Joshua De Leon - One Outta Ten
Hailing from Glendale, California, Joshua De Leon is a musician and frontman of One Outta Ten. Joshua’s interest in music began early on when his dad bought him and brother, David, a series of CDs with their names inserted into the rock songs. As kids, the brothers played The Beatles Rock Band. They formed One Outta Ten in high school, playing covers and eventually writing their own music. “I don’t think I started writing original music until 2015-2017, when I was transitioning out of high school to my next destination, college. I felt all sorts of anxiety, excitement, joy, and pain during this crazy time. Life really has a way of working itself into writing music,” notes Joshua. The band had been building up it’s shows and original music catalog when the pandemic hit. Then Joshua moved back home, deeply reflected on his emotions and desires, and wrote music. It’s this creation of music that shares life experiences and resonates with others. One Outta Ten’s music is life and love. They’re an indie rock with Britpop influences, loud guitar, heavy bass, and pounding drums. Favorite songs include “The Only Lovers Left Alive”, “You Got Me Going”, and “What Would I Do Without You?”. They’ve played all around Southern California, with a favorite show being Havenfest in Pomona that was high energy and heavy with crowd interaction. These last few months, they’ve been working on new music and planning a micro tour in 2022. One Outta Ten’s single VEGAS premieres November 26 and their full length LP, With Love, comes out December 31, 2021!
One Outta Ten is frontman Joshua, David De Leon on drums, Tyler Lofftus on guitar, Mark Marquez on bass, and Dustin Hunt playing keys for the live band.
@one_outta_ten
One Outta Ten Spotify
One Outta Ten Youtube
Were you interested in music growing up? And what brought together One Outta Ten?
Oh, I was super interested in music when I was a kid. I remember my dad bought Dave (my brother) and I these CD’s, and they had custom songs on them with our names inserted into the song. The first song was this hilarious over-the-top rock and roll song where all the choruses said “JOSHUA’S IN THE BAND!” for my CD. And David’s said, “DAVID’S IN THE BAND!” It was all very important to my musical growth because I couldn’t believe that the music I listened to got better from there. Listening to the Arctic Monkeys in middle school with my friend James blew my mind. From there, it’s been a very fun musical journey, but most recently I’ve just been listening to a lot of Midland, Japanese Breakfast, Jeff Rosenstock, Taylor Swift, Car Seat Headrest and King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard. The first five bands I’ve listed are so good at crafting stories that are so personal, so unique to their experience, that it really made me want to write about the things I’ve experienced in my very limited 23 years of living. King Gizzard just has some of the best psych-rock I’ve ever heard. I recommend all of these bands.
I remember around 2010 The Beatles Rock Band came out, and it was all David and I played for months. Initially, he was on guitar, and I was on drums, but it turns out we were terrible at our instruments. So, we switched! This translated to real-life eventually, trading our plastic instruments for real ones. In a way, this was the most primordial line-up on One Outta Ten. I met the other members in high school, where we’ve had a couple of band member changes, but we’re all very good friends and enjoy hanging out still. Currently we have Tyler Lofftus on guitar, Mark Marquez on bass, and Dustin Hunt playing keys for the live band. Dave still plays drums and I still do literally everything else when we record.
How would you describe One Outta Ten's musical style? And how did you develop it?
Initially we were the world’s most okay Arctic Monkeys cover band. Those types of early-2000s indie rock bands were very crucial to our sound, because they were so raw and energetic. Our old tracks sounded so much like those bands that it really became a staple of our performances to just play covers. I don’t think I started writing original music until 2015-2017, when I was transitioning out of high school to my next destination, college. I felt all sorts of anxiety, excitement, joy, and pain during this crazy time. Life really has a way of working itself into writing music. Especially recently, when we just lost TWO YEARS to a global pandemic. I spent the entirety of 2020 either writing, composing, or having a mental health crisis. I was so sad about having the last semester of my college life spent looking into a laptop. I remember crying a lot. Luckily for me, I was able to channel everything into writing. I was frustrated by losing the best years of my life and felt so much pressure from the relationship I was in that I was really pouring myself into the musical project I was working on. Now that everything is recorded, I can finally show the garbage I wrote during quarantine. So the best way I can describe One Outta Ten’s latest musical style is confessional songwriting. I was dealing with a tsunami of emotions and it’s nice to use music to cover topics I normally would shy away from speaking about. I can only hope that the music we’ve written can connect with all sorts of people.
How has growing up in LA influenced you, your music?
LA is one of those wonderful places where you can find good music anywhere. There’s so many record shops and venues you can get lost in and just wander around for hours. It sucks to see Amoeba closing their original location, but there’s still a lot more places out there. I found a lot of inspiration skating around Glendale with my friends listening to the same music in James’ car. I owe a lot to those guys (Eric, Matias, Alfredo, I love you) because they shared so much music with me and I learned how to have a good time in high school. I also frequented the Moonlight Rollerway where they played SO MUCH DISCO MUSIC.
Because my very extended family also lives in LA, I was exposed to a lot of great music through them. All my cousins were 90s kids and they showed me lots of LCD Soundsystem, Björk, and whatever our parents used to listen to.
Do you have any favorite songs you enjoy performing?
A good amount of our setlist is comprised of stuff that has not been released yet. Of the songs we currently have out: “The Only Lovers Left Alive” is such a fun one. Our most popular songs that I love to play are “You Got Me Going” and “What Would I Do Without You?” “El Matador” reflects the initial stages of a relationship where nothing is set in stone, and I was super, super insecure while writing it so it’s also a great song to play live. As for the songs that ARE NOT out yet: We’ve only played it once, but this upcoming song “VEGAS” is going to blow your socks off.
What have been some memorable performances and venues?
We were invited to play a fest in Pomona called Havenfest, and it had some of the best crowd interaction ever. I jumped off the stage and sang with the crowd. So many of my friends were there. Another fun performance was a show we did in January of 2020, before the lockdown started. We played a UCR conference event for all the outdoor clubs of the UC’s. There were SO many people and I had never seen a mosh pit of that size to our music before. I love performing and I’m really looking forward to getting back to it in December.
How has the pandemic affected the band, and how are you coming out of it?
I know all of us were super bummed. 2020 was supposed to be a fun year, and instead we got… well, nothing. Taking time off to collect ourselves was very important. I missed partying and getting drunk with my friends, but I knew that I used alcohol as a crutch to replace a reasonable emotional reaction sometimes. It’s a bit jarring to switch to living back at home, nowhere to run to and find alone time, after being at college for three years. I mean, my family grew closer because of it, but I would just miss my friends. The pandemic really affected my personal relationships and made me examine who I was hanging out with and why I was interacting with them so much. Eventually, I needed to trim the fat and eliminate that which made me unhappy. Once I started doing things to make myself happy first and foremost, I started feeling better about the pandemic. I’m so much better off now that I can be with my friends and family again, and I can worry less about spreading a virus around. Also if you’re reading this and you aren’t vaccinated: go get vaxxed RIGHT NOW. Please. I want to play music again.
Are you working on any new music, collaborations, projects?
I took a couple months off of 2021 just to recharge, but I’m looking to write again for the next album. Tyler and I have been playing with the idea of a Western EP. Dustin and I have been chatting about a Steely Dan inspired project as well. I know I have so many crazy things to write about in my brain and I’m still getting readjusted to adult life. I’m sure more music will come out of it.
What's your dream line up and venue?
It would be a dream to play The Smell in LA. It’s a legendary DIY venue that a lot of bands have cut their teeth at. But if I could suddenly hand-pick some awesome artists to play at The Smell with, I’d start with Jeff Rosenstock. Mr. Rosenstock has had a HUGE impact on my life since hearing his album “WORRY.” for the first time. I’d also pick King Gizzard, because they have such a crazy live sound and I think it would be fun to see them and headbang in such an intimate setting. And then just for the hell of it: Midland. Because they have such beautiful vocal harmonies and I had never enjoyed modern country music until I listened to them.
Who/what has been instrumental in your personal and creative growth?
Like I said before, life has a real great way of working itself into the songs we write. My life has been a whirlwind and it’s been a little bit dizzying since college started. My friend group from college has been so dear to me, especially my friend/roommate Daniel. I borrowed heavily from his life because we were hanging out so much in college, and organically, his life events became mine, and mine his. We spent a lot of nights together on some sort of substance, and that became a recurring element in the songs I wrote at the time.
Obviously, lots of our songs are about love. Whether it’s platonic or romantic, happy or sad, there are so many people to thank. But most recently, I’ve been writing lots of terribly nostalgic love songs. I was feeling like a wreck up until September of 2020. I met my girlfriend Zoë last year, and life has just been fantastic ever since. I’m in such a great place right now with someone who I can talk my emotions and insecurities about. We travel together and listen to the same music, while still having separate lives independent of our relationship. It’s a good feeling. The last song on our upcoming second album is about her. It was a nice surprise to write because it came about so suddenly and quickly, but it’s probably the most beautiful song I’ve written. Love is so gross!
Do you have any upcoming music, projects, events you'd like to share?
I’ve been working on so many things it’s been so hard to keep track. We’re doing a little So-Cal micro-tour in January-February of 2022, and I’m also trying to make merch. But the thing I’m most excited for is releasing new music. Our latest single, “VEGAS”, is out November 26th. We aren’t going to stop there, because I have two whole albums of material I want to get out into the world. Album number one, “With Love”, should be out before the year is over. Shout out to Eric Kubler for mixing and mastering for us. We have tour dates coming out soon! Get ready for it!
Photos courtesy of Joshua De Leon