Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Focusing A Lens To the Sun on all-original music

“Delicate and languid spaces of beauty punctuated by ferocious guitar monsters have always done it for me.”

Erik Elstermann, James Coleman, Gideon Prior, Brendan Cutrer, Logan Elstermann
Erik Elstermann, James Coleman, Gideon Prior, Brendan Cutrer, Logan Elstermann

Gideon Prior, guitarist and singer with the progressive alt-rock band A Lens To the Sun, grew up in Los Angeles, until a quest for his Ph.D in electrical engineering took him in another direction. “I was initially going to transfer to UCLA,” he remembers, “but at the last minute, I was accepted to UC San Diego, and decided to drive south and look at the campus. I remember the credit union there, intentionally built to look like it was sinking into the ground, and the artificial talking trees distributed through the forest. I was marveling at the spectacle of it all — taking in the giant overlapping neon signs flashing the seven deadly sins against the seven cardinal virtues — when I overheard some other engineering prospects remarking how useless and wasteful the installation was. At that moment, I knew I was in the right place. I moved to San Diego a month later, and have been here ever since.”

Prior cites his parents’ music as a powerful early influence — very early. “I remember Bob Dylan’s Street Legal having a particularly profound effect on me before kindergarten. I would sit in the living room while my brother and sister were at school, and watch my mom dancing around and singing to the record. Later, my older siblings introduced me to Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd, which led to my interest in the guitar. To this day, I listen to [Pink Floyd’s] The Wall, often on repeat, several times a month.”

Sponsored
Sponsored

A Lens To the Sun started at the end of 2018 when guitarist Erik Elstermann responded to an ad on Bandmix, which Prior says is “basically a dating website for musicians. We met at a coffee shop and started writing some beautiful acoustic singer-songwriter stuff. Shortly after, his son Logan [a keyboardist] moved back to San Diego after graduating with a degree in music from the University of Miami. Logan is one of the most brilliant musicians I have ever played with, and he added so much cinematic complexity and texture to the music that we all got excited about what the project was turning into.”

As for the band name: “Out of impatience, I gave Erik and Logan a list of five names, and they had to pick one. I only had four I liked though, so at the last minute, the idea of a lens being placed towards the sun popped into my head. I liked the imagery. The sun is made of white light containing all colors, representing stylistically how eclectic we had become. I also liked the idea of a lens concentrating something that was already almost infinitely potent.” Bassist Brendan Cutrer and drummer James Coleman completed the quintet, which has released seven songs as of this writing, including fan favorite “Dive Deeper.” Prior says they’re sitting on roughly one hundred additional tunes, as they discuss how to release them.

Genre-wise, he says he’s happy to be a proghead, but not exclusively. “The Cure, Radiohead, Ours, Muse, Porcupine Tree, Pink Floyd, Roxy Music, and Smashing Pumpkins are my main influences. They have all shaped the mood and overall soundscape I’m trying to create, which, when achieved, makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck. Delicate and languid spaces of beauty punctuated by ferocious guitar monsters have always done it for me.”

The band’s singular vision also applies to playing live. “Starting out, most venues were looking for cover bands capable of playing long sets. I decided that, given the ample supply of cover bands in San Diego, we would not be one of them. So to book these gigs, we just wrote a lot. Even early on, we would play over three hours of original music.”

The approach could sometimes prove humbling. “We played at the Roxy once in Encinitas, which has a stage almost big enough for a small drum kit. I remember getting hit in the back by the cymbals and my guitar bumping into Erik’s as we tried not to fall off the stage. We also played at the Temecula Balloon and Wine Festival, and were an opening act for Bret Michaels, which was a bit strange. The country rock scene that was present didn’t quite know what to make of us. We had a lot of people standing still and just staring, but we got a few new fans out of it, which was great. And a few people that had never seen us before were singing along to the second chorus, which is something I will always remember.”

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Jazz guitarist Alex Ciavarelli pays tribute to pianist Oscar Peterson

“I had to extract the elements that spoke to me and realize them on my instrument”
Erik Elstermann, James Coleman, Gideon Prior, Brendan Cutrer, Logan Elstermann
Erik Elstermann, James Coleman, Gideon Prior, Brendan Cutrer, Logan Elstermann

Gideon Prior, guitarist and singer with the progressive alt-rock band A Lens To the Sun, grew up in Los Angeles, until a quest for his Ph.D in electrical engineering took him in another direction. “I was initially going to transfer to UCLA,” he remembers, “but at the last minute, I was accepted to UC San Diego, and decided to drive south and look at the campus. I remember the credit union there, intentionally built to look like it was sinking into the ground, and the artificial talking trees distributed through the forest. I was marveling at the spectacle of it all — taking in the giant overlapping neon signs flashing the seven deadly sins against the seven cardinal virtues — when I overheard some other engineering prospects remarking how useless and wasteful the installation was. At that moment, I knew I was in the right place. I moved to San Diego a month later, and have been here ever since.”

Prior cites his parents’ music as a powerful early influence — very early. “I remember Bob Dylan’s Street Legal having a particularly profound effect on me before kindergarten. I would sit in the living room while my brother and sister were at school, and watch my mom dancing around and singing to the record. Later, my older siblings introduced me to Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd, which led to my interest in the guitar. To this day, I listen to [Pink Floyd’s] The Wall, often on repeat, several times a month.”

Sponsored
Sponsored

A Lens To the Sun started at the end of 2018 when guitarist Erik Elstermann responded to an ad on Bandmix, which Prior says is “basically a dating website for musicians. We met at a coffee shop and started writing some beautiful acoustic singer-songwriter stuff. Shortly after, his son Logan [a keyboardist] moved back to San Diego after graduating with a degree in music from the University of Miami. Logan is one of the most brilliant musicians I have ever played with, and he added so much cinematic complexity and texture to the music that we all got excited about what the project was turning into.”

As for the band name: “Out of impatience, I gave Erik and Logan a list of five names, and they had to pick one. I only had four I liked though, so at the last minute, the idea of a lens being placed towards the sun popped into my head. I liked the imagery. The sun is made of white light containing all colors, representing stylistically how eclectic we had become. I also liked the idea of a lens concentrating something that was already almost infinitely potent.” Bassist Brendan Cutrer and drummer James Coleman completed the quintet, which has released seven songs as of this writing, including fan favorite “Dive Deeper.” Prior says they’re sitting on roughly one hundred additional tunes, as they discuss how to release them.

Genre-wise, he says he’s happy to be a proghead, but not exclusively. “The Cure, Radiohead, Ours, Muse, Porcupine Tree, Pink Floyd, Roxy Music, and Smashing Pumpkins are my main influences. They have all shaped the mood and overall soundscape I’m trying to create, which, when achieved, makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck. Delicate and languid spaces of beauty punctuated by ferocious guitar monsters have always done it for me.”

The band’s singular vision also applies to playing live. “Starting out, most venues were looking for cover bands capable of playing long sets. I decided that, given the ample supply of cover bands in San Diego, we would not be one of them. So to book these gigs, we just wrote a lot. Even early on, we would play over three hours of original music.”

The approach could sometimes prove humbling. “We played at the Roxy once in Encinitas, which has a stage almost big enough for a small drum kit. I remember getting hit in the back by the cymbals and my guitar bumping into Erik’s as we tried not to fall off the stage. We also played at the Temecula Balloon and Wine Festival, and were an opening act for Bret Michaels, which was a bit strange. The country rock scene that was present didn’t quite know what to make of us. We had a lot of people standing still and just staring, but we got a few new fans out of it, which was great. And a few people that had never seen us before were singing along to the second chorus, which is something I will always remember.”

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Jayson Napolitano’s Scarlet Moon releases third Halloween album

Latest effort has the most local vibe
Next Article

Wild Wild Wets, Todo Mundo, Creepy Creeps, Laura Cantrell, Graham Nancarrow

Rock, Latin reggae, and country music in Little Italy, Oceanside, Carlsbad, Harbor Island
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader