As the coronavirus pandemic shut down live concert events and people began quarantining at home, the Santa Barbara-based reggae-rock band Iration contemplated whether or not to release its new music.
The bulk of its seventh studio album, “Coastin’,” which was recorded at EastWest Studios in Los Angeles, was in the can by mid-spring. After a few weeks of serious deliberation, the band decided to go ahead with its July 10 release.
“The first songs we put out were ‘Coastin” and ‘Right Here Right Now,’ and we didn’t do it this way on purpose but they sort of fit the time we’re in,” vocalist-guitarist Micah Pueschel said during a recent phone interview. He noted that both singles are lyrically introspective and about being grateful, thankful and living in the moment.
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“There are other songs on the record that are even more strangely applicable,” he continued. “Like ‘Fancy,’ which is about like, ‘Hey, we can stay home and have a party; we don’t need to go out.’ It’s weird that we wrote these songs before the pandemic and they all really seem to be tailored especially for this weird moment in history. It just works though, and the response we’ve been getting from fans is that they’re just grateful someone is putting out new music right now.”
Like most of Iration’s catalog, “Coastin’” is filled with feel-good music, chill Hawaiian island vibes and reggae-rock along with elements of pop, R&B, funk and jazz.
In the studio, the quintet worked with a variety of mix engineers including Jimmy Douglass (Timbaland, Justin Timberlake, Jay-Z), Mark Needham (Fleetwood Mac, The Killers), Nico Marzouca and Rob Marks (Eminem, Usher and Rebelution) and Lars Stalfors (Cold War Kids, Foster The People, Massive Attack) to punch up certain tracks. Despite multiple personalities and varied musical tastes coming together in the same space, Pueschel said the record feels like the most succinct release the band has ever done.
“The main question for us the entire time was, ‘Does this feel good?’” he said. “We asked ourselves ‘Does this feel right?’ We were trusting our guts, our ears, and tried to make songs that just felt good to us and that we wanted to listen to. …Songs that were more timeless and classic.”
This album also features several collaborations including Orange County reggae band Common Kings on “If You Only Knew,” former “American Idol” finalist Eli-Mac on “Guava Lane” and longtime tourmates and friends Eric Rachmany of Rebelution and Stick Figure on, “Right Here Right Now.”
“I think that song was cool for the scene and something that our fans resonate with,” Iration guitarist Micah Brown added. “It’s super exciting to have artists from the genre all collaborating and we knew it had a really good message for the time and people would be pumped that all three of us were on one song.”
Iration played one of the only Southern California festivals to actually take place in 2020 at the three-day One Love Cali Reggae Fest in Long Beach back in February. Since the band has been off the road, both Micahs agree that they’ve only further realized how grateful they are for the lives they live and their fans.
“I think for the most part it’s just the actual show itself that we miss,” Brown said. “When we go out on stage and feel that energy from the crowd, that unity and camaraderie and just the community and ability to see our fans face-to-face and hear their stories and meet them. That’s the hardest part about not being able to go out. Obviously, traveling is also one of the perks and being able to see new places and we get to go back to some of our favorite places and just that experience of hanging out on the bus with the band and spending that quality time together.
“It’s going to be a big party when we’re able to do it again.”