorite locals are Self Improvement, Chorus Pedal, Hoopjail, 3371, Rufrano, Nifegun, Pop Hysteria, Bushfire, Vessels and of course Glue Shoe. There's also a band out of OC called The Private Eye that I dig. Our first show ever was with Uni Boys (LA) and Brower (NY). I love both of those bands.
Tanner Duffy: Long Beach is nuts. There’s tons of music rumbling up and down that place. I think its because our beach is dirty. Take me to a town with a dirty beach and tell me the music doesn’t rock—you can’t because it’s a fucking fact.
Dustin did a solid job of listing the local heavy hitters. But I also have lots of love for the local indie label Tenement, they’re a super eclectic punk label that puts out some great stuff.
It was great to hear you do a Nerves cover live. Would you consider them a major influence? Who else?
Dustin Lovelis: Oh, definitely. I was obsessed with The Nerves EP when we formed the band. I had also been really into discovering weird one off bands on YouTube. There's a song called "Nice Weather" by Deadly Toys I really like. The Keys’ "I Don't Wanna Cry" is a classic. I used to scour the internet to find all the forgotten power pop hits. I wish I would've saved all the good ones. It was like taking a power pop crash course.
Tanner Duffy: Yeah, big time—The Nerves, Big Star, Cheap Trick, and Raspberries were the heavy hitters of yesteryear that I was attracted the most. But modern bands like Young Guv, Uni Boys, and The Lemon Twigs are also in that heavy hitter position and putting out KILLER music. Also gotta mention Supergrass, The Exploding Hearts, and Radioactivity.
Speaking of The Nerves, is it true that Softjaw will be Paul Collins' backing band for his West Coast shows in December?
Dustin Lovelis: Yes! We're backing him up for a handful of shows out here. It's fucking wild! Never thought I'd be an honorary Nerve.
Tanner Duffy: Sixty minutes of non-stop power pop—wham, bam, thank you ma’am and we are done. It’s been so epic to back up one of the inspirations of this band and I’m super looking forward to ripping split jumps and shredding pigeon toed solos five nights in a row.
A friend of ours who was helping him book the West Coast shows saw us play and sent him a video of our cover. I assume he thought we rocked the song so hard he got a little jealous and made the responsible move to not band against our rock, but instead opted to have us as his band. Smart move if you ask me…
Has your appreciation of The Nerves/The Beat changed at all now that you've learned so many of those songs? Any new favorites?
Dustin Lovelis: So many great pop songs. "Different Kind Of Girl" is a new favorite. I've always loved "You Won't Be Happy," but learning it was fun as hell. There is an old Nerves song called “Letter To G” that I have recently uncovered. It's not in the set, but man that song rules
Tanner Duffy: Most definitely. I got no arguments against the King of Power Pop. Some of the songs are in different keys than the recordings are and that’s bringing a welcome challenge and helping me dissect the fine art of power pop. “Don’t Wait Up For Me” is an epic jam and “I Don’t Fit In” has some killer chord progressions.
When can we expect new Softjaw music? Any plans for a full-length?
Tanner Duffy: We got bangers, we got riffs, we got hits, we got jams—just need to whittle the time out to lay them down. Dustin sends me ‘demos’ that sound like fully mixed bangers on a weekly basis, and I’m sending shitty phone demos of riffs and choruses almost every other day. There is no shortage of ideas and the possibilities are endless.
Dustin Lovelis: We have an endless waterfall of pop gems! We’re in the studio now finishing up two songs before we hit the road with Paul Collins. In the new year there will be a lot more music and a lot more touring. Doing three weeks in April down the coast.
Order Our ‘Guitar Pop Journal, Vol, 4’ From Big Stir Records!
Listened to the tunes as I read, & will be buying next Bandcamp Friday.
There was a great power poppy mod band out of Long Beach called The Corsairs...back in the 80's. I released an EP under the direction of my mentor Greg Shaw. It is titled Today. The mod scene really dug em. For awhile a year or two later Roger Manning joined the band. All their videos are on YouTube.