Coastal Commission - Rhodes Thru Space / Straight No Chaser [Pacific Coast House]

Format: 12" orange vinyl in printed sleeve.

Growing up amongst the slag heaps of County Durham, Northumbria, young Sam Robson dreamt of one day finding a better way of life and a place with a less accursed climate.

A record collector from an early age, he looked to music for the answer… Born in Bradford in the late 60s and raised in the North East throughout the 70s, alternative music quickly became his obsession: from punk to new wave, two tone, rock, and new romantic, he collected it all.

Electro and hip hop arrived on his local boombox in the form of Crucial Electro on Street Sounds Records, and he was soon hungry for any new electronic music coming out of the USA.

His call was answered one day at school, when his friend Gareth (another music enthusiast) lent him a 12” Chicago record that blew his mind and changed his direction. The piano and gospel-tinged track was none other than Marshall Jefferson’s House Music Anthem, telling him to “move your body” and that “house music was gonna set you free…”. The rest is history.

Fast forward 10 years to 1996: Big Sam is now spinning weekly at a house night in Santa Barbara, alongside LA veteran DJ Doc Martin. He lives just south of Santa Barbara, two blocks from the Pacific Ocean, in the sunny coastal town of Carpinteria (an hour north of Los Angeles).

The warehouse was equipped with a full studio featuring the latest from Roland Corp, but he also had the Urban Planning Commission breathing down his neck and threatening him with eviction, as his residence—unbeknownst to him—had been built without municipal permits.

He was told his only hope to save the building from demolition was the California Coastal Commission, which protects everything within 3 miles of the state's coast.

With the Coastal Commission in mind and while working at the LA store Beatnonstop Records, Sam met another Brit, musician and house music lover, Chris Penny aka CPen.

They quickly connected at The Cat & the Fiddle over pints of beer and talks about 90s rave and jungle. Sam invited Chris to spend a weekend at his studio in Carpinteria to get away from Los Angeles and have a studio session.

That same night, they crammed Chris's Rhodes piano into the trunk of Sam's little Beemer and set off down Highway 101 towards Carpinteria, along with their friend Lil Johnny "Toaster Oven."

After a long night of recording (with the help of PCH engineer "Evil Eye" Nate), Rhodes Through Space was born at dawn. Mastering was immediately scheduled, and a week later, the white labels arrived, packed into a suitcase bound for Miami to promote the track at WMC (Winter Music Conference).

In desperation and unsure what to call the collective, they settled on Coastal Commission featuring CPen, a name scribbled on the white copies.

As luck would have it, Sam ran into King Britt, a Philadelphia house music icon and regular customer at the LA store, who was among the first to receive a copy of the record.

That same night, King invited Sam to the club, where he premiered the track at the Basement Jaxx party at the conference, to a packed crowd and alongside legends like Daft Punk, Armand Van Helden, and DJ Sneak.

25 years later, Coastal Commission returns with remasters, while CPen has won two Grammys with Honey Dijon for his work on Beyoncé's house album.

Rhodes Through Space is a musical tribute to club culture, rave, and warehouse parties, still relevant and resonant to this day.