Baseball Gregg combines the intercontinental talents of Sam (Stockton, CA) and Luca (Sasso Marconi, Bologna). Together, they create the summer-y beach pop that is helping me through these desperately hot, Arizona dog days. All you dream pop aficionados should definitely check out this new video as well as Vacation, the new album from Baseball Gregg.
You can purchase the full album through iTunes here. But, first, make sure you check out the new music video from Baseball Gregg as well as our short Q&A with Sam and Luca about how they got their start together, the new video, and songwriting across an ocean’s divide.
YabYum: First, I was hoping you could tell me how you came to work together, you know, being on separate continents?
Sam: I spent a year going to school in Italy, where I met Luca’s girlfriend in a math class. I became close friends with them, and towards the end of my time there we started working on music together. There was never any intention for the project to continue, but I think we both enjoyed working with each other a lot so we just kept going.
Luca: Working with Sam is always so tight because he’s such a skilled producer and musician. I also like him very much as a human being, which helps.
I’m interested in your songwriting process. How do you hash out songs being so far removed from one another? Is there a lot of Facetime? Or do you send pieces of tracks back and forth by email?
Sam: We don’t really collaborate much during the actual songwriting phase. There are songs that I write and songs that Luca writes. For the first EP while I was still in Italy we got together to record them, and then last summer Luca came to California to record Vacation. We worked together on the tones and textures of the album which helps to unify our different songwriting styles. I think working as completely separate songwriters helps the record to be more dynamic, while the production ties it together as a single cohesive piece of art. (But I could just be over thinking it.)
Who made the video for “On A Bus?” Was this a DIY-endeavor? Or did you work with someone outside the band on the music video?
Luca: When I started thinking about this video I began looking for beach-esque and diving footage on the internet which could go along well with the summery/collage artwork of our LP Vacation made by visual artist Stefi Cometa. I stumbled upon a couple of Florida homemade videos from the ’50s on Archive.org which fit well the mood of the song and quickly edited together with the tune. “On a Bus” is a love song in The Smiths’ sense, which means it is also hella sad, and I think that also all those people jumping on the beach are somehow melancholic.
What’s next for Baseball Gregg? Touring? New music?
Sam: I’ll be in Italy for 3 weeks in August and we’ll play a few shows together, I’m really excited!
Luca: I’m very stoked about future in general, so I guess everything is gonna be great.
