by Kenneth Morton

Pacific Lights is an up-and-coming collective based out of Northern California who, even in spite of a few name changes, have impressed many with their highly exuberant brand of melodic rock and roll. Fun is the name of the game when Pacific Lights perform a show, and their tunes are absolutely infectious. With an EP entitled Too Legit To Quit! available on Itunes and a full length well on the way, we decided to check in and shed some light on this amazing young band. Read on...

Where is the band from and what is your local music scene like there?
We're out of Morgan Hill, California. The scene has been struggling over here, but it's getting better. We're doing our best to make it a little stronger. Haha.

Why did you guys change your name from Sleepwell to Pacific Lights, and how does the new name represent the band?
There was another guy that named his music project "Sleepwell" and asked us to change it. After talking to some people that were more familiar with trademarking laws and such, we decided that rather than risk legal issues and possibly lose lots of money, we would just change the name and avoid the issue.
I like the name a lot better than Sleepwell. I think that it has a more poppy and Indie sound to it, which is exactly the sound that we are looking for.

When you look back on the music you did as Make Believe, what do you think of it now?
Haha, wow, it's been a long time since someone has asked me about Make Believe. I think that Make Believe was a good start and helped Joe and I to get used to writing with each other. It helped us develop our sound and skills with vocals and guitars and everything and has made us much better musicians. I love the sound that we're making with Pacific Lights now.

Tell me about the Less Than Three project and will there be any new music from them?
Less Than Three is my own personal solo project. About a year ago, Make Believe went on a hiatus. There was some tension in the band and we weren't sure if we wanted to stick together anymore. I decided that since the band might be coming to an end, I would go in and record a solo EP for Less Than Three so that I would have something to fall back onto. The band ended up getting back together (obviously) and I haven't really done anything with it since. I'm going to keep it going and try to write a few more songs so that when the sad day comes that Pacific Lights might have to reach the end of its run, I'll have something to fall back onto.

Pacific Lights is about to go on a summer tour. Is this your first tour, and how easy or difficult was it to book the shows?
Well, we've done a couple of mini tours around California, but I don't know if you can call them tours. Haha. This is our first real tour. It wasn't very difficult to set up the shows. Hot Topic helped set it up and we're playing at a lot of Hot Topics throughout the country and we're going to stop at a few other venues in between Hot Topic shows.

Where do you get the ideas for some of your lyrics? Please cite a few song examples and what they are about?
We get ideas for most of our ideas from life experiences. Joe and I are the guys that write the lyrics in the band, so lyrics are mostly personal to us more than the other guys in the band. And, like a lot of teenage boy song writers, our songs are about girls. Haha. For example, one of our new songs Live It Up that is going to be on our new CD called Sunnyside is about our experiences getting ready to head out on the road for the first time and the excitement about playing for crowds along with the struggles of leaving girlfriends and friends at home for a while. And now as a side note, it's sort of funny that a month ago when we were writing the song, all of the guys in the band had girlfriends and now Craig is the only guy with a lady. Haha.

Who are some of the bigger bands you have shared the stage with in the past?
We've played a good number of shows with some bigger bands, but my favorites were definitely The Summer Set, We Shot The Moon, and Tumbledown (Mike Hererra from MXPX). Those were the funnest shows and we were able to talk to the guys and get to know them a bit.

What could one expect from a live Pacific Lights show?
Fun! We try as hard as we can to have a fun and exciting stage presence, but even aside from when we're on stage, we love to get to know the people at the show. We love meeting fans, getting new fans, and trying to stay in touch with them so that they can be new friends!

How close are you guys to recording all new music and perhaps releasing a full length?
We've been in the studio for the past couple of weeks recording some new songs. It will be a 9-song cd with a combination of tracks from our last ep titled Too Legit To Quit! and some new songs we've recorded since, as well as a few acoustic versions of old songs.

Any messages for those reading the interview now who might be into checking out your band?
PLEASE check us out! Talk to us! Get to know us! We love meeting new people. Come out to a show and chill with us. If people are reading this that have already been to a show or bought any merch or anything, thank you so much! You've contributed to getting us to where we are now. Keep checking in on our site (http://www.myspace.com/pacificlightsmusic) for updates with the band. We try to keep things as interesting and fresh as we can. We hope to see you soon! We love you! Love, Jonathan and the rest of Pacific Lights

PACIFIC LIGHTS links

Pacific Lights on Myspace: The Official Myspace Page for Pacific Lights!
The Highwire Daze Home Page: Return to the Main Page!

Counter