Filip Mandaric's Presence Halfway Around the World

Filip Mandaric found out the new single from his band Capital Grey had gotten airplay on the BBC from a fan posting on Facebook. “I saw a new post that said something like, ‘Glad to hear “Tattoo on Her Shoulder” played on U.K. radio.’ So, I asked the guy where he heard us. He said it was played on Sean Rowley’s All Back to Mine show on BBC Radio Kent.”

In an online link to Rowley’s show on May 13, the British DJ is enthusiastic about the San Marcos–based band: “They’ve got it going on in a psychedelic-pop sort of way,” he says, “and they do it very well.”

“It’s weird,” says Mandaric, “hearing someone that important talking about you.”

Rowley and I email back and forth. He agrees to talk to me, but, then, for whatever reason, he stops replying. How Rowley heard about Capital Grey in the first place was via a Los Angeles music blog called Aquarium Drunkard. One of the contributors is Clifton Weaver, aka DJ Soft Touch. He called the band “mindblowingly good” and posted, “I often wonder how these artists haven’t gotten more attention. One such band is the aforementioned Capital Grey.”

Weaver got the CD as the result of Mandaric’s media blitz late last year. “I emailed, like, a hundred different music blogs looking for reviews,” says Mandaric, but he got no response. Four months later, he saw the Facebook posting from someone named Ian Allcock in the U.K. “Nobody told me that I was gonna be on the BBC. I was thinking we’d get played on a local radio station, not one halfway around the world.”

Mandaric, 22, was born in Canada but now lives in North County. He started Capital Grey in May 2011 with guitarist Danny Chau. “We did our whole EP Paint the Town by ourselves, and we’re performing it by ourselves,” he says. Chau and Mandaric use machines to fill in the gaps onstage. “We take our laptops and plug our instruments into an analog-digital converter. From there, the signal goes straight into the PA system.”

Capital Grey have their collective foot in the past. “We have a strong ’60s influence.” Mandaric then boils that down to two words: “The Beatles.” So, has any BBC/Aquarium Drunkard love yet shined on CD sales? “They’re not as good as I’d like them to be,” he says. “We’re looking for a record deal. But, since it’s been played on the BBC, I’m talking to 94/9, 91X, and KPRI. It should be easier to get it played here.”