Sitting across the table from Nick Santino warps me into a pre-2010 world filled with neon colors and black eyeliner, but I’m quickly reminded that this Santino is grown up. Gone are the days of computer generated music backed by a live band, and here are the days of a different level of musical inspiration of his life.
We’re at 8123 Fest, Santino’s just finished up a set with his newest band Beach Weather, and he’s gearing up to perform again with A Rocket to the Moon. The fest for Santino is a long time coming, having been friends with headlining band The Maine for almost the entirety of his career.
“It’s been ten years in the making I think,” he said of the festival. 8123 was established by The Maine after 10 years of being a band, and 7 years of being an independent label, lifestyle brand and more. “It’s been under all different names over the last ten years and they finally settled on the name 8123 but, uh, it’s cool.”
For Santino, 8123 and their earlier workings have been a staple in his career. “In the very beginning of [A Rocket to the Moon] I was with Tim and 8123 — it wasn’t 8123 at the time.” Curator of 8123 management Tim Kirch was Santino’s manager starting out. “Then like a year and a half into Rocket we ended up switching paths and going with a different management company and throughout most of Rocket’s career we were with that company.”
The Maine offered Rocket a spot on the summer 2013 Throwback 8123 Tour, right around the time they were debating plans for their final outing as a band. It was during that time that Santino reconnected with Tim and began working on solo projects. “Tim was like, ‘I’ll help you put your solo stuff out.’ So we just kind of, you know, rekindled that flame and yeah we just kinda took it from there. And the solo thing just kind of turned into a Beach Weather thing.”
Speaking with Nick, the impact 8123 has had on his career and his growth as a musician is clear. He grew up with this group of artists, who were both his friends and creative catalysts. Rekindling his relationship with manager Tim Kirch — who happens to be the older brother of The Maine’s drummer Pat Kirch — allowed Nick to reopen doors with old friends who were able to help him dive into his musical vision. “It was me doing my thing for a minute, and I recorded a solo full length record with Pat from the Maine,” he tells me of Beach Weather’s formation. “When I did a tour — an acoustic tour — This Century was on it and Sean — who was in This Century and is in the Technicolors now — and I always just kind of talked about writing.”
It was their diverse musical backgrounds that brought the two longtime friends together to make music. It was there that the first Beach Weather single “Chit Chat” was born. “He kind of helped me create that beginning process which I thought was just gonna be like this little fun side thing, put some songs out and then I ended up loving it.”
But starting a band in 2016 is much different than starting a band was in 2009. The biggest difference, according to Santino is “probably Myspace,” he laughs. “It was cool starting a band back then cause the internet — it was obviously a thing but you didn’t have as many social things.”
Referencing the earliest days of Facebook, and music streaming websites like PureVolume who ruled the first stages of breaking bands on the internet, there’s a drastic contrast in how social media is used today, and Santino is not shy about it. “A lot of people took full advantage of the MySpace thing as artists and stuff I thought it was really cool because it was done differently than now where, now obviously the internet’s great for bands but there’s so many platforms.”
Crediting MySpace for his discovery as a musician, Santino expresses a kind of maturity that many bands who are starting out don’t have. Having a leg up with his experiences with A Rocket to the Moon, his insistence of a simpler times really makes you think about how music is marketed today. “Obviously there’s something behind that you know? That’s how I met Tim, is he messaged me on Myspace. Same with like our label — we were with Fueled By Ramen — our A&R guy found me on MySpace and came out to a show. I played in like some weird place in Illinois and kind of all this took off from there.”
The growth was much more organic before. “Back then we were busting our ass, it wasn’t like you just used MySpace.” There was no instant success or sensation back then. Santino recalls spending hours in front of the computer reaching out to fans. “That’s how you got people to come out to shows.”
And while the times may have changed, the hustle hasn’t for Santino leading Beach Weather. He's continously working on new music and cultivating a sound that captures this new era. “I think we’re really chilling down our sound, like the sound of this band. And I feel like people are really seeing that, really recognizing that.” The Chit Chat EP feels natural for the band and is giving them headway for a full-length. “We’re all excited to do it. You can only get so much on an EP.”
This Spring’s tour with The Maine and the Mowgli’s will give Beach Weather that final push into a full length album cycle. With new exposure from the combination of 8123 core and Mowgli fans, it’s a new crowd, and one they’re excited to get in front of. “I’m really interested to see how their fans kinda react to us and The Maine. It’s kind of like merging worlds almost.” Like most seasoned musicians, it’s fun for Santino to push those touring boundaries. “I always love seeing the tours that are like unexpected… I’m looking forward to that.”
As for his personal excitement, Nick still lives in the budding-musician era of his life. “I still get excited about little opportunities that we get. I kinda like the surprises.” But for now, Nick has to prepare for his not-so-surprising performance with A Rocket to the Moon.
While I let my fangirl slide a bit and ask him about A Rocket to the Moon, he shows me the setlist and assures “Baby Blue Eyes” will be on there. His voice is slightly hoarse, which he blames on too much practice to remember all the words. “For everything I forget, I’m just gonna go ‘you got it!’ … I don’t think they’re expecting me to know all the words,” he jokes. It’s no longer Nick performing solely with a computer — “It wasn’t even a MacBook, it was a Gateway!” — representing those formative years of his career. He’s now ready to share the stage with his old bandmates again after getting a feel of the crowd with his new crew.
As we wrap up, I watch the kid with the Gateway computer emerge into an experienced rockstar go on to celebrate his beginnings and the next phase of his career.
