Today we bring to you another Miami artist who participated in O,ral Records, a project in which we partnered with O, Miami and Miami-Dade Transit to collect transit riders’ stories and hand them over to artists to create new works. As most projects are, it was a learning process. We quickly realized that getting people to share their stories is not as easy as you might think. We also gained new respect for our local artists who devoted their time and creative energy to telling a story that was 1) not their own and 2) about transit, not the most interesting topic in the world. Through the weeks of collecting stories and watching the creation of new works, we learned even the simplest of human experiences holds a story. And there is no better place to find a good story than on public transit. We were so inspired by this project, we decided to not only share the finished product with our Buskerfest Miami family, but we decided do go a little deeper and introduce you personally to the artists that worked on creating our O,ral Records.
Third up is Somewhat Hungover, a Miami-born, four-member band that keeps it real. Read on to learn more about their story and if they really are hungover.
Buskerfest Miami: Who are the band members?
SWH: Julisa Fusté sings lead vocals, Justin Trieger plays guitar and sings backup, Alan Miller plays alto and soprano saxophones and Brian Sayre holds it all together on drumset.
Buskerfest Miami: How long have you been playing together?
SWH: Five years (!)
Buskerfest Miami: What’s the story behind your name? Are you all really hungover?
SWH: Not necessarily, though it’s likely true of at least one of us at any given time. The idea of the band was brought forth over drinks, we all have a few drinks during practice, and when circumstances allow, we’ll have a drink or two during or between sets at any gig. Are you sensing a theme? You can see why the name suits us.
Buskerfest Miami: Tell me about your mascot. What was the inspiration? Does he have a name?
SWH: He does have a name – Curly! He came to us courtesy of GG, a fantastic local artist from whom we commissioned our logo. We wanted something that would capture our fun-loving side while not distracting from our music. We think Curly fits the bill nicely.
Buskerfest Miami: Do you all write your own music? If so, do you write collaboratively or does someone take the lead?
SWH: Though we started with covers, we have a handful of originals in the mix. Justin takes the lead, coming up with the framework of a song and a solid idea of how he wants it to sound. From there, we work together and exchange ideas to flesh it out.
Buskerfest Miami: How was the experience creating a song from a stranger’s story, for O,ral Records?
SWH: In our case, the original story submitted by Sarah Ballard was full of great language that was perfect for song lyrics – in fact, many of the phrases are borrowed straight from the original text. The additional lyrical content is from a similar lexicon to Sarah’s and we tried to capture the inherent emotions in her piece. The chord structure actually borrows from Schubert’s Ave Maria. Everybody has heard it a million times and this was a fun opportunity to reimagine it in a completely different context and also give our song its own little inside joke.
Buskerfest Miami: What is your music background? (how you got into music, what instruments, who inspires you – take the direction you want).
Julisa: My mom was and is a lover of all kinds of music, so I grew up surrounded by music, everything from doo-wop and rock and roll to opera and classical music. I started singing along to songs before I could even pronounce the lyrics correctly! In fact, I can’t recall a time in my life when I didn’t sing. I was in every school choir from pre-school to high school, but didn’t do any structured training after that. I was painfully shy about singing publicly, and I didn’t think I had the chops to really do much with my voice in a practical sense. Singing just became something I did privately for my own enjoyment. It wasn’t until the formation of the band that I started singing openly again. (Thanks, guys!)
Justin: I’ve played, written and produced music pretty much since I could control the fine motor functions of my hands and voice. I started with singing, then guitar and piano, picked up trumpet in middle school and have recently begun exploring the banjo. My music education began in elementary school and continued through college where my focus was split between recording, engineering and composition. It’s the only thing I could ever do all day long and be entirely satisfied. I like all genres and styles. If it’s good, it’s good.
Alan: I got my start playing alto sax in 4th grade. Then I went on later to play regularly in a small community concert band in Pennsylvania called the Brodbecks Band. My dad got me involved with the band and he also plays sax and clarinet. In middle school I went on to play both tenor and baritone saxes. I now play soprano and alto saxes.
Brian: My mom wanted to get me into music in 4th grade. She wanted me to play the trumpet, but I told her I’d only do it if I could play the drums. I played percussion through Jr. high and high school. I majored in percussion performance in college. Now I freelance on drum set and classical percussion. My teachers, Todd Miller, Steve Schmidt, Jimmy Ford have always been a source of inspiration. Listening to and playing with great musicians is also a constant source of inspiration.
Buskerfest Miami: If there was one last song you could play/sing, what would it be and why?
Julisa: Picking one song means forgoing all the others – that’s such a difficult choice! I’ll go with George Harrison’s Give Me Love. It’s so simple and beautiful.
Justin: Interesting twist on the ‘desert island’ question… ummm… still equally hard to answer. At this particular moment in time (and this could change tomorrow), I would probably pick any standard blues tune (ala Sweet Home Chicago). Why? Because the whole point of a blues tune is to improvise over the changes! So while the song may be the same, anything can happen.
Alan: I like many different genres of music, I don’t really have any one definitive song that sticks out to me.
Brian: Let’s hope the last thing I play is a long way off.
Buskerfest Miami: Who/what are you listening to today?
Julisa: Currents, the latest album from Tame Impala.
Justin: I’ve been in a Son Lux hole for several weeks now.
Alan: I’ve mostly been listening to the Beatles, but lately have some Phil Collins, Eric Clapton and Neil Diamond in the mix as well.
Brian: Recently in my playlist has been Buddy Rich, John Williams, Stravinsky, Paul McCartney, and whatever WDNA is broadcasting.
Whether they’re breathing new life into some all-time favorites or creating original tunes Somewhat Hungover is sure to make you sway to the rhythm and hum along!
To stay up to date on what Somewhat Hungover is up to, we suggest you follow them online at:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/somewhathungover
Twitter: https://twitter.com/swhungover
Instagram: https://instagram.com/swhungover/
Soundcloud: http://bit.ly/1FjdiQ8
Website: http://www.somewhathungover.com/
Stay tuned next month for our next O,ral Records artist!
Much Love,
The Buskerfest Miami Fam
Check out last month’s O,ral Records feature on Meredith Barton!