Starbucks has been fusing live music with tasty treats in its 'Noches Culturales' (Cultural Nights), a series of concert events around the country highlighting music from the Hispanic community. Recently, Starbucks in Miami hosted 'Elastic Bond', a Miami-based band which a brings a "retro-futuristic combination of folkloric rhythms and electronic beats." The band is made up of Sofy Encanto (Vocals) Andres Ponce (Keys & samplers) Buffalo Brown (Guitar & Vocals) David Burgos (Horns). Latin times sat down with Sofy to talk about the band's experiences.
LT: Tell me a little about the band, where did it start and how long have you guys been together?
It started out here in Miami and we’ve been together about seven and a half years. And we’re basically exploring in the Miami music scene, we would go to jam sessions – a few of us met that way. Andres and I met through a mutual friend. We started the band – he liked my demo and I was looking for a producer to help me produce the songs I was writing at the time and we sort of linked up and we started writing music and collaborating, and we sort of liked what was happening and kept writing more and more. And then we met Buffalo who we met at one of the music venues here in Miami, at a jam session. And David I met through a mutual friend of mine as well.
LT: What were your musical influences when you were growing up and when you started making music?
When I was very very young I would basically listen to whatever my parents would listen to at the time. Maybe a little bit of disco, maybe some Motown, The Beatles and a lot of folkloric music from my country which is Honduras. And of course a lot of merengue would always be at every party. And the garifuna music from my country.
Then later on when I came to the States when I was twelve I started to listen to more reggae and some pop music, the urban stuff. I would listen to music that was old and retro and then a lot of hip hop from the East Coast like “A Tribe Called Conquest” and a lot of R’nB, like Erycah Badu.
LT: What do you think is unique about Elastic Bond’s sound? How would you describe it?
I would say it’s a tropical soul fusion, if I had to describe it into a short phrase. But there’s a lot too it really. There’s all those influences – we listen to everything. We create very freely and naturally – we don’t really put any boundaries on our music, only to the point that we’re happy with it. We pretty much do what we feel.
LT: How do you think the group has changed from your first album to your latest one?
Oh I think a lot. The first album was very experimental. We were not as marinated as a group yet. Andres being the producer, he was doing a lot of instrumental stuff, and I would sing a lot of very short hooks. That was the first underground album that is not even available to the public right now. But nonetheless we did do the release independently. It’s called ‘Madrugada’, which had vocal flares but not really full songs. And then the second album, ‘Excursions,’ which is also an independent release but it is available on iTunes as well. We had a little more song, more vocals definitely. And more of a latin vibe, and we had rap – we had an MC in that album, MC O’Ryan, who we worked with on the whole album. And then we have ‘Real,’ which I’d say is more about song. So we’re bringing out the songs more and the stories, the things that people can connect to. Musically I think it’s also matured: the rearrangements and the different chord progressions that we’re using are also more adventurous.
LT: How important is Miami and the culture of Miami to your music making?
It’s important because it’s where we live and it’s where we’ve lived for a long time. It’s very important that every artist that’s going to do something stays true to where you’ve been and where you are. For us it’s natural: we’ve always been in a tropical place. So it’s comes naturally for us to be tropical, just like Miami is. And diverse, and urban and all these elements that are in our music. So I think it’s important if it comes natural: nothing is ever forced, we don’t have to sound tropical because we’re a Miami band. But there’s a lot of Latinos here and we’re Latin and that’s what really what resonates, you know, staying true to where you’ve been.
LT: So tell me a bit about this Starbucks ‘Noches Culturales’ Series.
Well we were very happy to have performed. We got to see something really nice happening. To see culture celebrated on a Tuesday night was pretty cool. In the middle of Miami in a coffee shop. I think it’s great. I mean they’re using food to promote culture. Culture is food and food is culture so it works really well. As an artist I can really appreciate anytime someone is trying to promote culture because that’s what we do. I think it’s great and I’m really happy that they’re doing it and that Starbucks has decided to back it up because they have a big name out there and it definitely helps to get the word out.
The crowd was great. They were very happy. They were dancing and really listening. You know sometimes it’s either you’re listening or you’re dancing and they were doing both. It was awesome. It was a great experience.
LT: So what’s next for you guys?
Well right now we’re recording the music and we are planning a tour. I don’t have any concrete dates yet but our management is working on that, and we hope to get out there. Especially for a few people that have been reaching out to us online saying ‘When are you going to come to L.A.? To Boston?’ You know, we’re always connected to the musical side a lot but I think it’s nice to put some batteries on and start working for our fans. So we are working on that with our management. So we will definitely announce future dates on our website.
To find out more about Elastic Bond check out their website or like them on Facebook.
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