Tuesday 17th January 2012

There's a lot of problems facing America right now, but surely the most glaring is a timezone that is completely non-conducive to sleep-deprived Australians. Beyond lack of sleep however, my immediate issue is being squished in my seat between a tall fidgety guy and a massive Maori dude. He gets on at our New Zealand stopover saying, "Sorry mate" while pushing my arm off the seat-rest. With nothing but a blanket for comfort, I console myself with Midnight In Paris (an enjoyable, light-hearted romp!), Drive (slick but soulless!) and the first half of Alien (chilling as ever!) before finally descending into LAX airport.

Customs seem to share my surprise at the fact I'm a journalist, but otherwise the process is painless. We arrived in L.A at 6am so it's fairly quiet still. A driver holding an iPad with my name displayed on the screen soon collects me and we whisk down a big street with palm trees lining the grey concrete. People wait for buses. I can see the ocean down alleyways off to the left. It's grey and the coastal air is crisp.



The massive hotel I'm staying at is on the beach, the historic Santa Monica pier off to the right. Right in front of us is where the original Muscle Beach used to be, the spot where oiled up men would flex for all to see and the popularity of which kick-started the bodybuilding craze. This spot once hosted the likes of Schwarzenegger, Joe Gold (founder of Golds gym) and Stanley 'Tookie' Williams, the co-founder of the Crips (and whom, in an odd tangent, was executed in 2005 under Schwarzenegger's tenure as mayor). So the book in the hotel lobby tells me as I wait for my room to free up, and continues to not do so. By now I've been awake for 18 hours. Woo.

Finally, after some hallucinatory emails, I'm given a key and promptly collapse on my bed at 2pm and...wake up at 1am. And then can't fall asleep again until 5am. A wobbly start.

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Wednesday 18th January

I've come to Los Angeles to see Melbourne five-piece Cruel To Be Kind record an EP at Red Bull's in-house recording studio. The band of teenagers — four seventeen-year olds and one eighteen-year old, all friends from the Eastern suburb of Donvale — won the Red Bull Bandroom Jam competition last year. Their trip here is the grand prize. Shockingly, they've only been a band since April 2010, but have already amassed enough tunes (and chops) to be entirely confident of the impending process: a revelation considering their age. Red Bull have asked me if I'd like to come and check out the recording process. 'I would,' I said.



After breakfast I take a bus from downtown Santa Monica, get off at the wrong stop and walk a billion miles to find the home of Red Bull, an enormous, flat-roofed barn like so many of the global giants around here. (Universal Music Group, Viacom and Yahoo are all round the way.) After navigating the busy floorplan, I locate the studio and meet the crew. None of the band have ever been to the States before — they've not really recorded in a studio before — and there's a bevy of family members along for the ride, including Gary, father of bassist Tim, who — along with tour manager Tom — is here as chaperone to the process.



Cruel To Be Kind play a sugary rush of pop-punk, something that this studio's seen before. Weezer, Good Charlotte, Thrice and Saves the Day have all spent time in this room (not to mention 50 Cent, Jamie Foxx and Diplo) which gives an added kick to the band's evident giddiness. It doesn't mean they're unfocused however - they've already spent the previous day tracking drums for the three songs they're planning to record: all done. Bass on one tune is done, and by the time I settle on a couch, the guitars are being tracked on song number one (currently dubbed 'Calling for a Change', though lead guitarist Nick tells me they're planning to change it). Surprisingly, beyond the obvious excitement, the band don't seem too fazed at all by the studio. Parts are laid down quickly under the watch of engineer James Musshorn (who amongst  a great many other things, has album credits on Guns N' Roses Chinese Democracy. Must discuss this at some point).

In the early afternoon we head around the corner from the studio to find a bunch of food trucks featuring tacos, pizza, and burgers, which works well for the band's current obsession with trying as many different kinds of U.S. fast food they can get their arteries on. The band ask who I've interviewed before, drummer Jonno telling me, "You've come all this way for us? Man, I feel important." Me too. With bellies sated, the afternoon is spent finishing rhythm guitarist Dene's parts on 'Calling For A Change', while the rest of the band mill about amongst an array of foodstuffs Red Bull has laid out for everyone. Guitar Hero, magazines and, of course, fridges of Red Bull, make up the remaining attractions.



Around 5pm photographer Dustin Downing arrives to take the band out for a photo shoot. We all pile into his SUV and head down to Venice Beach, where the sun's beginning to go down. Venice Beach is what you think of when you think of a Californian vista: palm trees, skaters, guys on rollerblades playing guitar and wooden, boxy lifeguard towers. You expect Pamela Anderson to emerge from the dunes and toss a basketball to Tony Hawk and Snoop.



Dustin's got the boys standing among the tee-shirt stalls, before leading them down beyond the skate park, where someone else is already shooting a music video. Of course. As the sky takes on a violet glow, he sets them up on a a retaining wall with the surf crashing over it, the sun a melting orb on the horizon. It looks iconic. By the time we get back amongst the palms on the strip the sky is now a fluorescent rose. With a camera flash on the boys and the trees silhouetted against the incredible sky, I can't help but think how this will already be worth the price of their trip alone.



Read Part 2 of our Los Angeles adventure with Cruel To Be Kind, here on TheVine.

Marcus Teague - Follow @marcusTheVine


Find out more about the Red Bull Backroom Jam competition here.