Tampa, Florida, is an interesting place, and its music is no different. It’s technically a major city, but it doesn’t quite receive the same attention as Philadelphia or Miami—or Baltimore, Atlanta, or even Nashville, for that matter. Likewise, its music scene isn’t made up of dozens of acts from multiple different music scenes that emerge to greater national attention, such as the ongoing Philadelphia shoegaze scene from the 2010s or the multiple dream pop bands to come out of Baltimore. Still, Tampa has something those other cities don’t, something entirely unique to itself: The Gulf Coast Sound.
The Gulf Coast Sound is not one distinct genre of music. It does not describe a subgenre of bedroom pop that’s being made only in Tampa or St. Petersburg, nor does it describe some new type of alt-county birthed from the waters of the Gulf of Mexico or Tampa Bay. Rather, it could include both of these or none of them at all.
It encompasses multiple genres from hip-hop to dream pop, and there is perhaps only one rule that binds all its acts: they must function independently. This is not in the mere sense that indie rock bands must first release on Bandcamp. It is more of an unspoken rule that they participate in the greater independent underbelly of the Tampa Bay area that includes DIY venues, craft artisans, baristas, and recycled fashion.
Radio show hosts can also be added to that list. Sector.fm (also the link to the site) is an independent radio station broadcasting out of the area, the brainchild of Vonne Parks and Andre Gainey of They Hate Change. A dynamic experimental rap duo, They Hate Change has been called “musical ambassadors for the Gulf Coast” by Gabrielle Calise of the Tampa Bay Times. It’s a title that fits the group especially well, considering the range of genres that encompasses their sound, which stretches as far as the versatility of the musicians involved in the scene. As a member of Jagjaguwar Records, They Hate Change shares a label with indie rock legends Dinosaur Jr., Bon Iver, Angel Olsen, and Sharon Van Etten.
Sector.fm houses a circle of musicians who seem just as happy talking and spinning their favorite tracks as they are recording or performing live. The result is a diverse blend of genres, including but not limited to electronic, techno, R&B, country, and dream pop, which truly captures the music-obsessed people who have created and continue to sustain the Gulf Coast Sound. Club Miata is an hour-long show that plays each Sunday on an independent radio station. Noel, one of the show’s three hosts, knows just about everything there is to know about music, and he often shares trinkets of this knowledge when he is on air. His project, rocket ‘97, hones in on perhaps one of his favorite genres of music: dream pop. The group, which is named after his beloved family Chihuahua, started out as a home recording project and includes Mia—who shares vocal duties with Noel—and Ulric on guitar when performing live.
When asked about their influences, Noel and Mia have been inspired by everything from emo (Jejune, Nymb, and Everyone Asked About You) to country (John Anderson, The Louvin Brothers, The Chicks, Buck Owens, Miranda Lambert, and The Flying Burrito Brothers). Yet, their style of dream pop is structured and disciplined, giving hints of a vast musical knowledge by way of their lush and diverse instrumentation. These layers of influence are heard whether Noel is playing his Stratocaster or Silvertone 1478, and he lists Robin Guthrie, Johnny Marr, and Patrick Flegel (of Cindy Lee and Women) as some of his favorite guitar players. His love of guitar came from an early age. He recalls: “Every summer before the age of 16, I would go to Costa Rica and stay at my grandparents’ house in La Zona De Los Santos. What I looked forward to the most was spending time with my late uncle Rolo. He was big into music, punk mostly, his favorite band being NOFX. He showed me so much at such a young age, I can’t help but credit him as the foundation of my musical journey. Around the time I was 11, I remember him playing One by Metallica, and I just couldn’t believe it. That felt impossible to play before. I think that made me want to play guitar more than anything else.”
Other influences of rocket ‘97 include ML Buch, Joshua Chuquimia Crampton, John Martyn, The Blue Nile, For Against, One Way, Digital Dance, U.S. Maple, Flooding, Lily Seabird, Dougie Poole, Wednesday, and “anything that Ulric, Andrew, and I played on our Club Miata Radio Hour On Sector.FM”. Mia also added: “My biggest inspiration outside of music itself has to be the older folks I see at the bar when I do karaoke every week. They always have these insane one-liners and stories that are equally crazy and beautiful, and I take a lot of inspiration from them.”
Rocket ‘97 recently reissued their debut EP via Cult Cassette Corp and discussed writing songs for an upcoming release—particularly on the back porch or media room while digging through records. When they inevitably play their next show—“I think the running joke is that we play a show every two years”—they prefer “the smaller places like Oscura in Bradenton and the VFWs in St. Pete and Tampa”. They added that it will also come with a few rehearsals at Groovehaven Music, a local space that provides musicians with a place to jam.
Like Noel, Fessi K. is another sector.fm host and Tampa Bay musician. Her sound differs from the dream pop-inspired Rocket ‘97; it shows the vast range and extensive knowledge of music coming from both the Gulf Coast Sound artists and the sector.fm DJs themself. Her R&B-inspired alt-rock (in the style of Liz Phair) is in full force on her latest release, tender, iii. Fessi K. shared that her biggest musical influences are “for sure women in R&B over the years—Sade, Janet Jackson, Solange. They’re so soft but so exacting with everything they deliver, and I’ve always appreciated that.” She also added Sonic Youth to that list and classics like Jimi Hendrix, Todd Rundgren, and Shuggie Otis. Tender, iii is a creative marriage of R&B, guitar rock, slowcore—inspired by the genre’s seminal acts (Pinback, Duster, Codeine, etc.)—behind downtempo styled beats.
The outcome from this wide range of influences is something only achievable by a true music enthusiast. What makes it more impressive is that Fessi K. only recently began playing music, thanks to her partner having so much gear accessible to her. It was 2019 when she began experimenting with a synth that they had. Since then, she has learned how to play guitar and practices in her living room, all while honing a production style that sounds remarkably crisp yet raw. Regarding her equipment and recording software, she described: “I still use a DAW (Ableton and Reason) and utilize their stock presets, as well as VSTs/Plugins like the Tal-U-NO-LX (Roland Juno clone), drum breaks, and analog synths like the Korg Minilogue”. Fessi K. is currently recording her first album and has an upcoming show at S.P.OT. (Skate Park of Tampa) on February 7th for the EP release of the Tampa-based shoegaze act, Deep Bite.
Maybe the best part about the Gulf Coast Sound is how inclusive and inviting it is. The community is extremely welcoming and open to new musicians and lacks any hints of pretentiousness. They support each other through a myriad of different outlets, forming an interconnected web of artists. It’s a progressive community yet still appreciates the value of in-person organization. In a world where authenticity seems scarcer than ever, the independent and passionate music enthusiasts that make up the Gulf Coast Sound are a prized commodity. They prove that there are still avenues to explore and live your passions—at least in the Tampa Bay area.
Written by C.S. Comfort
