The musical roadtrip of Where’s West? makes a stop in San Luis Obispo

In the desert outside Moab, Utah, Where’s West? arrived at Electric Honey Festival and were greeted by something they said didn’t feel real.

“First impression: We get to the campgrounds, and four people are base jumping off of the cliff,” drummer West Hauser recalled.

It was their first show outside of California — a 45-minute set under open sky. There wasn’t a packed club or a barricade separating them from the crowd. People drifted in and out, moving freely through the red rock landscape. 

It wasn’t their biggest audience, but it was a milestone marking their first step beyond home turf.

“It was a very free place to experience music,” they said. “There’s really nothing to think about, but the feeling of what the music is creating.”

That sense of movement without overthinking it is exactly what defines Where’s West?

Simple beginnings

The band officially formed in 2022 at Chapman University, but its roots go back further. Vocalist and guitarist Zan Curleigh and Hauser grew up near each other in the Bay Area before reconnecting in college. At first, it wasn’t a formal project— just two friends plugging in and playing.

“It never really became like a concrete thing, until we met Robbie, because he was just a drummer and a guitar player,” Curleigh said. “Then we started taking it a little bit more seriously, started writing more songs, and just like shaping our sound over that.”

Early on, they filled sets with covers. From “Evil Woman” to Grateful Dead-inspired tracks, they channeled the music they grew up with. The goal wasn’t replication — it was energy. Upbeat, danceable songs that could get a room moving became their blueprint.

“We built out a studio in the laundry room of our basement of our house in college, and started writing songs together,” Curleigh said. Backyard shows followed and friends packed in. The momentum built naturally.

Not long after Curleigh and Hauser moved to West Los Angeles, keyboardist Aidan Babuka Black became the fourth member.

His presence didn’t just add another layer, it widened their sound entirely. 

“It was amazing,” Hauser said. “It just exponentially increased what we could do with our music.” 

A familiar sound

For Black, keys aren’t a background texture.

 “I’m really into designing cool sounds to use for our live shows,” he said. “Adding cool sound effects… it really increases the production value and the excitement from an audience point of view.” In their recent releases, he added, “the synth is like the main melody of the song.”

They describe their sound as a “musical road trip.” The first stop is California, shaped by the rock and folk scenes of the ’60s and ’70s, the sunshine-soaked influences Curleigh grew up on. Then Australia, for its dance-forward, funk-leaning rhythms. And somewhere along the way, France as a nod to their appreciation for Daft Punk’s electronic edge.

Still, they avoid pinning themselves down.

“I feel like we try not to put ourselves in a whole lot of genre boxes,” bassist Robbie Cullerton said. “I’m a big believer that you can sing about anything, as long as if the music is there… then it’ll work,” Cullerton said.

Live shows are where that belief becomes tangible. Backyard parties taught them how to read a room and trust each other. If a section feels good, they let it stretch. If the energy shifts, they follow it.

That instinct carried into their first LA headline show at Venice West, where more than 300 people filled the venue— their largest crowd to date.

“That was our first headline show in LA,” Curleigh said, describing the moment as surreal.

Offstage, the structure remains loose. There isn’t a single frontman steering decisions. Energy rotates depending on the day.

“I feel like relying on the group,” Hauser said. “Sometimes I’ll be low energy, and these boys will pull me up and sometimes it’s vice versa.”

Their songwriting mirrors that same dynamic. Ideas spark mid-jam or from a simple riff. Nothing is forced. “We just like to keep it natural, you know, just not force anything,” Black said. “Let it just flow naturally.”

Even their setlists are shaped by feel rather than formula. “We take a lot of inspo from a DJ set point of view,” Black said. They focus on transitions and momentum, aiming to “follow like an energy flow.” 

On Thursday, March 12, at Libertine Brewing Company, Where’s West? is arriving in the same way they began — four friends chasing a groove and a motive to get people dancing. 

If Moab showed them anything, it’s that they don’t need walls or a massive crowd to create something real, just a rhythm and a room ready to move.