The Blank Tapes

April 19, 2009

Following Matt Adams down the setback of the Santa Cruz home his latest band-mates inhabit, past the overgrown ivy and salt bleached wooden fences, just a stone’s throw from the beach and the bustling college town, you can’t help but feel a bit transported. Fitting I suppose for a session with The Blank Tapes, Adams’ musical alter-ego whose seemingly bottomless catalog of catchy hooks and head-bobbing sing-alongs always carries a bit of nostalgia.

Fifteen minutes earlier we were at the Saturn Cafe, where the boys all shared in an ice cream sundae. They had just finished up a morning recording session for Steve Winchell’s band, An Unconscious Collective. Matt plays guitar in Steve’s band, and Steve plays bass in Matt’s. They play in other friends’ bands, too. It’s kind of like a co-op of musicians helping each other out. Today, for The Blank Tapes, there was also Spencer Grossman on percussion and Aslan Rife (honey.moon.tree.) playing keyboard and melodica.

It was one of those perfect sun-drenched California afternoons, that growing up here you might take for granted. They played four songs, three from the 2007, fittingly titled “Daydreams” album, and starting off with a new track called “I’m Back,” which will be on their new album due out later this year. Kicking back on a bed in the backyard of their house (yes, an actual bed that someone actually sleeps on), in the dappled shade, with the distant chirping of birds and the slightest breeze, Adams opens with the line: “I don’t miss the city.” And you can’t blame him.

Find out more about The Blank Tapes at www.myspace.com/theblanktapes

Camera: Elliot Glass, Allen Kelley
Sound: Elliot Glass
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