Tidal Babes are Makin’ Waves in SoCal’s Rock Scene

When Chris Qualls, Lyndsi Austin, and Danny DeLeon (photo L to R) formed Tidal Babes four years ago, they immediately loved the vibe, and the music they were making, but Lyndsi says there was one small problem, “(We) didn’t really know where Tidal Babes fit into the L.A. scene.”

“There’s a lot of surfy garage rock,” she explains, “like Lolipop (Records), and Burger Records, and that kind of vibe, and then there’s more just the straight punk rockers, and we’re kind of somewhere in the middle – we’re kinda surfy, but the production quality is higher than just like a garage rock band, so we were kind of, for a while, trying to figure out where we fit into all of it.”

Qualls says they found their spot – “It’s Orange County.”

The secret, Lyndsi says, is in the sand. “I think the closer to the beach you get, the more our music kinda fits in.”

Lyndsi (vocals) and Chris (guitar / bass), aren’t just bandmates, they’re also married, and with Danny on drums the Tidal Babes trio have released a string of singles, and EPs since 2017.

Their sound is one part The Go-Go’s, one part Veruca Salt, with fun, and attitude, perfectly swirled together like two flavors of ice cream on a hot summer day.

I caught up with all three members of Tidal Babes to find out how they created their musical vibe, their desire to spread SoCal sunshine all over the globe, and how they might just become your new best friend.

 

You’ve told the Tidal Babes origin story a number of times during interviews, so I want to approach this subject in a bit of a different way. What kind of bands were each of you in at the time you decided to form Tidal Babes? 

Chris: I was solely doing songwriting and production for other people.

It had been a while since I had been in a band, or project, and I think that was a big part of why we wanted to start it. I had missed playing live music. I’d been studio guy for years at that point. So when Lyndsi and I were at this show for the band The Drums, we were like, “This is really really cool. What do you think it would sound like it someone did a West Coast version of this?”

The Drums were very cool, and hip, but had a very New York type of feel, to us, and we were like, “What if we just went full Southern California influenced, hip, pop-rock type of band.” (We) hit up Danny the next day about it, and he was in.

Danny and I had been, growing up, playing in punk rock bands, so it seemed like the natural fit.

Danny: At the time I was in a band, it was like a dance pop band, just playing a bunch of shows, touring and stuff. Chris, like he had mentioned, he and I had been playing music together for so many years, so it really did seem like a no-brainer. Just the idea of the music, the style of music, it makes so much sense, and I wanted to switch it up, I was looking for something different, so it was like yeah, of course I would do it.

Lyndsi: I moved to L.A. in 2016. January 1st, 2016 was my first day in L.A. Prior to that I lived in Salt Lake City, (UT), and my band there was kind of a shoegaze band, I guess you would say, and I sang and played bass for them for about four years.

When I moved to L.A. we didn’t have a band for a few months, and we all just kinda missed it. Well, I guess Danny was still playing, but Chris and I were like …

Chris: Let’s do something.

Lyndsi: Yeah, we just missed doing live shows, and I’d been in rock bands previously, and I kinda missed more of that edgy performance vibe.

I read that the conversation that led to the formation of Tidal Babes happened over whiskey after that Drums show. You formed the band basically overnight, so what was the conversation like that made everything happen so easily? 

Chris: Prior to that show Lyndsi and I, we were kind of gearing up to maybe have a project together that was a little bit more electronic pop, so I think we knew we were going to do something together, we just had, I guess, the context a little different in our minds before that show.

When we were at the show I think I was talking a lot about how I, and a lot of my fellow songwriters, when we’re doing pop songwriting sessions, have a tendency to overthink things, because you’re always wondering – is the artist gonna like this? Is the A&R gonna like it? Is the manager gonna like it? Is it gonna get picked for the single. So you kind of lose a lot of the natural feeing of the session by overthinking it, and overanalyzing every lyric and every melody. I think that was one of the main things that I’d been complaining about, and we wanted to keep it simple. The whole idea behind it was – what if the band was just fun? Fun for people to listen to. Fun for us to play. Fun for us to write.

We decided we would go into it with a cap on the songwriting where we would write at least the basic bones of every song within an hour, and that would force us from overthinking, and over-analyzing every step of the way.

We went home that night after drinking a little bit after the show, and wrote the song “Do You Wanna Come Over” in like 40 minutes, and we were like – this is cool, this is a lot of fun, this was exactly what we wanted.

(We) sent it over to Danny, and then just decided to keep it rolling on the fun train the entire course of this band’s history.

I noticed in all the “likes” you listed when you were discussing pop songwriting, not once did you say – do I like it? It was will the artist like it, will the A&R like it, will the manager like it? At no point did you say – will I like it? 

Chris: Yup. Good catch.

Lyndsi: Exactly. Which was part of the inspiration, and it just came so easily, and naturally, and anytime we started to spiral out on a thought, like, “Is that good? Is it not?” we were just like, let’s just go with it, trust your instinct.

From the very beginning it started out as just being really easy. With our songwriting, and performances, it’s just always fun.

Chris: I think we’ve been doing it for so long it didn’t make sense to be in a band that was stressful. I feel like all of us have had bands that have had drama, and were just more trouble than they were worth, so from the very beginning it was like, OK, let’s just do it with our best friends, and just keep it all simple.

Danny and I have a great dynamic.

Lyndsi and I also have a good dynamic.

I should hope so! 

Everyone: {laughs}

Chris: Our unofficial fourth member is my writing partner Eric (Straube), who is one of my other best friends. (He) helps us write some of the songs, and plays bass for us live, but just doesn’t like taking pictures, and doing interviews, and that kind of stuff. He’s in the background doing his own thing, but still is a very important piece of our puzzle, and he is so easy to get along with.

That’s just what we wanted, a band that was easy and fun, and I think we’ve kept that going.

Lyndsi: We should give him some kind of incognito name that he goes by in Tidal Babes.

Your lyrics are equal parts fun, and truth. What other musical ingredients would you say makes a Tidal Babes song a Tidal Babes song? 

Lyndsi: I think we intentionally try to keep it edgy.

Chris and I really pay attention to lyrics in songs, and we wanted it to be something that was like different little details in the lyrics where you’re like, oh, that’s kind of interesting.

The idea of the L.A. fashionistas mixed with the West Coast punk scene all together, I think that’s kind of the story we try to tell in our songs.

Chris: I feel like we make an effort to keep the lyrics pretty conversational, not too heavy, not too metaphorical. We want it to seem like stuff that you would overhear people talking about at a bar in L.A., rather than deep poems about meaningful things that hurt us in the past.

We wanted to just keep it very light … where it’s easily accessible to everyone. We wanted to take people to having a margarita on the beach. If they’re in the middle of a blizzard in Minnesota, we wanted them to be able to throw on a Tidal Babes song, and imagine that they’re at some rooftop bar on Sunset, or something like that. We tried to keep the lyrics very easy, and conversational, for that reason.

Lyndsi: I also think not being from California, growing up I always had this idea of California – it’s sunny, it’s beautiful, the people there are so chill, and palm trees. So I think I definitely romanticized California before I moved here, and then, of course, moving here it was like, oh yeah, it’s amazing. I always try and picture that image when we’re doing our songwriting, and I think that’s the image we try to quote-unquote sell.

Chris: Yeah, Southern California.

I heard your upcoming single, “All Night,” and the opening lyric “You stole my heart / you stole my car,” is something I’d love to overhear someone say in a bar! 

Lyndsi: Exactly! {laughs}

Did that actually happen? 

Chris: It is an anecdote that I did overhear from one of my friends growing up, so it is based on a true story, but did not happen to me.

Wow. I’m glad it didn’t happen to you, but I’m also kind glad it happened in real life. I don’t know why, I just am. 

Everyone: {laughs}

Lyndsi: Having truth to it makes it interesting.

Chris: Yeah, one of my friends way back in the day was dating this just total shitbag of a dude who was very addicted to drugs, and addicted to danger, and I don’t know why, but she just couldn’t get over him. He would do dumb shit like steal all of the money from her purse to go buy drugs. One time she was supposed to go to work, and her car was gone, and she didn’t know what to do. She didn’t call the police because she didn’t want him getting in trouble, but dude didn’t come back for like five days.

Lyndsi: That is so insane.

You report that car stolen! 

Chris: She was a sucker for him, man.

You had a show with the Dollyrots, who I know are a fun, wild time. With that in mind, what’s the most trouble you’ve gotten into, or almost gotten into, at a show, or on the road? 

Lyndsi: That’s a good question.

Chris: I feel there’s always trouble for us. I mean, the band started over whiskey, and has continued over whiskey for years and years, and I think that’s kind of a staple for us when it comes to the live show, the pre-ritual, the post-ritual, the day after ritual …

Lyndsi: Whiskey fueled. {laughs}

Chris: Yeah. One of the things I enjoy doing, up until the last year, is just meeting new people, having drinks with new people, smoking weed with new people. I feel that helps us out a lot with the band, but also in the songwriting and producer community, where people have a tendency to cut through the bullshit when it comes to networking if they think you’re in it just to get something out of them.

If you just have fun, cut loose with people, just hang out like you would with your friends, have some drinks, smoke, whatever it is, you can form real relationships with people, and then if you end up working with them down the road, or end up doing something together, that’s great.

I think that we’re pretty good about getting to know the other bands that we play with, and crossing over from green room to green room, and sharing drinks, and getting into a little bit of trouble here and there. I feel that always does really well for us.

Danny: For sure.

We’ve never been the type to trash green rooms, or throw chairs out windows, or anything like that. We’re pretty chill.

Lyndsi: Chill, but fun.

For more Tidal Babes, check out tidalbabes.com, download their music on Bandcamp, and follow them on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.