We had the good fortune of connecting with The 805 Social Club and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi The 805 Social Club, what do you attribute your success to?
Success for us is really measured by how much the audience enjoys our shows. It’s a reciprocal relationship in the sense that we feed off the crowd – the more that they’re into the show, the more enthusiastic we are on stage. We are all in this together, from ourselves, to our fans, to the venue owners, and other relationships we have built over the last few years. We like to think that’s what makes up the club… The 805 Social Club.

We’ve now performed over 100 shows together and there’s a band chemistry that develops that also comes through in our performances. In addition to that bond, we also all share a very broad taste in music across a wide range of genres and eras, which creates variety in our set lists and keeps it interesting for us and our fans. We play something for everyone, because that’s what we like too!

So in short, our fans appreciate seeing us having fun on stage playing a range music that you don’t typically hear from one band.

Our Band Members:
Katie Ray – Vocals
TJ Nilsen – Gtr, Vocals
Erik Tarkiainen – Gtr, Keys, Vocals
Michael Kulick – Bass, Vocals
Jim Garrett – Drums, Vocals

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
For us, The 805 Social Club is about having fun, and surrounding ourselves with some of our favorite music. The 805 Social Club is our side project in the sense that we all have other full time ‘day jobs’. Perhaps not coincidentally, though, many of our careers have intersected with the audio industry, working in sales, marketing and product development roles at companies such as Yamaha and Harman.. Others in the band come from engineering and business backgrounds in medTech. One wonderful thing about the Los Angeles area, not only is it home to a lot of musicians, but there is also a large number of audio manufacturers, small businesses, engineering firms, and medTech companies. That provides opportunities to be connected to musicians and build a career in and around the industry without solely having to ‘make it’ as a performer.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Well obviously we’d want them to come see us play at some of our favorite places! Let’s all assume we’d be coming from LAX to pick up our friends.. So we’d head up the 405 and straight to the 101. We might start at Sagebrush Cantina in Calabasas as a great outdoor venue that always has a fun crowd, and live music. Continuing to Pedals and Pints Brewing in Thousand Oaks for excellent craft beer, followed by a second round at Tarantula Hill just down the street. Continuing toward the coast, we could stop by Ric’s for some great food and then cap the trip off at Strey Cellars in Oxnard for some award winning wine.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
We’re a band of 5 musicians so our backgrounds and influences are somewhat varied, but at the end of the day, we wouldn’t be anything if we didn’t have places to play. So our deep appreciation to all the venues, festivals and fairs out there – large and small – who continue to support live music, which not only gives bands like us opportunities to perform, but perhaps also inspires others to pursue music as a hobby or even a career. It has been incredible some of the close relationships we have developed with venue owners. We may be the band, but we are also customers, neighbors, relatives, and fans of the places we play.

Website: https://www.the805socialclub.com

Instagram: @the805socialclub

Facebook: @the805socialclub

Image Credits
@lyfephotosbymary

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