Story: If Broken Gold’s previous release, Recovery Journal (Volcom), was about getting knocked down and learning how to get back up again, and their new follow-up, Residency at Hundo Beach (End Sounds), is about taking those first few crucial steps once you’re back on your feet.

Singer, songwriter, and guitarist Ian MacDougall is the gas pedal that pushes Broken Gold forward. He came to the attention of punk fans far and wide when he joined up with Texas punk heroes the Riverboat Gamblers as a guitar player fresh out of high school, making his first recorded appearance with the band on their 2006 album, To The Confusion of Our Enemies (Volcom). MacDougall remains a Gambler to this day, but he’s always had other modes of musical expression on his mind as well.

"I’ve always been demoing," says MacDougall, "and it wasn’t for anything particular, I just always liked doing home recording." That penchant for DIY music making was part of the impetus for Broken Gold. "I had all these songs that did not fit with the Gamblers," he explains, "songs that were a little slower and a little more like what I was listening to personally at the time…and then it kind of evolved into having more of a spacey guitar sound and was perhaps a little darker."

The band started small; their first gig was a house show at the home of their bass player, Patrick Lillard, another Gamblers refugee. "He was over touring [with the Gamblers]," ... Read more