HIDEOUT

When Cory Stier and Gabriel Rodriguez aren’t playing drums and guitar for Cults on tour, they’re recording together at in New York and San Diego under the name Hideout. The duo’s gleaming metropolitan rock ‘n’ roll is of a piece with the likes Delta Spirit, Local Natives, and Peter Bjorn And John, framing classic sounds in state-of-the-art sonics. “Where You’ve Been,” an early preview from Hideout’s upcoming album Rookie, is a lively dose of harmonious windswept pop-rock. Hear it below.

Rookie is out 11/4 on Thrill Me. Pre-order it here.

Tags: Cults, Hideout - Stereogum

Cory Stier and Gabriel Rodriguez formed Hideout while they were touring members of the band Cults. But the bond goes way deeper. The duo are best buds from San Diego where they played in bands together and apart.

Hideout’s debut album Rookie (out now on Thrill Me Records) is brimming with influences from undeniably quintessential indie rock evocative of Blind Pilot to fuzzy, reverberated vocals and discordant phrasing trademark of Modest Mouse.

Today, we're thrilled to uncover the scavenger hunt of a video for "Where You've Been," the LP’s second track.

It’ll have you subtly dancing in place at your desk, so long as you remain detached from the song’s meaning. On the third or so listen, the lyrics, which are ostensibly about death and longing (a point driven home by the video) reveal themselves, and replays become a much more cathartic experience — enter dream-like chase through the woods and trippy concentric triangles.

Watch the video for "Where You’ve Been":

https://youtu.be/9FFYk5U-iG8 - Culture Collide

Hideout is the collaboration between musicians Gabriel Rodriguez and Cory Stier. Anyone who is familiar with their previous project, BoomSnake, will be able to quickly recognize their sound. Written and recorded across coastlines (à la The Postal Service), the duo have returned with a new name and an excellent debut album: Rookie. Although it’s their first release as Hideout, the two members are anything but rookies in the local and national music scene. Both members also play in the New York indie pop act Cults (of “Go Outside” fame). Rodriguez has also been a member of Say Anything and Weatherbox, while Stier currently plays in Mrs. Magician (when he’s not busy booking shows in San Diego).

Rookie kicks off with “All I Want” – a lyric that echoes previous BoomSnake track, “Sticks Stones & Animal Bones”. It’s not only a nod to their past, but also the first moment of departure. Rookie is the most realized album the two musicians have ever made together, showcasing their undeniable knack for melodic and creative songwriting over the course of its eleven tracks. The songs on Rookie are simply cathartic - lush with vocal harmonies, roomy drum sounds, and layers of moody instrumentation. This is a bedroom-to-studio indie pop record at its finest.

Guitarist/vocalist Gabriel Rodriguez was kind enough to take a break from moving between New York apartments to speak with Do415 about their trippy new video, the influence of playing in Cults, and the importance of taking their time in releasing their debut album.

So you’re in the middle of moving today?

GR: Yeah. I live in Chinatown right now and I’m moving up to Little Italy. My building doesn’t have heat. It’s awesome though – it’s in a Chinese business building so I can do whatever I want, but it’s definitely pretty cold. It’s kind of worn on the soul a little bit.

You and Cory were both previously together in BoomSnake. What brought the name change?

GR: As much as BoomSnake was just Cory and I with a rotating cast of a few members, it became a band with the guitar player and bass player we were playing with. As time kind of went on and we kept sending each other music, it just felt different. Maybe if you listen to them back-to-back you can’t really tell a difference, but to us it’s just a different band. It’s coming from a different place - whether it’s the actual physical distance of me being in New York and Cory being in California, or it’s just a mental gap between time that we were playing music and how we had grown in opinions and tastes.

The album was first quietly posted online in February 2013. What happened in the time between then and its actual release this November on Thrill Me Records?

GR: I think that Cory and I are pretty busy. He’s in San Diego booking shows. I’m out here with Cults and we tour a lot. We just wanted to do it when we could give it the amount of attention it deserved and we’ve just been kind of wrapped up in whatever else – like moving or jobs. Also during that time we’d been working on new stuff. Cory and I have been playing music for so long – both together and with other people – that sometimes you just want to make something and kind of forget about it almost. It just feels good to be making something and not trying to get everyone else to listen to it. I think we were both very content with that at first and just happy that we were working together. Then we realized that it was worth it and we wanted to play shows. It just took us time.

Can you talk about some of the lyrical themes found on Rookie?

GR: It varies between personal experience and just stories. I think the lyrics are what actually take the longest for me. Some of those songs I’ve been working on for a year – just the lyrics. There are three songs on the record that are like a sci-fi story about a kid getting abducted. I watch a lot of sci-fi movies and read a lot of sci-fi books and it’s my form of fan fiction. In the story, he gets abducted and then he comes back and is hearing voices of what he thinks are aliens and he can’t tell if he’s crazy. He thinks that he’s supposed to prophesies about the way to live. Then there are other songs on there about the regular old heartbreak, or break-up.

You recently released the video for “Where You’ve Been”. Can you talk about the concept behind it?

GR: The whole concept of the video was that I just wanted it to be from first-person perspective like you’re playing a video game and you’re always searching for something. That’s kind of what the song is about. Just searching for something and whether or not you realize you need it or already have it.

What was your level of involvement in the video?

GR: It was filmed in San Diego by two guys: Derrick and Dusty – Dusty actually did all of the artwork for the album, as well. I was with them for one afternoon, we just kind of hung out for a little bit and talked. That was really all I was involved in. I just said, “Guys, I really want it to be from first-person and seem like it was a video game” and they ran with it from there. They’re really super talented. I didn’t even see it until it was maybe the second or third edit. Remember how earlier we were talking about it taking so long from finishing the record to actually deciding to put it out? It’s because it’s also really hard to let go and not be super involved with everything. I feel like that time has allowed me to be comfortable with what it is and what the record actually means. Now I can say to someone that I trust, like, “Hey man, this is kind of what we’re going for, but I want you to be involved and put your spin on it and have fun with it.”

Your band resume is not only impressive, but quite extensive: Cults, BoomSnake, Say Anything, Weatherbox, Pascalle, Dem Blues. Am I missing anyone?

GR: That’s pretty much it. I didn’t even think anyone knew about Dem Blues. That was sort of the first time that I made music that I just wrote. Another one that I played in was the Shining Twins – that one was a punk band. Part of the reason I moved to New York was to play with them and then I started playing with Cults because they were our friends.

How has touring in Cults over the past few years influenced your music?

GR: They’re really good friends – some of my best friends. Actually, Madeline is coming to help me move right now. Brian would, but he’s sick. They’re just like anybody that you travel with and make music with – they influence it a lot. I mean, obviously, the bands don’t sound anything alike. We have different tastes, but they are always very supportive. Touring with them has given me a perspective of how bigger productions can work and just traveling all around and seeing different cultures. It’s been very positive.

Any favorite places you’ve been so far?

GR: Japan is just amazing. It’s one of the coolest places I’ll probably ever go. My brother actually lives there, so I got to go before Cults and with Cults. It’s a place that I’d love to see again.

With your involvement in Cults still being a focus, what are your future plans for Hideout?

GR: I think as much as it's been a focus on playing with Cults, I think that we’re just going to try and balance and see where it comes out. Cory and I don’t want to be sleeping in the back of a van and on people’s floors 11 months out of the year playing basements right now. We’ve done that for years. We want to do it in a way that it’s a good time and it’s fun. We definitely want to tour and we’re hoping that the schedules will just work out. We’re already working on more new music, which is exciting. I know this record just came out, but we’re just getting the wheels rolling right now.

Rookie is available now via Thrill Me Records and can be purchased here. - DoTheBay

Join us as we reminisce on our favorite under-the-radar discoveries.

"Where You've Been," by Hideout
Cory Stier and Gabriel Rodriguez formed Hideout while they were touring members of the band Cults. Their debut album Rookie (out now on Thrill Me Records) is brimming with influences from undeniably quintessential indie rock evocative of Blind Pilot to fuzzy, reverberated vocals and discordant phrasing trademark of Modest Mouse. - CULTURE COLLIDE

We were lucky enough to take a walk down memory lane today, casually basking in sweet musical nostalgia. With our headphones in, we were practically transported to a different era, cruising around Haight Ashbury, enjoying warm, sunny vibes. How were we able to achieve this higher level of musical experiences? Quite simply, really. Press play on the first track below, and enjoy the ride.

Formed on the road, HIDEOUT is Gabriel Rodriguez (guitar/vocals) and Cory Stier (drums), two longtime friends who are also touring members of the NYC indie act Cults. Even despite a severe geographical issue (living on opposite sides of the country), these two were able to share pieces back and forth of, culminating in their 11-track debut album, Rookie.

The album as a whole has a really unique story behind it, all set to hazy rhythm guitars, crunchy riffs, understated percussion, and a shimmering soundscape that truly evokes sentimentality. While the piece as a whole does give way to rocks greatest era, the subject matter is anything but, boasting an intergalactic storyline. Check out what the band had to say about it:

Three songs on the album are actually an interconnecting story, starting with “Skylights”, which tells of a young boy’s kidnapping by lights in the sky. The boy is returned home with no recollection of his family or life before the lights. “Battle Lights” gives the listener a peak into the boy’s life a few years after his return. Now having visions, the boy hears voices that tell him to preach the lessons learned during his space journey. And of course, he’s seen as delusional. “Stronger” is told from the perspective of the boy’s mother. After he is committed, she sits in his hospital room wondering where she went wrong. Was there more she could have done? The visions have taken over.

Enjoy this full album stream a day before it comes out via on Thrill Me Records. Simply click, kick back and enjoy. - The Music Ninja

Think of bicoastal indie rock outfit Hideout as the Intergalactic Postal Service. Like Ben Gibbard and Jimmy Tamborello before them, Gabe Rodriguez and Cory Stier pieced together their debut album in separate states. But unlike the earthbound romances of the Postal Service, Hideout relish in stories about alien abductions, and worship at the altars of Ziggy Stardust and Explosions in the Sky.

Brought together in their youth and through a slew of nascent musical projects around San Diego, Rodriguez and Stier charged forth with Hideout’s Rookie (Thrill Me) while both were on tour as backing instrumentalists for Cults.

As Rodriguez huffs and puffs his way down a chilly Canal Street near his Chinatown, New York apartment, he says: “Being in a band, it’s like having another girlfriend or something. You’re always on tour; you’re practicing, arguing about what you should do. Where this is a very— our relationship is great because when we see each other, we’re usually happy just to hang out, and then getting to create something we’re both passionate about. So it works well.”

Rodriguez (guitar and vocals) notes that the Internet has made such an exchange of ideas much easier and less pressurized. He and Stier (drums) work on material when they feel like it, and that easygoing attitude has birthed about three albums’ worth of songs. The 11 tracks on Rookie jut between M. Ward sunshine (“It Ends”) and cascading epics (“Stubborn Child”). Every tune has Hideout’s stamp of exploration and intrigue.

This zeal for the revelatory is best embodied in “New Music,” a crisp ditty – written while on the road with Cults – that would make Conor Oberst envious.

“Sometimes when you go on tour, you get in the routine of just playing the same thing over and over again. It becomes more of a muscle memory versus an expression,” Rodriguez says. “It was just the mid-tour blues. I think a lot of people get it. … I wanted that feeling of new music, something that I was excited about that I hadn’t had in a little bit.”

And it had been awhile since the musical community heard a good song about beings from other planets. (Katy Perry’s “E.T.” notwithstanding.) The trilogy of “Skylights,” “Battle Lights” and “Stronger” tells of a boy’s abduction, extraterrestrial proselytizing and wrecking of his family unit. Rodriguez praises the sci-fi masters for inspiring him and having the intuition to see beyond our galaxy.

“I have, since I was a little kid, fully loved sci-fi books, even fantasy. All of it!” he exclaims. “Isaac Asimov and Jules Verne and all these people have predicted things that people at the time were saying, oh, that’s crazy! And they actually happened. So, I don’t know. I love that.” And yes, for the record, Rodriguez believes in aliens.

He’s also a big believer in creating. He speaks with an awestruck tone when talking about his favorite hideout – his apartment, and specifically his desk – where he hunkers down to make art. In addition to being a musician, he dabbles in woodworking and has ambitions to pick up welding. It isn’t farfetched— Rodriguez’s dexterity when it comes to song structure could easily translate to the manipulation of metals. Think of him as a pop alchemist.

Or a pyromaniac.

“I think wearing the big mask and having the blowtorch sounds great,” he says with a laugh. - Occur

“I could never decide on my top two albums, but I can give you my two favorite Michaels: Jackson and Jordan.”

It’s fitting that Hideout’s frontman and chief architect, Gabe Rodriguez, can’t really give me a straight answer when I ask him about his favorite records of all time — mainly because, if his band’s debut album, “Rookie,” is any indication, it’d vary widely from moment to moment. But the shoutout to the respective Michaels aside, Rodriguez has some ’splaining to do: What’s the big idea?

Not only did Hideout, which is comprised of longtime friends Rodriguez and Cory Stier (both members of indie pop band Cults), somehow find the time and energy to craft easily one of the best albums of 2014 — but no one really knew they even existed until about three months ago, when music blog behemoth Stereogum dropped their catchy-as-all-hell debut single, “Where You’ve Been.” One minute, we were content just going about our day-to-day business. The next, there they were, fully formed like some indie rock version of Voltron.

But their debut couldn’t have been more cobbled together: “Rookie” is ultimately the result of an unconventional writing/recording process between Rodriguez and Stier — who, when not working with Cults, spends his time as the talent buyer for Soda Bar, co-owner of Thrill Me Records (along with Rodriguez, and Angie Ollman), and drummer in beloved San Diego surf rock band Mrs. Magician. Over the course of several years, the two worked together in their spare time — albeit, on opposite sides of the country.

“I’ll lay down a rough demo and then send it over to Cory,” Rodriguez said. “Then we’ll talk about rhythms and the foundation or meaning — either lyrically or musically. After that, it becomes a matter of when we can meet and actually play together. Because I’m in New York and he’s in San Diego, there’s usually a lot of phone conversations, home recording, and emailing.”

A true 21st century partnership, the two put the musical magic from that long-distance friendship to use with an album that revels perplexingly in cohesiveness. Somehow, a project that spanned at least three years birthed a record that sounds convincingly complete. The duo saunter from art rock, with “Pet Sounds”-esque intricacy and shades of psych folk, to a more subdued version of glam rock (think Bowie’s “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars”) over the course of 38 minutes. Surely, there’s some kind of dark sorcery at play here.

“I’ll have to hand it to Gabe,” Stier explained. “His writing style is very cohesive naturally — unlike a lot of songwriters I know, some of whom I’ve worked with. He’s good at blocking out the noise of everyday life and staying true to himself.”

That “Rookie” has the expansive feel of a band holed up in a recording studio makes it all the more intriguing since, according to Rodriguez, “One of the difficulties of recording was making it sound like Cory and I were in the same room. In actuality, drums alone were recorded in three different locations.”

Regardless of the reality of what actually transpired, when listening to the record, it’s hard not to imagine Rodriguez and Stier as time-travelers camped out in Abbey Road Studios circa 1967, spending unending time behind ancient recording consoles, experimenting with whatever instruments happen to be laying around, and demanding horn-rimmed bespectacled sound engineers push big volume knobs into the red against their will. McCartney would casually drop in — they’d tell him to take a hike. In reality, of course, all that couldn’t have been further from what went down.

“As the record progressed, I was traveling all over and I’m sure that contributed to the sound,” Rodriguez said. “Walking around early in the morning in Roanne, searching for coffee and then going back and recording in a hotel room will definitely put me in a different headspace than I would be in a controlled studio setting. It wasn’t my intention to have the environment affect the sound but due to circumstance, it was unavoidable and I’m happy with the result.

I think [that process] was, and is, very appealing,” he continued. “I would write when inspired, not out of obligation. I didn’t confine myself to one concept or process — it was kind of however I could get the idea down the fastest. The equipment itself also ranged a lot depending on what I could get my hands on at the time.”

Indeed, the instrumentation varies from track to track — tambourines and acoustic guitars jangle about, organs wrestle with fuzzed-out electric guitar solo wrangling, and pianos hammer away dissonantly all while Rodriguez alternately serenades and achingly wails under a blanket of thick slapback echo. It’s a huge, hazy mix of exquisite harmonies, head-nodding rhythms and truly infectious melodicism.

hideoutIf the duo is nervous about pulling “Rookie” off in a live setting for their first-ever show at Soda Bar on Dec. 27, they’re not letting on. It also doesn’t hurt that they’ll have some help in the form of Mrs. Magician guitarist Tommy Garcia on bass, and Conor Meads (who previously played with Stier in Pistolita) on guitar/keys to fill out the group’s sound. Even so, Rodriguez didn’t seem too concerned about recreating the album note for note.

“Initially, we are going to do our best to make it sound like the record,” he said. “But I think bands should always improvise and not be rigid when performing. My favorite shows have spontaneity and aren’t so concerned with replicating the recording.”

Surely, it’ll be interesting to see how it all unfolds and where, ultimately, Hideout will go afterward. If “Rookie” is just the beginning, the most likely answer is “up.”

—Dustin Lothspeich is a music writer in San Diego. Contact him at dustinlothspeich@gmail.com. - San Diego Uptown News

Hideout
Rookie (Thrill Me)

Cory Stier is a man with his hand in quite a few different projects. When he's not playing drums in San Diego's Mrs. Magician or New York's Cults, he's booking talent at Soda Bar. And he's launched yet another new musical outlet: Hideout, a duo comprising him and fellow Cults member Gabe Rodriguez. However, since Stier and Rodriguez live on opposite sides of the country, their collaborative partnership is one that primarily happens electronically, not unlike the track-swapping M.O. of The Postal Service.

You wouldn't think that the duo was in separate cities, or even separate rooms, by listening to their debut album, Rookie. There's a casual, live-band sound to the folk-tinged rock songs that Hideout cook up. As first track "All I Want" begins to gain momentum, it has a lightly psychedelic, ‘70s feel to its earthy strums and upbeat jangle. But as the song progresses—and the closer one listens—it becomes clear that there's a lot more to it than simply two dudes jamming in a room.

Rookie is very much a studio creation, but one that never sacrifices the chemistry and dynamic between the two musicians at the center of it. Squint just a little bit and "Where You've Been" sounds like it could have been performed by four or five musicians. It just so happens that there are, in fact, quite a few layers to it—keyboards, guitars and harmonized, multi-tracked vocals. Even a relatively straightforward track like the acoustic "Skylights" has an arrangement that would ordinarily call for a minimum of four musicians.

It's pretty clear, the deeper you dive into Rookie, that Hideout have little interest in sounding like a duo. Rather than embrace a less-is-more approach, they essentially ignore whatever logistic limitations are in front of them, including geography, and simply make the biggest and best pop record they could. And as guitar-driven pop records go, Rookie is a damn good one.

Hideout will perform at Soda Bar on Dec. 27.

Email jefft@sdcitybeat.com or follow him at @1000TimesJeff - San Diego CityBeat

Hideout is the moniker of Manhattan-based glam-pop artist Gabriel Rodriguez (he also happens to be a longtime band member of Cults). “Changing Us All” is the latest cosmic jam off of his debut album, Rookie. His spacey indie rock would appeal to fans of Wavves, The Walkmen, or Real Estate.

Rookie is out now on Thrill Me Records. Check it out here. - Buffablog

Hideout releases single “Changing Us All” and it is an indie rock delight. Hideout consists of Gabriel Rodriguez and Cory Stier; both are touring musicians playing with Cults. The single “Changing Us All” is a dreamy, experimental, indie rock tune with a melodic guitar riff. “Changing Us All” is first heard on Hideout’s debut album, Rookie. But the release of this song comes as a warm up for the release of Hideout’s sophomore album. Hideout’s second album is set to be released this fall with Small Plate and excitedly I wait to see what yummy goodness Hideout comes up with.

According to the band’s page the inception of the band began on the road. When Gabriel and Cory are not on the road the two reside on opposite sides of the country. One lives in San Diego while the other lives in Manhattan. Gabe speaks of collaborating on music cross-country that he would start with a guitar riff and send it to Cory who would work on the rhythm “We talk about it on the phone, and in person when our schedules allow us to meet up. We both tour in Cults so sometimes we work in hotel rooms or backstage or in the van.”

If you are a fan of Real Estate, The Walkmen, Beatles, and/or the Beach Boys I highly recommend giving these guys a listen.

See more of Hideout here: Facebook, Bandcamp, Twitter. - Nakid Magazine

Galatia pop with a larger than the universe soundscape. We have Manhattan X San Diego two-piece Hideout (Gabriel Rodriguez and Cory Stier) treating our senses to a retro futurist slice of rock and roll with their latest titled Changing Us All. You can stream the single via their Soundcloud and if you are in Washington D.C on the 3rd of August–go see them at the DC9 where they will be showcasing their fantastic tunes alongside Richmond’s very own Avers. - Diamond Deposits

A new, under-publicized release from San Diego space pop project Hideout, consisting of Boomsnake mastermind Gabriel Rodriguez and Cults/Boomsnake live members Cory Stier and Nathan Aguilar, has recently made it’s way onto a small Facebook and Twitter community of followers. The trio toured together in both aforementioned bands and have since recorded and released the first album from Hideout titled LP I for free download on Soundcloud. The album opens with ‘All I Want’ a deeply textured track with repetitively melodic acoustic and electric guitars and the feel of a young Talking Heads. The reasonably ‘verbed out production, tasteful use of delay, and roomy drums brought me back to early 70s Lennon stuff like “Oh Yoko” and succeeds in creating a sound many new bands strive for but fall short of accomplishing. Release after release from this scene of musicians has brought out some of the best minimal, indie-pop songwriting in recent years yet it continues to go underappreciated. - Has It Leaked

Gabriel Rodriguez was born to an abstract impressionist painter mother and an acupuncturist father. His childhood was filled with trips to avant-garde art shows, and his father helped guide him spiritually. These experiences shaped him into a unique mind that gravitated toward music. He grew up in San Diego, Calif., where his guitar playing led him to many different bands, eventually to filling an open space in the pop rock outfit Say Anything, with whom he traveled the country for the first time. After his time in Say Anything came to a close, he played in and out of other bands until finally he put that energy into his own project, Boomsnake.

“I’ve always been a guitar player playing in bands—and no matter what it is, no matter how much I may end up hating the music or”¦how I love the music and wish I could still be with the band, I think that it all led me somewhere,” says Rodriguez.

Rodriguez began Boomsnake back in ’08, while calling Portland, Ore., his home. He would bounce between there, San Diego and New York, all the while writing and recording his music on a small tape machine inside his room. Those recordings would eventually become Give and Take. Shortly after came Vitamins, which was released on limited edition cassette. That’s right, cassette.

When recording the albums and playing shows, Rodriguez would have a rotating cast of musicians come in and add their own parts to the songs. Eventually they would take on a new life and become something else—something like a band.

“It’s been through this process,” explains Rodriguez. “Originally I was just doing everything myself.”

But the addition of band members is what led Rodriguez to re-record songs from his previous records. Set for release Jan. 12, Re/Visions +7 is an EP featuring seven previously recorded songs, redone to capture the growth they underwent on tour. Submerge caught up with Rodriguez to discuss his new EP, touring and becoming a shaman.

The tour that you’re on right now isn’t a supporting tour and isn’t supported by anyone, but rather is full of local bands opening for you. Do you appreciate this more, being able to connect with the local scene of each city a little more?

Definitely. That’s how we’ve always toured. We’ve never toured with another—the band started in 2008 and we toured for eight months, and it was always playing locals’ shows. We’d play basements with five bands, and there would only be seven members and they were all living in the house. It’s that collective community and that seems to be the case for lots of scenes these days. There are these small, Podunk towns, and there are only a handful of musicians.

Your newest release is a redux/revisioning of songs that you’ve already recorded and put out on two separate releases. What was the reason behind this decision? Were you guys not happy with the original recordings or had the songs evolved so much that they became new songs and it felt appropriate to release them on a separate record?

That’s much more what it was. The first two recordings were basically done all by me, and the second one of those was done in my room on a tape machine. It’s always been really minimal. You don’t need more than what you have. So when we started playing as a five-piece and we started getting all these members and it was like, whoa. These songs are actually—this is this person’s interpretation upon that bass part that might have already been there, but it’s how they’re playing it. It was changing. A lot of the percussion changed and I heard a lot more vocals. The songs changed so much that I didn’t want it to be only for the live experience. I wanted it to be on catalog so I could say, “OK, here’s where the band was at that time.”

As minimal as some of the sections in your songs can get, there are others where you accomplish a lot with just vocals, percussion and guitars.

Yeah, well I appreciate that. I’m actually working on a new record right now. I’m recording way too many songs. I bought one microphone, and I just have a little setup. As soon as I figure out how to do it that minimal, then I want to change it up.

Re/visions +7 isn’t even out yet, and it sounds like you’re already working on a new record? Where is the music headed?

Well, to be honest this is the first time I’ve talked to anybody about it except who’s in the band. The concept of the record thus far is, I hear lots of different voices that aren’t necessarily my own. You know, like singing. The concept is, Boo M. Snake is one of the first shamans to ever come—well, he was an African slave and came here, and he was trying to practice witchcraft and was eventually killed. The concept is, a shaman, someone who carries spirits with them at all times and has them on hand. What I’m going to try and do is all the vocals are going to be through the interpretation of six different perspectives—different essences of one person. And it relates, because I feel like too many times artists or musicians have a shtick or a spiel that works for a certain amount of time; but if you’re not constantly reinventing what it is you do, then you get really bored and stale. I wear seven masks every day. If I go to talk to my parents, I’m a nice young kid, and if I go to some punk rock show, I’m going to start a fight. So it’s trying to incorporate all those personifications of yourself into one sound. Instead of thinking, this is a song about my girlfriend breaking up with me—no, it’s a song about being all these different people at one time. Because you can’t be the same person every day, and if you are, God help you.

You mentioned West Africa. Your song “Sampled Demolition” definitely has that sound to it—that Ali Farka Toure sound—and others have a sort of tribal drum sound to them. Are you really influenced by that West African sound?

Culturally I am. Musically I really like Polynesian music and gamelan and kecak as well. Microtones and all that stuff really mess me up. I don’t know anything about music theory; I just know what I like. I hear something and I attach to it, and then I have to know everything about it. It becomes a slight obsession. Like, oh! So they used this and this was done here and at that time? West African music—I like it, but more just indigenous sounds. Truth to a certain people. Like, wow! They’ve been doing that for a hundred years? Not in the sense that I want to take it and westernize it and rip it off, but in a way where it touches me and I actually feel it. It speaks for a people and speaks for a time. So I guess from that sense. What I’m trying to do is hear all that and figure out, what is our time? What speaks to us?

What’s the music scene like in San Diego? Are you comfortable there?

I don’t. I don’t feel comfortable at all. This band was started in Portland, because I was living up there, and then I had to move back to San Diego because I was running out of money. My parents are from here, so I grew up here. I’m comfortable going to shows; I love going to shows in San Diego! It’s the best because I know all the venues. As far as playing shows in San Diego, San Diego is not that nice. It’s kind of harsh. I mean I have lots of friends here, and there are aspects of it that I love. But the music scene is kind of separatist. I feel that everyone is struggling, so they only stick with their friends, and everybody books shows with their friends and if you don’t know them then”¦I’ve never had a problem getting shows, because luckily some of the other guys in Boomsnake know a lot of people. I always feel like there’s some hierarchy that I’m not aware of when I’m playing shows. Not to say that there aren’t great people, I just don’t feel comfortable. - Submerge Magazine

Cults' Guitarist Gabe Rodriguez's solo project continues with the new track, which will be on his forthcoming sophomore album.

We all deal with grief in different ways. For Hideout -- the solo project of New York-based musician Gabe Rodriguez -- despair gets flipped into simple, striking indie pop hooks; it’s helped him make sense of a difficult two years since releasing his debut album, Rookie. Rodriguez lost his brother during that time, alongside work as a touring guitarist with Cults and returning to Brooklyn to record Hideout’s So Many Hoops / So Little Time, due Feb. 3 on Small Plates Records. Billboard is excited to premiere "I Got Your Message," a standout cut from it.

“This is the principle track on the record,” Rodriguez tells Billboard. “It was a musical focal point while writing the rest of the songs. The lyrics are about when I was touring in Europe and received terrible news from back home -- the disconnect from reality while traveling with friends.”

“I don’t believe it / I must be dreaming,” goes the chorus, as Rodriguez deals with the initial denial that came along with the message on his phone. But in such sobering times, Hideout’s music shines through the clouds. “I Got Your Message” is a gorgeous little homemade pop song, clicking jaunty hooks and overlapping vocals together with comforting ease.

Premiering exclusively via Billboard, take a listen to "I Got Your Message." Head over here to pre-order So Many Hoops/So Little Time. - Billboard

Hideout are a Manhattan-based psych-pop outfit led by longtime Cults member Gabriel Rodriguez. The band is gearing up to release its sophomore effort, So Many Hoops/So Little Time, this Friday, and today we’re premiering the entire album in advance. It’s the follow-up to the band’s 2014 debut, Rookie, and is informed by the tragic passing of Rodriguez’s brother in the intervening years. Lead single “Doctor” demonstrated Hideout’s knack for packaging inspired lyricism in zippy hooks; meanwhile “I Got Your Message” proved they could slow the tempo down for something a bit more syrupy, with a video-game menu-music guitar riff poking holes in a ballooning cloud of puffy art-rock. The entire album is full of such delightfully left-of-center songwriting. Listen and check out the band’s upcoming tour dates below. - Stereogum

Hideout is the solo project of Manhattan-based songwriter Gabriel Rodriguez (of Cults). From the album So Many Hoops/So Little Time on Small Plates Records. Directed by Taylor Johnson and Dusty Peterson. - Adult Swim

Hideout began as a recording project for Gabriel Rodriguez, who is also a long time member of KCRW favorite Cults. Most of his early tracks were made during downtime while on tour.

Rodriguez, and his primary collaborator Cory Stier (Mrs. Magician) recently released their sophomore album – So Many Hoops/So Little Time. The primary driving force behind the record is Rodriguez’s deeply sad circumstance of being in the process of dealing with the death of his brother. While that doesn’t come through directly in “See You Around,” the track does give you an almost immediate sense that you’re listening to a person who has recently had to handle a lot of life in a relatively short amount of time. Fortunately, in the hands of such a skilled songwriter as Gabriel Rodriguez, that experience has been expertly mined into a tight, and deeply catchy pop song.

The video for “See You Around” was directed by L.A. based filmmaker/animator Jeff Striker. It features a nifty interplay between images of human Gabriel Rodriguez, and an animated silhouette of Gabriel Rodriguez with some pretty far out animation of the Cosmos swirling around throughout. Rodriguez describes the video’s backstory as such:

“Our friend Jeff (director) had the concept of me running through cosmic void- a place where things get lost. Lyrically this song is about walking home late at night when the streets are empty- when comfortable places/paths feel estranged. We filmed it in his back yard on a very hot day- He had me running in place for hours- I definitely got a sunburn.”

So Many Hoops/So Little Time is out now via Small Plates and you can catch Hideout @ SXSW this week.

3/15 Austin, TX @ SXSW [Tellers Upstairs, 12AM]

3/16 Austin, TX @ SXSW [Bar96, 2PM]

3/17 Austin, TX @ SXSW [Float The Goat, 8PM]

3/17 Austin, TX @ SXSW [Hole In The Wall, 9:55PM]

3/18 Austin, TX @ SXSW [Scout Inn, 3PM]

3/18 Austin, TX @ SXSW [The Liberty, 8PM] - KCRW