Fourth & Coast
Interview by Christina Belles
Interview by Christina Belles
You might have seen the name Fourth & Coast pop up recently due to their insane ability to craft a perfect melody in their new single “Young Hearts” ft The Ready Set. This young duo from Sand Diego, CA is just beginning their career and if you ask me they’re on the right track. They are a breath of fresh air in the scene and you would be missing out on your chance to say you knew them before anyone else if you don’t check them out now. Take a look at the interview below where we chatted with one half of the duo, Stephen Ordonez, about everything Fourth & Coat, and take a listen to their single “Young Hearts” at the bottom.
Christina Belles: Earlier this month you released your single “Young Hearts” featuring The Ready Set; how do you think the response has been?
Stephen Ordonez: The response has been great so far! I’ve already noticed people singing along at shows and we are just starting to push the song. I think everyone is really stoked on the fact that Jordan was a part of it.
Stephen Ordonez: The response has been great so far! I’ve already noticed people singing along at shows and we are just starting to push the song. I think everyone is really stoked on the fact that Jordan was a part of it.
CB: What made you want to work with The Ready Set?
SO: We’ve always been a fan of his music and so when we got the chance to work with him we took it. He brings a unique style of pop into everything he works on.
SO: We’ve always been a fan of his music and so when we got the chance to work with him we took it. He brings a unique style of pop into everything he works on.
CB: You’re currently on tour; what’s it like playing shows on the East Coast versus your home in California on the West Coast?
SO: It’s such a surreal feeling. I think it’s still the little things that amaze me such as fans knowing the lyrics to our songs that we wrote thousands of miles away from where we are playing. It reminds me why it’s so much fun doing what we do and it makes me fall in love with music all over again.
SO: It’s such a surreal feeling. I think it’s still the little things that amaze me such as fans knowing the lyrics to our songs that we wrote thousands of miles away from where we are playing. It reminds me why it’s so much fun doing what we do and it makes me fall in love with music all over again.
CB: How has it been opening for the X Factor’s Jennel Garcia?
SO: It’s been so much fun. She is so talented and humble. It hasn’t gotten old watching her set every night because she is so natural at what she does. I wish I had her pipes.
SO: It’s been so much fun. She is so talented and humble. It hasn’t gotten old watching her set every night because she is so natural at what she does. I wish I had her pipes.
CB: You did a tour diary about your first week on the road through Substream Magazine. Is that something you think you’ll continue to do?
SO: Yes! We will be writing a tour diary through Substream for each week of the tour to keep everyone in the loop of what’s going on.
SO: Yes! We will be writing a tour diary through Substream for each week of the tour to keep everyone in the loop of what’s going on.
CB: What’s on the schedule for you after this tour wraps up?
SO: We are just finishing up writing for our next album and are looking to get in the studio as soon as possible. So hopefully we will have new music out in the fall!
SO: We are just finishing up writing for our next album and are looking to get in the studio as soon as possible. So hopefully we will have new music out in the fall!
CB: Last month marked the one year anniversary of your EP Feels Like Summer. Would you say your lyrical/musical style has changed since then and fans can expect something a little different from upcoming releases?
SO: Definitely. The writing process of Feels Like Summer was very rushed because we wanted to get it out to the public by summer. With this next album, I feel like we’ve got a much better grasp of where we want to be sonically and we aren’t rushing it. At the same time we don’t want to alienate the fans we have now, so people can still expect Fourth & Coast but with a new twist.
SO: Definitely. The writing process of Feels Like Summer was very rushed because we wanted to get it out to the public by summer. With this next album, I feel like we’ve got a much better grasp of where we want to be sonically and we aren’t rushing it. At the same time we don’t want to alienate the fans we have now, so people can still expect Fourth & Coast but with a new twist.
CB: Last month you also released a music video for “Yours To Create”. You were incredibly creative with your idea for the video in that you asked fans to email you with their personal story and then used lines from those emails in the video. Where did you come up with this idea?
SO: We spent weeks trying to come up with the concept and realized the only logical thing to do was to have the concept revolve around exactly what/who the song was written about. We thought that in order to let people know that everything will be okay, we needed to take lines out of actual emails to visually show people with evidence.
CB: You’ve done some cool things to keep in touch with fans such as live streams and acoustic meet ups; is that something fans can continue to look forward to?
SO: Of course! We will always enjoy doing things like that as long as they enjoy it as much we do. It’s a great way to stay grounded and keep in touch with fans who support you because after all, they are the reason we are able to do any of this.
CB: What would you say has been the most difficult part of your career for you all personally and collectively?
SO: Personally, I think it would be not being able to see family and friends as much as I would like to. Collectively, I think whenever we look back and see something we know we could’ve done better knowing the information we know now. It’s such a big trial and error business and one of the most difficult but necessary things to do is to shake off your mistakes and just learn from them.
CB: How did you, or do you continue to, overcome these struggles?
SO: It’s really easy to reach family and friends on the road through the phone and internet so I just try to stay as connected as possible. As for things that we wish we could’ve done differently, It’s such a big trial and error business and one of the most difficult but necessary things to do is to shake off your mistakes and just learn from them.
CB: What is the ‘highlight’ of your career so far?
SO: We played Webster Hall in NYC last August in front of a crowd of 300 plus and had everyone scream back the lyrics to our songs. It doesn’t get much better than that.
SO: We spent weeks trying to come up with the concept and realized the only logical thing to do was to have the concept revolve around exactly what/who the song was written about. We thought that in order to let people know that everything will be okay, we needed to take lines out of actual emails to visually show people with evidence.
CB: You’ve done some cool things to keep in touch with fans such as live streams and acoustic meet ups; is that something fans can continue to look forward to?
SO: Of course! We will always enjoy doing things like that as long as they enjoy it as much we do. It’s a great way to stay grounded and keep in touch with fans who support you because after all, they are the reason we are able to do any of this.
CB: What would you say has been the most difficult part of your career for you all personally and collectively?
SO: Personally, I think it would be not being able to see family and friends as much as I would like to. Collectively, I think whenever we look back and see something we know we could’ve done better knowing the information we know now. It’s such a big trial and error business and one of the most difficult but necessary things to do is to shake off your mistakes and just learn from them.
CB: How did you, or do you continue to, overcome these struggles?
SO: It’s really easy to reach family and friends on the road through the phone and internet so I just try to stay as connected as possible. As for things that we wish we could’ve done differently, It’s such a big trial and error business and one of the most difficult but necessary things to do is to shake off your mistakes and just learn from them.
CB: What is the ‘highlight’ of your career so far?
SO: We played Webster Hall in NYC last August in front of a crowd of 300 plus and had everyone scream back the lyrics to our songs. It doesn’t get much better than that.
CB: What is the one dream the moment at which point either personally or collectively you would be able to say yes I’ve achieved this, I’m living my dreams?
SO: I think I’m living my dream everyday. I am always striving towards something, but I think as long as I have some sort of connection to music I will continue living my dream.
SO: I think I’m living my dream everyday. I am always striving towards something, but I think as long as I have some sort of connection to music I will continue living my dream.
