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Recently we chatted with COASTCITY upon their release of “Desconocidos,” the duo’s latest single. Composed of Jean Rodríguez and Danny Flores, COASTCITY took a moment to talk to us right after making a splash in the city and their performance from Los Angeles’ Hispanicize conference on Facebook Live

LOL-LA: Can you talk about releasing your second single here in Los Angeles at Hispanicize? What made you look forward to participating in the event?

Jean Rodríguez: We had worked with them in Miami previously; they’re very supportive of our music journey. That meant a lot to us. It was kind of perfect for us to premiere this next single that we have called ‘Deconocidos’ with them. We had the fans come on board and do a little Q&A, so that was fun. We’re gonna do the official release Friday, which is the 13th. It will be out everywhere. We were able to check out a panel before soundcheck. It’s great to be able to bring this industry together – especially with Hispanicize, which is always thinking about the digital aspect. It’s educational for us as well as artists to see familiar faces and collaborate.

LOL-LA: It’s amazing how the platforms are changing and creating new spaces to express your art. With the single, how do you want to give audiences a taste for whatever is coming next?

Danny Florez: It all started in our studio in Miami. We wanted to put together a song that was a little more conversational, a song that everybody could relate to. A song that translates to strangers because we feel like nowadays people are afraid to approach each other. It happens through the texting on the phone – the way people engage with each is other is by pressing Like. ‘Desconocidos’ is a love story about a person meeting another person and approaching them through conversation. Musically when we produced it ,we put together some chords and some Caribbean beats, and the rest is history as they say.

LOL-LA: Going back to what you were saying that nowadays talking to people just off the cuff us is a lot different than what it was before the digital age. Can you share how you incorporated that idea into the music to encourage people to put themselves out there more?

DF: That’s kind of the underlying major message of the song, the name and significance of the song. We wanted to keep it fun. It’s very chill, but it moves you. We wanted the melody to dance around that. As you’re listening to the first verse you’re visualizing the scene. We made the video treatment with that in mind, which will be released at the end of the month. But yeah, the message we want to give is approach strangers. Hopefully we should be seeing the music video in the next three weeks. We’ve literally just shot it.

LOL-LA: Yeah, we’re so isolated behind our little screens and with a lot of things that have been happening in the world with the dangerous weather and political climate. Share with us your thoughts about how music is important to you especially during times like these.

JR: Music as we know is bringing so many different emotions from sadness and more than anything happiness. It brings a smile, it brings a memory. I think that people touched by these tragedies or are going through them right now, music is so important because it’s such a quick outlet to get your heart and mind to another dimension to cope with the darkness going on. Music has that power.

LOL-LA: Speaking of the power of music, Jean, I understand that you worked with Beyoncé on the amazing hit “Mi Gente” as her Spanish vocal coach. What was that process like, collaborating with Beyoncé?

JR: That was an amazing experience, to work with someone who I respect as an artist and as a human being on such a great song. Especially now, this song’s earnings are going straight to the victims not only for Puerto Rico but for Houston and Mexico. That was really cool, I went out to New York, and I had no clue who I was working with. It was crazy. I was called because I do not only a lot of vocal protection work, but I love mixing English and Spanish, and that’s one of my things. It wasn’t till the day-of that they told me. When I got to the studio she was already there. She had already laid down the English version. I came in and just helped her with the Spanish and just coached her through every syllable, every word with the emotion. Being somebody that anything she sings is pitch perfect from timing her tone being in another language, she did it over and over and over. So was super cool with it. There times where I would be like, ‘Yo, I think we got it.” She would be like, “It’s good, but I think I can do it better” I take my hat off to her for going that extra mile and making sure that she’s sung our language as best as she could. We were really happy with it.

LOL-LA: We look forward to more from COASTCITY. What can you tell us about where you’re heading after the single release?

DF: The song will be released Oct. 13. The video coming out later in the month will be incredible. It’s super dope. We shot it in Miami. We invited all our friends, and it was a big old party. Our next single is still being developed. It’s all in English and will be a bit of an ‘80s throwback to one of our fave artists, Prince.

For more information, visit coastcityvibes.com.

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