INDUSTRY REPORT # 27 | CATCHING UP WITH THE OCEAN BLUE

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INDUSTRY REPORT # 27

Catching Up With

February 13, 2025 by Traci Turner

The Ocean Blue won over the OC Music News staff before there even was an OC Music News. In fact, it has been decades that we have adored them – which is amazing as we are still in our 30s.

With “Ballerina Out of Control,” “Between Something and Nothing,” “Drifting, Falling,” and “Mercury,” The Ocean Blue created a lasting impression since launching in the late ‘80s. Fortunately, they are on the road now with an upcoming stop at The Coach House in San Juan Capistrano, but just like the bulk of their shows, the SoCal date is in danger of selling out.

Founding members David Schelzel and Bobby Mittan met in junior high in Hershey, PA, and would create The Ocean Blue in 1986. Oed Ronne and Peter Anderson eventually completed the lineup and they have been together ever since – a rarity for bands of that era.

We last spoke to front-man David Schelzel in 2023 as 1999’s “Davy Jones Locker” was remastered and made available on vinyl for the first time. For their 2025 tour, the band is playing their first two albums, “The Ocean Blue” and “Cerulean,” in their entirety, and we figured it was time to check in with Schelzel again…

Traci: David, before we get into band stuff, I have to tell you I love your personal Instagram. The travel, nature, museum pictures; they’re beautiful!

David: Thank you very much! That’s just me being me and what I like. So take it or leave it. (laughing) But I’m glad you like it.

Traci: Your current tour has you playing the first two albums. What’s it like going back to those early records?

David: It’s a surreal experience. It’s maybe beautiful and terrifying at the same time. Sometimes it’s like a time machine, particularly for some of the songs that we don’t often play anymore. There’s obviously the singles and hits off those records we play all the time. But particularly with “Cerulean,” there’s a lot of songs that we just haven’t played for decades.

He went on to say: To revisit them and play them, just all this emotion and memory comes back. I think it’s true for the people that come see us play them, too. I’ve heard that from so many people who have been at the shows like, “Wow, this has just an amazing experience.”

He continued: I used to be so resistive to the idea of nostalgia and being a nostalgia band, but I’m – at least in this season – reveling in it because it’s that way for me; to remember and re-experience these songs. Then it’s uncanny how they hit me as a middle-aged guy versus a teenager when, particularly, some of those songs in the first record were written, and what remains the same and what has changed. So, yeah, it’s complicated, and it’s just a season. I’m hoping to retire the concept this summer, but it’s been fun. A lot more fun than I thought it would be.

Traci: I am finding that with so many songs right now – experiencing them with a different perspective. There is a lot of music that I loved in the ‘80s and ‘90s, and now my son is in college and discovering some of them for the first time. Are you seeing younger generations at the shows?

David: Yeah, we are. There are a lot of parents with their kids, like a dad and son or a mom and her daughter. It’s really cool to see and crazy, too.

Traci: Is it true that your mom named “Cerulean?”

David: Yes, she came up with the idea, and we all really liked it. It’s funny because my mom and grandfather were big “word of day” people. My mom used to collect words that she thought were really interesting and share them with me. I’m pretty sure that’s how she thought of that when she saw that word; she knew we had a song that was new and the working title was “Blue Skies.” She’s like, “Well, this is a good word for you.”

Traci: As you go back and play these songs, are you happy with them or do you find yourself wanting to change parts?

David: That’s a good question because it would be in my nature to be the latter because I seldom feel great. Most of them felt really great when we finished a record, and I’m always feeling like, “Oh, man, I wish you could have done a better job.”

He went on: But the fun thing about playing live is you can do the interpretation of them that you want to do now. It’d be different than revisiting the recordings on the record. I feel more free in performing it. For the most part, I’m proud of those records and those songs. I don’t always feel like I perform them very well or sing them very well, but I feel like, “Yeah, these are good records,” and I stand by these lyrics.

Traci: When we spoke in 2023, the shows were selling out and moving to bigger venues. This tour has been selling out too, so obviously, people are in love with what you created.

David: I feel like we’re at the peak of where I would ever want to be as a band. I mean, we’re playing right-sized venues; they’re not too small, they’re not too big. The people actually are there to hear the music. It’s fun performing and traveling with the guys and Allison (LaBonne), too. We have a really enjoyable time. We make music together. We’re in these very interesting places, and people dig it. So it’s great.

Traci: I saw the poster for the Vegas show and it is gorgeous. I know you did posters for a couple of shows last year. Will there be more this year?

David: Yes. I’m super excited about that. Galine (Tumasyan), our friend in San Francisco, is a brilliant artist. She works with a great brand out there, but also does a lot of things on her own. She’s got her own band, too, called Seablite, which is how we first met her when they played with us in San Francisco a couple of years ago. But yeah, she made two posters for our California shows last year and one for the New York show, and people love them.

He went on: At first, they were just promotional posters, and then it was like everybody wanted one; we did one for New York and both sold out. She’s agreed to do, I think, six this year, but I’m keeping the cities a secret.

Traci: As a concertgoer, I love posters because it’s very rare that you have something that’s specifically for your own city with your favorite bands. When it’s something creative and individual, like what you have done, here’s my money. (laughing) In 2023, you said you were working on a new album, but you were not in a rush. Where are things with that now?

David: I am working on a new album, but I’m not in a rush. (laughing)

Traci: Perfect! (laughing)

David: I would say I probably feel more pressure now because so much time has gone by. I would have never thought it would take us that long to finish. In the modern era, I think our first real successful record in the modern era wasn’t probably until 2013 when we did “Ultramarine.”

He continued: After we did that record, I thought, “Oh, we’ll do another one in another year or two.” That just didn’t happen. But I really want to try to. I think part of the problem is the live shows have become so much more important and enjoyable that it does take up a lot of bandwidth, but it’s also inspiring. We’re still working on one. I hope to make a lot of progress on it this year, but we’ll see. You just never know.

Traci: I know you don’t do three months straight of touring, but you have been pretty consistently out there touring since I last talked to you.

David: Yeah, we have. In this year, it’s at least a run or two a month of shows. And yeah, that’s a lot for all of us. We’ve got other lives and do other things, so it’s a little tricky. But that said, I think there’s plenty of room to make progress on things.

Traci: Well, no pressure! We look forward to you being in Orange County soon though!

David: Yes, we’ve played California a lot in recent years, but we haven’t played Orange County for some time, so hopefully that’ll be a good show. We haven’t played there for years, but I was there visiting friends recently and went to the Mission, and it was really cool and brought back a lot of memories.

Thank you David for the chat and we hope to make some amazing memories in SoCal soon! We won’t rush you guys, but we hope to have new music from The Ocean Blue in 2025.

The Ocean Blue has several US dates slated and we will catch them in Nashville to give you a preview. SoCal residents can see them May 3rd at The Coach House in San Juan Capistrano, but there is a low-ticket warning for that show, so get on it!

TO FOLLOW

SID 250214 | JIMMY ALVAREZ | EDITOR