Petaluma Profile: Josh Staples and Judah Nagler of Velvet Teen

Back in the early 2000s, before MTV became congested with reality shows, The Velvet Teen’s music played on an episode of the channel’s alt-music program “120 Minutes,” with the front-man of The Cure as the host. That musical cameo would be one of the many times the band’s reach extended far past Sonoma County.

The Velvet Teen would go on to tour with Death Cab for Cutie and Seattle indie band Minus The Bear and hit stages all over the world, including in Japan, where they embarked on their most recent tour, in 2017.

“We’ve been there seven times,” bassist Josh Staples said about Japan. “Each time we’ve gone, we’ve played more shows but played smaller shows, which is cool because we get to see more of the countryside, do fun things and spend time with Japanese friends.”

Even with such far-flung travels and new commitments, The Velvet Teen always finds its way back to Sonoma County. Last weekend, they played the Mystic Theater in Petaluma, their first public performance in Sonoma County since 2015.

Since bassist Josh Staples (who grew up in Petaluma) lives in Santa Rosa, and guitarist Judah Nagler (who grew up in Santa Rosa), now lives in Petaluma, it’s a balancing act for the trio to meet for practice.

Nagler commutes to San Francisco three times a week for work. Drummer Casey Deitz lives in Los Angeles and still tours with his other band, The Americas. Staples splits his time between his other two bands, The New Trust and Mare Island, and juggles a design job.

Just before the holidays, Staples met for an interview, arriving in a tour van that’s likely seen more parts of the country than most of us might see in a lifetime, his dog, Murray, in the backseat. He still has a VHS tape of that MTV program somewhere, he said.

Nagler made time for a call from his Petaluma home the next day. Despite their longtime partnership and that they live less than 20 miles apart, it’s hard to get Nagler and Staples in the same room to discuss the band’s upcoming projects. It’s the curse of being creatives with full-time jobs and probably explains the nine-year gap between 2006’s “Cum Laude!” album and 2015’s “All Is Illusory,” unless you count the band’s four-song EP in 2010.

The Velvet Teen started as Nagler’s solo electronic project in 1999. From there, Nagler’s next side project included Logan Whitehurst, his former bandmate of the Northern California rock band Little Tin Frog. The pair had met backstage at the Phoenix Theater and shared a connection that quickly led to seamlessly playing riffs off each other.

“It was a good collaborative type of thing from the get-go,” Nagler remembered.

The music Nagler and Whitehurst created was different from the ska and punk music fueling the North Bay music scene at the time. Staples, when he heard them, was blown away by the recordings the two released as The Secret Band. The music was lush, distinct, yet it didn’t stick to one style.

“It was unlike anything I’d heard come out of here and I wanted to be involved,” Staples said.

Nagler loved The Conspiracy, Staples’ band at the time, and admired him as a musician. When it came time to find a bass player, the trio took on the moniker Nagler used for his solo project and officially became The Velvet Teen. Their talent was noticed right off the bat and led to touring almost immediately.

Even so, Nagler said, “I don’t ever feel like we’ve been a huge band. The biggest places we’ve played have been opening for somebody else.”

In 2006, the band composed the soundtrack of Petaluma filmmaker Mitchell Altieri’s slice-of-life comedy “Lurking in Suburbia.”

It’s now been almost 20 years since the band released its debut album, “Out of the Fierce Parade” in March 2002. The record was produced by Chris Walla, former guitarist of Death Cab for Cutie, which The Velvet Teen would end up performing with at San Francisco’s beloved Noise Pop Music and Art Festival the same year.

The release of the band’s second album, Elysium, followed. When Whitehurst, who was diagnosed with cancer and died in 2006, became too ill to continue playing, Deitz would perform with The Velvet Teen. Deitz became the only person to officially join the band outside of the original line-up.

After 2005, The Velvet Teen consisted of Staples, Deitz and Nagler, with the occasional fourth or fifth guest on stage depending on which songs the band planned to play.

“We’re a little versatile that way, we can be a five-piece or a three-piece. It’s just a matter of what songs we choose,” Staples said.

Two albums would follow and now, it looks like another one might be on the way.

“My personal goal is to get a record out this year,” Nagler said.

It’s a goal Nagler has been chipping away at for a while now. He’s even visited Deitz in Los Angeles to work on new songs.

There is no official release date for the next record. Nagler said when it comes to writing new music, lyrics don’t come first, form as he hums a new musical arrangement does. “Eventually some sort of picture will take shape,” he said.

Staples agrees. There is a reason the band limits touring and its members have jobs outside of the music they make. Album and ticket sales aren’t what inspires The Velvet Teen to create.

“The art that we can make together is what drives the process. We do other things for money,” Staples said. “If we take a long break, it’s exciting to come back and do it again. It never feels like a routine. It never feels like a job.”