Thanks to the rad interview I posted last month, y’all know that I love to follow the work of NY artist Charlene Kaye. So when I found out she had joined the eight-piece band San Fermin as a lead vocalist, I was all about it.
San Fermin plays a stunning mix of pop rock and classical music – sometimes known as baroque pop – and is based in Brooklyn. Not only is San Fermin’s music amazingly cohesive and thoughtful, but seeing them live gives their sound a whole other dimension. I remember seeing them perform for the first time last year at Webster Hall and noticing first hand that they are all incredibly talented musicians. This ensemble features sounds from horns and violin to keys and guitar, all coming together to deliver an impressive flourish of operatic and electronic jams. Along with bandleader Ellis Ludwig-Leone, the band features John Brandon (trumpet), Stephen Chen (saxophone), Rebekah Durham (violin/vocals), Michael Hanf (drums), Charlene Kaye (lead vocals), Tyler McDiarmid (guitar), and Allen Tate (lead vocals). In preparation for San Fermin’s NY stops on their tour, I reached out to Ellis to tell us a little more about the band.
Introduce yourself! I’m Ellis, the songwriter and bandleader for San Fermin.
Tell us about San Fermin. How you all met, how you started playing music together, etc: Allen (lead vocals) and I met when we were fifteen and have been close ever since. The rest of the band I assembled after writing the first record, once I decided I wanted this to be a touring band. The brass players I met in college, and everyone else I met in New York.
Which artists inspire you to write? Anybody who is writing honest, thoughtful music gets me excited. I’m a competitive person, so if I hear something that’s really good, I’ll want to go write something myself to try to keep up.
What are you listening to right now? I’ve been listening to that new Grimes and also a bunch of Sam Amidon, who we are on tour with at the moment.
Tell us about your new album Jackrabbit: It’s the band’s second record, and the first album I actually wrote for the band, in the sense that I had these particular guys in mind when I was writing the parts. It’s been out since April and we’ve had a blast touring it.
Give us an idea of what it’s like on tour for San Fermin. Well, we travel with eight band members plus one or two crew members. So it’s basically like taking your high school English class on a field trip. Lots of bathroom breaks. But it’s fun because there’s always someone to talk to, and we don’t get too sick of each other.
What can we expect from the future of your music career? Have you been working on new stuff for San Fermin? I’ve been writing a few things, but I’m trying to hold off a bit until I have a little more distance from the last record. The first two albums came out in very quick succession, and I want to take a minute to digest how much things have changed. But there will be some new stuff soon enough! In the meantime, I’ve been writing a lot more music for classical ensembles and orchestras and stuff.
Where can we find you on social media? Twitter/Instagram/Facebook: sanferminband. I’m usually pretty good about responding!
You can check out San Fermin next weekend – December 17th, 18th and 19th – at Bowery Ballroom! More event details can be found here: http://www.boweryballroom.com/event/961855-san-fermin-new-york/