Music Festival Brings New Flavor to Market

Alternative bands satisfy musical palette in downtown San Jose

John FlynnTHE SANTA CLARAJanuary 29, 2014

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he inside of the trendy San Pedro Square Market in San Jose is characterized by polished concrete floors, small kitchens cranking out fresh specialties and weathered wooden tables for common eating. Scents of fresh-ground coffee and brick-oven pizza waft through the market’s three halls.

“I like it for shopping,” said junior Milenna Smith. “I’ve been with my family a few times, and it’s just a nice place to be. It has kind of a pueblo feel with all the lights and all the good food and bars.”

Daydream Nation, a monthly music showcase for alternative bands, will soon bring a new flavor of entertainment to the venue. The show will use one of the most active music sites in San Jose, the market’s outside concert stage. The venue hosts artists of all sounds, genres and styles. In the last few weeks alone, there has been a blues harpist, a cellist and a legendary saxophonist.

Daydream Nation is adding another element to the venue’s robust musical offerings. Saturday’s two featured bands are fast risers within the alternative music community: Pounders and Making Movies.

Pounders, a punk-fusion band from San Jose, brings an immense energy to their performance. With a bit of bubblegum pop layered over their rough edges, Pounders sound similar to turn-of-the-century alt-rock icons like Green Day or Blink-182.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iJlmHQlP_w

The band formed eight years ago when they worked together at the California’s Great America amusement park. After jamming together for a few weeks, they formed a pop-punk group, but since then, they’ve loosened their label.

“The three of us come from different musical backgrounds,” said bassist Alonso Hernandez.“Punk spirit gets mixed with 80’s new wave song writing and ‘90s funk metal grooves. We feel like we are finally finding our sound.”

Also slated for Saturday’s event is Making Movies, a psychedelic latin band that adds a little extra to the conventions of alternative music.

“We incorporate congas, timbales, Puerto Rican cuatro, ukulele bass and mejorana (traditional Panamanian guitar) to bring our roots and traditions into our music,” said Juan-Carlos Chaurand, the percussionist and keyboardist.

Chaurand’s roots stretch from Guadalajara, Mexico. Dred-sporting frontman, Enrique Chi, and his bassist brother, Diego, split their childhood between Santiago, Panama and Kansas City, MO. The band’s cultural combination makes for some delightful and innovative fusion music, such as when Juan-Carlos tap-danced the percussion for a folk-rock song on their featured set for NPR.

The first Daydream Nation performance of 2015 is Saturday at 7 p.m. and the series will continue on the last Saturday of each month for the foreseeable future. The two bands will be a pleasant drizzling of culture in the occasionally arid Silicon Valley.

Contact John Flynn at jfflyn@scu.edu or call (408) 554-4852.