Profile: Almost Famous

Four hours driving past farm and cattle farms left me in the dry desert valley of Fresno. This is a neighboring city to the alternative band Sola Luna.

Based out of Clovis, the band is composed of front man Zack Southers, 20, guitarist George Gomez, 21, bassist Ethan Rizo, 20, and drummer James Alston, 21.

They bring a sound similar to Modest Mouse and Interpol of the ‘90s indie rock era.

Since the band formed around a year ago, the majority of them do not live in Fresno. Gomez and Alston attend Azusa Pacific University in Glendora, Rizo attends Citrus College and Southers stays in Fresno.

I wait in a empty Wendy’s parking lot for Southers and Alston to show me where their concert would take place on Oct. 26. This part of town looks like a wasteland with nothing but homeless people walking around, a few in electric wheelchairs.

One approached me as I wait. He politely asks if I had any change so he could buy a can of beans since Wendy’s was too expensive for him. I told him I only had my debit card on me, he said okay and quietly rolls away.

Southers and Alston arrive in a white Mercedes Benz. This is our first time meeting each other, but right off the bat Southers exudes positive energy. He asks if he could bum a cigarette, and the conversation flowed as though we had known each other for years.

Oddly enough, Sola Luna continues to write new material despite the four hour distance between them.

“We’re pretty good at managing it,” Southers said. “I think we understand one of us is going to have to drive that way, or we’re going to have to drive that way, and it’s okay because it’s just how it is.”

The cigarette burns out and we proceed to the venue, where we will meet up with Rizo and Gomez.

The outside of the warehouse-turned-music venue looks like an old abandoned airplane hangar, surrounded by old muscle cars in the process of being rebuilt and guard dogs at the gates.

Walking inside is a surprise. There is a full PA system and a stage built better than most venues in Los Angeles.

“This is where it all started,” Southers said. “This is where I recorded the first EP.”

Southers started Sola Luna while in a rock band in high school, but said the band was not for him since it was none of his music.

“Then, all of the sudden I was like, you what? I’m gonna be a fucking front man. Fuck it, you know,” Southers said. “I started taking voice lessons, and a year later is when I really got started.”

Southers recorded all the instruments on the first EP in the warehouse except for the drums. From there, he met Gomez through a mutual friend while attending one of his shows.

“I showed him “IDEK” when I first got the rough mix of it, and I fucking hated it,” Southers said. “I didn’t like it at all.”

Southers remembers Gomez liking the recording and saying, “‘Bro, that’s a good song it sounds really good.’”

From then on, Southers said he and Gomez became close and the music flowed from then on.

“Eventually it just clicked, and I was like, ‘bro, do you want to be my bandmate?’” Southers said. “And I couldn’t have made a better choice.”

Rizo and Gomez arrive at 6 p.m. with two hours until the start of the show.

Alston and Rizo joined Sola Luna when Gomez moved down to attend APU, while Southers stayed in Fresno.

Gomez said this is when he met Alston, who played drums in the chapel band.

“He goes up to me and goes, ‘Hey, me and my band have a show in LA … and we don’t have a drummer. Could you fill in?’” Alston said.

“I played a couple shows, and they were like, ‘you wanna stay on?’ and I was like, yeah let’s do this.’”

A similar scenario was thrust upon Rizo. Rizo said he is “technically” the newest member to Sola Luna, but in context this is not entirely true.

The group knew Rizo for a while, as he would sub in for them at bass from time to time. Gomez first met him through chapel choir, while he sang and Rizo played bass.

Rizo was in a different band at the time, The Charisma. He played a show with Sola Luna and the show did not go to plan.

Rizo said though he “did have a connection with the guys in The Charisma,” he saw something more creative in Sola Luna.

“I wasn’t really a big part of the creative process in The Charisma,” Rizo said. “Sola Luna was different. I feel much more creative and inspired when we (Sola Luna) work on music.”

Southers said Rizo “went from subbing to ‘am I, like, your bass player?'”

Soon after, Rizo became a full-time member after being invited onto a Los Angeles and San Francisco mini tour in 2018.

8 p.m. rolls by and Sola Luna takes the stage.

They start the set with “IDEK.” After the song finishes, Southers tells the crowd to move closer to the stage, bringing a more intimate vibe for the rest of the set.

“When we play, it’s really cool to see the first few rows not on their phone,” Gomez said. “And because they probably haven’t heard us before, or (they’re) really listening to us for the first time, they’re a really into it, you know; like, really interested.

“Seeing that engagement is something special.”

The lighting and fog machine works to the band’s advantage, evoking a post-punk feel. Their genre is hard to describe since each song sounds different, but each song still sounds like a Sola Luna track.

Halfway through the set, Southers hits a riff. The force of his in body motion snaps his leather guitar strap.

“Anybody have a guitar strap they could lend me?” Southers said.

Sola Luna finishes their scheduled set, playing every bit of material they have.

“I guess we have time for one more song, so we’ll play IDEK again,” Southers said.

One of their friends goes on stage before they play and whispers something in Southers’ ear.

“Actually, scratch that,” Southers said. They end the set with “Summer Colours.”

The group exits the stage with two more bands set to play.

On and off stage, the group sticks together by cracking jokes and flat-out enjoying the environment around them.

This was not just any show; it was a hometown show for Southers.

“Everyone was wasted. Girls were making out; what more could you ask for in a show?” Southers said.

As for playing live in a warehouse next to a freeway overpass, they use their school’s resources to their advantages.

Some of the material was recorded in a do-it-yourself environment while the rest was recorded at APU.

The APU recordings may have not been possible if Gomez did not end up taking a music class where he would meet an important person in Sola Luna’s growth.

Audio engineer and post-film production major Daniel Crane became friends with Gomez when they shared a music theory class at APU. Crane said he produced music, and Gomez saw an opportunity.

Gomez said people around school had told him he needed to meet and work with Crane for about a year and a half.

“So, we took that class together, and that is when our friendship began,” Gomez said.

Crane and Gomez started to collaborate and got down to business with the band’s new material.

“We actually didn’t have a studio to record in, so the first time we recorded we actually recorded in my apartment,” Crane said.

“Lavender” and “Woman” were recorded in Crane’s apartment. “Woman” has not been released yet.

Crane and Sola Luna left the apartment to use the resources they had in APU’s studio not long after.

“We actually added some new claps, background vocals and some new harmonies,” Crane said. “So they were kind of writing a little, but while we were recording.”

The distance may not be as manageable for other bands as it is for Sola Luna.

Gomez said that even if they did live close to each other, they still would not practice every day or every week because of their busy schedules.

But when they do meet up, the sessions are “incredible productive” for them, Gomez said.

“They’re usually five-hour or seven-hour sessions all day, just writing and playing,” Rizo said.

Aside from writing, the band has had a busy year playing shows and branding their name from Northern to Southern California.

From performing on 95.5 KLOS to being invited to play a living room session for YouTuber The Last Magna (Julian Gutierrez), the young band has established a following.

They recorded another living room session in November. Living room sessions were an idea when the band came into contact with Gutierrez, and ended up becoming new job for the YouTuber.

“It was weird, because I was like, ‘have you ever recorded a band?’ And he was like, ‘no’ and I’m like, ‘well do you wanna try and do it with us?’” Gomez said. “We went for it, and then now he’s getting paid for it and a bunch of bands are hitting him up from all over like SD and Norcal.”

Sola Luna has only been a band for a little over a year. The group has come a long way from recording in a warehouse under a freeway overpass to getting invited to play on living room sessions and college radio stations.

Sola Luna is currently recording new music and plans on releasing a new EP “Don’t Forget Your Friends” next spring.

“I think we got a really good thing going here, and I can’t wait to see where it goes, honestly,” Southerns said. “And besides the interview, I’m being dead truthful and really can’t wait to see where it goes.”

Sola Luna can be found on Apple music and Spotify. Merchandise can be purchased through their Instagram at Solaxluna.