Local musician Etienne David Franc is determined to capture his song ideas… even if it kills him. “Almost all of my writing happens—very dangerously—while I’m driving,” the bassist/guitarist/vocalist/rapper confesses. Franc does a huge amount of his composing on iMaschine, the phone app version of a drum machine/sequencer/controller that is changing the way producers make beats […]
Archive | Music
Jesse Autumn: Featured Musician
Just as some visual artists use music for inspiration while they draw, paint or sculpt, Jesse Autumn uses visual art as inspiration for her music. When she enters the recording studio, the local harpist/pianist/vocalist adorns her piano with images that fuel her imagination. “I bring little tiny postcards of paintings that I’m really into, or […]
Charanpal: Featured Musician
Charanpal is a Santa Cruz-based devotional singer whose music is rooted in the practice of Kundalini yoga. Her new album, Aeons, reached #4 on the iTunes World Music Charts within five hours of its release on September 8th. Local Santa Cruz: What’s going on in your world right now, Charanpal? Charanpal: Well, I just wrapped […]
The Brothers Comatose: Featured Band
In 2013, the Americana/bluegrass band The Brothers Comatose found itself at a crossroads. When bassist Gio Benedetti parted ways with the group to meet the demands of having a newly born second child, the four remaining members were left with a major void to fill. “We messed around with some substitutes, and we just never […]
Fainting Goats : Featured Band
It’s rare that a band make as dramatic a transformation from one album to the next as Fainting Goats have made between their debut album, Native Sounds of the Golden West, and their sophomore release, Cambria Pines. While the former album consisted of hook-filled indie rock influenced by the likes of Camper Van Beethoven, Guided […]
Featured Artist: Gecko Henry (Album)
Gecko Henry is a musical project that formed and recorded in Santa Cruz, and continues to creatively grow throughout the San Jose region. Whilst the sound is reminiscent of Nirvana-inspired garage jam sessions, the songs themselves are quite calculated, mathematically chopped up into higher and lower portions to form the perfect song salad. “I recorded […]