We recently had the pleasure of sitting down and speaking with Ethan Thompson who makes up 1/3 of the group Ocean Park Standoff. The Pop band is made up of Ethan Thompson, Pete Nappi and Samantha Ronson.Their current single “If You Were Mine” is doing really well at radio and continues to make noise on the streaming platforms! Ocean Park Standoff released their debut EP earlier this year. Check out what Ethan had to say below!
Where did you guys come up with the name Ocean Park Stand Off?
-The day after we decided to become a band Pete and I (Ethan) were on our way to Samantha’s and got stopped by a road block. We had to wait about an hour before we finally made it to Samantha’s. By the time we got there, there was a helicopter flying right over Samantha’s back yard. Through some means online we found out that there was a standoff on Ocean Park and 10th with S.W.A.T. and a guy with a shotgun. Samantha immediately said that’s got to be our name, “Ocean Park Standoff”. We never looked back.
When in the studio what is your writing/recording process like? What inspires your music?
-The creative process differs from day to day. Sometimes Pete comes in with a track, sometimes Samantha and I write something based on a guitar and hand it off to Pete, and sometimes we all just jam together. “If You Were Mine” came from a session Samantha had been in, “Good Time,” our next single, came in from a session Pete and I were in. “Good News” and “Lost Boys” were written in the room the three of us. We always roll with the punches and keep working on whatever is stuck in our heads.
You guys recently collaborated with Lil Yachty… How did the collaboration with Lil Yachty come to be? Can fans expect any other collaborations in the future?
-We are all fans of hip-hop and were looking for a feature for a bit on “If You Were Mine”. Pete and Samantha had been working on the track and they had first made the bridge on Migo’s rap to hold the space. After sending out the call to a few names we had in mind Yachty hit back with some bars in the same week. We liked his spin on what going out with him would be like and thought it matched up great with the song’s intentions. We also did some research on his background and knew he was LGBTQ friendly and was overall just a nice guy. Shooting the video with him was all smiles and good times. We’d love to collaboration in the future with others and always have our ears on new music.
You guys have toured around the country! How do you guys create a set list ? What are some road must haves ?
-Our first must have is Thunder, Samantha’s English Bulldog. We consider him our band mascot. Anytime you feel low you just stare at that little face and instantly light up again. Can’t wait for late night wrestling matches with him in the hotel room. Whenever we are the most tired is when he is the most ready to play. As far as set list, we just try and make a flow of songs that keep the energy up. We always are adding new material and most of our set is actually unreleased music. We are working to get tunes out ASAP but it’s a process we are new to.
If you could go back in time and give yourselves advice based on what you know now , would you?
-I’d tell myself to not waste time with keeping my head in the past. Trust the process, keep your head down and keep grinding. Your behind the scenes work is your success not your perceived success.
What can fans expect next from you ? Anything you’d like to say to them?
-We just got done shooting a music video in Vegas for our next single “Good Time.” We are throwing our all at this one, including in the live set. Pete even still has a sore jaw from a wipe out in the video. Bodily sacrifices people. We’d like to tell our fans thanks so much for being patient. We know you guys want the songs we play live and we are working on getting them out to you. The kickoff is “Good Time.” See you on the road next year all!