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Interview: The 131ers talk upcoming album

Hailing from Torrance, CA, the 131ers are Kaleb Davies (vocals/guitar), Ryan Dawson (drums), Chris Graue (bass), and Greg Wilmot (guitar). The indie-rock foursome has created a local buzz with their unique genre-bending sound which is poised to spread to the masses. The band is set to release their new album, Nothing’s As It Should Be, on June 15.

The band came together in pieces. Kaleb and I met in high school Track and Field. We hated each other at first but ended up bonding over the band Young The Giant and started playing music together.

Since the release of their 2016 debut album, the band has been playing shows, honing their chops and gearing up for the release of Nothing’s As It Should Be. Continuing to infuse rock n’ roll with funk, edge and soul, the upcoming album is 11 solid tracks of rock n’ roll ear candy, recorded in their self-built warehouse studio, produced by Vince Walker (Suburban Legends) with Ryland Steen (Reel Big Fish/America) behind the board for the first single Face On.

The name of the band comes from an error in early MP3 tagging technology. These files carry data including title, artist, album, and more. The genre tag options were severely limited, and many artists found themselves unable to fit neatly into any of the boxes they could check. Several of these artists would leave the field blank, generating an error displaying ‘131’ in the genre column of music playing software. As a child, Kaleb noticed that several of his favorite artists carried this error and would go on to call their box-breaking sound indie rock. 131 later became the short code to define this genre in MP3 tags.

This past August, Kaleb and Ryan found themselves caught in the middle of Hurricane Irma during what was supposed to be a vacation in Puerto Rico. They had to participate in preparation efforts with people they had just met and now call friends while they rode out the storm in a hostel. When they returned home they deeply wanted to find a way to help so they founded Artists For Disaster Relief (www.afdrmusic.com), an organization they set up to bring musicians together to fund charity efforts around the world. Their first project, Arecibo,is a compilation album released in January 2018 via Pledge Music with all proceeds going to Friends Of Puerto Rico.

The band has also taken the reins as organizers, bookers as well as performing at the Avaline Music Festival which will take place May 25-28 at Avaline Ranch, located near King City, California. A fundraising event for the Guidry Foundation, an arts and education charity. Four days of camping, swimming in a natural water hole, hiking and live music on May 26 and 27.

Check out  Face One below!

We managed to catch up with The 131ers as they talked about their upcoming album and more!

What are you most pumped about for the release of Nothing’s As It Should Be?

Chris- It’s our baby, and I feel like we’ve been pregnant with it for two years. This album is in its 8th trimester. Get it out of me.
Kaleb- Mostly just really excited for this interview to come out. I think I’m doing a bang up job.

Can you tell us something about your writing and recording process, what’s your favorite part, where did you record, any special guests or surprises?

Kaleb- We recorded most of the record in our band’s warehouse, which is also actually where I live. So, it was very personal. I can’t really express what this place means to me. It’s my home, our studio. The record sounds like this place.
Ryan- We also ended up tracking the drums and some of the vocals at Pot O’ Gold in Orange. They’ve got a really amazing setup, and Ryland Steen and Dave Irish are the nicest, most helpful guys.
Chris- Vince Walker put his magic fingers all over this thing, and he even brought in his Suburban Legends bandmate Brian Robertson to lay down some horns for the song Crazy.

What is your favorite track from the album?

Kaleb- The title track which is also the album closer. Basically, the album is this big party with all the ups and downs any party might have. The last song is 3 am when everyone’s gone home. I had to fight to get this song on the record.
Chris – Yeah but not that hard. I had your back. I think it was Ryan that hated it.
Ryan- Fight me

If you could work with any band on a new song, who would it be and why?

Ryan- Just let me work with Kanye already.
Chris- Can I get Oingo Boingo in the studio? I feel like that would get super weird and amazing.
Kaleb-The Cure. They’ve got some hits left in em.

The band is based in the South Bay area of SoCal, did you grow up there, what’s the alternative scene like in Torrance at the moment?

Kaleb- Torrance is kinda crazy. I think it’s the secret musical capital of LA county. Few people know this, but the Beatles actually grew up in Torrance. Ask Chris.
Chris- There used to be a lot of punk bands that would come out of here, but not as many these days. We made a playlist of all the bands from the South Bay we could think of on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/user/the131ers/playlist/3QPP9jABvCJW9el2o6Rxkt?si=Dr0o0N0cQj-w8kEV-HQ7PA

Do you have plans to tour this year and what would your dream tour lineup be?

Ryan- We’ll be touring all over. The next big thing is the Avaline Music Festival on May 26 and 27 in King City, California. Then we’ll be playing at LA Aleworks in Hawthorne for our record release show June 15, and keep your eyes peeled for much more to follow.
Chris- I think the dream lineup for me is just us and the opening band isn’t a band at all but all you can eat Korean BBQ instead.

What do you do when you are not working on music or band business?

Chris- We all work way too much at day jobs and side gigs because it’s so expensive out here. It’s a large part of what inspired the album, sort of a structured release valve for the pressure of having to work so hard just to not have any money.

What was the first gig you ever went to?

Kaleb- First gig I remember was the Kooks at the House of Blues. My dad took me. I think I was 10 years old.
Ryan- First concert was Nickelback. Sat front row and yes, chad Kroeger winked at me.
Chris- Suburban Legends at Chain Reaction. I stayed up help clean up the gummi bears.

How did the 131ers come together and what were you doing individually before?

Kaleb- I met Ry in high school. It was love at first sight. We started playing music for a battle of the bands when I was 14.
Ryan- I was forced into going to a Young the Giant concert with Kaleb whom I hated at the time, we bonded over a cute girl and the rest is fate.
Chris- I worked at a church where I met Kaleb as a little kid. He lived about 10 houses down from me, and when he got older and built a recording studio at his house, he started having me come over to play on various tracks.
Greg- I answered an ad on Craigslist. They were looking for a photographer, but I showed up with a guitar instead of a camera.

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