currents - Pacific San Diego Magazine

groove
b a r t e n d e r
c y c l e
It’s been rumored
that Transfer will be
hitting the road with
Coldplay in the
coming months,
which is why I
find myself lost
in BFE Kearny
Mesa, looking
for White Horse
Recorders—the
studio that Transfer
owns. It’s a fact-finding
mission, which is off to a poor
start considering I can’t find the address.
Three U-turns later, I manage to park and
interrupt the band in the middle of a practice
session. They agree to sit down with me.
I lead with the question at hand:
“What’s up with your tour with Coldplay?”
I couldn’t tell if it was the first they had
heard of it or if I had somehow been leaked
some confidential info.
Andy Ridley, the drummer, broke the
silence. “We’re into putting good things in the
atmosphere and seeing what happens, like with
s p i n
s h o w t i m e
- i n
t u n e
that AC/DC tour coming up…not really sure
how they’re gonna like opening up for us.”
With Ridley’s English accent, you can’t be
sure what’s true.
We spend an hour catching up on the last
six months, which has been anything but slow
for Transfer—their opening of the studio, their
recording and online releases of “Future Selves” and
“Losing Composure” and their love of San Diego.
“When you hit that Mission Bay turn on the
drive, when you see downtown, that’s why I live
here,” Ridley says.
“We’re looking forward to playing
Soundwave [in Mission Beach]. It’s been a
while since we’ve been home,” says bassist
Shaun Cornell, cleaning his shotgun as he talks.
When asked how the tour with Brandon
Flowers went, frontman Matt Molarius
understates that “the swell around the last tour
was a good response.”
But none of it gets me any closer to the
Coldplay rumor.
When I push, Molarius finally offers up a
solid lead.
“Chris Martin and Andy [Ridley] were
actually soccer mates back in England,” he
says. (Chris Martin, Coldplay’s lead singer, is
married to actress Gwyneth Paltrow.)
Ridley confirms, “Me and Elton John, also.”
Yeah, that sounds reasonable—Chris Martin,
Sir Elton and Andy Ridley, all doing bicycle
kicks on the Queen’s lawn.
Cornell cuts Ridley off before he can elaborate.
“I don’t want you to print that,” he says. “It’s
nepotism.”
And that’s where they end the interview,
leaving me lost, again, as to whether or not
Transfer may soon be embarking with Coldplay
on the biggest tour of their career.
See Transfer perform live in concert New
Year’s Eve at:
The Casbah
2501 Kettner Boulevard, Little Italy
619.232.4355, casbahmusic.com
THIS PAGE: Transfer’s lead
guitarist, Jason Cardenas
OPPOSITE: DJ Antony Ross
moves ahead
68 pacificsandiego.com {January 2011}