“Welcome to the Sunday Studio,” Coastal Saturday drummer Joshua Phillips announced as his audio connected to the Zoom interview. He and bandmate Kainoa Taylor, the group’s lead singer and primary songwriter, sat next to each other, sharing a microphone on a stand. Behind them was part of the band’s Corvallis studio space, where Coastal Saturday not only records their music, but lives.
“Our little content house,” Phillips joked.
Weekends are an important part of the band’s ecosystem. The group, composed of Phillips, Taylor, and guitarist Jacob Ramirez, started off meeting every Friday to practice before switching to Saturdays. Their studio name was inspired by Sundays, which also happened to be the day they made themselves available for an interview. “For the studio, I really like the vibe of Sunday. It’s like the music we’re creating, my bossa nova, the jazz – it’s super chill. It’s relaxed,” said Phillips, adding, “The ‘Coastal Saturday,’ it’s a vibe. It’s just the weekend, lay out by the pool, go to the coast kind of vibe.”
Taylor expanded on the origin of the band name. “The ‘coastal’ part was we’re all from the coast, you know, all from the West Coast or Hawaii,” he explained. “And then we always practiced on Saturdays. It’s very on the nose… Coastal Saturday.”
The band’s title fits their music: breezy, catchy indie pop and rock, held down by Taylor’s youthful vocals and introspective lyrics. Coastal Saturday’s sound came from an amalgamation of different influences: Taylor and Ramirez are from Hawaii, with the former growing up on reggae, later gaining an appreciation for pop, especially One Direction and Five Seconds of Summer, as well as indie rock such as The Strokes. Ramirez pulls from classic rock and blues acts such as Chicago and John Mayer.
“He’s just an American blues guitarist kind of guy… it’s old style and it’s pretty awesome,” said Phillips.
“But he holds it down,” interjected Taylor. “Guitar is his number one thing, like, he can play anything.”
As for Phillips, he grew up in California before his family moved to the East Coast in 2015. His introduction to music was piano lessons, something Phillips did not enjoy. “I was in that for 11 years doing classical piano recitals – the whole thing. And I hated it. Hated it,” he said. “It seriously almost killed my love for music.”
Phillips later found jazz and the alto saxophone, which he described as his musical savior. “I spent seven to eight hours a day just practicing and learning tunes and doing it all by ear,” he said. “And it just pushed me to want to learn more instruments.”
Eventually, Phillips picked up guitar, bass, and drums. He started getting back into piano and picking up film scoring. In college, he taught himself Brazilian Portuguese in order to gain a better understanding of bossa nova, which he describes as one half of the “two big sides” of his music career – the other being drumming for Coastal Saturday.
The band formed while Taylor and Phillips were music production students at Oregon State University. The duo, along with Austin Cassanova, who would go on to be the group’s bassist for their first album, would often collaborate on group projects. Soon, a band formed from the group’s music school assignments.
“We had exams that we were supposed to be doing, and instead, we went to the teacher and asked, ‘Hey, can we do a cover for the midterm and then write an original song for the final?’ And she’s like, ‘Sounds good,’” said Phillips. “And then that’s the way they did the class from there on out because they realized that if you get these people in the room, you just have to get them working on stuff. And that’s what doesn’t happen. So for us, you gotta bug each other a little bit just to get the wheels turning, but once it does, we make some incredible music.”
Ramirez joined the band when Taylor started writing what would be Coastal Saturday’s second official single, 2022’s “Talking Hearts.”
“[Ramirez] was a part of that writing process,” explained Taylor. “And then I was already a good joe shmo with Josh. I was like, ‘Hey, would you be down to do drums for a live recording of the song?’ So, I introduced Jacob to Josh. And then we all did a live performance in the room. And then I saw that it was great working with them together. And then Austin also had the music production knowledge. So, we all vibe together pretty well.”
With that, Coastal Saturday was born.
Among the band’s earliest work was an album titled “In My Own Mind,” a collaboration between Coastal Saturday and Kainoa Taylor’s solo music career. Since then, Casanova moved on from the band. The group has also released two singles not yet on an album: 2023’s “Who We Are” and 2024’s “Magnolia.”
“Magnolia” is Coastal Saturday’s best work to date. An acoustic guitar, quiet percussion, synth pads, and Taylor’s soft vocals build a reflective atmosphere, while the chorus takes it up a notch with gorgeous vocal layering and a memorable refrain as Taylor sings, “Hey, stop the world.”
The song’s formation was a musical coincidence. Taylor and Ramirez were separately writing parts on their guitars before realizing both were in the same key. The two riffs fit together perfectly. Both can be heard interwoven starting in the second verse of the song.
Phillips, who was flying back from France at the time, heard an early version of the track in a voice memo from Taylor. He knew it was something special. “I was coming back like a comet through the atmosphere, coming back from France. Like, I’m ready to put out albums. I want to get working,” he said. “And so [Taylor] sends me this little kicker, and oh my gosh, yeah, it was insane. I was so ready to record that. So we got to work. It’s one of my favorite songs we’ve ever written.”
The chorus was a group effort, with Ramirez writing it, Taylor singing it, and Phillips providing background vocals and percussion. The song was also the band’s first chance to get their new creative home, Sunday Studios, “dialed in.” They plan on opening up the space to help other artists record their music.
That would be yet another creative avenue for the group, who already have a lot of artistic output outside of Coastal Saturday. Phillips is still a student at Oregon State, as well as a music teacher and solo artist. His debut EP, “TSL,” released in February, and he teased an upcoming album titled “Milk and Honey.”
Ramirez is a freelance graphic designer along with his work in the band, also creating the group’s posters and album artwork. Taylor currently works at a bank with the plan of saving up enough to become a full-time artist. Like Phillips, he also releases solo music. His latest single, “paper boat,” brings a synth-heavy, darker sound compared to his work with Coastal Saturday.
“Being a professional musician means doing a lot of things. You’re putting on a lot of different hats,” said Phillips.
Despite busy schedules, the band still has plenty of plans on the horizon. Taylor showed off his Notes App home screen, scrolling through an endless list of lyrical ideas. The band also previewed their upcoming music, which they said will have more of a refined indie rock sound than their past work while incorporating more of the band’s various influences.
Coastal Saturday’s new studio space also promises more musical a-ha moments like the one that resulted in “Magnolia.” One even happened mid-interview, as Taylor stopped to discuss a sudden inspiration.
“So, this is going to be new to you,” he told Phillips. “I was thinking about having a director for each song, like a creative director and vision person… I think we should assign a song like, alright, Josh is the creative director for this. And then Jacob, you’re going to take care of this one, and we’re going to fulfill that vision as best we can. Because I feel like a lot of the songs, I’ve mainly run a lot of the lyrics and the melody, and I want to give more voice to everyone.”
The band mentioned a Beatles influence in terms of incorporating every member’s songwriting chops in their upcoming material.
“In this next album, it’s definitely gonna be kind of a reflection of that where you’ll hear a song that might be a little bit more Josh, a little bit more Brazilian focused, and you’ll be like, ‘Oh, that’s cool,’ but it’s still a Coastal Saturday song, and you’ll hear that. Same thing with Jacob,” said Phillips.
While waiting for Coastal Saturday’s next album, those wishing to hear some of the band’s work will still get the chance, with the group’s next show taking place at Oregon State’s “Soundbox 7” Intermedia Festival which will take place from May 19-21. Details can be found on the university’s website.
As for the band, their future plans involve not just a new album but the goal of continuing on as full-time musicians.
“We came together because we share so many of the same passions and goals and the same sort of drive,” said Phillips. The band’s cohesion and talent, as well as their new studio space, seem to prove that those goals have become reality. Coastal Saturday is here to stay.
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0epv9NwCMvfKAWmled2dfj?si=9f5-QHXDT6SGiS8uyp5lSg
