Blooming Fire

Last spring I made my way to a little-known desert music festival, Suspended in a Sunbeam, drawn by the promise of discovering new producers and bands eager to to take to an intimate stage. While soaking up bass at the main stage, I caught snippets of a much funkier, jammier bass from across the sand. I quickly followed the sounds to what would become my new favorite festival band, Blooming Fire. My first impression was of a band as an eclectic tangle of symbiotic talent. Blooming Fire was on one of their mind-bending riffs — part Americana jam, part Latin funk, and part hip-hop — while lead singer, Sierra Madre, popped into a perfect headstand punctuated by upside-down rockstar kicks.

A month later, I had a chance to sit down with them all over tea before their set at Lucidity Festival. The first thing that struck me is that while many bands claim to be “like family,” Blooming Fire truly feels like a set of long-lost siblings. Sierra Madre’s real life little brother, Kidd Flip, joined her from Ohio to Los Angeles to layer freestyle rhymes onto their sounds, but when interacting with them as co-creators, he comes across as one more sibling. The rest of the band consists of Daniel Meneses on guitar, keyboardist Dryden Van Cleave, Robby Coe on drums, and Steve Berrelleza on bass guitar. Not to be left out is legendary guitarist and producer Kraig Tyler, aka, Liquid Giraffe, who captured the kind of trance-driven whomp that melds perfectly at conscious festivals.

Sierra Madre’s vocals fit into the sound like one more instrument. Though she is the face of the group and their “band mom,” neither her powerful voice nor her strong personality dominate stage or sound. And their production team knows when to leave just-right alone. Given the glut of overproduced female vocals filling the airwaves and punctuating DJ sets, it’s a welcome return to Earth to hear Sierra Madre’s powerful, controlled, yet raw vocals. What’s more, this family has a message to share. When we met, they were using their platform to support Bernie Sanders, while their lyrics often invoke the environment and human connection. When I told the band that Sierra reminded me of legendary punk singer, Kathleen Hanna, both she and Daniel beamed, overjoyed to keep company with one of their musical heroes.

Those new to Blooming Fire’s sound are getting in on this new act at just the right moment, as their new EP, Centipede, goes live today. The single, “Magnetic Freedom,” is the ear worm you’ve been waiting for. - Sensible Reason

Many of us expected last week’s scaled down Suspended in a Sunbeam to be the warm-up festival of the West Coast season, getting us hyped for bigger, better known events such as Desert Hearts, Lucidity and Lightning in a Bottle. Instead, the high-priced, heavily headlined, yet glitchy Serenity Gathering one week earlier and just down the road morphed into the inspiration piece. Many of the same faces that appeared at Serenity as spectators showed up at Sunbeam to display their craft. Fire dance apprentices and hoop dreamers soaked up attention for the very first time, while aspiring DJs turned a tailgate into a turn-up when the main stage generators were slow to arrive. The artists may not have been A-listers, but they were approachable, keeping the party going before and after successful sets.

There was no backstage, no media tent, there wasn’t even a gate separating in from out. DJs and dancers kicked it under the desert sun with ticket holders and party crashers alike. But the radical equality was felt most between men and women. In what is usually a boys’ game on festival stages, there were several standout females on the roster. Dela Moontribe long since earned her reputation as a rare female fixture on the festival circuit, but up-and-comers such as producer and vocalist Hydrah and female-fronted eclectic jam band, Blooming Fire, proved that for the next generation of festi-girls the party has just begun. - Sensible Reason