Meet Highline Trail

We had the good fortune of connecting with Highline Trail and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Highline Trail, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
We love to play and write music! that’s all it is, really. We all have “regular” jobs during the day, but writing music and playing/recording it together brings us a lot of joy. There’s something special about writing a song that you’re excited about, tweaking it and massaging it together as a band, and then bringing it to life through the recording & production process. And even though it’s only a hobby for us, I think you can hear that in the music that we produce. We’ll probably never make a living out of it, but that’s OK. We’re doing it because it makes us happy!

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Our drummer Erik and singer Matt found each other on the musicians section of Craigslist in 2017, and have been writing & recording music together ever since. Our current lead guitarist Tom was also a craigslist find, and our bassist Justin is Matt’s neighbor in Ocean Beach. One thing that we have learned is that there are a lot of great musicians prowling on craigslist, and if you’re looking to find people to start a band, then craigslist is a great place to look!

We record and produce all of our music ourselves at our drummer Erik’s house, and we really enjoy the recording & production process (even though we’re a little slow!). In fact, the band is named after Erik’s street (Highline Trail) where we record and produce all of our music. What we’ve learned through this is that you don’t necessarily need a lot of money for studio time, and you don’t need a lot of money to record at home. It’s a lot of work, but if you have the time and the will, you can make great sounding music with moderately priced consumer-level equipment. You can make an acceptable and functional vocal recording booth by draping some cheap moving blankets over a couple mic stands. You can record drums in your living room, without any acoustic treatment, if you’re willing to take care with mic placement and spend a lot of time on post-processing. It takes a lot of time and research, but it doesn’t have to be expensive.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
The San Diego Zoo in Balboa Park, and also the Safari Park in Escondido, are great options for a day out. For eating, you can’t beat The Original Mr Taco in San Marcos (you can stop by there after the Safari Park!), or Duke’s in La Jolla for a seaside restaurant with great views. And some must-visit music venues include The Music Box in downtown, Belly Up in Solana Beach, The Casbah (just a stones throw from the Zoo!), and The Coach House in San Clemente (not in San Diego, but well worth the drive!). And of course, the views of the city from Coronado Island at night are definitely something to see.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Tim Pyles at KXFM has a great show called Stomping Grounds, and used to run a show called Loudspeaker at 91x FM, both of which are dedicated to showcasing local bands. We love listening to these shows and hearing new music from our peers around Southern California. Tim Pyles has played a few of our songs on both of these shows when we’ve sent them in. Tim is also a member of the San Diego Music Awards Academy. The San Diego Music Awards is an annual event that recognizes the achievements of local artists in the San Diego music community. Our 2022 single “Emmie” was nominated for “Best Pop Song” at the 2023 San Diego Music Awards, and we had a lot of fun attending that event. We’re very grateful for the work that Tim does to showcase local music acts, and we hope he continues to do it for a long time.

Website: https://linktr.ee/highlinetrail

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/highlinetrailmusic

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

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@HighlineTrailMusic

Image Credits
Blair Austin (@blarrel)
Erik Nyquist