Being as an Ocean

Being as an Ocean is an American post-hardcore band formed in Alpine, California in 2011. The group built its reputation on raw, emotionally exposed live performances and the confessional songwriting of frontman Joel Quartuccio, whose lyrics deal openly with faith, doubt, mental health, and personal loss rather than the genre's more common themes. Guitarist Michael McGough joined in 2014, adding a second vocal texture that became central to the band's later sound.

Musically the band blends hardcore aggression with melodic, almost spoken-word passages, creating a dynamic push and pull between screamed and sung delivery. Their catalogue includes «Dear G-d…» (2012), «How We Both Wondrously Perish» (2014), the self-titled «Being as an Ocean» (2015), and «Waiting for Morning to Come» (2017), followed by the more experimental «PROXY: An A.N.I.M.O. Story» (2019). Most of these were released through InVogue Records before the band moved to release material independently.

In 2021 founding members Tyler Ross and Ralph Sica departed after a decade with the group, leaving Quartuccio to continue the project. Songs like «Dissolve», «Glow», and «Black & Blue» remain touchstones of the band's fusion of hardcore intensity with vulnerable, spiritually searching lyricism, a combination that set them apart within the post-hardcore scene of the 2010s.