Tapioca and the Flea

In just five short months, local indie rock outfit Tapioca and the Flea has gained a significant following, began work on its first full-length album and even scored a gig opening for the county’s latest breakthrough act Young the Giant at the Observatory in Santa Ana in December.

While gearing up to shoot a teaser for an upcoming music video, the quartet gave some insight into the fast-paced rise of the band in a recent interview.

“It started off as a bedroom project,” guitarist, keys player, and lead vocalist Samuel Jacob-Lopez says. “I learned how to use GarageBand and I just started recording a whole bunch of songs and put them on MySpace - when MySpace was cool.”

The frontman decided to branch out and into a full band mid-last year when he opened for drummer Matt McClanahan’s group Dizzy Stilettos. That act also featured current TATF guitarist Ronnie Knott and bassist and keys player Frank Alva joined soon after.

[More...] As a complete unit, the members share that they feel that continued experimentation is what is central to TATF’s writing process.

“This band is pretty much just saying ‘F*** you’ to all of the rules and trying new stuff to see how far we can go with it and how weird we can get,” Jacob-Lopez says.

In every other group he’s been a part of, Jacob-Lopez says he’d always want to push the envelope further.

“It’s my chance to try whatever I want to try and to be completely out-of-the-box,” he adds. “What I love about these guys is that they think completely out of the box as well.”

TATF is taking a short break from performing live to focus on recording. The band hopes to release a single sometime in April, but have been working diligently over the past several weeks to lay down the tracks for a full-length.

Aside from TATF, each member has his own side project. McClanahan is still pursuing his blues-rock venture Dizzy Stilettos, Alva is writing on an upcoming hardcore album with a friend, while Knott and Jacob-Lopez are experimenting in the world of hip-hop and R&B music. Despite busy schedules, the inspiration and inventiveness of TATF will never be compromised, the members assure.

“Even though we all kind of branch off and do our own thing, in some way, it all ends up coming back to influence the band’s music,” Alva says. - Cassie Rossel

In just five short months, local indie rock outfit Tapioca and the Flea has gained a significant following, began work on its first full-length album and even scored a gig opening for the county’s latest breakthrough act Young the Giant at the Observatory in Santa Ana in December.

While gearing up to shoot a teaser for an upcoming music video, the quartet gave some insight into the fast-paced rise of the band in a recent interview.

“It started off as a bedroom project,” guitarist, keys player, and lead vocalist Samuel Jacob-Lopez says. “I learned how to use GarageBand and I just started recording a whole bunch of songs and put them on MySpace - when MySpace was cool.”

The frontman decided to branch out and into a full band mid-last year when he opened for drummer Matt McClanahan’s group Dizzy Stilettos. That act also featured current TATF guitarist Ronnie Knott and bassist and keys player Frank Alva joined soon after.

[More...] As a complete unit, the members share that they feel that continued experimentation is what is central to TATF’s writing process.

“This band is pretty much just saying ‘F*** you’ to all of the rules and trying new stuff to see how far we can go with it and how weird we can get,” Jacob-Lopez says.

In every other group he’s been a part of, Jacob-Lopez says he’d always want to push the envelope further.

“It’s my chance to try whatever I want to try and to be completely out-of-the-box,” he adds. “What I love about these guys is that they think completely out of the box as well.”

TATF is taking a short break from performing live to focus on recording. The band hopes to release a single sometime in April, but have been working diligently over the past several weeks to lay down the tracks for a full-length.

Aside from TATF, each member has his own side project. McClanahan is still pursuing his blues-rock venture Dizzy Stilettos, Alva is writing on an upcoming hardcore album with a friend, while Knott and Jacob-Lopez are experimenting in the world of hip-hop and R&B music. Despite busy schedules, the inspiration and inventiveness of TATF will never be compromised, the members assure.

“Even though we all kind of branch off and do our own thing, in some way, it all ends up coming back to influence the band’s music,” Alva says. - Cassie Rossel

Experimental indie rock act Tapioca and the Flea kicked off the night with its danceable rhythms, yet despite the crowd’s seemingly smug attitude towards opening acts on this evening, it did manage to get most of the room dancing and nodding its heads along by its third track. The band’s cohesiveness and stage presence was solid. Singer Samuel Jacob-Lopez charmed fans with his vocals and aside from singing, he also played guitar on several tracks throughout the set, while bassist Frank Alva also multi-tasked on the keys and tambourine. Its short-but-sweet set list consisted of several tracks from the group’s upcoming yet-to-be-titled album including “Splashed,” “Waste of Time” and “Home.” - Cassie Rossel

Experimental indie rock act Tapioca and the Flea kicked off the night with its danceable rhythms, yet despite the crowd’s seemingly smug attitude towards opening acts on this evening, it did manage to get most of the room dancing and nodding its heads along by its third track. The band’s cohesiveness and stage presence was solid. Singer Samuel Jacob-Lopez charmed fans with his vocals and aside from singing, he also played guitar on several tracks throughout the set, while bassist Frank Alva also multi-tasked on the keys and tambourine. Its short-but-sweet set list consisted of several tracks from the group’s upcoming yet-to-be-titled album including “Splashed,” “Waste of Time” and “Home.” - Cassie Rossel

If you’re a regular around here, you’ll already be familiar with our love for Kitten, which includes their former keyboardist, Sam Lopez. While we’re sad to hear that he’s no longer with the band, we are stoked to see that he’s hard at work on a solo project called Tapioca and the Flea. Its current incarnation consists of songs and material that Sam wrote and recorded over the last year while on the road with Kitten.

As Tapioca and the Flea, Sam performs the tracks in their entirety himself, using samplers, loop and effects pedals, vintage keyboards, guitars and percussion while incorporating projected images and lights into the gig. Sam is based out of Orange County/Los Angeles, so if you live in the area, you may have been lucky enough to catch him recently at Detroit Bar, The Crosby, Cinespace, or MBAR, just to name a few.

Tapioca’s future plans are to finish a full length album by the end of this summer to release in the fall, which we’re really excited about. Early listening gives me a bit of a Joy Division vibe, and if you ask me, that’s pretty fucking awesome.

Here we have a remix that he did of Kittens “Japanese Eyes”. Listen here and tell us it’s not the perfect vibe for your weekend: - Melanie Parker Levi - Whats the Ruckus

We’re fairly sure that our friend Sam Lopez is a genius. We recently featured his remix of Kitten’s “Japanese Eyes,” and now he has a new original track for us called “Georgia,” which features fledgling songbird Marla Burke. Marla’s voice is vintage gorgeous; laid over Sam’s stellar electronic artistry, this track is Chillwave perfection. - Melanie Parker Levi - Whats the Ruckus

Eargasm alert! Tapioca and the Flea is the alias of recording artist Samuel Jacob and well holy fuck this Georgia track is beyond delightful! Seriously this is a Bandcamp gem like no other! Burke’s vocals are off the hook awesome! - Dance Yrself Clean

Eargasm alert! Tapioca and the Flea is the alias of recording artist Samuel Jacob and well holy fuck this Georgia track is beyond delightful! Seriously this is a Bandcamp gem like no other! Burke’s vocals are off the hook awesome! - Dance Yrself Clean

A while back, we brought you the Tapioca And The Flea DEMO EP which was a free download. Well it has been five months and we should expect a new EP from Tapicoa And The Flea any day now. This is the new video for Home which I am guessing is a track off the EP since it wasn’t on the Demo Ep.

While your at it, check out this TATF remix of Video Games by Lana Del Rey. It’s really REALLY good. - Ambassador Beats

You’re prob thinking, “Awwww nah. Not another Lana Del Rey remix. b3sci we’re pals but come on dudes.” We hear you! We hear you! But listen to THIS. - BlahBlahBlahScience

We recently ran into Tapioca and the Flea, and we really enjoyed his tunes. Tapioca and the Flea (TATF) is the moniker for recording artist Samuel Jacob. After doing some listening and reading on TATF, we found out that his style of music falls in the psych/chillwave genre (there are so many of these genres, we just leave it to the people who like them.) The point is, his music is good and we recommend you hit the link below and listen to his tracks. Enjoy! - Jolt Radio

We recently ran into Tapioca and the Flea, and we really enjoyed his tunes. Tapioca and the Flea (TATF) is the moniker for recording artist Samuel Jacob. After doing some listening and reading on TATF, we found out that his style of music falls in the psych/chillwave genre (there are so many of these genres, we just leave it to the people who like them.) The point is, his music is good and we recommend you hit the link below and listen to his tracks. Enjoy! - Jolt Radio

Tapioca And The Flea aka Samuel Jacob, Ronnie Knott and Nelly Rodriguez have picked the ideal jam to remix. I mean really I’ll never complain about anything that has to do with Lana Del Rey. I’m certain I never will. This is a great remix that only makes me love Video Games that much more. And check out some excellent original songs and more remixes from Tapioca And The Flea over at Soundcloud. - Dance Yrself Clean