Los Angeles-based duo Bad Wave are back with their latest synth-infused single Good Son, out now.

Written as an ode to mothers everywhere, Good Son describes the relationship between mother and son and how it cannot always be an easy ride. The band elaborate “I think it’s safe to say that moms love their kids more than kids love their moms. But when your mom starts crying as she drops you off at the airport to fly back to your new home across the country, you feel like you could do more to ease her pain. You promise yourself you’ll try harder to be a good son. But you don’t. You can’t.” The single once again showcases the duo’s effortless ability to combine woozy electronics with indie rock hooks, creating something akin to that of Metronomy or Hot Chip with a psychedelic edge.

In this interview spotlight, I chat with Bad Wave about the newest release, challenges, motivations and more.

Full Q&A along with links and music below.

Let’s dive a little deeper into You, the artist and your music. What attracted you to this genre(s) or style(s)?

Tucker: We’ve experimented in a lot of different genres, but people seemed to respond to this, and we give the people what they want.

Patrick: But we’re definitely not going to stay here… we’ll be exploring a lot of different things this year.

What led you into this journey with music? And further, what drives you to push it out to the public?

Tucker: As a band, we’re pretty new, about a year and a half. Making music with Pat is still fun and challenging in the right ways, so I don’t question it too much.

Patrick: I’ve been making music since I was a kid. The response for this project has been pretty special so far, though, and that’s a big part of why we keep going.

Who or what influences your creativity? Have your tastes in music changed over time?

Tucker: My taste in music hasn’t really changed. Which is probably not good, I still listen to the same stuff I did ten years ago.

Patrick: We’re trying to draw on a lot of influences, beyond stuff that just sounds similar to us. Hopefully you can hear some weirder things popping up in our newer songs, a little classical, a little punk, a little disco.

Were you trying to accomplish anything specific on this new project? Creatively or otherwise?

Patrick: I made most of the track in an afternoon with a kurzweil k2000. I was enjoying messing around with it and I wanted to write something that built slowly.

Tucker: This one was certainly more moody than our other songs. And slow. So keeping it from getting boring and overly sentimental is the main challenge there.

What was the last song you listened to?

Tucker: The Harry Nilsson album Pussy Cats.

Patrick: The Car Bomb album Meta.

Which do you prefer? Vinyl? CDs? MP3s?

Tucker: 50/50 MP3 and vinyl. My favorite thing about vinyl is that it’s split into two sides. I like having an intermission to the album.

Patrick: MP3s. Although streaming is the real answer, by far. Do you remember what it was like before streaming music?? ID3 tags, jewel cases, taping over the little tab on top of a cassette so you could make mixtapes?

How about this one…. Do you prefer Spotify? Apple Music? Bandcamp? Or something else? Why?

Tucker: Spotify.

Patrick: Spotify. Besides the app and service being really good, they do a lot for new bands, with playlists and promotion and what not. We’ve gotten a lot of support from them.

Other than the digital era overwhelming us with access to an abundance of music, what is the biggest challenge you face when trying to connect with or find new fans?

Tucker: It’s hard enough standing out in a sea of “Wave” bands.

Patrick: Curation is definitely a tough problem in general… for us, making music that’s kind of pop but a little niche, it can be tough to find curators who like what we’re trying to do.

Where is the best place to connect with you online? Discover more music?

Patrick: We’re in all the normal places! Spotify and soundcloud for music, instagram/facebook/twitter. We write longer posts from time to time on our website, http://badwave.cool.

Anything else you’d like to add before signing off?

Tucker: Jeff Goldblum once told me, “you gotta ride the horse in the direction it’s going.”

Patrick: I’ll close with a shout out to Bobby “Sneakout” Fleming hope you’re keeping it together down in Miami.