3 minute read
MUSIC
l e f t t o r i g h t Johnathan Hayes Taylor Stillwell Nick Zoppo Justin Bratcher
HEARTtoHEART
PHOTOGRAPH BY RICHARD FUSILLO
It has been said that you have to spend years roaming around playing dive bars to become an overnight success. And for Pismo Beach-based punk band Heart to Heart, you can add garages, hair salons, basements, and churches to that list of venues. For the band, which formed in 2009 when its members graduated from area high schools, overnight success now seems within reach. After three West Coast tours, two Midwest tours, and two National tours, the band, having recently spent 34 days on the road, found themselves playing at a club called Sneaky Dee’s in Toronto. To their surprise, about half the people at the show were singing their songs. Nick Zoppo, the band’s frontman, shares, “I remember looking over at the guys and saying, ‘Whoa, this is crazy.’ You see people in the crowd climbing on each other and singing our songs. I mean, we’re still a long way from the top but we’re hungry and it’s cool to see it starting to grow.” Justin Bratcher, who plays bass, chimes in, “You can’t really put that into words, it was just so rewarding.” The band, which just released a new album in October recently signed on with Pure Noise Records based in the Bay Area. And after spending years setting up their own gigs, they also now have a management team which includes a booking agent. Between tours they have been recording new tracks in a Hollywood-based studio where they work with Kyle Black, a big name in the punk rock scene who seems to have the Midas touch when choosing clients. The band reports that Black has been pushing them hard to reach the next level. Heart to Heart’s music, which could be compared to bands such as Senses Fail, or Crime in Stereo, or even old Green Day, is about high-energy-give-it-everything-you’ve-got old school punk rock. The band refers to their fans as friends and shares that their name, Heart to Heart, was a nod to the personal connection they hope to make with others when playing. And, to be sure, many of their songs are deeply personal in nature. They typically finish shows with their song titled “40/40/20” which is about a friend of theirs who had lost her husband to the war in Afghanistan only to learn that she had stomach cancer. She then had to make a terrifying choice: the only operation available had a 40% chance of success; 40% chance of failure; and a 20% chance of death. The chorus goes like this: in the middle of an earthquake / a massive headache / an important decision to make / you just can’t turn and walk away / in the middle of an earthquake / a massive headache / I’m left to sit here as the ground shakes / I wish I could take your pain away. Zoppo, who shares the story with the crowd before singing the song, offers that it gives people hope and encourages them to never give up, no matter how hard things get. And, he is happy to report that the woman who the song was written about, as of a few months ago, is now cancer-free. Zoppo reflects that the connection they make with people through their music is the most rewarding part of what they do. “It’s really cool because we are just normal dudes who have written what we have been through. It’s just a way for us to release the pain we’ve kept bottled up inside and try to help other people out.” The band members tout the therapeutic properties of their music, and they describe their desire to bring a huge amount of energy and intensity to their shows, making it something the crowd will never forget. But at the end of the day, the guys are unexpectedly low-key and reveal how proud they are to tell people about their home on California’s Central Coast, often claiming that they are “just beach boys.” And, as they spend a month at a time shuttling themselves around from gig to gig they talk about the friends they’ve made while listening to a wide range of music in their van including country western and 1980’s R&B. And through it all, it’s those connections, the friendships, and the inspiration that makes Heart to Heart much more than just an overnight success. SLO LIFE