The Lagoons are an Austin-based duo comprised of brothers Joey and Ryan Selan.
The two grew up in LA playing various instruments in their middle school jazz band, but it wasn’t until their move to Austin, TX that they formed The Lagoons.
The duo has a knack for creating laid back beachside-approved indie rock music that’s somewhere between groovy lounge and indie pop. The Lagoon’s smooth, mellow mix of 70’s yacht rock with modern synth-pop features a prominent saxophone and is perfect for relaxing on a summer day.
Their new single, “Close My Eyes (And I Wonder)” is a new single off the duo’s upcoming EP Escape due out April 6th.
You can also check out a brief Q&A with The Lagoons and Casablanca Sunset below.
Enjoy!
Casablanca Sunset: How long have you been making music?
The Lagoons: As brothers, each of us grew up playing instruments in our school jazz band from an early age. Eventually a little later on, we began writing our own music and jamming together. Fast forward to 2015 when we officially formed The Lagoons and began working on our first EP.
CBS: What are some of your influences?
TL: Growing up, we listened to a lot of classic rock and jazz music. In addition to classic rock and jazz, our inspiration also comes from soul, folk, indie-electronica, and synth-pop music. Some of our main influences are Steely Dan, Daft Punk, Fleetwood Mac, Radiohead, Tom Petty, Dave Matthews Band, Alt-J, and Zero 7.
CBS: How would you describe your music to someone that has never heard it before?
TL: It’s a unique blend of 70s and 80s classic rock music (like Steely Dan and Fleetwood Mac) with modern electronic dance music (like Daft Punk). Our sound emits chill vibes with a strong focus on harmony and groove.
CBS: What inspired you to move from Los Angeles to Austin?
TL: I (Joey) went to college at the University of Texas at Austin so that’s what brought me out here. Seeing how incredible the music scene was as well as the city in general, I convinced Ryan to move out to Austin in 2014 from LA to officially start making music as The Lagoons.
CBS: Your single “California” has seen a fair amount for play online. Besides the fact that it’s a good song, what would you attribute to it’s success?
TL: It’s kind of just had this organic growth, from blog features to Spotify playlists to TV and retail outlets. It’s gotten a lot of great exposure that we’re very grateful for. We’re just really proud to have been able to create something that so many people have been able to listen to and hopefully connect with.
CBS: What does your upcoming EP, Escape, mean to you? Was there any inspiration behind it?
TL: ‘Escape EP’ is about the idea of escapism. Sometimes people need an escape from reality, whether it be a literal or a mental escape. There was a lot of bad going on around us at the time we were working on the EP and tended to use music as a remedy.
CBS: Any plans for the future that you’d like to share?
TS: Yeah, we have a few shows coming up as well as a tour that we’ll be announcing next week – we’ll be performing at Stubbs on March 1st with Culture Wars and then we’re performing at SXSW this year for Bandsintown’s Big Break Showcase on March 14th at Javelina. Then in June we have a co-headline tour with Future Generations in the midwest/east coast. We also have another new single dropping March 9th and then the full EP will be released April 6th.
Thanks, guys! For more on The Lagoons, visit their website here.