Since the release of their debut LP “Truth Over Harmony” nearly a year ago, Sand Section has been building up their proverbial castle without fearing the tides. Their perpetual remodeling has effected considerable change and growth within the band, and has included many open doors.
“Last summer we toured extensively with [fellow South Bay band] Fortunate Youth through most of the Southwest United States, all the way through Texas,” recalls lead guitarist and vocalist Jeff Nisen. “Upon return, we added a new member to our band, Stefan Partelow, who plays keys, percussion, and rhythm guitar. We found it necessary to make our sound a little bigger, and it really beefs up our live performance.”
“Shortly after adding Stefan,” continues Nisen, “we parted ways with our drummer Sam [Mandelbaum] and began playing shows extensively as an acoustic band until we got the drummer situation figured out. The funny thing was that we soon discovered that we were a really good acoustic band… Tony [Gonella] and I had done so many acoustic gigs around the South Bay over the past few years that we literally developed a unique sound together and got really good. We also realized that we wanted to appeal to a much larger market beyond the scopes of local reggae. So we basically just reinvented ourselves.”
Gonella (bass, vocals) and Nisen have been performing side gigs for years as an acoustic Sand Section duo. It’s ironic that while the band experienced the inclusion of one new member, thus broadening their dynamic and sound, they subsequently lost another member only to realize their apparent strength to play with a stripped down sound as well.
Nisen explains, “We played some really great acoustic gigs, which included shows with Pepper and Tomorrows Bad Seeds at Saint Rocke, as well as an Earth Day Festival and Surfrider Festival in Santa Barbara… We also had the opportunity to play live on the radio at Santa Barbara’s 97.1 KRUZ, which was awesome! (That station still continues to spin our music regularly…) As a result of these great acoustic gigs we were planning on going into the studio to record an acoustic album, when out of the blue I got a call from Mike Sutherland [of Total Access Studio, Redondo Beach] – who said he would be willing to drum for us in the studio… There were some really good electric songs that we wanted to release before we set our sights on an acoustic album, and then basically “The Gun” was born.
And “The Gun” was born: Sand Section’s eclectic, mostly electric follow up EP to their debut LP, before setting sights on an acoustic full length LP.
“The EP is similar to our LP in that it covers a bunch of styles of music… every song is uniquely different from all the others,” says Nisen. “We still have the undercurrents of our earlier rock-reggae-acoustic sound, but you’ll hear in the title track ‘The Gun’ that there is pretty much no reggae influence whatsoever… For the longest time we were trying to really find “our sound”… and I think that we have finally realized that our sound is not a genre, it is anything and everything that we think sounds good. A little band called The Beatles did that as their career progressed and it seemed to work out pretty well for them.”
He elaborates on the EP, “There is no real underlying theme in terms of song style, just five really cool songs that we are really proud to share with the music world. Having said that, we are excited to show people a new side of us that keeps everyone on their toes… As one track ends, you basically have no idea what the following song will sound like, which we think is really cool.”
With all their progress, ebb, flow, and change, the major theme for Sand Section over the past year has been maturity.
“We spent a lot of time growing up and learning over the past several months… We found our sound… Our live show is strong… Our new EP rocks, and we are ready for any exciting new opportunity that comes our way.”
“The Gun” EP will be shared with the music world on Wednesday June 1, available for donation-based purchase at www.sandsectionmusic.com. Physical copies will be available June 3 at Sand Section’s release party, to be held at Saint Rocke at 8 p.m., with opening performances by Fallen Riviera and Pilot Touhill. They’ll also be performing at the Rockin Roots Festival in Bakersfield June 4, and the Kona Liquid Aloha Festival in July. ER
