Corsica Arts Club

Corsica Arts Club came on my radar last summer and, with word that they will be releasing their self-titled debut EP on June 9, I thought it was time to share.

The sunny synth pop track “Untamed” is my favorite so far.

It’s a dancefloor-ready track that would fit in perfect on any 80’s mix nestled up against songs by New Order and Erasure.

Brendan Thompson and Arash Parsee are the core of Corsica Arts Club and wrote, recorded and mixed the EP in their home studio blending some pawnshop finds – specifically, vintage synthesizers and an analog mixing console – with modern recording techniques.

The duo met as teenagers while attending prep school in LA and have played in various bands together.

They aimed to capture “the spirit of summer” in the four songs. In their words:

“The warmth of the sun beating down, the cool ocean breeze, and driving along PCH with your friends – heart fluttering with anticipation at the sense of romance, adventure, and endless possibilities that await…”

By Rachel Reynolds - KCRW Music Blog

So many moments are poignant in our mind, forever engraved to revisit when we need a pick me up and a reminder of better times. At the helm of each of those moments is music, which has been the perfect companion to the good, the bad, and the ugly. It's easy to say that this summer, LA based duo Corsica Arts Club music will be the soundtrack to many warm evenings. Their music has a light, dreamy, and euphoric sound to it that transports you to a starlight beach with sand beneath your feet, or a quite road with wind whipping through your hair. It embodies the sounds of Southern California in one effortless strum and reminds you that everything is alright.

Their latest single "Don't You Drift On By" is one of those tunes that embodies the pains and pleasures of summer love, hands outstretched not wanting it to leave. Staccato melodies carry the verses while grimy guitars and brooding ooh's and aah's underscore the chorus. It is a drop of summer love that we don't want to let slip through our fingers and a late night refresh that will refresh with every static drop. Don't let this band slip by your radar, with constant support from California based radio KCRW, it is without a doubt this band is destined for great things. This single is off their forthcoming debut EP, out June 9th.

By Clark McCaskill - EARMILK

Corsica Arts Club’s bright garage-pop emerged last summer with the Golden State paean “California I Follow,” and since then the duo of L.A. natives Brendan Thompson and Arash Parsee have enlisted the services of Nate Chovanec, Jason Mittleman and Peter McArthur to round out the band’s lineup as they continued to work on more music. Their self-titled EP — recorded in their home studio — comes out June 9, and its third single is the buzzing, bouncy “Don’t You Drift On By.” This one has even more surf-rock DNA than Corsica Arts Club’s previous singles; it’s for those top-down rides up the PCH, that bristling guitar riff blaring out of an AM radio.

By Kevin Bronson - BuzzBands.LA

L.A.’s Corsica Arts Club is the project of Brendan Thompson and Arash Parsee, with help from contributing members Nate Chovanec, Peter McArthur and Jason Mittleman. They will issue their new self-titled EP on May 29, following the release of a few acclaimed singles. Their brand of pop is upbeat and energetic with a variety of vocal ranges and clearly impressive musicianship. Now, they have been so kind as to make MAGNET a mix tape. Check it out below.

Can “Dizzy Dizzy”
A lot of excellent music came out of Germany in the 1970s: Can, Kraftwerk, Neu!, etc. This is the first track off the album Soon Over Babaluma from 1974. From the very first chord, it creates a certain atmosphere—you’re instantly transported to some far-off, mystical place. We were blown away the first time we heard this song in college, and to this day it still evokes that same feeling.

Curtis Mayfield “Blue Monday People”
Curtis Mayfield is a big influence on the way we both play guitar. His genius lies in the subtlety, the delicacy with which he plays. It compliments his voice and his songwriting so perfectly without overshadowing anything. This whole album, There’s No Place Like America Today, is fantastic.

Japan “European Son”
Up until recently, we’d thought Giorgio Moroder produced this song, but in fact it was Japan’s attempt at writing something in his style—with the four-on-the-floor kick drum, pulsating sequencer throughout, and airy string synth flourishes. Add David Sylvian’s inimitable crooning and Mick Karn’s unparalleled fretless bass playing, and it’s something uniquely their own. They eventually did work with Moroder on “Life In Tokyo.”

David Bowie “Sound And Vision”
We could have picked any song off Low. It’s a very important album to us: the lyrical themes, the production, really the whole zeitgeist of Bowie and Iggy Pop’s time in Berlin. Low changed our entire approach to making music. It helped us tear down boundaries we’d once perceived and helped define a clear vision of the sort of music we wanted to make. It’s an eternal inspiration, a constant muse.

The Band (With Van Morrison) “4% Pantomime”
The Band is one of our favorite bands of all time and one of our greatest influences, though you probably wouldn’t expect that listening to our music. They were pioneers of home recording, a pillar of camaraderie, and the truest definition of a band: five extraordinary talents uniting to create something far greater than the sum of their parts. This song is about a couple of musicians stranded in L.A. after a gig, with nothing to console them but a bottle of scotch (the title supposedly refers to the difference in alcohol percentage between Johnnie Walker Red and Black). Sharing vocal duties with the brilliant Richard Manuel is the Belfast Cowboy himself, Van Morrison. After the session, as Levon Helm recalled in his autobiography, “There was horror among the civilians at the studio when the two dead-drunk musicians argued about who would drive the other one home.”

Air “Kelly Watch The Stars”
We saw Air at the Hollywood Bowl about 10 years ago with the L.A. Philharmonic. They were one of the first artists that opened our minds to utilizing electronic sounds in songwriting. We find their production techniques and synthesizer aesthetic nothing short of elegant. Must be a French thing.

Lucio Battisti “Neanche Un Minuto Di ‘Non Amore'”
Arash: My parents showed me Lucio Battisti last summer, and it was a revelation! My dad lived in Rome when this album came out, and he says Battisti’s lyrics have the same sort of poetic quality in Italian that Leonard Cohen’s lyrics have in English. This album, Io Tu Noi Tutti, was actually recorded in L.A. with a who’s-who of session musicians: Hal Blaine on drums, Ray Parker, Jr. of “Ghostbusters” fame on guitar …
Brendan: Those dueling guitars! It’s a master class in song arrangement. Amazing across the board.
Arash: The perfect soundtrack to a summer evening in Rome, Negroni in hand.

Chris Bell “I Am The Cosmos”
If there’s a better way to open a song than by singing, “Every night I tell myself I am the cosmos,” we haven’t heard it yet.

Bryan Ferry “The Price Of Love”
We love his vocal phrasing and delivery. Both Bryan Ferry solo and Roxy Music are big influences on us, not just musically but aesthetically, too. Always impeccable album artwork, and always looking dapper like a boss.

The Beach Boys “(Wouldn’t It Be Nice To) Live Again”
Often overshadowed by his iconic brother Brian, Dennis Wilson was a genius songwriter in his own right. In our humble opinion, some of these Beach Boys songs that were never properly released are better than the material most artists put on their albums. - MAGNET Magazine

Brendan Thompson and Arash Parsee have never lived anywhere else but Southern California, so it makes sense that their sound—a dreamy-yet-dancey synth-pop—evokes images of sunshine, the beach, and driving through freeways. “We don’t know anything different,” Parsee says. “We’ve never really lived anywhere else.” Still, Thompson says that’s not all there is: “The biggest influence on our sound is the music we love.” Parsee adds, “And the people we’ve met, the experiences we’ve had.” Backed by Nate Chovanec, Peter McArthur and Jason Mittleman, Corsica Arts Club are releasing their EP on June 9.

Hometown and current residence: Los Angeles

Corsica Arts Club used to be a duo, and now it is not? How did that happen?

Arash: Brendan and I went to high school together. We realized very quickly that we had similar tastes and sensibilities and have been best friends ever since. We became friends with Jason, Nate and Peter in college, and when the opportunity came up to open for Spoon they were the obvious choices to fill out the band.

What's it like being in a band with someone you've made music with for over a decade? Were you in other bands before? What were they like?

Brendan: The workflow is very and natural and efficient. We understand each other on both a creative and personal level very well, which makes it significantly easier to bounce ideas off one another.

Arash: There’s a familiar ease to our working relationship because it’s an extension of our friendship. And yes, we have been in bands before, but they were nothing to write home about.

Did you two grow up in a musical household?

Brendan: Yes, our parents had a strong impact on our musical sensibilities. Neither Arash’s parents nor mine have musical backgrounds, but music was always present in both our homes. We were introduced to an eclectic variety of music very early on, from when we were children.

Arash: Some of my earliest memories are of listening to Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and Bridge Over Troubled Water in the car with my parents, and to Vivaldi at home.

What influenced your self-titled EP?

The Beatles, our teenage years, Jack Kerouac, The Beach Boys, David Bowie and Iggy Pop in Berlin, vintage synthesizers, Roxy Music, Orson Welles, the Hollywood Hills, Malibu, Steely Dan, Thriller, Phil Spector and the Wall of Sound, traveling, David Hockney, photographs of California from the 1960s.

Describe the moment that you two decided to be a band and make music for life.

Brendan: We started composing music very early on in our friendship, and from the beginning we realized that we’d find great amusement in stumbling upon certain ideas—be it a melody, a sound, a chord progression… . It was very gratifying. There’s a great satisfaction to creating something original, but there’s an almost equally rewarding satisfaction in sharing something you’ve created with the world.

Where does your band name come from?

Arash: Without getting too specific, it’s a tip of the hat to how we’ve been meeting up to hang out and make music since we were all teenagers.

Who would you love to collaborate with?

Brian Eno, Nile Rodgers and Giorgio Moroder, to name a few.

What do you do for fun?

Brendan: Recently, I’ve been watching a lot of spaghetti Westerns and building a modular synthesizer.

Arash: I’ve been listening to Dean Martin, rediscovering (Albert) Camus and (F. Scott) Fitzgerald, and watching Mad Men. And of course enjoying the company of our friends!

By Lilledeshan Bose - MySpace Artist of the Day

Paul McCartney, Big Star, breakups, and BFF4Ls—these are a few of the things Los Angeles surf-rock duo Corsica Arts Club [were] marinating on when they wrote "All Of My Friends," the latest single from their forthcoming self-titled EP.

"'All Of My Friends' was written at a most vulnerable time," Brendan Thompson and Arash Parsee told The FADER. "It’s both a reflection on the demise of a relationship and, at its core, an ode to family and friends whose unconditional love and patience provides light in the darkest nights. Though the subject matter is bittersweet, we wanted to convey a sense of triumph and optimism.” And so they plead whimsically, Oh dear friends of mine, help me sing a better day!

Corsica Arts Club EP arrives June 9.

By Zara Golden - The Fader

East coast meets west coast in Figgy’s new remix of Corsica Arts Club’s “Untamed.” The L.A.-based CAC released the track on its self-titled EP in early June that shimmered with light guitars and cosmic synths. The airy vocals blended with the production to create a lush soundscape ripe for a top-down road trip up the Pacific Coast Highway. Meanwhile, New York’s Figgy worked his magic on the track.

The result is nothing short of chill. Chopped vocals and a driving dance beat lends itself to the beach-disco vibe that NYC’s become an odd hub of this summer. CAC’s Brendan Thompson and Arash Parsee tell us they “were mostly inspired by Michael Jackson’s Thriller and Iggy Pop’s The Idiot” when writing the track. “Figgy’s remix captures a mood that’s consistent with the original, but he takes it and extends it to a more nightclub kinda vibe.” Indeed. Consider this your new go-to sandy playlist jam. Vibe out.

By Hayden Manders - Nylon

Los Angeles' Corsica Arts Club released a heavy electronic based self-titled EP with a good handful of banging tracks. "Untamed" was one of those tracks, but Brooklyn's Figgy decided to lighten the load and the make the synths much smoother and the beat much groovier in his interpretation of the track. If anything, the rework has given the track a sunnier vibe and make it even more fun.

By Clyde Barretto - Prefix Magazine

All those fans who gather to throw spoons during midnight screenings of The Room now have another clip from the modern cult classic’s auteur, the one and only Tommy Wiseau. Wiseau directed the music video for L.A. indie outfit Corsica Arts Club’s “California I Follow,” which debuted on Noisey, and it is The Room-tastic. The band apparently met Wiseau at a screening of the film, because of course they did; where else could you find Wiseau?

The song slightly resembles Phantom Planet’s ode to California (and The O.C.), and the video reflects that aesthetic. Set in a sunny living room during a party, with window views of California greenery. Wiseau’s style is unmistakably present, and the characters’ outfits have that same dated-yet-also-impossible-to-place quality that helps make The Room so strange. As in The Room, relationships disintegrate for no discernible reason, and naturally, the director himself shows up. This time, he sports blonde hair and John Lennon glasses, but he quotes his character from The Room (“love is blind”), so there’s no mistaking him.

By Christian Holub - Entertainment Weekly

Everybody’s favorite director of unknown origin is back behind the camera (and in front of it as well, obviously). Tommy Wiseau, he of the endlessly rewatchable The Room and the not-even-watchable-once sitcom The Neighbors, has again put images to screen, this time for a music video. The song, “California I Follow,” is by the Los Angeles band Corsica Arts Club, who were likely more than happy to get Wiseau on board for the shoot, because here we are, talking about it. Wiseau even penned a short statement to accompany the release of the video, in which he gets the band’s name wrong, and says the vision behind the video is Romeo And Juliet for a new generation:

"I enjoy very much working with the band, the Corsica Art Club. I think all the members did very a good job. They have certain vision. Same here. I’m, as a director, always, you know, I’m looking for detailed work. And they present me detailed work like lyrics, they already have the music, and I say ‘Okay, let’s just analyze what we can do.’ The concept was vision, basically—what we can do. What the story? So, we brainstormed this story, and I say ‘Romeo and Juliet, what about that? New generation.’ And they accepted, and we did rehearsal, and that’s the finished product. So the concept was ‘vision, vision, vision.’ Thank you."

Unfortunately, somebody must have hired a DP tasked with keeping Wiseau in check, because this thing looks wholly competent. It’s simple and silly, and largely indistinguishable from the direction of any other reasonably shot music video. Sure, there are the overt Tommy touches: the band members are all wearing his signature underwear line and dressed like his Ricky Rick character from The Neighbors; that show’s Raul Phoenix plays Romeo; and Tommy, in character, pauses the proceedings mid-way through the song to say, “Love is blind, huh?” because that’s a line he says, and he knows what the people want. It’s a catchy tune, but those looking for that Wiseau magic will feel let down, a feeling they should probably get used to when it comes to the multi-hyphenate’s subsequent output.

By Alex McCown - The A.V. Club

Tommy Wiseau made a name for himself with his 2003 unintentional disasterpiece The Room and has kept himself busy ever since by entertaining his loyal cult of irony-loving, spoon-throwing, Johnny-quoting appreciators of catastrophic cinema. Most recently, he’s done work with Tim and Eric as well as written and starred in his own sitcom, The Neighbors, all trying to recapture that shitstorm in a bottle he found with The Room. And now, he has further added to his crapulum vitae with his first ever music video for “California I Follow” by Los Angeles indie band Corsica Arts Club.

If you’re looking for the same directorial fuck-ups, blind person-caliber camera work, and laughably nonsensical dialogue that launched Wiseau’s career in the first place, you won’t find it here. In fact, overall, the video is, dare we say it, fine. Or, at least, it’s on par with most music videos coming out of indie rock bands these days.

The band apparently met Wiseau at a screening of The Room in LA. They said about the opportunity via email: “To us, its infamous billboard and midnight screenings are just as much a part of the fabric of LA as the Pacific Ocean or Amoeba Music. The opportunity to work with Tommy was the experience of a lifetime. He is so passionate, focused, and single-minded in his vision that everyone on set had no choice but to buy in.”

Absolutely. If you ever find yourself with an opportunity to work with Tommy Wiseau, you take it, if for no other reason than the rare chance to orbit the same planet as The Leathery One for an afternoon. But this video is odd in a different way. It’s odd in how remarkably normal it is.

Sure, Wiseau throws in some familiar elements from The Room and The Neighbors, like costumes and sets (hey there’s that goddamn spiral staircase! Side note: how did they get that mattress and all that second floor furniture up that thing?), but it’s missing his trademark whatthefuckery. At one point, champagne glass in hand, Wiseau injects one of his classic unintentional catchphrases, “Hey guys, love is blind, huh?” he says. Hey! That’s that thing what he say from The Room! Except he delivers it with the burned out enthusiasm the Budweiser “Whassup?” guys probably have when they’re on their way to a party where they know someone’s going to ask to do that fucking line. He repeats the “love is blind” line again at the end and someone retorts, “But is it, really?”

Holy moly, have the Three Laws of Wiseau Robotics finally turned against us? Is this Tommy trying to escape his own character? Have we cracked this gentle soul from… uh, wherever it is he says he hails from? Perhaps our ironic appreciating, critical mass-level cultural examining, and generally treating him like the Juggalos of film has crushed his artistic spirits. “Dance, you disturbingly angular monkey!” we yell. “Do more of the Bad Thing that makes us laugh and feel better about our discerning tastes and appreciation for the arts.” Truly, we are tearing him apart!

Then again, maybe this is all part of Wiseau’s art—teasing us with just enough weird-tasting candy to keep us all salivating into his next project. Or maybe this is some sort of meta commentary on music videos and how they are all a sham. Of course, all of this rationalizing promptly flies straight out the window when you read Wiseau’s statement on making the video with Corsica Arts Club, whose name he didn’t even get right.

"I enjoy very much working with the band, the Corsica Art Club. I think all the members did very a good job. They have certain vision. Same here. I'm, as a director, always, you know, I'm looking for detailed work. And they present me detailed work like lyrics, they already have the music, and I say 'Okay, let’s just analyze what we can do.' The concept was vision, basically - what we can do. What the story? So, we brainstormed this story, and I say 'Romeo and Juliet, what about that? New generation.' And they accepted, and we did rehearsal, and that’s the finished product. So the concept was 'vision, vision, vision.' Thank you.”

OK, yeah, on second thought, nevermind. There’s no point in trying to deconstruct this man or untangle his myth. If there’s one lesson we’ve all learned from getting to know Wiseau over the last decade and trying to decipher the method behind his madness, it’s that we shouldn’t think about it too hard. It’s best to close your eyes, cover your ears, and just let the absurdity wash over you. That’s the best way to truly appreciate him. After all, love is blind.

By Dan Ozzi - Noisey

Director Tommy Wiseau is best known for his oddball cult classic film The Room, but another piece of his work went viral earlier this month: A music video he directed for little-known band Corsica Arts Club’s first single, “California I Follow,” from their debut EP.

It seemed like a random career move for Wiseau, but in interviews with EW, the famed director and members of the band explain why he signed on and how the project came about.

“California I Follow” does a good job of living up to its name with soft and melodic guitar riffs, and the relaxed yet mournful singing, sit comfortably in a grand tradition of California rock. But as Corsica Arts Club set about filming a video for the single, they kept running into cliché proposals: beaches, palm tress, girls in bikinis. They were unimpressed, songwriter and guitarist Arash Parsee tells EW. Luckily, a different idea arrived when the band passed a theater marquee advertisement for a screening of The Room, featuring an in-person appearance from the enigmatic director. Corsica Arts Club went to the screening, and approached Wiseau about directing their video. Though Wiseau was busy shooting his sitcom The Neighbors and traveling the country for screenings of The Room, he was game to try something new. The band got him a copy of their self-titled debut EP, and he was impressed.

“I like the music because it’s just 100 percent correct,” Wiseau says. “The guys are dead serious. I see their professional approach from the beginning. That’s what I like.”

The band quickly set up phone calls and meetings to discuss ideas, and it didn’t take long for Wiseau to put forward a vision for the video. He wanted to do a semi-adaptation of Romeo and Juliet (or “Juliette,” as it’s spelled in the title card of the video), set in the modern day.

“I had some vision about Romeo and Juliet,” Wiseau says. “I always thought I would do a similar movie about it. They didn’t know about it but I was thinking of this a long time ago. Sometimes when you work with people, certain things click. Maybe it’s just destiny.”

Because of Wiseau’s tight schedule, the whole thing was done in a 12-hour shoot. Luckily, producer Jason Klein, a longtime friend of the band, was on hand to assist Wiseau with the technical aspects of shooting. Klein hired the crew, assisted with camera work on set, and performed a lot of post-production editing, though everyone involved insisted on preserving Wiseau’s creative control.

“My job that day was to push through everything Tommy wanted,” Klein says.

Wiseau insisted that the cast and crew be present on set for every take (even individual close-ups) and wanted “California I Follow” playing throughout the entire shoot. “When you listen to something, you react,” Wiseau says. “We don’t want it like we just shoot you, and all the other actors or talent don’t do anything. It’s a supporting process.”

You don’t hire Wiseau to direct your music video without making some reference to his other work, and the “California I Follow” video has several. A spiral staircase resembles the one from The Room (though Wiseau said he didn’t even notice the similarity until after they finished shooting the video), and a cameo from Wiseau, dressed as his character from The Neighbors and quoting his character from The Room (“Love is blind”).

Wiseau says he was hesitant about making the appearance, for fear of overshadowing the band, but went with the role anyway. “I said no, that’s not what it’s supposed to be. This video is four minutes long. If I am talking or dancing for two minutes it would not come out the way it is now,” Wiseau says. “I don’t want to see people talk about me, I want people to talk about Romeo and Juliet.”

Everyone else insisted on Wiseau stepping in, however, and they eventually convinced him. “Tommy’s a really gracious director, he wanted [the characters] and the band to be front and center, but we all encouraged him to make the cameo,” Parsee says. “We think that cameo is the icing on the cake that is the video.”

Although all the participants have their own projects in the works — Wiseau and Phoenix are still working on their Hulu sitcom The Neighbors, and Corsica Arts Club will be heading back to the studio soon for more recording — they’ve left the door open to more collaboration.

“Tommy is to Corsica Arts Club as Martin Scorsese was to The Band,” Parsee says. “I saw a comment somewhere that we should do a concert documentary, The Last Waltz-style, so maybe that’s something we’ll do in the future as well.” - Entertainment Weekly

Corsica Arts Club sees its indie-rock through the same hazy, sun-baked filters as severely underrated West Coasters Blonde Summer — urgent and fuzzy instrumentation coupled with slacker, reverb-soaked vocals. “California I Follow” is the work of Brendan Thompson and Arash Parsee, L.A. natives and friends since childhood, self-recording in a garage converted into a home studio. Its gently propulsive guitars segue into a chorus that suggests the Strokes as likable beach bums. If this is the California Corsica Arts Club suggests we should follow, I think I’ll tag along.

By Kevin Bronson - BuzzBands.LA

Long-time friends Corsica Arts Club only have two tracks up on their Soundcloud, but the duo have been making music together for more than a decade. And on their second released song, “California I Follow,” you can really hear the chemistry. The band plays an interesting brand of surf-pop infused with tight electro-pop drum machines and crisp indie-rock guitars. But the feeling of summer, and the Beach Boys-styled chords in the chorus, are unmistakable. Despite the propulsive momentum of the instrumental, the reverbed vocals feel relaxed and chilled, making sure the song never feels anxious. So if you’re looking for a great track to accompany this warmer weather we’re having, you’ve found it. You can download “California I Follow” for free off Soundcloud.

By Scott Interrante - (the) ABSOLUTE

De Kraftwerk à New Order, ce sont précisément les imperfections humaines qui ont rendu les musiques les plus robotiques passionnantes : quand on sent l’homme se débattre dans la machine. C’est cet amour pour les men machines qui aurait uni à Los Angeles les deux gandins de Corsica Arts Club. Et on entend effectivement la rigueur et le spleen de New Order dans ce single, mais ragaillardis par la vie californienne, pacifiés par le soleil voilé – un étrange mélange de tension et de nonchalance. On suit, les yeux fermés. - Les Inrocks

LA's Brendan Thompson and Arash Parsee bonded in their youth over a shared affection for Can and New Order, and that love manifests itself on new single 'California I Follow' - a surf-rock anthem seen through the eyes of Giorgio Moroder, all clockwork guitars and snappily tolling percussion. They're nothing to do with the similarly named south London nightspot, but they do sound like going midnight raving with Delphic before they lost their disco-pop mojo - NME Magazine August 9, 2014