Sun Room Live
Courtesy of Sun Room
In summer 2021, a human pile of sunburns and cutoff denim filled the yard of an infamous house in Ocean Beach—a house loved by nearby Point Loma Nazarene University (PLNU) students and not-so-loved by neighbors. The swarm of 20-somethings was so tightly packed they looked like one unit, swaying to the twangy melodies and stomping rhythms of Sun Room—a foursome of home-grown blonde-mopped surf rockers. Everyone could sense it: the band was special.
Louis Tomlinson soon picked up on the same vibe. After discovering them on a playlist, the former One Direction band member summoned them from their life of noise disturbances to his world tour. “It was one of those moments where it was a little bit too crazy to wrap your head around,” says vocalist and guitarist Luke Asgian of the first time they walked on stage at a sold-out arena. “Luckily, I could only see like the first four rows because of the lights.”
But back to the house, where the members of Sun Room—Asgian, Gibson (Gibby) Anderson on drums, Max Pinamonti on bass, and Ashton Minnich on guitar—live. For almost 10 years, PLNU students have handed the residence off like an heirloom, and it’s become an off-campus clubhouse of sorts for creative students. Seeing a Sun Room house show quickly became a summer staple for pandemic- frustrated college kids.
Sun Room huddle
Courtesy of Sun Room
Asgian formed Sun Room in the summer of 2020 after being in many admittedly bad high school garage bands and independently recording music for years. Their fun, front-porch project turned serious when one of their songs blew up on TikTok, then “Crashed My Bike” was featured in the second season of the hit Netflix show Outer Banks. Sun Room’s members, all in their late teens and early 20s, hail from various beach towns across the Southern California coast, so the surf rock came honestly. Asgian’s vision for the band was simple: bring Southern California’s signature sound to a wider audience.
“[I wanted to] take the sound we all grew up with and loved, the sound that all the kids in beach cities play, and present it in a way where everyone can enjoy it [regardless of] what part of the country or even the world you are from,” he says.
They pulled that off somewhere in northern Europe.
Sun Room roof
Courtesy of Sun Room
“I had this full circle moment where we are playing these songs about summer in San Diego in the middle of France or Norway,” he recalls. “That’s all I’ve ever wanted to do with Sun Room, and now we get to do it.”
It’s been go, go, go for the band. Now they’re taking full advantage of being back home. Asgian says this summer is about working on new music, recharging, and enjoying what San Diego has to offer before they head off on their first headlining North American tour this fall.
“It’s a really cool little time in life where we’re just hanging with our friends and trying to surf everyday and work on a ton of new music,” Asgian says, embodying the dream. “The two best feelings in the world are leaving home and getting to come back home.”
