We had the good fortune of connecting with Half Hour Late and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Half Hour Late, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
Half Hour Late came together in the most organic way. It was the summer of 2020 and we were jamming out of Shane Dee’s (friend & founding member) shed in Ocean Beach. At first, we were just fooling around, hanging out everyday, working on riffs, lyrics and trying to record on Garage Band. Three weeks in, we had a few partially recorded songs and we decided to throw a renegade concert at the Sunset Cliffs. Over 150 people showed up on the beach to howl under the full moon at the first unofficial Half Hour Late concert.

We were hard at work, but the clock was ticking… We finally hit a dead end in September, when two of the founding members moved to Hawaii.

Half Hour Late was left with a name and a handful of songs… We took a year long hiatus and the next fall, the band came back to life. We got asked to play our first official show at The Holding Company in September of 2021 and from that moment on, there was no turning back.

Heavily focused on songwriting and live performances, we started polishing our songs and figuring out how to be a band. We released our first album in March of 2022 and it got us a nomination at the San Diego Music Awards for “Best Pop Album 2022”

As for the “business”, we didn’t really create it… it feels like the business chose us. From the get go, we received so much love and support that we had to push. If there was no audience to listen to our music and come to our shows, we wouldn’t be doing what we love most. We pour our hearts n soul into our music, and we make substantial efforts to put out authentic, original content & marketing that represents who we are and what we’re about; it seems to resonate with people out here.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Starting Half Hour Late was as natural as putting pants on in the morning because we weren’t starting a band in the beginning, we were starting our friendship. It just felt right. We quickly began navigating the bowels of the San Diego scene right off the bat with crucial connections to some of the local venues and musical acts already making names for themselves.

We have learned that building and maintaining a brand/band/story/friendship, any one of those things, is extremely difficult but can be done with love, hard f*cking work, and extreme ambition towards making this life as rich, fun and fulfilling as you can…

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
San Diego is great and all, but Ocean Beach is our town. Winstons is the venue where we cut our teeth and made a name for ourselves. Val’s coffee corner, OB beans, and The Template keep us caffeinated, Ob hardware if we spring a leak. The Black if we need any OB essentials. Mexican food everywhere, it’d be too hard a task to try and assert a best. Pool houses like Cat Lounge, AZ, Sunshine to visit after a show. This town is known as a vortex. It’s got a powerful energy. Living here means knowing the smell of seaweed and cigarettes, having friends who smell like the ocean, having as many dog friends as human friends. Everywhere you go, it seems like nobody is in a rush to be anywhere. You never know what your day is going to look like, but you know it’s going to be filled with belly laughs, memorable nights of music, and exploring all the quirky nooks our town has in abundance.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Shane Dee who started this band with us, our friends, family, OB, and all the people who stick around to find out what happens next for Half Hour Late…

Website: www.halfhourlate.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/halfhourlate

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/halfhourlate

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCie-f2Aep7rh4xw6fCxJU0Q/featured?themeRefresh=1

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4091Xd3FjqSRqKHMF0vAT7

Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/half-hour-late/1597623534

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@halfhrlate

Image Credits
Danny Dyer, Chris Ruel & Vanessa Cindy.

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutSocal is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.