After two well-received efforts on indie rock label Yep Roc, the Comas released their latest album, "Spells," via longtime emo emporium Vagrant Records in May. The hooky, psychedelic pop jewel features as much influence from the Flaming Lips as the Pixies and is part of a roster facelift that has brought blog favorites like the Futureheads and the Hold Steady to the L.A.-based Vagrant.
Not that the Comas expect a bigger label to guarantee a mainstream breakthrough for their music. As frontman Andy Herod readily admits, the suits at Universal (Vagrant's distribution engine) "probably don't know who we are, or really care."
Yet after opening two nights for the Jesus and Mary Chain and shooting a music video that has a link to "Star Wars," it's clear the Comas' profile is on the rise. On his way to a show at L.A.'s Getty Villa, Herod spoke about Vagrant's facelift and the benefits and pitfalls of rocking a well-groomed beard.
Vagrant put out some pretty crappy music for a while, but recently signed better bands like Eels and French Kicks. What do you think caused them to get their head out of the sand?They were selling a ton of records with all these terrible bands and I think it was a conscious decision on their part to move away from that and hire people who lived in New York and were into good music and gain some credibility. I don't know if it's financially working out as they had planned, but we will see.
Is it true that Lord Dashboard Confessional, Chris Carrabba, personally championed your band?He's a huge music fan, acquired our record on his own and got in contact with us. He really liked our sound and is pretty much the reason we are on Vagrant now.
You used the camera that shot "The Empire Strikes Back" to film your video for "Come My Sunshine." Were you afraid that you were going to break it?Our director found the camera somewhere in Mexico and was able to rent it for pretty cheap. He's from LA and has all these weird connections and was able to pull it together. It's worth about $250,000 and you better believe it was insured. The video looks amazing.
You write a lot of songs about magic and the supernatural. Care to place a bet on the Harry Potter ending?I'm more into the nerdy, hardcore sci-fi authors like Greg Bear and Philip K. Dick. I read the first Harry Potter book and part of the second. But now I just stick with the movies. Hopefully something crazy is going to happen at the end. I think Harry is going to turn evil and become the new Voldemort, and spawn some sort of evil Wizard King.
What if I told you that a photo of yourself appeared on a beard fetish site.I'm cool with that. I'm proud of my beard and I know some people like it, and others don't. Sometimes you will meet girls who aren't into beards, and it's understandable—when you're talking, you're talking through the beard. People have to look at your beard and just deal.
The Comas play July 24 at Mercury Lounge
