It has been a decade since Carlsbad rock band Trouble in the Wind released its inaugural EP, 2009’s “All My Hopes on a Sailing Boat,” which it recently re-released concurrently with its latest EP, 2019’s “All the Boys.” A complete live performance of the latter will be on the band’s setlist for its February 20 concert at SOhO Restaurant & Music Club, one of several stops on a tour leading up to the release of its forthcoming LP, “Weird Living.” In an interview with the News-Press, lead vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter Robby Gira looked back on his group’s recording career during the 2010s and remarked that each album has built upon the last, culminating with the soon to be released sixth LP.
He said of “Weird Living,” “Sonically and song-wise, it’s going to be the best music we’ve ever done.”
With that said, the singer-songwriter said that there is a special quality to their first EP. When listening to “All My Hopes on a Sailing Boat” now, Mr. Gira hears a free and easy quality that is the result of the band coming up with music that isn’t constrained by traditional song structure.
“I think it’s really interesting. It’s fun and really important to listen to the way we used to do things because we didn’t care about any structure when coming up with music,” he said.
The records and songs since 2009 may have a more apparent structure, but Mr. Gira finds that it doesn’t stop the band from exhibiting spontaneity. The six songs on the “All the Boys” EP were all recorded on the very same day the band was learning them, which the singer credits for its palpable energy.
“You can hear in the songs there’s a looseness to them and a wildness to them because we were just figuring them out,” he said.
That process of working out the songs led to Mr. Gira pushing his vocal range to its heights on the EP’s closing track “Out on a Wing.” He hadn’t completely worked out how he was going to sing the song’s vocal melody and while recording, ended up pushing his voice to its uppermost range. Of the six songs featured on “All the Boys,” Mr. Gira chose “Out on a Wing” as his favorite.
Though “All My Hopes in a Sailing Boat” documents the band approaching songwriting with an uninhibited mindset and “All the Boys” is brimming with first-time energy, Mr. Gira said the truest essence of the band can most clearly be heard on two of Trouble in the Wind’s LPs. When asked if he had a favorite song to perform live, the singer named “Safe” from the band’s 2011 album “No Work Dancing” because its live performances “capture the band’s spirit and our relationship with the audience.” That sentiment he added can be said of the album as a whole.
“The first album that I feel ever captured the true spirit of the band is ‘No Work Dancing,’” Mr. Gira said.
The second album he feels captured this spirit was 2018’s “Lefty.” In his estimation, if a listener likes “Lefty,” then they will enjoy the rest of the Trouble in the Wind discography. This holistic representation of everything Trouble in the Wind is about may materialize for a third time if “Weird Living” lives up to the Mr. Gira’s expectations. According to the singer, this album will stretch his band’s ambition beyond anything it has ever done.
“It’s the biggest thing we’ve ever done to date,” he said.
Tickets for Trouble in the Wind’s February 20 concert at SOhO Restaurant & Music Club cost $10 and can be purchased online at www.sohosb.com. Doors to the venue will open at 7:30 p.m. and the concert will begin at 8:00 p.m. SOhO Restaurant & Music Club is located 1221 State St. Ste. 205.
email: jgrega@newspress.com
