Los Saints Make Sad Songs Bright With The ‘Welcome To Confusion’ EP (INTERVIEW)

Photo credit: Stu Alfano

Southern Californian and Mexican-American band Los Saints recently released their debut EP, Welcome To Confusion, with Enci Records building on their live play sound and previous songwriting. This particular group of songs had a very timely genesis when frontman Angel Mariscal decided to write about a very sudden end to a relationship that happened within a few weeks of going into the studio. Finalizing lyrics and building the ideas for the album took on a somber tone, but that’s actually something that has always interested him as a songwriter. But the extra layer of vulnerability this added to the songs is something that pushed musical development into new territory for Los Saints. 

Working with Keith Cooper of Dearboy in LA, they laid down the tracks to build up their sound, which Cooper calls “jangly” and “bright”, an apt description for the mellow and meditative tones on the EP that suggest emotional reactions but take them into reflective territory. Mariscal and his cousin and bandmate Emiliano Garcia often collaborated together on the songs, and friend Gianluca Exposito also worked on the EP with them. I spoke with Angel Mariscal about their first studio venture, the decision to include such recent emotional experiences in the songwriting, and the making of their entertaining, and sometimes very personal, videos. 

Hannah Means-Shannon: What was your songwriting process like for the songs we find on Welcome to Confusion

Angel Mariscal: “I Lost You” is a song that I made myself on a music-making program on a computer. I was able to create drums that sounded super-real, then I brought it in, and everyone learned their parts, and we put it on the EP. But with other songs like “Fouund You Somewhere”, I made the demo, then took it into the guys, and the demo went up to the very first chorus. Then, together, we built up the rest. I’ve always liked how a three-piece sounded, and even just as a two-piece I still like how these songs sound. I think basslines are super-important, and I often want to have control over that. 

HMS: I know that some of the ideas on this EP are related and stemmed from a specific time when you had an intense breakup experience. Some people get quiet when experiences like that happen, so what do you think made it possible for you to start talking about it through music?

AM: I really like somber feelings as something to write about. I want to make people feel something. These are sad feelings, but the breakup happened only a week before I wrote the lyrics for all the songs and only two weeks before we went to LA to record. It was as if the two events combined. This thing happened, but in a way, it was perfect timing to write about. I decided to write about it. 

Me and Gianluca [Exposito] have a lot of good conversations about our experiences, whether they were yesterday or right now, and he always says, “But hey, it makes for good music!” [Laughs] It’s hard to explain, but I’d say that not everybody is happy in this world, but everybody has some sad in them. Making songs that are sad are also songs that are easier for people to relate to, and that’s what I like.

HMS: I think you’re right. Some people make happy songs because they hope to actually make people happy, but it’s kind of hard to make other people happy, especially if they aren’t feeling it. Working with sad songs means you’re working with what’s there. I like listening to sad music because it makes me feel less alone.

AM: Exactly, it hits on those internal feelings and brings them out. Some songs sound super-fast, but the lyrics are super-somber when you look at them.

HMS: You can definitely mix a really energetic, fun sound with heavier lyrics. 

AM: People don’t even realize the heaviness sometimes.

HMS: That is, in some ways, true of this EP because it is very soothing and mellow, with plenty of groove. It’s a nice feeling even though some of the ideas are sadder. Would the EP have been a totally different project if the breakup hadn’t happened?

AM: Yeah! It’s so weird to think about, too. It works out.

HMS: What do you think of the sounds you were going for on this EP? Were you talking about specific moods or feelings with Keith Cooper?

AM: We did talk about what the EP was about, but his focus was more on what our sound was already, as a band. He described it as “jangly” and “bright”. I like all the ear candy that you hear in “IDK”. There’s a lot of vocal play in that song, with a random delay here, and double vocals there. 

HMS: There are plenty of interesting layers.

AM: The music and the songs were there, but I think Keith understood what we were going for and he did a really good job of amplifying a lot of that. Everything was perfect. We’ve been going back with him again for that reason. He’s “the guy”!

HMS: Working on new music, now that you’ve done an EP about the whole breakup, are there new things you want to write about?

AM: I do. After writing that EP, I realized that it was the most in-tune that I’ve felt with my emotions when writing music. Everything else before that, there had been some more somber elements, but the fact that the EP was about real life meant that there was a whole new level of vulnerability to the songs. I definitely have new things to write about, and it may not be as literal as the EP was, but I want it to still be as in-tune with my emotions as the EP was. 

HMS: It makes sense not to move away from that once you’ve found it.

AM: Exactly. It’s writing out of what you know you’ve felt and how to put it in a song. Hopefully our very-near-future stuff will show a lot of growth.

HMS: I think the video for “Lost You” must have been difficult to shoot because so many locations are used, where all the backgrounds keep changing. How did that come about?

AM: Actually, beforehand, I was super obsessive about making our videos. I would pick where we would go and what we do. But for that video, I actually let someone else come up with the entire thing. We’re working on a lot of new material, and we needed help, so we let someone help us, Spencer Sese. We talked about ideas. 

The song reminded him of Route 66 and so we went to 12 locations, including Slab City. We were getting super close to those sculptures to get footage and some of the people thought we were taking videos of them. One guy got a megaphone and said, “There’s no filming us. We are not the sculptures. Please treat us like humans and enjoy the shooooow!” [Laughs] That was crazy because we spent 14 hours in the car to hit all those locations. It was all in one day.

HMS: That was a tough idea that he came up with, but there’s something interesting connecting the video to the song. In the song, you have that feeling of things that are lost and found, and in the video, to have the band blipping through these different landscapes makes you feel lost, which is kind of cool.

AM: I agree, though I hadn’t looked at the video like that. Whenever you’re looking to work with someone who can amplify your sound or visuals, they have to like the song, and Spencer’s idea was amazing. We all agreed with it and felt it fit perfectly with the song. That will definitely not be our only time working with him. 

HMS: With the video for “Fouund You Somewhere”, you have an old VHS video feeling to it, and it doesn’t take itself too seriously. It also doesn’t explain things, which lets the audience make their own decisions. Was that filmed in your hometown?

AM: It was filmed in downtown San Diego. The first location we used was actually at a ranch. We had a whole story to it at the first location, where we are in rancher clothes, but we didn’t end up including it in the video. Maybe someday we’ll put that out there! It’s a little, minute-long movie. The idea for the video is something that me and Emiliano [Garcia] came up with together. It was to dress up like cowboys in the city as a nod to our culture. That was the core of the idea and the look. It was really fun to make. The VHS look happened because I asked my dad if I could use his camera, a Sony handycam.

HMS: Wow! Most people edit their videos to make them look like that. They don’t actually use a vintage camera. That’s awesome.

AM: It’s a 90s camera. But oh my god, did that cause us issues. In the old beat-down ranch, that was right by the border to Tijuana, about ten minutes from there. The camera gave us so many problems that a lot of footage was lost, but I want to make a behind-the-scenes video, and I still will. Half of the shoot was with audio, the other half had zero audio, so it was a real 90s experience! My dad maintains everything he has super-well, though. 

HMS: So, “Thanks, Dad” is the message. The cowboy outfits also made their way into the press photos that Enci Records sent out.

AM: Besides ourselves, Enci really liked our work on that. They thought it looked bad-ass and wanted to do a photo shoot with it. So we did, with the bolo ties and everything. We wore those clothes for the music video because we liked it. It’s not necessarily the forefront of our music or of us, but it does put it out there that, “This is what we come from.” As little kids, that would be our average clothing. Emiliano is from Tijuana, that’s where he was born. I was born over here. The clothes connect to our culture, and as kids we’d be in those boots, running around in the mud, wearing cowboy hats, getting bitten by chickens. [Laughs] 

HMS: I can see that using these clothes makes sure you’re saying, “We’re not trying to hide this aspect of ourselves.” You’re letting it have a place, even in the way you tell people who you are. 

AM: Exactly.

HMS: By the way, it’s so sad, in that video, when the taco falls on the ground. It looks so good just before it falls on the ground.

AM: That is the saddest part of the video! Those things were so good. 

HMS: The loss of good food is very universally sad. You could go viral with that clip.

AM: The taco-drop! 

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