SoCal natives Tijuana Panthers can often be found surfing the high waves during the day and ripping up venues across Los Angeles with their brand of breezy psychedelic garage during the night.

The trio – Daniel Michicoff, Chad Wachtel and Phil Shaheen – first bonded at school and have been together under the moniker Tijuana Panthers for just over ten years now. With heavy doses of personality and flair Tijuana Panthers possess all the needed qualities enabling them to metabolise their influences with bold panache, taking Nuggets-era surf rock as a springboard and leaping into the great unknown.

With the recent release of their third record, Wayne Interest, the band further expand upon their woozy sound by experimenting with new techniques and polishing their accomplished sound. Melodies chime true cloaked in reverb, whilst lyrics steer clear from the traditionally breezy attitude, instead edging towards darker, provocative themes – placing style and substance in equal importance.

Ahead of the band’s West Coast tour, kicking off next week, we checked in with drummer Phil Shaheen to get the low down on writing, gigging and why Bruce Lee should be considered the new Alexander Technique. Check out a first look at the brand new video Torpedo below – and dive on in.

Alex James Taylor: So, Wayne Interest is your third album right? Does it get easier as experience builds up?
Yeah, third record. It feels the same as when we first started…one of us will come up with a tune and then we will get together and hash it out.

AT: Has your songwriting and recording process altered from album to album?
Phil Shaheen: Yeah, I think so…we aren’t veering to far off the path we are on but time and age does change the writing process. As we grow as a band we also have more opportunities to work with different producers which will change our recordings for sure. But nothing drastic as of late.

AT: And why did you choose the title Wayne Interest?
PS: Wayne Interest is slang that roughly translates into, ‘Who Cares’. I picked it up from some German kids nine years ago, we thought it worked well with the songs and where we are as a band. We’ve been playing together for 15 years in one form or another and ‘Wayne’ is a way for us to say here’s what we are doing… you can pick it up and run with it if you want to or not, we don’t care.

AT: How was it working with producer Richard Swift (Foxygen, The Shins) on this album?
PS: It was great we loved it. Daniel met Swift through a mutual friend and they became pals. Long story short we had some songs and Swift was into producing it, so we went up there to his house in Cottage Grove, Oregon, and banged out 10 songs in a day in a half.

AT: You’re heading out on tour next month, how have you been preparing for that?
PS: We have been playing shows lately and practicing once a week, we have been playing together for so long that it doesn’t take much for us to get it together.

AT: Do you have any pre-show rituals or superstitions?
PS: We sometimes jump rope before a set. Years ago I read Bruce Lee’s basic training book and he was all about the rope. It gets the stagnant blood flowing again after a long drive. In a perfect world we would surf before every show, but that ain’t happening.

AT: Reading previous interviews you guys have done you frequently mention what music you’re currently into, so what’s on the speakers at the minute?
PS: Edwyn Collins, Blur, The Fall, Fugazi, Orange Juice, Ian Dury are the last few records on my turntable.

AT: Los Angeles seems to have a pretty amazing music scene at the minute, how is it from an insider’s point of view?
PS: Yeah, LA is pretty happening right now, It’s always been happening, right now the spotlight is back on it. Now a lot more people are let into what we have been doing for the last 10 years out here.

AT: If you guys were to reinvent yourselves as any other genre of music, what would it be?
PS: I think the whole band would enjoy going down the Orange Juice route and Rip It Up.

Wayne Interest by Tijuana Panthers is out now on Innovative Leisure. Find the band at their website and Bandcamp and follow them on Facebook and Twitter for updates on their forthcoming shows.