The Gooms
Hailing from Los Angeles, The Gooms are a garage rock band with a sound of their own, one that stems from a blend of punk and jazz. The band consists of members Chase, Nicole, Shane, and Ryan, self-proclaimed to be the mysterious one, delightful one, unsettled one, and punny one, respectively. The Gooms first came onto the scene in 2018, releasing their debut single “Friends,” as well as debut EP, With an M, later that same year. Since then, the band’s released two more singles, both of which premiered this year, and are releasing their first full length album, Laugh, on July 24th. We recently spoke with The Gooms about their many musical influences, time out of the studio, and more!
How did the band get started?
Chase and Shane originally started The Gooms as a duo after a couple other projects disbanded. Nicole is actually best friends with Chase’s sister, from college, and had been to some of those really early Goom debuts. We were looking for a bass player at the time and through a bunch of random connections were given Nicole’s info, not really realizing who it was. Although Nicole plays guitar and not bass, we thought it was too coincidental to not give her a shot. It was too perfect so we continued on, playing shows with 2 guitars, drums, and no bass. Ryan was another connection through Chase’s sister (we now call her the H.R. Department of The Gooms). She brought Ryan to a show and we all ended up talking and hanging out all night, figuring we would get together and jam sometime soon. The next day Ryan sent us an email with videos of himself playing bass parts to all of our songs. Mind you, at the time we had no released music and no bass. It didn’t take long for us to all agree he was the one.
Where’d the name “The Gooms” come from?
It was a made up word that Shane once texted Chase. We wish it was a better story haha.
Who are some of your greatest musical influences? A dream collab?
Oingo Boingo/Danny Elfman, Stevie Wonder, Talking Heads, Weezer, Pixies, The Doors, Blondie, The Strokes, Deltron 3030, Arctic Monkeys, No Doubt, John Prine, Led Zeppelin, Alabama Shakes, P.J. Harvey, The Clash, Flight of the Conchords, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Devo, Howlin Wolf, Willie Nelson, Kendrick Lamar, Dave Brubek, Heart, Pavement, The Cure, The Breeders, and too many more. OUR DREAM COLLAB WOULD BE LIZZO!
You have a very unique vibe to your music. Describe it in 3 words.
Sweaty, silly, sensitive
What would be your dream venue?
Red Rocks. We just really love rocks.
What do you guys like to do outside of the studio?
Cry mostly. Chase skateboards, Nicole likes to play basketball, Shane is usually editing video content, and Ryan is currently making his own kombucha!
Any future projects for fans to get excited about?
Our first full length album “Laugh.” will be available everywhere on July 24th! We hope to tour once the world is in better shape.
