Artist Spotlight is a segment that we started to introduce our listeners to some deserving up and coming artists/bands. They have made an impact on us for all of the right reasons. We think they kick ass and we hope you do too! Today we’d like to shine the spotlight on indie rockers One Outta Ten!
Hailing from Los Angeles , One Outta Ten is an indie rock band that effortlessly captures the triumphs and turmoils of growing up. With a raw live energy and a keen ear for infectious melodies, this five-piece outfit weaves together anthemic hooks and relatable lyrics with frenetic instrumentation. From unruly smog-dripping surf rock riffs to earworm refrains, the music of One Outta Ten is an invitation to both revel in the chaos and find comfort in the shared human experience. One Outta Ten is ready to become the soundtrack to your coming-of-age movie, equal parts turbulent and beautiful. Buckle up for the ride.
We sat down with band member Josh De Leon for a short but fun Q&A session!
Every superhero or villain has an origin and a band is no different minus the radioactive spiders and secret government experiments. What is the origin of One Outta Ten?
e started just my brother and I covering things in our garage. Sometimes our dear old dad would join in on bass to help fill our sound out. Originally, Dave was practicing guitar, and I wanted to learn drums. It turns out we were both terrible at our respective instruments, so we swapped them and never looked back. I had grown up singing due to the large amount of Disney music in our household. In 7th grade, I was shown the band Arctic Monkeys by my friend and our eventual first bassist, James. We really used that as a springboard of inspiration for our music, and began doing covers just to stay in musical shape. Eventually, in high school, I connected with other musicians (Tyler, who is a part of the band today, and Trey and Dustin, our previous keyboardists). We didn’t write original songs until 2017, but continued to write music throughout my college years and post them on SoundCloud. We were able to get some singles up on Spotify as well, and those proved to be audience favorites. Eventually, the long period of writing actual full albums coincided with being in lockdown for COVID-19. I recorded a lot of music in my garage, and James moved away to Texas for a job opportunity. Mark joined the band, and started writing bass lines for us in some of the songs in our second album. The albums “With Love” and “With Rage” were made during COVID. It was a good opportunity to come out of the pandemic with new material when we decided to start playing in front of audiences again, and I think it definitely helped to have some songs that were immediate audience hits.
I think what really locked us in for the new album was when we started writing again in 2022. JT joined our band as our new keyboard player, and the band was feeling more cohesive than ever. We tried using a new studio with a new engineer named Aaron, who grew to be our friend. He really helped us out in forming our new sound, which was more acoustic driven and involved more singalong choruses and refrains. This culminated in the release of “Friends/Anyways”, a six-minute long rock and roll song about missing our friends. I think I wanted to chase that sort of sound, which was very inspired by Jeff Rosenstock and Slaughter Beach, Dog.
After a period of writing, I reached the skeleton of an album. I wasn’t so sure what the theme of it would be until Dave and I lost our father last year. We resolved to make a tribute to the people we have lost, and a reminder to spend time with the people who are still around. This became our newest album Better Days, which is now out streaming everywhere! As of now, we are prepping for our album release show on August 31st at The Smell in LA!
Band names can have a meaning or it can be a name pulled out of a hat. What’s the story behind One Outta Ten?
This is definitely because of Tyler. We had no band name originally, and we really struggled picking one when we were just 15-to-17 year olds. We were pulling names out of hats, really trying to find one that fit. I remember we were just obsessed with making music, and the name didn’t need to matter at the moment. Finally, at one practice Tyler just said “One Outta Ten” and the name really stuck to everyone involved. Since then, we have been rocking the name.
What are you currently working on?
Since we just wrapped up on our album Better Days, we’re trying to get rehearsed for our big album show on August 31st at The Smell in LA. It’s going to be a crazy one! If you have no plans, come watch us play most of the new album at this show. We are also really trying to promote the dang thing so we can grow our listener base. Share with your friends and family, anyone who wants to listen to this beautiful thing we worked on for the past two years.
We’ve already begun on our next project, which will hopefully be less heavy on the subject matter but have a focus on a more electric guitar oriented sound. We want to go faster and have more of a focus on love songs, as well. Right now we have two ready to go, but we learned a bit from this past album cycle to get a little bit more finished before we release anything.
Are you a good cook? What’s your best dish to prepare?
The whole band loves to cook. I can’t speak on behalf of the other guys, but I love to make food that takes a long time to make. It makes it so gratifying to eat the finished product at the end of the day. I also think being able to drink and snack during the whole cooking process is a fun part in and of itself. I make a pretty damn good gumbo, which could take me a whole afternoon, depending on how much beer we have to drink and how hungry I am. Low and slow, baby! I also love making a good steak. My girlfriend and I have been really into this pasta we made out of squash, goat cheese, and cherry tomatoes as well. As far as I know, no one else has this recipe, so we’re pretty damn proud of it.
What are your five favorite movies?
I am a huge sucker for action movies that have huge set pieces. An Indonesian movie called The Raid comes to mind, as it’s just all adrenaline and pure choreographed insanity. I also love the poignant parts of Mad Max, which is still a great action movie. I recently watched Nightmare Before Christmas at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. I’m shocked at how much of that movie I know by heart. As my wildcards, I think Puss in Boots: The Last Wish was one of my favorite movies I’ve ever seen in recent years, and I have really been in love with Surf’s Up. Yup. The penguin movie. It’s great. Go get high and watch it and tell me it isn’t a good movie.
Connect with One Outta Ten online:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/one_outta_ten/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwsBhOYMW0uGQ9KDJdLFfQg
