Aldea

I take sleeping pills at one in the morning…never has a song about insomnia been so fucking delightful to listen to. I mean you kind of have to root for Alex Aldea to never sleep if this is the product of his tossing and turning. Ahh it’s gorgeous. I highly recommend dl-ing this track up above! - Dance Yrself Clean

For a band that has its roots firmly planted in today’s indie and alternative scene, Aldea’s inception began somewhere on the other end of the musical spectrum.

“I was at a hip-hop show —” said Chance Campbell, who plays keyboards in the band.

“We met drinking!” interjects Alex Aldea, guitarist and band leader, who penned all the band’s music.

“— at a hip-hop show,” Campbell continues. Their account of the band’s starting point might be a little hazy, but it’s clear that the rapport among the group’s seven members is strong. That’s something that finds its way into Aldea’s music as well.

“I feel like, for us — as much as a story would be fun to tell you — I think our music speaks louder than any story would,” said Aldea, who recorded seven tracks for an album earlier in the year. The album was recorded with musicians like local favorites Dyno Jamz and Great Waves, but the lineup now takes on a different look — seven musicians with a wide range of talents — which is something Aldea sees as a positive going forward.

“What’s cool about this band is that everyone in this band can sing. Everyone sings, and everyone’s a good singer,” Aldea said, who himself is one of four who contributes vocals during the day’s practice. The band employs the tried and true male/female singers tactic, and they use that vocal interplay to its full effect.

“The dynamic between the three of us, it’s kind of strange and cool,” Aldea said.

A song that might exemplify that dynamic best is “Man’s Will.” The song, driven by a restless snare drum and the yearning vocals of both Aldea and Kirsten Mandt, culminates with a rousing chorus that calls to mind Rilo Kiley or Bright Eyes. The radio station KEXP has taken notice as well, singling out “Sleeping Pills,” which saw some airtime on the “John in the Morning” show. The band also displays a more alternative, guitar-based sound with tracks like “The Way It Is,” but Aldea concedes his favorite just might be “When Life Unfolds,” a ballad by the album’s standards that features some of Aldea’s most personal lyrics

“If I were to pick my own most personal favorite, it’d be ‘When Life Unfolds.’ Honestly, from the CD, I’m really proud of all the songs,” Aldea said.

The band’s goal moving forward is to get some live shows under their belt. Having only played a house show, Aldea sees this as its first priority — and the calendar proves it, with three shows in the next three weeks.

“We’re just trying to gig as much as possible, trying to write as much music as possible,” he said. The band will play this Saturday at the Comet Tavern with fellow UW band Land of Pines.

“I feel what rock musicians miss and we try to encompass a little bit is swagger,” Aldea said. “I love groups with swagger. Rap groups have swagger. It’s not cool for rock bands to be, ‘I like what I do, and I’m confident about it,’ especially in Seattle.” Aldea certainly brings the swagger on the aforementioned “The Way It Is” and “Dreams,” the latter punctuated by the sounds of an organ and a soaring guitar solo.

With the band’s first few shows on the horizon, Aldea and his bandmates will put their craft to the test and stake out their place in the illustrious Seattle music scene, where the music speaks louder than any story.

Reach reporter Cameron Ellis at weekender@dailyuw.com. - University of Washington Daily