I Wish I Was A Punk Band is the project of multi-instrumentalist Phil Hamilton, who harnesses a particular unique energy on his single, “Pfeiffer Beach.”
The track has a lush and expansive dreamy indie psych and folk blend to it, detailing an incredible experience that he had witnessing a wildfire.
What begins as a rather chill sonic journey soon blossoms into something much more expansive and explosive.
Enjoy a listen to the track below, as you read a fascinating story about the song’s inspiration:
On a tour in November of 2019, I took a day off in Big Sur National Park along the California coast. Driving in to the park, the highway passed directly next to a large wildfire that covered the sky in a deep haze. I spent the afternoon on Pfieffer Beach, a purple sand beach that is absolutely incredible. At that time, I was lucky that the ocean wind was keeping the wildfire smoke off of the beach, but I was unable to shake the feeling that the wildfire was just down the road.
Later on that tour, I picked up Maggie Nelson’s “Bluets”, a short book of poems. In it, she wrote “…I am not interested in longing to live in a world in which I already live” which inspired this song to speak to the anxiety and fear of climate catastrophe that felt closer than ever while standing upon purple sand.
Join the conversation