HEADING OUT WITH
TEN WEST
FAMED POP, HIP-HOP AND MODERN PUNK KEYBOARDIST/PRODUCER RONNIE KING
AND HIS PARTNER, VETERAN MANAGER SEAN COUEVAS, LAUNCH THEIR NEW VENTURE BLUE
LABEL RECORDS WITH SELF-TITLED DEBUT
FROM POPULAR ORANGE COUNTY BASED MAINSTREAM ROCKERS
* * *
Ten West, Veterans of OC Hotspots Like The Sandpiper Lounge, Gypsy Lounge
And Hogue Barmichael’s, Recently Shot The Video For “Amazing”
On The Sands of Their Home Base of Laguna Beach
The title of “Amazing,” Ten West’s first single from their self-titled Blue
Label Records debut, says it all about the Orange County, California based
band’s career since they caught the ear of legendary pop, hip-hop and modern
punk producer Ronnie King.
Driven by their mutual excitement over the foursome’s powerful songwriting
and cool, soft rock with an edge vibe, King and Ten West’s manager Sean
Couevas are launching their company Blue Label Records with the release of
the band’s self-titled debut. Earlier this year, Ten West won the regional
for Best Pop Band in San Diego at the L.A. Music Awards; they are currently
up for Best Indie Artist of the Year for the entire competition. They are
also regulars on the Orange County club circuit, playing such venues as The
Sandpiper Lounge in Laguna Beach, Gypsy Lounge in Lake Forest and Hogue
Barmichael’s in Newport Beach.
Described spiritedly by Couevas as “what might happen if Dave Matthews,
Matchbox 20 and Jack Johnson had a love child,” Ten West’s debut hits both
online and brick and mortar outlets (via Select-O-Hits Distribution) on
November 21. “Amazing,” an infectious acoustic rocker written by 19-year-old
guitarist Josh Itano, was shipped to Triple AAA and Pop/Rock Radio on
October 23.
In mid October, the band shot a video for the song amidst their hometown
stomping grounds of Laguna Beach. “We all had a great experience making this
video,” says Itano. “It focuses on a girl going around town and helping
people in random places, trying to get them to come see us throwing a
concert on the beach. We’re there up on the face of a rock making music and
having a great time, with the perfect little beach in the background. At the
end of the video, they show a nearby beach house at sunset. The whole thing
is feel-good all around.”
Over the years, King’s resume has run wildly eclectic, from the most
mainstream of pop artists (Mariah Carey, KC & JoJo, Tyrese) to the hottest
pop-thugs (2Pac, Thug Law, Coolio, Snoop Dogg protégés Eastsidaz) and the
metal inflected punk of The Offspring, whom he toured with from 2003-2005.
Known for his trademark sound on Analog Mini-Moog, he also toured with
Rancid and was a member of L.A. punk supergroup The Joykiller. He brings his
incredible studio expertise to Ten West’s strong original material, which is
penned mostly by Itano and lead singer/songwriter Jon Ogden.
Couevas first met King when King was playing keyboards for Pepper and
Couevas was tour manager for their opening act, Bargain Music. They didn’t
collaborate, however, until Couevas was in a studio at Laguna School of
Music, getting ready to record tracks for Ten West. King was next door,
working with Nick Hernandez of Common Sense, and the sound engineer for both
projects suggested that Ten West bring in an outside producer for the album.
“Sean originally heard us playing an acoustic show at our friends’ birthday
party, even before we had our drummer Sam Brawner,” says Itano. “We had a
meeting a few weeks later, played him our tunes, told him how we loved to
write, and he agreed to be our manager and fund our first recording. When he
saw that Ronnie was in the same studio, he talked to him and gave him a CD
of four of our tunes. Ronnie loved ‘Amazing’ and wanted to produce it for
us, but at first he had no intention of helming the whole album. But he
liked our sound and the way things were going and agreed to stay on. We
couldn’t believe it later when we found out that Sean and Ronnie were
forming a label and we would be their first signed artist!”
Couevas adds, “Ronnie realized that Ten West would be easy to find a big
audience for, so we started talking about pooling our resources and starting
a label that we could launch with Ten West. Ronnie is a talented and
versatile musician and producer, and he was happy to learn of my strong ear
for talent, plus my ability to secure financial backing. Breaking Ten West
is our major focus as we launch the label. The key to long-term success will
be signing great artists and building a small core of them to give our full
attention to. We want to give really good bands a good chance to get out
there and do well on an independent level.”
Jay Warner, six time Grammy winning music publisher and author of the
bestseller How To Have Your Hit Song Published, stated, “As Ronnie’s
Publisher of the last few years, I’ve learned to trust his ears for a
commercial sound. However, I didn’t expect him to bring me such a
professionally polished hitmaking group right out of the box. I felt we
shouldn’t give this over to just any label, let’s start one. We immediately
picked up enthusiastic national distribution from Los Angeles’ Omni
Entertainment and their Select-O-Hits organization.”
Believe it or not, Itano actually wrote “Amazing”—a straightforward
reflection of the reasons people should not take the good things in life for
granted--long before these events, sometime after he met Ogden at an
audition for a new production company. Itano liked Ogden’s voice and playing
style and thought they should hook up.
The two started playing coffee shops that had acoustic entertainment in
Orange County, but count their first official gig as one of the bars they
played in San Luis Obispo. Ogden had lived in the Central Coast city for a
while and had plugged into the eclectic music scene there, so it was like
playing a hometown concert; the singer counts Dan Curcio and Haircut from
the popular local reggae-rock outfit Longview as chief influences.
Once the duo decided to go the electric route, Itano called his old high
school buddy (from Mater Dei High in Santa Ana), bassist Alex Balderston,
and asked him to join their new band. “I originally met our drummer Sam when
I walked into the wrong house looking for a friend of mine,” Itano laughs.
“We played some different gigs together, but I was afraid to call him about
our new band because I still owed him money from the last gig we had done
together! But eventually I broke down, paid him what I owed him and asked
him to check us out. He liked what we were doing and immediately wanted to
join.”
Itano wrote the harmonic, mid-tempo rocker “Seven Days Gone” about the way
the world and a person’s life can change quickly, suddenly and without
warning. With the release of “Amazing” and their self-titled debut, the
members of Ten West are on the verge of some major upward shifts—and they
can’t wait to keep the positive vibes going. “I’m really looking forward to
going out on tour and experiencing life that way,” says Itano. “Our main
goal is to be able to play with people we grew up listening to and admiring,
like John Mayer and Dave Matthews. I love it when I can look out at the
crowd and see someone smiling and dancing. It’s okay to be mellow sometimes,
but it’s great when that’s balanced by making music that inspires people to
act like they’re at a party.”
My Space: Ten West ,
Blue Label Records