“We are in this band not for money or fame, but because we love playing music and look to continue to release relatable music for everyone to enjoy.”
Chris Lomeli (29-vocals), Kevin Arcaro (29-bass), Michael Arcaro (27-guitar), and JD Perone (27-drums) form the indie pop/rock band, Wild Sons. I spoke with them about how they came to be, their influences and what they hope for the future.
Since young ages (as early as 5 years old), the members of Wild Sons grew up with different musical backgrounds which helps attribute to how their band sounds today.
“All of our families raised us around different types of music and ultimately supported our growth as musicians. Our parents were all willing to host band practices at their houses and take us to shows when we weren’t old enough to drive ourselves. Many years later, they continue to influence us to keep playing music by coming to all our local shows and promoting us on social media outlets.”
Their home lives were positive in creative and musical ways which opened up their love for music at young ages. From old posters and memorabilia from concerts hanging in their homes to their family members being musicians themselves, their upbringing had an influence on their musical ambitions.
Michael and JD have been friends since 5th grade, Kevin and Michael are brothers, and Chris was introduced to the group through a mutual friend. Having a close bond has allowed them to keep the band going despite their unique situation.
“We now live about 2 hours away from each other and all hold full time jobs with different schedules, yet we’re still able to keep creating and releasing music together. We have to do a lot more work remotely and put a lot more effort into the band in general, but we try to get together as often as once per week to meet up in person and run through everything. Needless to say, things were a lot easier when we all lived in the same city, but we really love making music so we find ways to make it work.”
Here is a little more about how Wild Sons formed and the story behind their band name:
“All of us have been playing in and out of different bands together for years. We’ve all tried a lot of different projects with other musicians and have experimented with different genres, especially in our earlier years, but ultimately we’ve been most content and successful as Wild Sons.”
“JD, Kevin and Michael had been playing together under a different band name from 2012 to 2016. During that time, we realized we were writing songs to fit a certain sound and style, but it just wasn’t “us”. The songs had no substance and became unenjoyable to play, and we felt like we kept hitting a wall that we could no longer get past. We wanted to make a change and start creating music that could depict the changes and experiences we were going through and truly write something that a listener could identify with. We needed to re-brand. We met our singer, Chris, a couple years back through a mutual friend and had been to some of his local performances. It just so happened that Chris was looking for the same things as us at the same time. He was making changes in his professional career and adapting from previously being a two-person performing act to a solo act. Since he was performing so much locally, we reached out to Chris to see if he knew any vocalists in the Palm Springs area that would fit our new sound. He said he would be interested to do it himself and offered to lay down a demo vocal on a new instrumental we had just finished and we were amazed at how well his vocal style blended with our music.”
“Regarding our band name, there isn’t really a specific story. But when we were making all of the changes within the band, we decided to change the name to Wild Sons. We felt it fit with the overall theme of writing music that other people our age could relate to. Under the new band name, we based our first 4 songs around being “fearless and young”… living life to the fullest with no regrets. And it stuck with us from that point on. When we work on new music we write down personal stories that happened to us or we write about things we’ve been through recently, and we try to convert those stories into lyrics for our songs.”
All of the completely different types of music Wild Sons listens to contribute to how their sound has developed over the years. From influences of music ranging from hip hop & rap to 80’s vibes & pop, their music is almost hard to define as one genre.
“Our music has really matured since we started writing together as Wild Sons. We like to create sounds that can be listened to by a large group of people and try not to stick to one specific lane. All of our musical preferences play a part in each song we record.”
“For example, JD’s hip hop and rap influences really help with our production implementing drum loops and hat loops underneath the live drums, and his pop influences are heard in our vocal melodies. Kevin has really developed an ear for finding catchy bass grooves. Similar to 80’s music, a lot of our newer songs are carried by bass grooves and work guitar in as almost an auxiliary instrument. Michael’s musical influences help develop the plucky guitar sounds and chords that fill out empty spaces in those bass grooves, as well as using pads and keys to give songs their overall mood. Finally, Chris’s R&B and soul influences really play out in the vocals in our songs. The main vocals are usually pop driven but a pretty much all of the background vocals and vocal runs showcase his love for R&B and soul.”
Their musical influences are constantly changing but some all time favorites include Justin Timberlake, Colby Wedgeworth, Lincoln Brewster, and Sir Sly. Their most recent favorite artists include Charlie Puth, Shawn Mendes, The 1975, Young the Giant, Walk the Moon, Bruno Mars, and DNCE.
A few months ago they released an EP called “After Hours”, which include songs recorded in 2017. New music is in the making, as they just finished a session for two new songs that will be released later this year. Be on the look out for those and for upcoming shows!
“With our schedules, it’s easier to write a couple songs at a time rather than sit down and try to write a full album. “
They have performed at quite a few places over the span of their careers and here’s thoughts on their most memorable performance:
“Now that Warped Tour is in its last year, we have to say that those were our favorite performances and that it was amazing to be a part of that experience. As kids that was our favorite festival to attend and we always dreamt of being able to play any of the dates. In 2015 and 2016, we were fortunate enough to live out that dream and play a couple of California dates.”
With new music on the horizon and a promising future, I was curious to see what they thought their band would look like 10 years from now:
“It’s crazy to think, but we all may be parents with families in 10 years! Hopefully if that’s the case our kids are all following in our footsteps, forming bands and making music together, just as we did. In the foreseeable future, we are going to try and play a lot more shows and focus on expanding our fan base again. The music industry is in a weird place right now. When we were younger, people loved going to shows for local bands. It seemed like there were shows to go to almost every weekend and we always had small touring acts playing during lunch break at our high school. Now, the industry is more music festival driven and you see a lot less local venues hosting shows and a lot less kids attending those shows that are still happening. We’re holding on and hoping to see the trend come back for bands to have opportunities again to play and gain fans in person rather than through social media.”
With authenticity sometimes not being apparent with present day artists, it’s clear that Wild Sons has a vision and wants to connect with anyone that may hear their music. Take a listen to their music and catch a local show if you can!
Fun Fact: Favorite record of all time
Chris: Robin Thicke – Evolution of Robin Thicke
Michael: Lincoln Brewster – Oxygen
Kevin: Incubus – Morning View
JD: The Devil Wears Prada – Plagues
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