For decades, Southern California has been a hotbed for the genre of music known as sweet soul, and right now there is no better example of that sound than San Diego鈥檚 Thee Sacred Souls.
The group released their on Daptone Records in the late summer of 2022 and since then have been building audiences all over the world.
The band 鈥� comprised of bassist Sal Samano, drummer Alex Garcia and singer Josh Lane 鈥� is currently on a sold-out East Coast tour, and 瓜神app Music鈥檚 Brian Burns caught up with them at Durham鈥檚 Motorco Music Hall.
The following interview has been lightly edited for clarity and brevity.
瓜神app Music: You're on tour right now. How has it been so far?
Sal: It's been good. It's been a lot of back-to-back gigs but most of the shows have been sold out. So it's feeling good, you know?
Josh: Yeah, it's always good to be on the East Coast.
瓜神app Music: What has been your favorite song to play out each night?
Josh: It's been fun singing 鈥淔or Now,鈥� because that鈥檚 a song that we only just started performing on this tour. It's a slower joint so I wouldn't expect it to be a party starter, but it's a really relatable song. I've liked singing it and looking into the audience and seeing faces where it literally looks like people are playing back that scenario in their life in real time, which to me is amazing. It鈥檚 almost like a study of human emotions.
Alex: Agreed with that statement on 鈥淔or Now.鈥� I would say my favorite song is 鈥淟ove Comes Easy,鈥� especially if we have the full band with the horns. In Chicago we had a friend filling in on congas. There鈥檚 no congas on the record, but we played it live like that and it was really fun.
Sal: I鈥檇 say the same. 鈥淔or Now鈥� has been fun because we haven鈥檛 played it that much. It鈥檚 also a bit of a challenge because it鈥檚 slow and spaced out. I鈥檇 also say 鈥淪orrow For Tomorrow鈥� is my favorite other song to play because I try to figure out something new to play on bass every time.
瓜神app Music: Let鈥檚 go back a bit to the early days. Tell us how the band started and where y'all met.
Alex: Sal and I met back in 2018. A little bit before we met Josh. And yeah, we kind of all met through our first single 鈥淐an I Call You Rose?鈥� I feel like the creation of that song is when we truly started as a band.
瓜神app Music: Did you have much recorded before that single?
Alex: Before 鈥淐an I Call You Rose?鈥� and before we met Josh we had a few of the first 45s already in the works. Sal and I had the instrumentals for 鈥淚t鈥檚 Our Love,鈥� 鈥淲ill I See You Again?鈥� and 鈥淲eak For Your Love.鈥�
瓜神app Music: Your debut full length was released in 2022, when did you start working on that?
Alex: I guess I would say 2019, or 2020. There was a lot of writing going on then.
Josh: All the way up until 2022. The last song we wrote for the album was written last year, though it didn鈥檛 make the cut.
瓜神app Music: Did the pandemic have any effect on recording?
Josh: It did. It affected everything, really. Even before we were writing the record, we were supposed to play a showcase, and it got halted because of COVID which inadvertently worked in our favor. During that time we ended up building a team 鈥� getting management, getting a booking agent, all the things we didn't have yet. So it really worked out for us. Then we had a lot of time for writing the record. In the heat of it we were doing distance recording, so going in to the studio but trying to pay attention to distancing, which was kind of difficult.
Alex: Yeah, I feel like we finished the record and had that whole time during the pandemic to sit with it and really listen. And then once the pandemic was over we already had shows lined up for us.
瓜神app Music: Can you tell me a little bit about the soul scene in Southern California right now?
Alex: Soul music has always had a presence in Southern California music and culture. We鈥檝e been in the mix with a lot of record collectors who have introduced us to a lot of rare 45s, and that whole culture is what kept soul music alive.
Sal: I would also say, we gotta give props to bands like Thee Sinseers because they鈥檝e been doing it for a long time. There鈥檚 a whole soul scene from way before we started and also a reggae scene up in Los Angeles that has been strong since way before we started the group.
瓜神app Music: What does the rest of 2023 look like for the band?
Josh: We鈥檝e got a lot more touring to do, and simultaneously we鈥檝e got a lot more writing to do. Record number two beckons. Speaking for myself, it鈥檚 going to be really challenging because I like to not be so stressed when it鈥檚 time to be creative. It muddies my creative process. But that鈥檚 a challenge I鈥檓 looking forward to.
Alex: I'm looking forward to writing more and recording. But yeah, it's just tough because we have a lot of tours lined up.
瓜神app Music: Reflecting back on the pandemic and specifically the lockdown, what was the music or art that brought you peace during that time?
Josh: For me personally, I started a newfound journey into yoga, which has been a good mind/body/spirit kind of practice. And I really got into my hobby of photography, key emphasis on 鈥渉obby.鈥� I don鈥檛 think I鈥檓 doing it big or anything, but it鈥檚 been another way to meditate. Those two things along with friends and family, of course.
Sal: For me, I don鈥檛 think it was anything too specific. Music鈥檚 a huge part of my life, so when you have that much more time to just dig in and find new things to listen to, you find all types of new genres and styles of music to get into.
Alex: I think the thing that gave me peace was just writing music and recording. Having more time to play drums and sit with your instrument is a good way to meditate.
