Small towns can be hard for up and coming bands, let alone just to see any bands. Italy’s Bee Bee Sea had nothing around their small town so they made a band just for them. Over five years later, the band’s sophomore record Sonic Boomerang finds the band continuing their upwards trajectory as they reach over to the west and play with bands like Black Lips. We caught up with the band to talk about their humble beginnings, lucky licensing and where they’re new album came from.

Northern Transmissions: You guys have sworn by the motto of “If there’s no good shit around, you better form a band,” is that the case with Castel Goffredo and if not how did you come together?

Bee Bee Sea: Coming from Castel Goffredo, it’s in the middle of nowhere of North Italy. In the past it was a production district, so it never had much to offer musically as a small town. We still live there and we’re still very attached to it, so we’re trying to bring bands from Europe and Italy there. There are no other bands there though, it’s hard to see any live gigs. You really have to drive at least an hour to see a show in another city. We wanted to do something we would want to see so we started the band and that’s how we came up with our motto.

NT: When did it really click in for you guys that you had found a good fit?

BBS: It was gradual. We started with a lot of covers of sixties stuff like the Beatles, Kinks and so on. We were like teen bands with cheap clothes and cheap instruments but we were good so we stood out from the bands playing Sum 41. Afterwards we discovered bands like the Black Lips and played our songs for people and they actually liked it. At a certain point we started to record it and it was getting better all the time. It took five or six years to get to where it is now though.

NT: You fit in so well with bands like Black Lips and Thee Oh Sees, and you’ve been used in ads, so why do you think you’re only starting to get attention in North America now?

BBS: I’m not sure what the reason is. For us we just signed with Dirty Water Records in the U.S. and from that moment it became a big thing for us. It’s great but we’re not sure why we’re catching on now, it must be because the music is good.

NT: How has it been to see brands like Fiat and DC Skateboarding use your songs?

BBS: It was an amazing moment because it really came from nowhere. We didn’t expect it at all and hadn’t contacted anyone, people had just heard our song and asked us if they could use it for a spot so it was amazing. Everybody was really excited about us, it was a really big moment for the band.

NT: What did you want to do on Sonic Boomerang that you hadn’t been able to do before and did your recent EP help you reach that sound?

BBS: For this record, we wanted to be more experimental. The previous records were more about the songs, and this one is more about the sounds and the energy is more live-oriented compared to the previous records. We wanted to do that on the EPs but we didn’t achieve it. We finally got it on the LP so we’re super happy about it.

NT: What’s next and do you have any North American dates in the works?

BBS: We’re planning a tour for this summer but we’re not sure of the dates yet, probably July and August. We’re also working on videos and there’s a couple other things going on too.

Words by Owen Maxwell