Beach Goons is having a pretty stellar year. With shows back in action, the band is on the road, gearing up for new music and just played one of the wildest sets Riot Fest saw all weekend. Atlas caught up with singer Pablo Cervantez to talk upcoming singles, returning to Riot and breaking the mold.
Atlas Artist Group: What’s been your favorite part about coming back to Riot Fest for the second time?
Pablo Cervantez: Honestly, just how crazy this whole setup is- there’s rides out here, there’s a whole catering out here; it’s just a good experience. Being able to see the other bands playing- really crazy bands- just stuff like that is really cool to pull up to a venue and know that that’s what you get to do for the day.
Atlas: Watching your set is like watching chaos unfold in the best way. Do people approach you and tell you how crazy it felt to be in the crowd?
Pablo: They usually say they had the time of their lives. They’ll tell me like, ‘damn. I’m bruised up!’ It’s crazy out there. I don’t know what the factor is that makes us as crazy as it gets.
Atlas: You’re currently out on your fall headliner. What can fans expect from this tour?
Pablo: Brand new songs that we’ve never played before, a lot of energy like always and just a fun time.
Atlas: I heard new songs! Are we talking singles or a full-length album?
Pablo: We’re definitely going to do a couple singles first, leading up to a full release.
Atlas: Is there a particular song that resonates most with you and, in turn, is there a track that seems to resonate most with the fans?
Pablo: I resonate a lot with either “Chunti” or “A.M.” Those two songs are- I feel like- where I’m the most passionate. I feel like a lot of people resonate with “A.M.” I feel like they really like hearing the English and Spanish mixup, you know?
Atlas: What do you hope people will take away from your music?
Pablo: To me, I feel like what I’ve always tried to showcase is that people from neighborhoods like me or the neighborhoods I come from- we don’t all just have to be what they expect us to be. We’re not just gangbangers or just drug dealers or whatever. We can be artists, lawyers, teachers- we can be whatever we want.
Unfortunately I grew up with a lot of people who don’t see themselves as that and they’ll see themselves as whatever everybody else is telling them. So they’ll tell them, ‘oh, you’re just a bad kid, you’re never going to amount to nothing.’ And unfortunately, I’ve had friends who’ve told me that [and] teachers who are like, ‘you ain’t never gonna to amount to shit.’
It’s unfortunate but it happens. So I guess I just really want to push that- I’m one of these kids that come from places like this and if I’m up here doing it, y’all could do it. Anyone could do it.
Atlas: Is there anything else you want people to know about you or your music or is there anything you wish you got to talk about more that you might not get asked?
Pablo: That’s a good question. I don’t know- I guess that it’s not all just random luck. It takes a lot of hard work to do stuff- just knowing that you gotta be committed to doing something like this. It gets really hard sometimes but you just gotta keep pushing. And if you’re very committed and love it then nothing’s gonna stop you.
It’s a lot of work throughout the day, but you get that 30 minutes or that hour of people going crazy and it makes up for everything.
Catch Beach Goons on tour this fall!
Story and photos by Olivia Khiel
