Recently, the LA band Saint Motel made their late night TV debut on the Late Late Show, where they played their radio-hot single, “My Type,” to an intimidating audience member: Dave Grohl, who was a last-minute guest on the show.
“It was like the sun,” said drummer Greg Erwin, backstage in an interview trailer at Coachella yesterday. “Don’t look at it!!”
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That sort of intimidation’s something the band should get used to: after years of slogging it in the LA club scene, “My Type,” with its horn-driven hook and catchy-as-hell chorus, has taken off at US rock radio — which would be a major surprise, if the band weren’t already massive overseas.
“[Last year] was kind of Saint Motel’s European Vacation,” singer A/J Jackson said. “It all started in the UK when our EP [My Type] came out over there. That was the first place we had a top 40 single. We were on BBC Radio 1 for six weeks, and it spilled into Europe — and then Italy took hold of it and made it their own. That’s the first place we ever went platinum!”
Now, it’s time for that success to translate to the states, starting with early support slots, like the band’s 1pm set at Coachella today. The single’s taken hold, though, at power hitters like KROQ. Says the band’s radio rep, Rose Braunstein, national promotion/marketing for Elektra: “There were a few stations that stepped out early – Seattle, Portland, and Denver were all really, really supportive, and not just playing it now and then – they were all in power rotation. It got great research and great response immediately, and that translated into other stations seeing that it was working.”
She continues, “It showed up in Shazaam, and that’s rare for Alternative [tracks] to show up in Shazaam, rather than pop stuff.” That said, the methodology for placement depended on the strength of the song, rather than the band’s European cred. “For us, it wasn’t like I’m telling a radio station, ‘They’re huge in Italy,’ and they’re putting it in [rotation],”
All this, and the band still doesn’t have a full length to get behind at the moment. “We’re still making it,” Jackson says. “After this tour wraps, we’ll have ample time to listen to things, and maybe record somewhere.”
Not according to Braunstein. “They’re going to do a bunch of radio shows this summer, and through the fall as well. And we’re hoping [My Type] goes to pop radio as well.”
The band’s plans, though, aren’t as far-flung. Says Jackson, “we’re gonna get a nice, light supper – and work our way from there.”
