Saint Luna
'It started with, like, three of us texting over the pandemic, & then we decided we wanted to play parties at school'
With a sprinkle of Californian sunshine and a dash of charisma, the boys of Saint Luna have perfected their indie rock sound. The SDSU quintet found each other during 2020 when a group chat, TikTok search & luck brought them together. Instantly they found their groove and started releasing singles like 'Goldfish' and 'Voodoo Doll' where they became notable not only on campus, but within the San Diego music scene. Their self-titled debut album was released in January 2024 and the band has been playing shows throughout the year!
After winning Battle of the Bands in San Diego, the group won an opportunity to perform at the Shabang Music Festival in San Luis Obispo. It was there that GRRRL Music was able to sit down with the guys, chat about life, the San Diego music scene, and their biggest influences.
GRRRL Music: So it sounds like you formed your band over a group text, through the pandemic?
Bradyn: It started with like three of us, texting over the pandemic, deciding we wanted to play parties at school and then we wrote a song, posted it on TikTok...
Wick: Yeah, and then I saw it on TikTok and had been looking for good musicians and I found them!
GM: What was it like to work creatively through these tiny screens during the pandemic and making music? Were there a lot of technical aspects to that?
Photo Credit: Artist's Instagram
Tanner: We actually got super lucky, since we were in college, we were all living together and we had a studio in the garage, practicing every day & making TikToks. Then some of us were in a fraternity, so we used that to build up momentum for the band.
Bradyn: Yeah we just had people who wanted to come, hang out and watch music, which was cool.
GM: What do you think about the San Diego music scene right now & the community as a whole?
Charlie: It's getting so strong nowadays. When we started, there weren't like any bands that I knew about since Sitting On Stacy, but they weren't like our four-year of students.
GM: Clearly there's like a meeting of the minds happening between all of you, which is crazy when you have so many people in a band. What is it like when you all write together, what's the chemistry?
Tanner: It's a song by song basis, I'd say.
Charlie: Yeah, I feel like a general process is that someone will have an idea whether it's lyrics or chords, show it to the band and if we like it, lightning in a bottle, catch it right there and then.
Wick: It's not the easiest to do, but I feel like it pushes all of us and we get the best work out of it.
GM: What's been one of your favorite songs to perform lately?
Tanner: My favorite one that we perform live lately has been the new one that we're writing right now, 'Revolver'. It's on a new, hopefully the newest single coming out, coming pretty soon hopefully!
Paarsa: Off the album!!
Tanner: That one is probably my favorite one to play!
Bradyn: You know, good ole, 'I Feel It', hearing people sing it back to us is like a newer thing to us. It's just surreal, like we wrote that in a garage 2 - 3 years ago and it's cool to see what it's blossomed into.
Paarsa: I'd have to say, 'I Feel It' too, cause that song is one of our most streamed songs on Spotify so it makes me feel good. A lot of people sing along, and my drumming in that song is super unique and I don't know, I just love it.
Charlie: 'No Time', it's just faster, heavier, I can sink my teeth into a bit more and it's just fun to play.
Wick: Mine is actually, currently it's not one of ours, but kinda because we do it our own way, it's 'Half Full Glass of Wine' by Tame Impala.
Charlie: He plays it perfectly and adds his own touch. I mean, that's the cool thing with covers, you don't try and copy a record, you do it your own way with your own sound and give tribute to the original creators.
GM: What are some of your influences right now?
Bradyn: Spacey Jane for me!
Tanner: Mine would be more like King Gizzard
Paarsa: I've been listening to a lot of Fleetwood Mac right now. Stevie Nicks! Love her.
Charlie: I'm going to go with Turnstile, I've been giving myself a headache with them. They're fucking sick!
Wick: I've been listening to a lot of rockabilly, these guys make fun of me cause I like country music. We all kind of throw different influences out to each other.
GM: That's gotta be a fun group chat though!
Charlie: It is, but trying to pick a new cover can be a fucking nightmare. It's like Zeppelin, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Spacey Jane, Black Keys...like fuck!
Bradyn: So opinionated (laughs).