Q&A: Servin’ Up Surf and Turf, Strange Case Talks Release of Album ‘Quarter Life Crisis (Deluxe Edition)’
EXPLORING YOUTH, AFFECTION AND IDENTITY — Strange Case is racking up an impressive resume of sounds while drawing on their So-Cal roots as they release Quarter Life Crisis (Deluxe Edition), featuring six new songs. Sun-soaked and crafted with the utmost authenticity, Strange Case is making a name for themselves and garnering a sizable following across Southern California, branching nationwide.
When Zane Vandevort (lead guitar) and Mikey Netka (vocals) met at the skatepark in middle school, their friendship and mutual love for music blossomed throughout high school and up to the present into the Ventura County–based band Strange Case. The current lineup includes Finn Bennett (drums), Griffen Scott (bass), and Andrew Naranjo (guitar), with all five members bringing their own unique talents to the collaboration. Self-described as “surf and turf,” the group blends beach-pop, garage-rock and indie-alt sensibilities throughout their discography and is working to re-define genres. Having progressed from backyard and basement shows to performing alongside the likes of TV Girl, Post Animal, and STRFKR at Shabang SLO Festival last May, the band is on a steady track upwards.
Quarter Life Crisis, released last year, is an embodiment of the West Coast heat and coming-of-age. The upcoming deluxe edition of the album is set to release on August 26th, with two of the six new additions, “Red Somber” and “Seasons” already released. The track list also consists of “Rather Die,” “Margo,” “Last Time,” and “Sunburnt.” Drenched in reverberated guitar with pops of experimental vocal distortions and killer hooks, these songs are fit for sunny car rides with the windows down. These spunky and heartfelt tunes feel simultaneously nostalgic and modern as they show a mature lyricism and songwriting ability. Covering themes of all-consuming love, the bittersweet feeling of being 20-something and finding oneself, Quarter Life Crisis (Deluxe Edition) is truly a must-listen as we enter the month of August.
Read below as Luna talks with members Zane and Mikey about creative inspirations, sentimental songwriting, and entering into a new chapter in the musical endeavors of Strange Case.
LUNA: Tell me about Strange Case! Walk me through how the band began and how you all started making your music.
VANDEVORT: Mikey and I were friends all in middle school. We met at the skate park and he was one of the only other kids that played guitar and drums and stuff so we naturally started hanging out and making music together. Strange Case was basically just Mikey and I and a few friends from high school at first. We were called Static previously and were just playing the classic bunch of shitty shows. We hadn't really found our sound yet. In 2018, we released Purgatory, and that was our first record as Strange Case, which was Mikey, Trevor, Zane, and Shane. That was like the first Strange Case lineup. And that was when we kind of started to sound okay. The current lineup now is Finn, Griffen, Zane, Mikey, and Andrew.
LUNA: Your song “27 Club” has become your most popular. Congrats on it hitting 1 million streams on Spotify — that must be a great feeling.
NETKA: Yeah, that's one of the songs that when we recorded it in the garage and blasted it for our friends, we were just like, “That’s the song right there.” And we've gotten lucky. We have such a strong group of supporters behind us that promote us as much as they can.
LUNA: That’s awesome! So how would you categorize the kind of music Strange Case makes? More specifically, you describe your style of music as “surf and turf” — tell me a little bit about what this means and how this genre has developed.
VANDEVORT: I feel like alternative/indie broadly, but we blend a million different sounds and influences.
NETKA: I always just say “surf and turf.” Yeah. Or if I'm feeling a little funny I'll say “good music.”
VANDEVORT: “Surf and turf” was basically us trying to coin something that wasn’t just indie rock or garage rock or, you know, alternative pop music.
NETKA: Those terms have a connotation to them for some people. So we wanted to come up with something new that would interest people and make them wonder what our sound is so they would maybe go and listen to us when they previously wouldn't have.
VANDEVORT: With “surf and turf,” we wanted to create our own genre — that's why we started calling it that. I saw The Growlers had like “beach golf” — that’s what they call their kind of vibe and sound — and I was like, “That’s fucking genius.” You can't assume anything. Not really. So I was like, “Alright, cool… ‘surf and turf.’” Like, you can't assume much besides maybe there's reverberated guitars, some kind of surfy stuff in there. Which there is, but you're not assuming anything with “surf and turf.” That's us.
LUNA: I love that, it’s super cool. With your music, there's a lot of mixing and blending of different musical sensibilities.
VANDEVORT: Yeah, “surf” is like the beach and then “turf'' is like the grass or city — whatever turf could be. It's a little bit of everything. We don't want to be limited to surf rocky vibes; we want to create a little more.
LUNA: “Surf and turf,” I love it. So on August 26th you're releasing Quarter Life Crisis (Deluxe Edition) with six new songs in addition to the previous album. What can we expect and look forward to from the new songs that you're putting out?
VANDEVORT: They're all very personal songs related to what we feel and experience ourselves. “Last Time” was written about some very personal experiences; “Margo” is about my girlfriend, Margo. “Rather Die” was also written about my girlfriend when we weren't together. “Sunburn” was a song Mikey and I co-wrote years ago and finally decided to use, also a very personal song that resonates with us. I don't know that they’re all gonna be hits, but the deluxe record was a way to still show our fans something very sentimental to us. I think they're gonna dig it and resonate with it.
LUNA: That definitely comes across through the lyrics. You’ve recently released “Red Somber” and “Seasons,” which are included on Quarter Life Crisis (Deluxe Edition). What kind of messages might you be trying to convey through these songs in particular?
VANDEVORT: Speaking on “Seasons,” it fits the Quarter Life Crisis record really well. It's everything a quarter life crisis is: questioning why the hell you're doing anything and you kind of come to this realization that nothing fucking matters, and you're at this point in your life where you realize how delicate and short life is. You're not a 15-year-old kid who thinks you're indestructible and you're never going to die. All of a sudden, things start hurting, mentally and physically, and you're like, “What’s happening?” Those lyrics I'm really proud of — they come from the very, you know, cynical part of my heart. It's like, “Fuck, dude…” Time is such a weird concept, when you realize how fast life goes. “Red Somber” is pretty much Mikey and I putting our experiences together. Growing up and learning how to be a good boyfriend; the roller coaster of young love. I'm gonna leave it up to people to interpret it.
NETKA: I mean, it's funny. I sometimes don't even realize what a song's about until after we finish it. With “Red Somber” — this isn't what we wrote it about — but my take, if you look at the lyrics, tells the story of someone afraid to show their true feelings, which leads to the relationship's downfall because they weren't able to express themselves. But it is up for interpretation.
LUNA: Speaking of writing the songs, tell me about the group’s creative process in terms of songwriting and music-producing.
VANDEVORT: Recording-wise, it was usually just me doing it, and then with Finn joining the band, he started recording and helping me out because he's a brilliant engineer and producer and he's great at mixing too. So he's been a huge player in the recording process now; we work really well together as a team. With writing songs, it's a beautiful thing. We’ll have what we want to write about. Sometimes it's not directly one thing but it's a few things influencing. It's multiple stories, an accumulation of feelings.
LUNA: Totally, so it’s very collaborative.
VANDEVORT: Sometimes I’ll have an initial idea and Mikey will come in and within a matter of seconds have the perfect melody for it. Strange Case wouldn't be what we are without Mikey throwing in all those things when my brain just stops working. It helps so much for us to bounce ideas back and forth.
LUNA: Oh for sure. So what else can we kind of expect in terms of future projects for Strange Case?
NETKA: After the Deluxe Version of Quarter Life Crisis, which is kind of the end of a chapter, I think it’s finishing this chapter and now we have all these new members. We have some plans, but I am not too sure exactly on them so I don't want to speak too much. But I will say, it'll probably be very different from everything we put out previously. I mean, not like crazy. Don't be scared. But definitely a new direction for the band, I'd say.
LUNA: That’s exciting, and a little mysterious. In terms of the future, where do you envision Strange Case? Where are you seeing yourselves ideally as you move forward?
VANDEVORT: Fucking festivals — we want to play festivals. I want to be on that little golf cart with, like, a Modelo in my hand and a cowboy hat, the weirdest grandpa button-up, some cool sunglasses on, and I want to ride in that fucking golf cart backstage at Coachella. And a US tour, that'd be cool too. Texas — we hear you, we're coming!
LUNA: That sounds like the dream to me. Anything else you’d like to touch on for readers?
VANDEVORT: Stop smoking cigarettes and vapes. We, like, totally wrote songs that encourage that, but I'm addicted to the shit — it’s hard to quit and it's killing all of us.
NETKA: I'll just say that everyone should do what they love. No Remorse. Unless it's something weird. Like a not-good type of weird. But be creative. Be strange.
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