By Morgan James
Photo By Josh DelGuidice
What a treat! I was fortunate enough to catch a local show in Palm Desert where Wild Sons were performing. My intention was to stick around for only a song or two, yet catchy melodies and enthusiastic beats kept my feet gripping tightly to the floor, guarding my advantageous spot beside the stage and eagerly awaiting more. In the last few years I have completely surrounded myself with live music, indulging several nights a week, and there have only been a few times when I have heard a band for the first time and been completely blown away. This was one of those times. Wild Sons gave an impressive performance, boasting a fresh, hip, radio friendly sound unlike almost any other local band I have heard. A music label’s dream, these guys have “it” down from their well-orchestrated stage show to their completely passionate and accurate musicianship, engaging their crowd who excitedly sing and dance along. If I could describe Wild Sons in one word it would be Infectious. I spoke with all four band members- Michael Arcaro, Kevin Arcaro, John David Perone, and Paul Stark- to find out more about one of my new favorite bands.
MJ: Tell me about how Wild Sons formed?
KA: “Wild Sons officially formed in April of 2015, but we have all been playing together in various projects for years now. We grew up together in Palm Springs, but now have a unique situation. I (bass) live in San Diego, Michael (guitar/vocals) lives in Riverside, JD (drums) lives in Rancho Cucamonga and Paul (singer) lives in Palm Springs. We all meet up in Palm Springs on a weekly basis to write and record original music as well as create covers and upload them to YouTube and SoundCloud for our fans to enjoy. I know that commute sounds crazy, but we are all super close friends and really enjoy making music with each other. We don’t have a label or management, but we are working with Connect over at ReverbNation for publishing of our music.”
MJ: Each of your members is a very dedicated musician and it shows in your live playing. What sort of musical experience does each player contribute to your band?
MA: “We have all played and listen to a variety of different music which allows us to each contribute unique ideas when we are writing. JD has grown up playing drums, Kevin has played drums for most of his previous musical projects and took up bass when we started Wild Sons, Michael has played both guitar and bass in previous projects and Paul has always been a singer. One main reason we work so well together is because we have all been involved in music since a young age and we are able to offer up ideas outside of the instruments we play live. For example, JD plays drums but has a heavy influence with vocals when we write, and Kevin plays bass, but he also contributes to drum and production ideas. By knowing more than one instrument, we are able to fill in the gaps and help each other push through the writing process.”
MJ: How does the inspiration and song writing process begin and then come together for Wild Sons? Would you describe your music in a particular genre?
KA: “Defining our music has always been difficult. We all collectively listen to so many different genres for influence that our sound always has something unique in it. I would say that we are an indie alternative pop band that doesn’t restrict ourselves to a specific style. There isn’t anything that inspires us more than playing live and having fresh content to share with our fans. Our songs typically start with Michael putting together a scratch track of a simple drum beat and a hooky guitar riff. He will email this out and we will all sort of build our parts around it and when we meet up, start piecing the song together for pre-production before we record. We all have recording capabilities at our homes, which allows us to contribute to the writing process when we are on our own and then piece everything together when we meet up.”
MJ: Tell me about the recording process and music that you are recording right now? Are you working with any particular producer?
JDP: “We are currently writing a few new songs right now with our talented friend Steven Darling. He is a wiz with production and really helps elevate our music. We do not have an album at this time, but once we finish this writing process and record the tracks, we will have enough original material for an EP. In the past, we have worked with producers: Colby Wedgeworth (The Maine, Lincoln Brewster, Jordan Feliz, Hawk Nelson) and Sean and Alex Silverman (This Century). The writing process with a producer is AMAZING. A lot of the time we find ourselves second guessing a certain melody or part and it’s so nice to have someone with a fresh perspective to provide extra guidance and support. It’s like having a coach on a sports team. We typically work on pre-production on our own, which is where we structure the song with a direction of where we want it to end up musically and vocally. Then we collaboratively clean up the song and take it to the next level in the studio with a producer.”
MJ: Where can our readers see your band playing live?
JDP: “Because we all have full time jobs, we probably won’t be touring anytime soon, but we do play all over Southern California. We have played as far north as Sacramento, and have played the Pomona dates of Warped Tour the past two years. Locally, we have played at The Hood, Hard Rock Hotel, Costas, and are scheduled to play at the Date Shed in December. Fans can keep up to date on shows we have by following our Instagram, Facebook or Twitter (@wearewildsons), and by visiting our website (www.wearewildsons.com) and our ReverbNation page (www.reverbnation.com/wearewildsons).”
MJ: Where can our readers find Wild Sons music online now?
PS: “Our original songs are available for streaming on Spotify, AppleMusic and YouTube and available for purchase on iTunes and a few other platforms. Our originals and cover songs can be found on our YouTube channel as well as on our Soundcloud page (www.soundcloud.com/wearewildsons), and some of our tracks can be downloaded for free at Soundcloud. We also have music videos for each of our singles, all filmed by our good friend, Jordan Pulmano, on YouTube.”
MJ: Tell our readers what to expect from a Wild Sons live performances?
KA: “We love playing live and it’s by far the best part about being in a band. We plan our live shows out in advance and try to make each one unique and different. We have auxiliary drums that we utilize for a drum break in our song “Supernova,” fog machines that shoot out in the air, and a ton of energy to keep people moving and locked in while we perform. Each song has its own mood and energy, so we try to structure our set to carefully take you through those highs and lows.”
MJ: What does the future look like for your band and what are your next goals?
MA: “Our next goal is to finish recording the three songs we are working on and release those throughout the remainder of the year. We will probably work with Jordan again to put together new videos to represent each song. In between, we will be playing more local shows and hopefully have the opportunity to jump on some festivals when the season rolls back around.”
