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this theory that only those who dare to
follow their dreams will ever realize them. And I don’t know if I’ve ever
discovered a more pure dreamer than Mike June, vocalist/guitarist of
harmony-infused pop-rock band
The Californias, one of the bands showcasing at this year’s Atlantis.
“Mainly The Californias is a wish, a dream I’ve had in my heart, a place and
a feeling that is happy and beautiful and good,” said June. “Isn’t that what
people want, friendship and peace and a hope for something besides the
sadness and conflict that is so present in everyday life? I want everybody
to be happy and be free to dance and sing with us if only for a little
while. I want to offer them an idyllic dream… a touch of what the faithful
hope heaven is like.”
The band came together after June produced a demo for a previous project of
band mates Ryan Summers and Wes Flowers. When that project ended, The
Californias was born.
“Wes, Ryan and I really became close friends during that time,” said June.
“We basically bonded over shared love of harmony singing [all of the band
members contribute vocals] and classic pop music.”
Together with Roscoe Wilde (drums) and Isaac Blue (keyboards), The
Californias have forged a sound that is an amalgamation of the sunny sounds
of the Beach Boys and the studied pop of the Beatles, while still managing
to sound modern. June said he cut his teeth covering the Beatles and
studying their every nuance.
“I played Paul McCartney in an authentic Beatles tribute band for five
years,” said June. “I toured around and basically went to college on the
songwriting and arranging of the Beatles. It was an invaluable education and
experience… all of The Californias are true obsessive Beatles fanatics.”
June said that although the band is heavily influenced by all the music of
the sixties, including Motown, The Californias’ sound is not meant to be
nostalgic.
“Its really more of a feeling than an era,” said June, “that vibe of music
that’s fun and bright and kind of young and innocent, but incredibly
creative. That’s what we love, songs that come on and everybody starts
singing along. Whether it’s Prince from the eighties or some one-hit-wonder
nineties band or some seventies dance jam, we are all about that classic
song that everyone knows and remembers and likes whether they admit it or
not.”
Among the band’s
three
demo tracks posted at
purevolume.com, “Your Smile” most echoes the puppy love of the Beach
Boys and hand-holding-era Beatles, “Breaking My Heart” is a finely crafted
rocker and “Let’s Dance” seems calculated for audience reaction.
“Pretty girls love to dance, and we are so into that,” said June. “We love
to rock as well because white boys love to hit guitars hard. So our sound is
trying to get those vibes together for people to have fun.”
In a bid to bring The Californias closer to household-name status, the
band is showcasing Thursday at 8 p.m. at the
Hard Rock Café as part of the Atlantis Music Conference, then embarking
on an east coast tour to run August 5-20. June said he hopes Atlantis can
help the band get where it’s trying to go.
“We hope to learn more about what it takes to make all this dreaming into
reality… how to turn our little art project into a worldwide-distributed
physical reality.” |
