If a group of scientists were attempting to design the perfect band in a lab, and they added a heap of Alabama Shakes, a dash of Leon Bridges and a pinch of Benjamin Booker to their concoction, they’d probably produce something like Los Coast.

The Austin-based five-piece masterfully infuses pop sensibilities into its backbone of soul, funk and psychedelia to produce a sound that sounds both familiar and innovative all at once. Mixed Mantra sat down with the outfit around a bonfire after its recent show at Beauvoir Park in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to discuss its origins, its upcoming tour (on which it’ll share the stage with the likes of Gary Clark Jr. and St. Paul & The Broken Bones) and more.

Los Coast is composed of Trey Privott on vocals and guitar, John Courtney on guitar and synth, Megan Hartman on bass, Natalie Alexandra on keys and Damien Eric on drums.

MIXED MANTRA: How did you like Beauvoir Park?

LOS COAST: This place is awesome. Amazing first stop for the tour.

MM: Are you excited about the tour?

LC: Yeah, it’s our first full tour. Just gotta get used to unloading and loading the van.

MM: What’s Los Coast’s origin story?

LC: We formed three-and-a-half years ago. We all kind of met individually through networks of people in Austin. Our friends are from different backgrounds and social groups. We were always intertwining. We eventually formed a crew out of all of the crews we brought together.

MM: Have the band members changed at all?

LC: No, we haven’t changed at all. We’ve been through some shit.

MM: When’s your album dropping?

LC: Our record Samsara drops in June. Samsara is the phase before nirvana.

MM: How did your sound come to be?

LC: I [Courtney] listened to a lot of live albums as a kid. I like to think that band chose that show [to record] for a reason, and I want all of my shows to be like that.

MM: Is it hard booking shows and tours?

LC: Our talent agency, Paradigm, takes care of all of that.

MM: Do your guitar players ever clash?

LC: We play best when we pay attention to each other. One thing I [Courtney] noticed about Trey is that he has a certain communication to his playing. I can play a riff at him for a minute and he’ll play it back at me. We’re both tone geeks and Trey’s tone is really unique. We both chase that sonic-type sound, so, essentially, we have a shit-ton of guitar pedals.