THE FAZES talk debut album UNDERGROUND STARS; reflecting on their growth as a group + aspirations for the future

When you push past San Diego’s iconic surf culture and dive a bit further into the diverse music communities that make up this dynamic California city, you will find the exploratory electric pop band, THE FAZES, rising through the ranks. 

Female fronted, POC, and queer-identifying, this group does not make music to fit in. Rather, they create stimulating sounds that are unique to their own creative vision and shared inspirations, pulling stylistically from the 80’s disco, futuristic aesthetic they collectively share a passion for. 

THE FAZES is made up of guitarists Eli and Zro, synth player Reana, drummer Sofia, bassist Eric, and their front woman, Isela on vocals. Fueled by a love for live performance, the artists that inspire them, and the genuine comradery they’ve built as a unit, the six-piece begins a new chapter with the release of their debut album, UNDERGROUND STARZ. They express gratitude to their label Egg Records, producer Edgar Alajandre, and audio engineer Erick Garcia for the efforts that made this record come into full fruition. 

As THE FAZES prepared to open for Los Bitchos as well as their own album release show, Off The Record Press sat down with the band in the studio to discuss their favorite new tracks, finding community in the city’s creative scenes, and their hopes for the rest of 2023. 

OTRP: Congrats on the release of the debut album! Can you share how you're feeling about being able to put this out in the world?

Isela: This is a project that I've been wanting to do for a really long time. I’m so excited and proud that we got to this point. We started from just teaching ourselves instruments to coming out with music that we're proud of. Feeling a little bit anxious too because there's lots of things to plan to release the album. I just wanted it all to go smoothly and be well received but I'm very excited.

Sofia: I'm probably relieved and excited. Being in the band for as long as I've been, it's nice to finally be proud of something to put my name on with the people that are here.

OTRP: How long has the band been going on? 

Sofia: I joined in 2019. 

Isela: The band was going on for a year - maybe a year in a half before Sophia joined. 

OTRP: The Fazes started out as a surf punk/ garage - type band but now you’re leaning more into the disco/dance + electronic space. Can you walk us through that shift in focus and how we can hear it on this new album?

Isela: When I first started the band, I was really inspired by the Southern California music scene - a bunch of surf punk. I'd go to shows and people would be moshing and crowd surfing. I wanted to be part of that. That's kind of how I started learning to write songs - listening to other bands and learning those structures and stuff. I think I've always been into the 80s, futuristic aesthetic. So with becoming a better musician, I was able to explore new sounds, like we got a synth. So listening to new music and understanding it inspired us to almost replicate it in my own way.

The shift started like during the pandemic because we weren't playing shows. One of the last shows - an EP release - we like got a lot of money from selling shirts and stuff so I bought the Yamaha synth. That's when I made our first song that sounded different which was “CAMERA SHY”. It was very post-punk, disco dance. That was the first one where I was like, “okay, I want to try this out.” I just wanted to combine all those genres that I really like - all these high energy, dancey things.

Reana: When I first started the band, I played guitar and the synth. It was super punk back then but now with the keys and the way we’ve been jamming and experimenting with different sounds, it definitely sounds different - catchy and vibey.

Eric: We all hang out and listen to music together and we all have a mutual love for disco and dance music. So when we practice we can refer to songs that we listen to and all know so through that, we’ve been able to play more dance songs. 

OTRP: Are there any songs that inspired y’all that come to mind?

Eric: Chicano Batman’s “Black Lipstick”. Group’s like Metronomy and Daft Punk. 

Zro: I think what's really beautiful about observing what the sound of The Fazes is transforming into, even before Eli and I joined the band, is understanding the people that I play music with - not just as musicians but as people as well. Understanding how the sounds that we bring into this space that we share collectively, are all informed by our lived experiences, our own tastes in music - we all have really eclectic tastes. You can hear that with each of us playing our instruments. As Isela was saying, we needed people dedicated to playing these parts. So with Eli and I joining the band, the guitar parts are now done more justice because there are people dedicated to playing them. Same for the vocals. Everything kind of fits a little bit differently than it did when the band was structured a little bit differently.

OTRP: Is there a song or music moment on the project that you're most proud of?

Eli: One of the proudest moments I would say, is probably the first song we recorded, “PURGATORY”. That was the first time I ever recorded and I added some guitar leads and stuff in it so that was really cool to me. I was so hyped.

Sofia: “JUDAS KISS” is something I'm super proud of because I used to play it with Isela when we were a three piece with a different bass player. It sounds so different now that we’ve matured and have so many other players - it sounds so sick. I like that we have that on the record because it's for sure our song now.

Isela: I'll also agree with Sofia on that song. “JUDAS KISS” was one of the first songs I’ve ever written on guitar. I was like, 19 and I'm 24 now. That was a song I always struggled to record and got mixed feedback on it so to come back to it now, it sounds so beautiful and well done. It’s my favorite song on the album. Just the fact that it's so old and we were able to come back to it and do it the justice that it needed really feels like a full circle moment - something to be very proud of. All these years of experience have really gone into that song to make it complete.

Eric: “PURGATORY” is my favorite one because it's the most fun bass line to play. 

Reana: I love all the songs. Just making them was such a great time with the homies. 

OTRP: Was there a specific moment together or on your own as artists that really solidified this decision to pursue music?

Eli: I love music in general and after I got my first instrument, I knew I wanted to play but I was lowkey super nervous to play in front of people. So I would say definitely the first practice with this band was special. They were like, “you could do your own thing, add whatever,” so I felt like “damn, people think I'm cool. I make cool stuff.” I was still nervous but then was like nah, this is so cool.

OTRP: When we think about music industry hubs - we think New York and LA but the San Diego music scene is really continuing to grow. What excites you most about the community here? Is there an element you wish could change?

Reana: We’ve become really good friends with the people we’ve met and I consider that community. 

Sofia: Also, we were in the surf scene and now we’re in a different area. They’re both great but I think it goes to show how big the San Diego music scene is. 

Isela: I've been going to shows since I was in high school so the whole scene was way different back then. We saw these bands blow up. I feel like it all kind of fell apart with the pandemic. It really shifted. We were starting to kind of get into it and now it seems like the scene and the different bands are a lot more separated - they're each doing their own thing. But we just made a bunch of new friends with Egg Record. That in itself is kind of its own scene. Everybody’s connected through that and it feels good. I think everybody there just has a genuine love for music. Before, we would go to shows to kind of just party and have a good time, which we still want to do (laughs) but we have a different intention now. The other musicians around us are also on that same page. They love music and they want to do something with it.

Zro: I feel like this is maybe the perspective of any artist in any city - more resources for us to be able to do our thing. Maybe not even in terms of dollars, but spaces and perspectives. More energy being put into creating the conditions for people who’d like to invest time and energy into arts to do that.

Something a lot of people don't talk about, but it's very real is that, when people are sad, stressed, or overworked and their nervous systems are overwhelmed, what do they turn to? The arts. They turned to music, shows, and creative things that take time and effort to produce and share with others. Yes, scenes in LA, San Francisco, New York, or wherever have been going on a lot longer but there are also a lot more spaces and resources, I think, for artists in places like that, that aren't necessarily available in San Diego yet. I think the scenes here are relatively underdeveloped compared to those other cities. The economic and social makeup of San Diego are also different. Just resources in the realm of space and funding.

OTRP: This Friday you’re opening up for Los Bitchos which is a sold out show. Are there nerves around playing a show that’s not necessarily your own?

Isela: I think most of the shows that we play are other ones that are set up for us. We've kind of just jumped on to a bunch of different shows. This one - because it's sold out and it's a bigger artist that we look up to - we definitely want to nail it but it’s a little bit more relaxed. We're in this space where there's already people there so we want to impress people and gain new fans. We want to play a clean set. With shows that we throw, which we've only thrown a couple, we really curate and really put our time and effort into every single detail of it - the artists, the space, how it's decorated. That makes me have a lot more nerves because we’re managing it while also preparing to play.

OTRP: We just got a new album but how do you envision the rest of the year to look like for the band?

Reana: Tour.

Sofia: Definitely a tour. We always want to tour. 

Eric: We need someone to take us on tour (laughs). 

Isela: We were able to experience a national tour once before when we opened up for Beach Goons back in 2021. Now it's 2023 and we're like, we need to do it again. It was one of the most amazing experiences and I feel like that's a big motivating factor to keep going. We would definitely like to hop on a tour and get more shows with artists that we look up to. There's a list of artists that just really inspire us.

OTRP: Do you want to shout any [artists] out? Speak it into existence? 

Isela: Inner Wave. Metronomy. The Symposium. The Voidz. 

Thank you THE FAZES for sitting down with Off The Record Press!

(Cover photo by chihaimay)