The Black Heartthrobs are a four-piece melodic garage rock band from Culver City. Punk bassist for Osker (Epitaph), David Benitez switched to vocals/guitar and is joined by Jane Greely, Mark Yates and Diana Salier. David studied songwriting from 70’s power pop icons Peter Case (Plimsouls) and Berton Averre (The Knack). Irreverent lyrics and catchy choruses abound in their indie white collar rock.
And they're here to not bring the heat with "Long Cold Summer"...
How do you want to break barriers in the music industry as an artist?
We want to bring back 90’s garage for the little children who need it. But mostly we just want to share something that feels authentic and we hope people can connect with. We want to inspire people to write their own music.
Bringing the heat with your music! What single fans should listen to now?
Our newest single is called “Long Cold Summer” so I guess we are not bringing much heat? It’s a song that David co-wrote with Peter Case (The Nerves, The Plimsouls) and we just released the video.
Where can fans stream and support the music?
All of our music is on Spotify and Bandcamp and we also have lots of videos and live performances on YouTube. For extra support you can always buy our coke (wine?) colored vinyl.
How do you feel about your music right now?
We recently put out our album Back to Zero so we are excited to be performing those songs. We were mainly recording and mixing the songs forever during the pandemic. It’s going to be great to get out of the studio/house and tour.
How did you come up with the idea for the project you're working on?
Right now, we are working on releasing the B sides from “Back to Zero”. We wrote and recorded over 20 songs for that album and only 11 made it. Hopefully in the next 3 months we will put out “More Than Zero” for the hardcore nerds and nerd-ettes.
How did you come up with the visuals?
We enlisted the help of an awesome artist named Aaron Leck. We saw his paintings at a “Bacon Social” show in Los Angeles and were blown away by his imagery. He gave us the grim reaper/ghost painting for the cover which we totally love.
What was behind your determination for your music?
I think since we are married, we are continually motivating each other to keep playing and being creative. It’s like a built-in support system that you can always rely on when you are losing your determination.
What was the best part of this passion project?
The best part of working on our album was being able to create tracks spontaneously and feel surprised by the results. David quickly wrote the riffs for “Loser in the City” and “Mary” and we recorded them the next day at our friend Chito’s studio. They came together really well without too much struggle.
Where can we listen and follow you!?
You can listen to us on any streaming platform and follow us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.
The Black Heartthrobs website – https://theblackheartthrobs.bandcamp.com/
Our latest video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRShndhgjLs
Youtube channel - https://www.youtube.com/c/TheBlackHeartthrobs