In case you missed it, Audacy is proud to present a special performance and interview with Iration, recorded in the Helpful Honda Sound Space at the World Famous KROQ in Los Angeles.
LISTEN NOW: Iration in the Helpful Honda Sound Space
Always ready for their next surf break, Hawaiian-bred musicians Micah Pueschel (Lead Vocals/Guitar), Adam Taylor (Bass), Joe Dickens (Drums), Cayson Peterson (Keyboard/Synth), and Micah Brown (Guitar/Vocals) --Iration -- have perfectly blended their influences of reggae, rock, pop, funk, R&B, and dub into a distinct, hybrid style all their own.
As listeners know, this isn't the first time Iration has been around the block, getting huge support from KROQ for their 2018 single "Press Play," which was a "surreal" experience for the band, singer Micah Pueschel tells host Nicole Alvarez. "Growing up in a place like Hawaii," he explains, "the radio that we get over there is not KROQ, I'll just say that. It's like, Wilson Phillips -- I mean I love it, but it's not KROQ! It's an iconic station, it's an iconic piece of Americana really. I would say KROQ is responsible for breaking so many bands and being the tastemaker of music around the country, and Rock music specifically around the country."
After getting their start during their prep school days in Santa Barbara, California, the members of Iration first began winning over bar and college crowds before getting their shot at an official tour in 2008 with the band Pepper. That experience, Micah says, helped them figure out how to make music and touring their full-time jobs.
With the band's eighth studio album, Daytrippin', set to arrive on October 6, which was teased back at the beginning of the summer with the title track, the concept of "success" for the band, Micah admits, "has always just been being able to do it full time as a job. I think that was always the first goal. 'Can we live and pay our rent?' We all lived together in a house for a long time and that was interesting, to say the least. Bunking up, sharing rooms... that felt successful at the time. Then it was like, 'Oh if we could get o a tour bus,' that would feel like success for us... or we could sell out the Roxy Theater... and then it kept progressing. The goals got a little bit bigger and bigger."
Being able to stay grounded amid that success, Micah says, is owed to his island home. "Hawaii is a place where... if you get a little too big for your britches you will probably get brought down to earth. And nobody can really operate, no matter who you are... You go out there and see the guys from Metallica or Jack Johnson, who are gigantic stars, and they're just everyday guys when you're in Hawaii. I think that's part of it."
Also... lots of golf. Micah admits it's "one of those games that can really make you humble. No matter who you are you can embarrass yourself and there's always a shank or a bad shot that's gonna bring you back to earth."
Iration is set to hit the road beginning in October with Artikal Sound System and CYDEWAYS. Be sure to check out their music video for "Daytrippin'" above and the band's full fall tour itinerary below.
"We really wanted to try something different," from their past offerings Micah says of their forthcoming album, Daytrippin'. Over the last three albumes, he explains, "We were able to experiment and really push our songwriting... What we wanted our sound to be, and what we wanted to sound like. We pushed it out to a lot of different... things. So, when we came back to this one we said we need to go back to what makes Iration a band, which is the synergy when we play together live. When we're playing together, there's an energy that is bigger than the sum of the parts. None of us are crazy virtuoso musicians or virtuoso singers or anything like that, but when you put us together there's a different kind of energy there and I think that's what we really wanted to capture with this record."
Don't miss Iration's full performance and interview with Nicole Alvarez above, and stay tuned for more action from the Helpful Honda Sound Space right here on Audacy.
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