Sidewalk Society have Something to Say

Sidewalk Society, the Californian trio blending a love for ‘60s British psych and mod rock with their own creative flair, are back in the spotlight with their double CD release, An Introduction to Sidewalk Society. This collection, spanning over a decade of their work, includes covers of tracks by the likes of The Kinks and The Small Faces, alongside original material and their acclaimed remake of The Action’s Rolled Gold. Band members Dan Lawrence and Dan West reflect on their shared history, their approach to reimagining classics, and the stories behind their music.

How does it feel to see all your work compiled in one collection, and what does this album represent for the group?

Dan L: It feels fantastic! It’s great to have all the various tracks we have done for Fruits de Mer Records collected in a single release, including Strange Roads. It represents over a decade’s worth of creative output that we are very proud of. Hopefully it’s yet another chance for our music to reach new listeners.

Dan W: It provides a way for us to look back and take stock in what we’ve done which is a nice feeling in that we covered a lot of ground musically and creatively. It’s also good to have a one stop shop for potential new listeners. It contains our evolution from our 1980s beginnings well into the 21st century.

You’ve done your own versions of classic tracks by The Kinks, The Small Faces, The Pretty Things and David Bowie. How did you choose which songs to pick?

Dan L: That depends, some were chosen for specific projects that Keith was working on such as the Bowie tribute or the S.F. Sorrow covers. Mainly they were songs that we felt would be fun to do and fit our strengths, maybe a bit of challenge. DW and I have grown up together being obsessed with 60s music, so Fruits de Mer has been a dream to work with, an excuse to cover all this great music. We are also major recording enthusiast, so it allows us to really try out a lot of fun production ideas.

Dan W: As Danny mentions, we both love 60s music so the opportunity to work with like minds at Fruits de Mer has been very rewarding. Most of the song and production choices were made in concert with Dan L. We have always gravitated towards similar elements in whatever music we’ve admired so choosing the material and its subsequent production has never been difficult.

How does your creative process differ when recording original songs versus covers?

Dan L: I think recording covers tends to be a little more playful, it’s easy to be too serious when you work on your own stuff, not always but it can be.

Dan W: Recording covers is a little easier in that the template has already been provided. However, we didn’t want to fall into the trap of merely re-creating the original so, the fun is in seeing what we want to keep and what we want to make our own. When it comes to recording original music, it can be much more of a trial-and-error process. The ideas evolve over time and can end up much different than our original conception.

How did your collaboration with Fruits de Mer Records begin?

Dan L: A message through “MySpace” believe it or not. I sent a version of “Song of Baker” to them, they liked what we were doing, and it grew from there. It’s been amazing, a dream really. Keith, and Andy as well in the beginning, have always been the best, super supportive we can’t thank them enough.

Strange Roads, your remake of The Action’s Rolled Gold material received high praise, including from members of the group. What was it about this album that resonated?

Dan L: The songs, the story, I think we also sort of identified with the Action in a way, the “success adjacent” bit, haha. Rolled Gold is a “great record” but it is really a collection of demos so there was a lot of room for our collective imagination to play with.

Dan W: When listening to the original Rolled Gold tracks, we wondered what would’ve happened had the album been properly produced from demo to final release. In our estimation, Rolled Gold was an absolute masterpiece. It just happened to have unfortunate timing as the group had been dropped by EMI and it ended up being a last-ditch effort to see if they could regain any interest from the suits. All I can say and I’m sure Danny L would agree with me is that it was an absolute thrill from start to finish to get to work with such amazing material.

What challenges did you face while reworking Rolled Gold while adding your touch?

Dan L: I don’t remember any real challenges, there was the occasional conversation wondering if Action fans would even give it a chance given how passionate they feel about the original? In the end we just did it the way we wanted to hear it, for us. Luckily Keith was interested in putting it out, we were literally doing it for ourselves regardless. I’m super proud of that record and blown away by the response we got, especially from the band. Doing the Strange Brew Podcast, being on with Ian Whiteman was incredible, thanks again for that one!

How did growing up in Los Angeles shape your appreciation for British mod and psych rock?

Dan L: I think Dan W and I were super fortunate in finding each other at school, and then as it turned out many others in the early 80s that were into the same music. The L.A. mod scene at that time was really an offshoot or reaction to, and of punk. All that energy and D.I.Y spirit channeled into 60s influenced music and fashion. The “paisley underground” and BOMP/VOXX records driven garage scene, were all intertwined as well. We played shows with all those bands and were friends with many of them. No matter the name one wants to attribute to it, it was really one giant combined scene, it was super vibrant, inclusive and exciting. We started playing extremely young, Dan W. and I played in our first band together when we were 13. And when I say “played” I mean out, at clubs.

Dan W: There was a huge scene that was brewing concurrently with the beginnings of Danny L. and I working together. As Danny mentioned as it pertains to the Mod substrata of the scene, it included many people who broke off from punk which was so huge at the time. The timing was perfect because as we were honing our teeth on all of the 60s music, we loved there was already a built-in audience that included not only fans and enthusiasts of the music but a large infrastructure of clubs and venues all over the greater Los Angeles, Orange County, and Long Beach areas. I’ll never forget looking at the dozens of scooters parked along Sunset Boulevard in front of what is the now defunct O.N. Klub. When our band performed there, Danny and I were too young to hang out in the club as we weren’t of drinking age so we would wait in the backstage area and when it was our time to play, we’d hit the stage only to have to go backstage immediately afterwards!

What initially drew you to the music of the ‘60s, and how did it influence your sound?

Dan L: For me it was my mom and her brothers exposing me to great music growing up. The biggest moment had to be seeing The Kids Are Alright my mom and uncle took me to the theater to see the film when it came out, totally blew my mind and really shaped my life. Also, going to see the Kinks live soon thereafter. Mix that with post punk and new wave which I’m just as enthusiastic about, it was a great time in music to grow up in.

Dan W: I was the youngest member of my family so all of my older cousins had records from the 60s that they would give me as hand-me-downs. These included albums by Paul Revere & The Raiders, The Monkees, and the Beatles. I became obsessed and eagerly collected as much of this music as I could, including British imports. At the time, there were lots of vintage record stores and a record swap meet at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel on the first Saturday of the new year. As Danny mentioned, seeing The Kids Are Alright really blew my mind as well and took my love of 60s Mod and Power Pop to a whole new level. The music of the new wave scene had a retro element to it that I picked up on and really dug as well.

How has the experience of playing together since junior high school shaped your band’s chemistry and sound?

Dan L: I think the answer is in the question, chemistry. Our musical DNA grew up together. No matter the musical paths we have taken, at different times, when we get together it’s telepathic, instinctive we just GO. It’s a blast to play with Dan, always fun.

Dan W: Danny and I can get together at any point in time whether it’s after one week, one month, or one year and immediately know exactly where the other is at a very subconscious musical level. This translates to every aspect of the work we do together. It’s entirely because we grew up side by side with this intense love of The Who and the album Sell Out (which is how we bonded) in addition to the music of The Kinks, Small Faces and others of that era in the UK. It’s telepathic with me and Danny and will always be there.

What are some favourite tracks on An Introduction to Sidewalk Society, and why?

Dan L: This may sound like a cop out but every single one. Each has very specific memories attached to them, all positive. I can enjoy listening objectively at this point without obsessing over a sound not being right etc.

Dan W: As Danny said, each track really does hold a special place and in some cases, especially with the earlier works off of the first Sidewalk Society album, can really send me down the memory hole of what was going on at that particular place and time in our lives.

Which of your original tracks on this album are you especially proud of, and what stories do they tell?

Dan L: 12-14 Are special in that they are songs from the original incarnation of the band, written when I was 15 or so? We recorded them soon after we reformed the band in 2007, but they had never been recorded or released back in the day, a bit of a time capsule look back at youth. 15-19 Are a snapshot of where we took the new line and sample of where we were at that point, with couple of demos to give an insight into the process a bit. Musically you can get a hint of the growth through the structure, full arrangements, strings, horns and some of the fun stuff we explored on “Venus…”

Dan W: I love early tracks like ‘Now and Forever’ and ‘Tell Me Why’ as a look back at our beginnings. It’s nice to have those available on the same album as the newer material from our second album ‘Venus, Saturn, & The Crescent Moon’ and ‘Strange Roads.’ Anyone who wants a proper intro to the band will get the full breadth and scope of what we’ve been up to all these years. Our sound has definitely changed quite a lot, but we’ve never lost sight of what inspired us initially.

Lastly, can you tell me about your post-Sidewalk Society projects and plans for next year?

Dan L: I’m currently working on a new music, I’m close to having an album’s worth of tracks compiled, in various stages of completion. I can’t really give details yet because it’s changing all the time but hopefully it will see the light of day in 2025. You will be one of the first to hear it if does. I have also been in the studio generally, recording and working on other people’s projects.

Dan W: This last June I released my fourth solo album on my Wayside Records imprint, this time as my musical alter ego d’Animal. It’s called ‘Hedonistic Pillow.’ I just found out it will be released in Germany early next year on Thokei Tapes based in Hamburg. I am also completing my first full length big band album entitled ‘State of Swing’ which should be ready for release in the Spring of 2025. I continue to work in jazz groups around L.A. including The Assimilation and The Jazz Bakers. I also played bass on my wife Azalia Snail’s latest offering, POWERLOVER. It’s a very busy time musically so I’m very grateful for that. I am of course, very excited about this new Sidewalk Society release. It really does cover the scope of what we’re all about and I’m looking forward to sharing it with the world. Thank you, Jason, for being so supportive all these years. It means the world to us.

Further information

Sidewalk Society – An Introduction To, Double CD, on sale early-December. Pre-order now