Looking East Channel Life, Loss, and Renewal on Break of Day
Photo courtesy of Looking East
Looking East blend laid-back coastal grooves with deeply personal songwriting on their debut LP Break of Day, a record shaped by themes of love, loss, and new beginnings.
With heartfelt vocals from Drew Gonzales and introspective production from Daniel Kearney, the duo bring a fresh emotional depth to the Cali reggae scene while building momentum for what’s next.
Break of Day feels deeply personal, especially with the themes of love, loss, grief, and new fatherhood woven throughout. Daniel, how did becoming a father while grieving your own father reshape your perspective; not just as a songwriter, but as a person?
I talk a lot about this in the recent Rootfire album deep dive, but to summarize it, I was very close with my Dad and his death caused a deanchoring or a loss of faith in me for a long time that I'm still navigating. He was my strongest moral compass and after he passed it began to feel like nothing mattered and the universe was callous and random. The arrival of my daughter a couple of years later was the first time I felt that kind of spark in me again. She seemed to see through to the child in me, past the layers I'd built up and the fog of apathy that surrounded me.
Drew, your vocal delivery on this record carries both weight and warmth. How did you approach interpreting songs that were born out of such a transformative and emotional season in Daniel’s life?
Every song comes together differently. Sometimes we have to bounce harmonic ideas back and forth and others it just falls into place in one take. Like Daniel I’ve gone through some big changes in recent years and that’s why our mission is genuine and united and the music feels cohesive. I can resonate with his lyrics and channel my own feelings into the delivery because, while they're deeply personal, his writing has a way of allowing the listener to easily apply it to their own life and struggles.
You’ve both spent years touring with major acts in the reggae scene. How did stepping off the road and into a more focused studio environment in Goleta shift the creative process compared to life in a van or bus?
Coming off of the road was a big shift for me (Daniel). I was on the road pretty much 7-8 months out of the year from 2021-2024 which was a strain on my relationship, my friendships, and my overall mental and physical health. I wouldn't trade it for the world though, I love touring. Being home and finding my pace and rhythm in a much stiller world has abled me to let my mind relax a little and focus on writing.
On the road I almost never had time to write and during my time at home I tried to focus on recovery and fostering my relationships. So it's been nice to have time to reorient and find my flow. A lot of the songs on the record deal with this, mainly Break of Day, Icarus, and Passerby.
The album features collaborations with Kash’d Out, Lot 49, Hunter The Oracle, and Kip Nelson. How did you choose the right voices for these songs, and what did each collaborator bring that elevated the vision of Break of Day?
I did 3 tours with Kash'd Out so Greg was one of the first people I hit up when I started Looking East. He was always down to hop on stage with us, and was just a laid back down to earth guy. He was happy to jump on a verse and he really brought that professionalism to the process and his signature flow and delivery.
Cole aka Kip Nelson is an old friend of mine, we came up working at Playback Recording Studio together from like 2011-2015 and we played in various bands together over the years, so he was another person I messaged super early on. His airy & melodic delivery really brought 'My Way Out' home, adding a perfect verse that's a love letter to the Coast and the city we both spent some formative years in.
Hunter I only met through social media, he was a former member of Th3rd Coast Roots and I liked his style so I messaged him and he was down. He added drums to the track as well which was really awesome. It was great working with him as another producer, he helped me get out of my head with a track I'd probably spent too much time on and he gave me a second set of ears to really fine tune it.
With over half a million streams since your first single and a touring lineup now coming together, what does “the next chapter” of Looking East look like, and how do you plan to translate the layered, studio-crafted sound of Break of Day to the live stage?
Right now we are still very studio focused although we're doing some local gigs here and there to stay sharp. We've got a 2nd full length album wrapping up this month and a 3rd one that we've begun the writing process on. Working full time, being the dad of a toddler with both my family and my in-laws on the East Coast, and writing and recording music leaves little time to focus as much as I'd like to building our set.
But I learned a lot on my time on the road, especially playing Bass for Matisyahu in the summer of 2023, plus touring with acts like the Elovators, Iration, and The Movement. When we're ready I think we'll be able to bring our sound to the live stage in a way that people will really resonate with.
