By Marlyn Rodriguez |Opinions Editor|

The new genre of music, G-Punk, is taking over the scene with the help of bands like New Beat Fund.

Since signing on to Red Bull Records the band has toured the country four times and landed an opening gig for Blink-182.

The four band mates are young, easy-going, extremely talented, and super sarcastic.

Michael Johnson, Jeff Laliberte, Shelby Archer, and Paul Laliberte formed the band in 2011 and skyrocketed to success.

It’s evident that the members have worked extremely hard to get where they are today. They write, record and produce all their music.

A short while after getting together, they released a video for their hit “Scare Me.”

According to their marketing team, three of the four band mates have been playing together for almost a decade.

They started off playing in their garage as suburban teenagers, dreaming of making it big one day.

They had a spectacular performance on Saturday, May 10 at a fraternity house near the University of California, Riverside (UCR).

Listening to their new and unique style of music was refreshing

Student John Orta, one of the audience members said, “New Beat Fund is bringing a whole new sound to surf rock. They are some fun guys making music.”

Apart from running a little behind schedule, Saturday afternoon’s events ran very smoothly.

Alumnus Christina Ker said, “They were chill, but the fact that they ended up performing later than expected was kind of irritating.”

In the end, I think everyone agreed that it was a performance to remember.

You can find their music online at newbeatfund.com.

 

Coyote Chronicle: What motivated you to turn music into your career?

(M) Michael: Were bad at failing and music careers are 100 percent failure and we don’t accept that, so we just keep going. It’s really a series of failures that have led to this. It’s really all we like to do and we don’t do what we don’t like to do.

CC: Do you guys agree on the subject matter of a song?

(J) Jeff: We always fight. We’re pretty blunt. We formulate an idea together and let it grow. Most creative things come from not thinking.

CC: What are your songs about and what themes do they cover?

(S) Shelby: Experiences that aren’t necessarily normal. Every song is different; they come from different places, content wise. Our songs vary in subject. It functions on a different subject. We take what we see around us and put it into words, like life experiences, band experiences, the way girls make us feel inside.

CC: Personally, who has supported you guys the most?

(P) Paul: Our parents, hands down. Our parents are great. This has been a very long continuing journey. Most parents would say get a day job and ask what we’re doing with our lives, but they let us follow whatever we are doing.

CC: What image do you think your music conveys?

P: Fun, Sunshine. Here’s the image: having sex with the sun setting behind us, under palm trees and horchata, margaritas, and burritos.

CC: Where have you performed? What were your most and least favorite venues?

S: We played a fair share of venues. We opened for Blink-182 last year. We’ve played in some s***ty venues, in California and the whole country really, but those were also fun. I don’t think there has been any low points, but there’s been a lot of high points.

CC: If you’ve toured the country, opened for Blink-182, and performed in all these venues. What brought you here?

S: Good times. It’s a nice Saturday and there’s sun. There’s a pool and a stage. We just want to play music no matter where it is.

CC: Which song do you enjoy playing the most?

S: Scare Me. It’s our single. It’s been on the radio a bit. People know it and sing it back. It feels good and brings tears to our eyes. They’re all fun to play.

CC: Where are your fondest musical memories?

S: Our van rig broke down. We got stuck in Iowa and we had to get to Omaha, Nebraska. The mechanic who was working on our van gave us a ride and we got to Omaha. Before that story, we were living in Topanga Canyon where we went to work on songs for our new record. It was an amazing place. In between tours we were working on songs.