Out To Lunch
Formed in 2013, in the wake of skate-punk outfit Fukt For Life’s dissolution, Out to Lunch (OTL) came about through the alcohol and marijuana fueled jamming and song-writing sessions of original OTL members Joey Garcia (vocals), Dustin Mendenhall (drums), and Raymond Vasquez (bass). Locals to Nuevo, California in the Inland Empire, the group crafted a regionally unique sound, blending their ska-punk and skate-punk influences from up and down the west coast, building the foundations for the core sound that OTL retains to this day.
Guitarist Cody Rife had broken up with his hardcore band, Starful Ashley in 2010. Cody was jobless and sleeping on an old mattress inside of his sister’s garage when he was invited by Raymond Vasquez to join OTL. Cody was hesitant and uninterested in the invitation, but a promise of free cigarettes and beer was enough to lure him to a practice session. Cody married his hardcore background to the ska-punk approach that Joey had crafted. The final piece of the band’s line-up came with the recruitment of Joey’s brother, Richard Garcia, as rhythm guitarist. This incarnation of OTL would practice on weekdays and perform at parties on the weekends. It would be three years of this routine before the group began the process of recording an album.
OTL’s debut album, “A Boy Named Suicide,” was released in 2017. The record contained what the group believed to be thirteen of their best tracks in their repertoire. The album also began a long-term working relationship with the Santa Cruz artist Jimbo Phillips, whose bold graphic approach and reverence to skateboarding culture neatly complimented OTL’s style.
The band submitted their song, “Sober Shores,” to The Jason Ellis Show on SiriusXM’s Faction Punk station for a contest. The song won and received airplay on the show for multiple weeks before a producer contacted the group, notifying OTL that the track was the number one tested song in the country for the station during that timeframe. “Sober Shores” was then put into full rotation on the channel, placing OTL in between the likes of NOFX, Rancid, and The Offspring.
OTL began playing shows alongside Guttermouth, Strung Out, Ignite, and A Wilhelm Scream. The band was also featured on a Slabratory Clothing compilation album that featured Unwritten Law, Good Riddance, 88 Fingers Louie, Voodoo Glow Skulls, and Authority Zero.
The line-up for OTL changed in 2019, with Aaron Yorty from San Diego’s Skipjack on drums and Matt Turek from Strike Twelve joining on bass. The change in members allowed for a more melodic and heavy approach to the foundation of OTL’s sound.