Photo by Ron Fu/Daily Titan Staff Photographer

By Brittny Ulate
Daily Titan Detour Editor

Within the battlefield of the music industry, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to find an up-and-coming band that you can actually stand behind and support. Enter Black Gold to save the day.

Pop-heavy and commercial-listener friendly, the boys of Black Gold, primarily Than Luu and Eric Ronick, have been busy making sure their sound is heard across the country. The pair have been doing so with the release of their album Rush and their seemingly non-stop trouring. Recently opening for the Pixies and currently on a nation-wide tour, the Manhattan-based band made a stop in Los Angeles Nov. 1 at the Troubadour where the Daily Titan had a chance to speak with Luu about the band and the music scene as it stands now.

Black Gold is one of those bands that you can’t quite place in a box, and the guys are happy about that. Not quick to label themselves, they play a mix of pop with some electronic sounds mixed in just for fun – fun they clearly demonstrate when they are on the stage. The energy they bring to their live performances reverberates off the stage and forces audiences to stop and take notice.

It definitely is refreshing to not have a clear picture of what Black Gold can be labeled as. They don’t really sound like anything that is being heard right now, and Luu readily admits he doesn’t look much to his peers for inspiration.

“I pick and choose from older sources. Current music is good, but you have to be honest. It doesn’t hold a candle to the old shit. There was more artistry, more soul; less corporate influence,” Luu said.

It is this lack of corporate influence on the band that allows them to experiment and play around with sounds, making them even harder to place in the genre spectrum.

“I’m sort of part of the M. Ward school. He listens to super old music. He turned me on to a couple of great things. He told me to listen to the Phil Spector box set, with all (his) work with the girl groups and the Righteous Brothers,” Luu said.

As the drummer of the band and provider of backing vocals, Luu provides a strong backbone and explains the band as being more of a cooperative unit, lending ideas and music freely and not caring if the outcome will be the same.

“It’s really more about the song. We’re not one of those bands that want to sound the same with every song, so whatever the song is, is. If it takes us in a country direction, great; if it takes us in a funk direction or an experimental direction, awesome,” said the San Fernando native.

Luu admits a lot of their success has to do with the right mix of musicians. Collaboration seems be the key to success for Black Gold.

“(Collaboration) could work, but also it can be very grating. It’s part of the charm, like can we get through this and create something beautiful together, or is it going to be a competitive thing? It’s all about chemistry,” Luu said.

Luu, who has worked with artists such as M. Ward and Rachel Yamagata, believes the band has found a successful combination with the musicians they are working with now, and are making headway into breaking into mainstream consciousness. Their song “Plans & Reveries” was featured on a recent episode of the show One Tree Hill on the CW. Hopefully, with this type of exposure, the band will be able to play more dates and share their music and philosophy with more listeners.

“It’s like the wild west right now, from the business end. Everything’s sort of starting over. Ultimately, the way I feel about it is that the less big business or corporate money is involved the better the music is going to be. That’s why the indie movement is a beautiful thing. You’re starting to hear music being played by real musicians who don’t give a fuck about money or anything like that,” Luu said.

It might be these ideals that make the band so unique and thrilling to watch live. When the band plays there’s no competition between vocals and instruments. Ronick’s voice glides over the beats produced by the other three musicians on stage with him. And he actively gets the audience involved, asking them to join in with handclaps and to dance to the more lively songs.

Their energy, which is highly visible and much appreciated by their fans, translates through their songs and gives people a feel-good vibe with their music while providing introspection lyrically. This idea blends in with the story of the origin of their name.

“We came up with the idea of contrasts – like dark lyrics with the verses and bright shiny chords,” Luu said.

Their contrast plays out on stage as well. They play their songs as serious musicians but they have fun doing so. Luu will hit the drums with so much force he jumps out of his seat and Ronick pounds on his keyboard while standing up, almost as if there were no other way to play the instrument. Black Gold play with such passion that it is clear they leave a piece of themselves behind on every stage they occupy.