By Jay Allen Sanford
ENCINITAS — “Louis’s dad had known Geza X for some time and sent some of our original demos to him on a whim, and fortunately, he liked what he heard,” says Sam Adgate of how he and Louis Petrella came to work with LA’s Godfather of Punk.
The producer for Black Flag, Dead Kennedys, and the Germs may best be known for “Bitch” by Meredith Brooks. He was recently featured in LA Weekly’s rundown of the city’s top 30 producers.
Geza X has worked with other San Diegans, including recording the Echelons (later known as Upper Echelons) with Louis Petrella’s father, Benny Petrella, and producing an EP by Benny’s daughter Sarah.
Calling their project Sorry It’s Over, singer-guitarist Sam (who lives in Cardiff) and guitarist Louis (from Encinitas) recruited Sam’s bassist brother Gus Adgate (also in Cardiff) and Pacific Beach drummer Freddy Barden (A local fact: Freddy’s brother Michael used to be in a La Costa Canyon High School band with Sam and Louis called the “Borski Boys”).
“Michael has been finishing up school in Oregon,” said Sam, “so the band has a long-distance relationship, as far as that goes.
“Louis and I have actually written all the songs up until now but, as we are growing as a band, we see the chemistry getting better, so we all add in our different perspectives.
“The Borski Boys was pretty much all covers, with just a handful of originals. We were still in high school, just messing around, but definitely some great times.”
Sam and Louis also spent a couple of years living in Santa Barbara while playing with the EDM group We Jungle, who were regularly booked at local college parties.
“As far as EDM production goes, that’s all Louis. His experience with Ableton has certainly played a huge part in our sound. If not for him, this project never would’ve come to fruition.”
The band has written around 40 songs, with the first to appear online being a ballad called “Sunflower,” mainly uploaded to create a Spotify account.
Their true debut single “Ghost Inside” is an upbeat rocker that drops May 29.
“‘Ghost Inside’ seemed to meet our style somewhere in the middle. It’s hard when releasing your first songs as singles because a lot of people can make an opinion on your music just based off that one track, so releasing ‘Ghost Inside’ showed off a few parts of our sound.
“I think it’s super important that people know rockers are going to be on our upcoming album, so mentioning it is something to look forward to for those who are interested.
“We’re kind of all over the place but, if I had to pin it down, I’d say somewhere in between pop and alternative rock. Think Weezer meets Death Cab for Cutie? Hard to say.”
The vibe of their music is also heavily informed by their North County hometown, which Sam is both enamored of and annoyed by.
“I live right next to Pipes, so I’ve been going to that restaurant since I was a kid,” said Sam. “Nothing like it. The same thing with that beach, it’s where I learned to surf, so there’s so much to be grateful for.
“Least favorite part is how crowded Encinitas summers have gotten over the years. Hate to be that guy, and I understand why people want to spend their vacations here, but trashing the beaches and the overall disrespect from a lot of the tourists is pretty lame.”
“On a side note, it feels like a strange climate to promote our personal music when there are so many bigger issues going on right now,” Sam noted. “There are countless things we can do to raise awareness on the tragic situation regarding George Floyd, from donating to different charities as well as peaceful protesting just to name a few.
“We hope that we can all come together as a community and inspire some real change that is so necessary in our world today.”
This article was originally published on May 21, 2020, in the San Diego Reader.
