Have You Met the Pope?
Blonde Summer's Stephen Kurshner, Chris Pope, Chris Livingstone and Matt Reid bring their alternative indie sound to Saint Rocke on Wednesday, December 8.
“I went to Chadwick High School for two years and a boarding school in St. Louis for two. St. Louis is where I really got into music,” recounts Chris Pope of Hermosa Beach. “My Grandfather was a Grammy nominated ragtime piano player who toured all over the country…he spent a lot of time playing the St. Louis riverfront. In high school I went down to the riverfront and saw the dirtiest, darkest, coolest blues bars ever — knowing it’s where he had some great times playing with incredible names, and tearing places apart.”
“That’s when I really started to think: I could be doing music too.”
Pope’s ensuing musical path offers about as many switchbacks as the trail to PV’s Indicator. From strumming nylon strings to screaming metal, he’s forayed into diverse musical spectrum.
“It’s crazy to me that I’ve been involved in all these styles and projects,” continues Pope. “I started off as an acoustic singer/songwriter in 2000, played a ton of shows at Java Man in Hermosa, and released an album called ‘Cure’. I was in a metal band called Her Skeleton for awhile. I was interested in it as a way to push my vocal ability. But after I got where I was aiming I wanted to try something else. As a transition I sang in a band named Love Or Death, which was heavily influenced by The Smiths (and Morrissey) — I wrote the songs as a character.”
That’s where Love Or Death’s classic single “Drugs At The Party” came from. Most people hearing it today would swear it’s somewhere on their Depeche Mode greatest hits.
“I was imagining myself as the guy who didn’t show up at the party…that only lasted a short while, as I was really craving authenticity,” admits Pope. “That is my true goal in music: pure authenticity.
“Blonde Summer allows me to do that.”
Pope now fronts the local alternative-indie band. Blonde Summer’s other members are Matt Reid on guitar, Chris Livingstone on bass and Stephen Kurshner on drums. Pope’s band mates live in Venice, and Reid graduated Mira Costa High School.
“We are an indie-rock band influenced by ‘60s surf music along with bands like Pavement, and the Pixies,” says Pope. “Everything has been really fast and natural with this band. A friend of mine from Hermosa, Davey Latter (of Everest, and The Black Pacific), lives down the street and used to be in a band called Earlimart with Aaron Espinoza. That’s how I met up with Aaron. Me and the guitarist Matt Reid wrote five songs, and within a month Blonde Summer was recording them at Aaron’s studio — The Ship, in Eagle Rock. Working with Aaron was the best experience. He knew the exact sound we wanted and helped us get that onto our CD.”
Blonde Summer released their debut album “Eleganza” this summer in August. It is certainly indie-rock, with softly rounded corners smoothed by Pope’s vocals. Subtle surf guitar riffs sneak their way into warm summer waters throughout the music.
“I want to make music that’s fun, warm, and upbeat. That’s where the name comes from — it captures our sound. It’s the feeling I get on the best day of summer. Every year there is always that best day, and that is what music is like for me: the perfect day when nothing else matters.”
“It just kills me that I haven’t been doing this the whole time. So I’m putting twice as much into it, to make up for lost time.”
“Things have been going great. It’s like I got everything I wanted with this, and I just want to play shows all the time. We just got back from the CMJ music marathon in New York City, where we played three shows. We had a great reaction out there, and are now working on securing some shows for SXSW in Austin, Texas for 2011.”
But there’s no place like home, especially for that perfect summer day. And since November has practically yielded more gorgeous summer days here than our whole season, why not let it continue into December? Blonde Summer is booked for a performance at Saint Rocke on Dec. 8.
“The South Bay has had some amazing music come out of it. And I really feel like it’s got a new energy of music again,” says Pope.
Check out cuts from “Eleganza” on www.DirtyHippieRadio.com, where the band is currently offering the stand out track “Silver Tongue” as a free download. Pope’s former Love Or Death outfit and the single “Drugs At The Party” can also be heard at the site. ER