Press Inquiries
ronkadishpr@gmail.com
songsforcrickets@gmail.com
Visit Cydeways:
Santa Barbara-based band Cydeways team up with producer Kyle Black & drop new single “Down” – an instant pop punk anthem that tells a familiar story
“Down” (Feb 4) signals Cydeways’ various musical sides on debut album releasing March 25th
West Coast alt-reggae band Cydeways ventures into the realm of pop punk / alternative rock, dosing the mix with a distinctly Southern California vibe on their latest single “Down” releasing Feb. 4, 2022 on LAW Records). A collaboration with esteemed alternative and pop-rock producer and engineer Kyle Black (Paramore, State Champs, The Story So Far), the single drops ahead of the band’s first full-length self-titled album, Cydeways releasing March 25, 2022 on LAW Records
“Our previous releases have been more heavy, forward reggae kind of tunes,”notes Cydeways frontman Dustin Parks. “But we’ve always been really into the alternative sound. We have a lot of hip-hop, alternative, and reggae influences, and we’ve always wanted to mash those three genres together. I can’t think of a more fitting producer to have in the studio than Kyle Black to help us achieve that sound.”
Black came up with the basic idea and structure for the track and shared it with Parks, who came up with a scratch vocal idea for it before the band even went into the studio. Coming after 2021’s “California Castaway” and “We Won’t Run,” two singles that dealt with heavier themes, “Down” represents a slightly lighter tone, thematically. Says Parks, “I pretty much wrote all the lyrics on the spot. It’s about me being into this girl who is best friends with my ex-girlfriend. It’s hard and you don’t know what to do, because this is your ex-girlfriend’s best friend! That’s what I wrote about because that’s what I was going through at that time. It was all good, though.”
“Down” is the focus track off Cydeways which sees the band building on their previous success while continuing to improve upon the production, songwriting and lyrics. In addition to working with Kyle Black, the band hit the studio with Lewis Richards (Dirty Heads, Slightly Stoopid, Sublime) to round out the album’s sound. The result is a genre bending album blending alternative, reggae, pop punk, chill and more in a seamless fashion allowing for each song to have its own sound and vibe yet cohesively connected through a consistent thread of sonics. Featured on the album are Pepper, G. Love & Special Sauce, and Surfer Girl (of the band AER).
Start to finish you can hear Cydeways has sonically created their own lane, blazing a “genre-less” trail that is sure to make the band a household name in no time.
Cydeways was originally started by Dustin Parks and Trevor Buckingham in Boston, MA as a self-described ‘basement project’. Eager for new opportunities, he ended up moving the project out to California, eventually landing in Santa Barbara, where he met and recruited Jeremy Baker on guitar, Casey Kernohan on drums. Parks co-produced the track with Buckingham & Dana Shoults, who both pulled double-duty as engineers.
In this fully rounded-out emanation, Cydeways began playing shows and recording extensively, earning themselves a reputation among their peers as a solid band. Eventually, Parks’s friend Joe D. from Iration introduced Parks to core Pepper member Yesod Williams, who was impressed enough to sign the band to his quickly growing reggae label LAW Records.
In 2020, Cydeways released their debut EP After Hours, featuring veteran reggae bands like Ballyhoo! and Grieves. Late last year, the band followed up by releasing a dub remix of their 2018 song “Shadows” (feat. Grieves), performed by E.N Young.
As Cydeways’ first single to drop this year, “Down” follows on a hype wave of momentum created by the band’s previous three singles released last year, starting with the February release of “We Won’t Run” (featuring legendary reggae-rock band Pepper), followed by the band’s first collab with Kyle Black in June, “California Castaway”. Cydeways rounded out 2021 by blending alt chill vibes with a languid Cali-reggae hook to capture the sonic essence of the archetypal love song for Summer’s end on “Take Flight” (featuring Surfer Girl).
Considering the exploratory trajectory the band has been on, it is no surprise that with this latest release of “Down” we see Cydeways delving further into new sonic territory. “ ‘Down’ was one of those songs that just came together in the studio and sounded really good right off the bat. It’s a weird song for us; it’s so different, it’s very pop-punk. We want to do more songs like that, and we feel like this single is a good indicator of the versatility to come with the release of our self-titled LP this March”
“Down” will be available to stream and download on Feb.4, 2022, with the full length album Cydeways releasing March 25th digitally, on CD/Vinyl and available for pre-order February 4th.