What's up?

Inland Empire.

My name is Manny Sandoval, and I'm your host.

Welcome to Rhythm Lounge, where we spotlight the top musical talent from across the Inland Empire.

Everybody watching you are in for a treat.

We have an indie alternative band.

I'm just going to let them get started.

Everybody Berries & Toast First songs called Orange Dreamsicle Dreaming Distancing myself from sleeping too much time spent on being blacked out Stuck inside It's out of my hands now It's out of my hands now It's out of my hands now Believing everything that you are seeing Change what you can when you're sleeping, when you're awake.

It's out of Your hands now It's out of Your hands now It's out of our hands now It's out of our hands now Ohhhhh Ohhhhh This next one, It's a little track called: Take My Time You make me want to try.

And I will take my time Always on my mind.

Got me feelin' fine Was so scared of trying I don't care how long it takes I'll make a mistake I'll learn how to do it And turn everything around Including that frown You make me want to try And I will take my time Always on my mind Got me feelin' fine On my knees I promise Cross my heart and hope to die That isn't a lie Was so scared to show you That there's nothing I won't do, what a fool Won't go Won't go Won't go Won't go Won't go Won't go Won't go Won't go You make me want to try And I will take my time Always on my mind Got me feelin' fine Welcome back Inland Empire.

Thank you so much for joining us.

Berries & Toast Thank you guys for coming out today and spending some time and sharing your talent with us.

Let's, give you guys a second to introduce yourselves.

Yeah.

Sure thing.

My name is Aaron.

I play guitar in the band.

My name is Andres I also play guitar in the band, and I sing.

My name is Alan, I play drums, I'm Douglas and I'm the bass player.

So the first song, first off, let's address the elephant in the room.

Awesome, guys.

The big elephant in the room.

Like, where did you get the name: Berries & Toast?

Okay, you guys look shocked for a second I'm just sort of tired of this of this question.

My name is Andres Barrientos and when this band started, it was mainly me trying to make music in my room.

And I remember in high school, some guy.

I don't know where he is.

I forgot who he is.

But he called me berries and toasts because my last name is Barrientos, and so I needed a name to start, you know, making the music under.

So I just went with berries and toast, and then we became a band, and then we just kind of stuck with the name.

No, gotcha.

No.

There's a lot of inspiration and I love it.

Being for us that it's cool that it came out Yeah.

just kind of, uniquely, but at the same time without trying.

So yeah, it's fun.

So I was going to ask you the first song that you guys performed for us was called Orange Dreamsicle Who wrote that song and what was the inspiration?

Take me back to that day when you sat down with pen and paper or, you know, your laptop or any digital device to write those lyrics, what were you guys thinking?

Okay, so, Orange Dreamsicle, I named it that because when I'm naming songs, sometimes it's either a lyric from the song or I just the first thing I look at and I remember, I remember there was an ice cream man on set that I was working, and there was one of those little the creamsicle is the orange ones.

I was like, oh, it looks fun.

And I thought I was being clever by making it Dreamsicle instead.

The song itself, I wrote it also on set, and, I was highly inspired by, a song called, That's What You Get by Paramore Just that rhythm.

So I kind of just based something off of that, that rhythm, and then just kind of made that.

Gotcha.

And then.

So the second song that you guys performed, what was the name of that, and what was the sort of lyrical content inspiration behind that one?

Take My Time I remember writing that like in an hour because I just wanted to write like a cheesy love song, and that's what came out of it.

And I do love it.

It's a great song.

It's fun.

So you mentioned Paramore inspired.

You know, I believe it was more the instrumentation of that specific.

Yeah, mainly the rhythm.

What are some of your guys' sort of musical influences and inspirations?

Yeah.

Would you guys all say?

I guess like I come from like a totally different background of music.

I love the type of music that we play.

I'm more into like heavier genres of music, but just being able to play with my friends, like, it's a wonderful feeling, I guess.

But I am on the, I guess, softer side of genres of music.

So like bands like Interpol, especially their bass player, like huge inspiration with him, especially just not just the music, but the way he plays and like the tone of his bass.

Same thing with, Joy Division, just bands along those lines that are very heavy on the bass that I would.

That's what I want to bring.

It's just I don't want to just, I want to keep the rhythm, but I want to show anybody who listens to the music that the bass is much cooler than just, you know, playing 1 or 2 notes throughout the whole song.

For that reason, I when, when, when I'm writing Yeah.

and when I bring it to the band, I try very hard to keep it bass heavy because it's fun that way You don't hear bass that often.

Gotcha I mean, if you're listening to this genre of music, I mean, it's kind of just in the back.

Yeah, that's an interesting sort of thing that you throw out there That's.

because most just music listeners probably don't even realize that a lot of music lacks bass.

So what's the difference in terms of sound when a song features bass and when one song doesn't feature bass, what would you say?

Can you repeat the question?

What's like, what's the sound difference that you really hear?

Yeah.

That's kind of apparent to, you know, a bass player that they would catch on that, you know, there is bass prevalent compared to, you know, just the everyday average listener.

And they probably don't even realize that a lot of the music they're listening to does not feature bass.

Yeah, it's kind of weird.

I guess I'm guilty of that.

Growing up, I didn't really I didn't not care, but I didn't really acknowledge how prominent bass is.

And then I remember one of the first bands I was in, I played bass in it and I'm like, wow, this is actually pretty tiring.

And it kind of is as cheesy as it sounds.

It kind of is like the backbone of the band.

You know, there have been rehearsals where Douglas can not go and it just sounds like caca, you know, like it just the like, let's just call it and go get food because it just it just doesn't work.

So to answer your question, in a really weird answer, Gotcha.

just I guess it just doesn't sound good without it, you know?

It just it's missing, like the bass.

Did you have something to to add?

No.

I mean, I think it's just something you feel.

It's like something you know is missing when it's not there.

You know, it's a present that's felt especially for people who don't play music or know music.

I'm sure musicians, you see the space.

You know the space.

You know what needs to be done.

I think for the average listener, yeah, it's just it's more of a guttural thing.

It's what's called the rhythm section.

I think, again, I also think that mostly, especially in music like this, people are dancing to the bass, not necessarily like the super cool or interesting guitar leads.

It's when people feel it and try to move around.

It's the bass that's making it moves.

So gotcha.

What about you?

What are some of your musical influences?

I'm probably the most vanilla in the whole group.

I like all the dad yacht rock stuff.

Okay?

All those bands.

Yeah.

I thought you were going to list some top 40 artists or something on the second, which I thought Hilary Duff was coming.

Oh, and she's somewhere on that list.

Yeah.

That's awesome.

So you guys, have been playing since 2017?

I was mentioning before the break, you know, that, in band years, that's, you know, kind of equivalent to dog years.

So each year equals seven.

So you guys have really been playing for 49 years.

I'm doing math right here.

So, how did you guys even get together and form as a band?

Cool.

So this might be a long one or short one.

I'll be as truthful as I can.

I met this guy in the elevator at my school, and he would not leave me alone.

And I'm very grateful for that.

But it's just exactly how it goes... How was he not like leaving you alone.

What was that like?

Okay, well, I don't remember exactly how the conversation started, but, guitar, because I was that guy in college, and, I had my I was in the elevator, and this guy was in there too.

Is just us, too.

I try to keep my distance away from other people.

And he looked down like it's hard and was like, oh, you play guitar?

Like, yeah.

And he would like, oh, cool.

And then he asked for my phone number and then he would text me, like 2am, randomly, like you up.

I'm like, okay, this is weird.

But he end up being a really good friend.

So it was great.

So that's how I had him.

And, my girlfriend at the time, I, like I said, that's all I had him, and it's like you birthed him.

I just.

Yeah, I collect them.

My girlfriend at the time, I say it like we're broken up.

Your wife now?

Yes.

My wife.

Spoiler.

He was.

I went to high school with her, so they were really good friends, and we kind of hung out like, and he started to learn bass and, like, cool.

Keep that for a rainy day, too.

And then my sister.

Oh, man.

We're just going down the line, My sister had a boyfriend named, Alan That's this guy right here and we knew he played drums, and we jammed a lot, and I love jamming with him.

And, one day, like, I was, you know, I was like, oh, these songs that I made in my room under berries and toast, I really wanted to perform them live, so I wanted to see how it would sound like in a live setting with, like, live instruments.

And so conveniently the people, the instruments or the instrumentalists that I knew at the time that were most convenient to me.

And I really liked them as people were like right there in front of me.

So I this guy was always texting me at two in the morning, at two in the morning.

I asked him, if he wanted to be in the band.

Alan was always down to play with me no matter what I did, you know?

So gotcha.

I knew that he would tag along.

Then I remember asking him because he posted a video on Instagram and I was like, oh yeah, this guy plays bass.

So I remember asking him to be in it.

And then we went to my parents place in Whittier one day, and then just literally just from there, it just sounds like it happened organically, basically.

So yeah, awesome is great.

Well, guys, you're going to stick around after the break.

We're going to I'm going to ask you guys some questions about your live shows.

I'm sure those have been pretty entertaining.

And everybody, thank you so much for joining us on a Rhythm Lounge We will be back after the break.

Ladies, gentlemen.

Everybody watching.

Welcome back to Rhythm Lounge.

My name is Manny again.

We're here with Berries & Toast.

Who, uh, the name originated from inspiration.

From your last name, which is?

What is it again?

Barrientos Awesome.

Well, you know, we were discussing live shows.

So something that recently happened to you guys was, was it a Inter interpretive dancer showed up about one of your guys' shows?

Gotcha Man, I just learned a new word today.

I feel like and I remembered it, but, tell me a little bit about that.

Where was the show at?

it was this spot in Pomona called, DBA 52, I believe.

26.

Yeah.

Some number.

And it was a Sunday show was late, so we just went in.

Just to play.

Crowd was pretty good for a Sunday night, so we're pretty psyched about that first band went without a hitch.

We were second, I believe.

Or third, of course, when we're playing, there's somebody that I'm not going to assume what they were doing there, but just having the time of his life with props and everything, just dancing, like interpreting the music the way he felt was right and just putting on a complete show.

And yeah, it was very interesting.

Through our music, I feel.

Yeah, in a way.

At the same time, it's like every show since has been bland.

Yeah.

It's like, I feel like we can't top that.

Like all the attention went to that guy.

It's like, all right, so you're doing your thing, you're playing your instrument, you're singing, obviously.

And then all of a sudden someone is just kind of wiling out with the routine or whatnot.

Yeah.

And so what did that?

Was that distracting at first or did it kind of hype you up a little more?

I, I wouldn't use the word hype.

It was fun.

It was funny, the first few songs.

Right.

And then it turned into slowly turned into, anger.

I wasn't mad, but I genuinely was wondering when he would stop.

I'm kidding.

And he did it when he didn't stop.

I did hear it.

You said he's still going right now, right?

Yeah, he's probably still there in Pomona.

Gotcha.

And so you guys of are playing soon at the, you know, the, Boomtown playing, I believe.

So you guys play all over basically Southern California but a lot in L.A.

Right.

County, is that correct?

Yes.

L.A.

County, primarily, we love branching out.

You know, obviously we take the wonderful drive here, and then, we went to Pomona, so we're racking them up.

Eventually we'll be able to hit the road, go further, but, Gotcha.

Yeah, well, guys, I was going to say, where can we find more and learn more about you guys online?

Shout out your, your channels and whatnot.

Yeah.

We're.

Yeah.

So you can find us on Spotify.

Berries & Toast, Apple Music, Berries & Toast And so we have a YouTube channel with some live videos, some music videos, videos that live sessions we've done, Instagram, berriesandtoastmusic Feel free to follow us.

And just very generous.

Well, guys, thank you so much for sticking around speaking to us.

Perfect.

You guys have one more song, right?

Yes, we do.

Perfect.

Well, stick around for after the break.

And my name is Manny.

This is Rhythm Lounge.

This next song is called Selfish Shellfish Off of our latest album, Hunny I can not get a grip lately I'm running out of time.

It's okay to call me crazy I much prefer a lie.

I don't wanna do this, no And there's no use in trying.

I don't wanna do this, no but I'm sure that.

I'll be fine.

Selfish shellfish photo Liar, lover, friend Taxi driving solo We both know how this ends Don't you dare say I'm enough.

I'm scared I'll think it's the truth!

And when the going, it gets tough I'm sure it's right on cue Selfish shellfish photo Liar, lover, friend Taxi driving solo We both know how it ends