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Sledges was born from an Instagram jam invite
Chula Vista band will play Soda Bar on May 26
Sledges’ new single “Fading” fades in with undulating soft tones that suggest some wavering seascape — the sort of thing the Cure did so well in their salad days. Then the menacing bass from Alex Angulo moves in, paced by Mason Haidar’s bass drum. The drums drop out, Julian Romero lets loose a few classic-Cure guitar plucks, and singer/guitarist Philly Gomez backs off a crucial scosche from his survey of alienation and frustration. Then a sprinkling of feedback and amp-buzz, and over and out. Sledges doesn’t believe in long-windedness. They may not be punk, but they get to the point.
I told the Chula Vista quartet, coming to Soda Bar on May 26, how I heard elements of Cure, Cocteau Twins, and Nirvana in their new one. They demurred, politely. “No,” said Philly, “even though I grew up listening to all of those bands, I don’t take much inspiration from them these days, and it’s probably a subconscious influence.” He allows, though, that Nirvana — along with Smashing Pumpkins, Green Day, and My Chemical Romance — meant a lot to him growing up.
Video:
Sledges: Fading
“I discovered them through 91X and YouTube,” Philly recalls. “I always grew up with rock music in the house; my dad would play The Cure, Van Halen, and Black Sabbath. I started playing guitar in sixth grade, but only played so often. Then I started taking it serious in high school, around 10th grade. I only took a couple of lessons and then began to teach myself from YouTube. The hardest part for me starting out was changing chord shapes smoothly.”
For Julian, “I’ve always been around music as a kid and played around with various instruments, but I got serious about guitar in 2018. The toughest part was learning barre chords in the beginning.”
Mason Haidar learned drumming from Van Halen, Black Sabbath, and the Police. Alex Angulo played cello in school from age 8 to 18. “Growing up, I only really listened to classical music and pop/rock covers played on string instruments — 2cellos and Vitamin String Quartet — which is how I discovered alt-rock. It was Muse, Arctic Monkeys, and the song ‘Is This It’ by the Strokes, that got me interested in playing bass and guitar.”
Philly and Julian had never been in a band before Sledges. Alex and Mason had some previous experience in post-punk and punk, respectively. Quoth Philly, “It all started in 2020, when Mason posted on his Instagram story asking ‘who wants to jam?’ and I replied and said I was down. I’d never met Mason in person before. We set up a date, and since Mason was already friends with Alex, he invited him to jam with us on bass. We texted beforehand, discussing what covers we wanted to do. We picked ‘Cherub Rock’ by The Smashing Pumpkins and a couple of classic punk songs by the Misfits and the Descendants. We then started making original material right away from the riffs and ideas I had before meeting them. We stayed a three-piece until 2022 and we added Julian on second guitar.”
They recorded their EP Losing Pace’s four tracks with Mike Kamoo at Earthling Studios, although “Fading” came from Alex Jacobelli at Sunsick, and “Letters” from Julian’s house. Philly sums up: “Each song is fairly different, but still keeps the same lyrical theme and feel. We wanted it to be heavy, catchy and atmospheric, and I think we incorporated that into every track. We tried to make the EP start fast and aggressive, then smoothly go into a more emotional feel ending with the song ‘June Is Better Than July.’
“The first four [songs] were all written fairly apart, but with the intent of them being released as one project. ‘June Is Better Than July’ was the last song written, a couple of months before we released the EP. The last two songs were both older songs that we had laying around. ‘Fading’ has a more metalcore/ post hardcore influence blended with the dream pop sound. ‘Letters’ was our first time writing a song with sampled drums, heavily influenced by My Bloody Valentine.”
They enjoy Chula Vista, but they’ll travel as business beckons. “It’s always really fun playing the Che Café,” affirms Julian. “Only bad time I had was on the way to Tower Bar — my car’s ball joint failed on the freeway and I ended up having to get a ride from my cousin. I played the gig, but my nerves were still high from the crash.”
Here's something you might be interested in.
Sledges was born from an Instagram jam invite
Chula Vista band will play Soda Bar on May 26
Sledges was born from an Instagram jam invite
Chula Vista band will play Soda Bar on May 26
Sledges’ new single “Fading” fades in with undulating soft tones that suggest some wavering seascape — the sort of thing the Cure did so well in their salad days. Then the menacing bass from Alex Angulo moves in, paced by Mason Haidar’s bass drum. The drums drop out, Julian Romero lets loose a few classic-Cure guitar plucks, and singer/guitarist Philly Gomez backs off a crucial scosche from his survey of alienation and frustration. Then a sprinkling of feedback and amp-buzz, and over and out. Sledges doesn’t believe in long-windedness. They may not be punk, but they get to the point.
I told the Chula Vista quartet, coming to Soda Bar on May 26, how I heard elements of Cure, Cocteau Twins, and Nirvana in their new one. They demurred, politely. “No,” said Philly, “even though I grew up listening to all of those bands, I don’t take much inspiration from them these days, and it’s probably a subconscious influence.” He allows, though, that Nirvana — along with Smashing Pumpkins, Green Day, and My Chemical Romance — meant a lot to him growing up.
Video:
Sledges: Fading
“I discovered them through 91X and YouTube,” Philly recalls. “I always grew up with rock music in the house; my dad would play The Cure, Van Halen, and Black Sabbath. I started playing guitar in sixth grade, but only played so often. Then I started taking it serious in high school, around 10th grade. I only took a couple of lessons and then began to teach myself from YouTube. The hardest part for me starting out was changing chord shapes smoothly.”
For Julian, “I’ve always been around music as a kid and played around with various instruments, but I got serious about guitar in 2018. The toughest part was learning barre chords in the beginning.”
Mason Haidar learned drumming from Van Halen, Black Sabbath, and the Police. Alex Angulo played cello in school from age 8 to 18. “Growing up, I only really listened to classical music and pop/rock covers played on string instruments — 2cellos and Vitamin String Quartet — which is how I discovered alt-rock. It was Muse, Arctic Monkeys, and the song ‘Is This It’ by the Strokes, that got me interested in playing bass and guitar.”
Philly and Julian had never been in a band before Sledges. Alex and Mason had some previous experience in post-punk and punk, respectively. Quoth Philly, “It all started in 2020, when Mason posted on his Instagram story asking ‘who wants to jam?’ and I replied and said I was down. I’d never met Mason in person before. We set up a date, and since Mason was already friends with Alex, he invited him to jam with us on bass. We texted beforehand, discussing what covers we wanted to do. We picked ‘Cherub Rock’ by The Smashing Pumpkins and a couple of classic punk songs by the Misfits and the Descendants. We then started making original material right away from the riffs and ideas I had before meeting them. We stayed a three-piece until 2022 and we added Julian on second guitar.”
They recorded their EP Losing Pace’s four tracks with Mike Kamoo at Earthling Studios, although “Fading” came from Alex Jacobelli at Sunsick, and “Letters” from Julian’s house. Philly sums up: “Each song is fairly different, but still keeps the same lyrical theme and feel. We wanted it to be heavy, catchy and atmospheric, and I think we incorporated that into every track. We tried to make the EP start fast and aggressive, then smoothly go into a more emotional feel ending with the song ‘June Is Better Than July.’
“The first four [songs] were all written fairly apart, but with the intent of them being released as one project. ‘June Is Better Than July’ was the last song written, a couple of months before we released the EP. The last two songs were both older songs that we had laying around. ‘Fading’ has a more metalcore/ post hardcore influence blended with the dream pop sound. ‘Letters’ was our first time writing a song with sampled drums, heavily influenced by My Bloody Valentine.”
They enjoy Chula Vista, but they’ll travel as business beckons. “It’s always really fun playing the Che Café,” affirms Julian. “Only bad time I had was on the way to Tower Bar — my car’s ball joint failed on the freeway and I ended up having to get a ride from my cousin. I played the gig, but my nerves were still high from the crash.”
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