Salt Petal

Salt Petal es un grupo californiano integrado por una estadounidense, un argentino y un japonés. De tan sugerente mezcla surge un grupo que hace de la fusión de estilos una de sus razones de ser, una condición indispensable para disfrutar de su música, cuyos pilares descansan en el sentido eminentemente artístico que sus protagonistas han sabido encontrar en California. La banda prepara ya su nuevo álbum, cuyo lanzamiento está previsto para el próximo otoño. Por RUBÉN IZQUIERDO

La banda, nos cuenta Rodrigo, ha tenido un 2012 de lo más intenso. El grupo giró por primera vez en territorio europeo, actuó en el SXWS y visitó nuevas sedes, inéditas para sus integrantes. Hemos hablado con él para conocer un poco más de cerca como viven este proceso de cambio, qué intenciones de futuro guardan para la banda y cómo ve el día a día de la comunidad artística de California, muy intensa a ojos del propio Rodrigo.

Imagen de archivo de Salt Petal // SP

El músico, de origen argentino, nos revela a su vez algunas de las influencias de la banda, tanto latinas como más indies, al tiempo que nos rememora su experiencia en el prestigioso SXWS, una experiencia de lo más enriquecedora que compartieron con bandas amigas y que recomienda vivir en primera persona aunque no se forme parte de la sección oficial. Conozcamos, en fin, un poco más de cerca a Salt Petal y su saludable mezcla de rock, folk y tropicalia.

Este año ha sido importante para Salt Petal, con varios conciertos en diferentes puntos de Norteamérica y Europa. ¿Cuáles son los orígenes del grupo?
Aunque tenemos nuestra sede en Los Angeles nuestros miembros son de diferentes puntos del mundo. Autumn, nuestra cantante, es de San Francisco, Hiroo de Japon y yo de Buenos Aires.

Vuestra música de define como una mezcla de folk, rock y tropicalia. ¿En qué género os sentís más cómodos?
En la zona donde vivimos hay muchos músicos, de varios géneros, y nos gusta ir a escuchar diferentes tipos de música… Creo que de esa variación salen las canciones que escribimos. Nos gusta mucho la energía que desprende el indie, pero tenemos muchas influencias fuertes también de América Latina. Nos llama mucho la riqueza de ritmos de allí, es algo que llevamos muy adentro de nosotros.

Vuestro último videoclip ha sido Songs I Used to Love. ¿Es el tema que mejor os define?
Es, de hecho, el single que lanzamos este verano. Lo escogimos entre las doce canciones del nuevo disco porque consideramos que capta muy bien la energía del álbum.

El SXWS es impresionante, incluso la zona no oficial. Hay millas y millas de gente y caravanas y la gente de Austin se vuelca. En nuestro caso teníamos que tocar cuatro veces y lo acabamos haciendo nueve

La primera vez que hablamos con vosotros nos contásteis que participastéis en el South By South West de Texas. ¿Cómo recordáis la experiencia?
Muy gratamente. El South by Southwest es un festival único, que retiene un espíritu espontáneo muy claro. Por lo que entendemos, empezó como una celebración de músicos amateurs, una manera de promocionar talento local que no tenia muchas vías de recibir excesiva atención.

Nada que ver con lo que ha conseguido en la actualidad
Hoy en día representa uno de los eventos mas grandes dentro del panorama musical norteamericano, e incluso me atrevería a decir que lo representa a nivel internacional. Eso hace que haya un número importante de fiestas y eventos no oficiales. Son muchas millas de gente y clubes, con caravanas repletas de instrumentos. Si encuentras un sitio para tu caravana la dejas ahí desde las diez de la mañana hasta las 4 del día siguiente, y vas caminando hasta que pierdes a tus compañeros de banda. Tuvimos un muy buena acogida. La gente de Austin salía para celebrar las jornadas con los músicos y apoyar a los artistas independientes. Fue una experiencia dura -llegamos a California en coche, después de 25 horas conduciendo sin parar, con lluvia y nieve- aunque espectacular. Acabamos tocando nueve veces en vez de cuatro.

Es una oportunidad única para conocer grupos de todo tipo de estilos y procedencias. ¿Algún descubrimiento que antes no conocieráis?
Lo cierto es que fuimos con bandas que ya eran amigas nuestras, así que las conocíamos de entrada. Pero pasar tanto tiempo con ellas hizo que acabásemos apreciéndolas aún más. En concreto viajamos con Season, Torches y Manhattan Murder Mystery. También vimos tocar a Wild Belle, que fue algo muy emocionante. También destacaría a los diferentes músicos que tocaron en la calle y que tanto nos impresionaron.

Realizasteis un pequeño tour por la Costa Oeste, desde Los Angeles a San Francisco. Desde Barcelona, quizá nos equivocamos por la distancia, nos da la sensación que la escena de Los Angeles vive un gran momento. Cada vez nos llegan más grupos de allí y aparecen iniciativas como las del Viva Pomona que confirman que algo está pasando en California. ¿Cuál es vuestra experiencia en Los Angeles?
Lo cierto es que en ocasiones es complicado ver lo que sucede a tu alrededor. Quizá por ello viajar nos ha dado una perspectiva nueva del asunto. Cuando estás en Los Angeles puede pasar que lo veas todo demasiado grande, y las distancias hacen que algunas cosas parezcan innacesibles. Aunque entonces te encuentras luchando por sacar adelante algo creativo y vas buscando modos de compartirlo, lo que hace que acabes en el centro de una comunidad de artistas que ni sabías que existía.

Hay mucha variedad, entonces
Muchísima. Hay artistas de todo tipo… Tenemos amigos que son actores, escritores, pintores… A medida que viajas te das cuenta que no pasa en todas las ciudades, la vida artística de LA no la encuentras en todos sitios. Y por otro lado es cierto lo que señalas: hay muchos organizadores que intentan apoyar la música. Muchos bares y cafés, festivales como el Make Music Pasadena, el Echo Park Rising, Eagle Rock Festival, y muchos más.

Disfrutamos mucho nuestra gira europea. Fue impresionante visitar ciudades como París o Barcelona. Sentir el pasado en la arquitectura de las ciudades es algo impresionante

Después de aquella gira pasasteis por Francia, Portugal y España, donde tocasteis en Barcelona. ¿Fue vuestro primer tour internacional?
Apareció la opción de ir a tocar a Europa, y no tuvimos prácticamente tiempo para pensarlo, así que decidimos intentar realizar nuestro primer tour internacional. Hicimos todos los planes en un mes, y a partir de allí trazamos una gira que pasaba por Cannes, París, Barcelona y Oporto. Fue hermoso poder ver países que nunca habíamos visitado… Creo que es algo común en todo el continente americano el impresionarse con las ciudades europeas. Sentir el pasado en la arquitectura es algo escalofriante…

¿Y cómo fue la experiencia en sí?
Muy buena. Barcelona es una ciudad hermosa, queremos volver para pasear y conocerla mejor… no llegamos a ver la playa! Pudimos ver un par de conciertos del Primavera Sound en la jornada del parque. Y el barrio gótico nos gustó mucho. ¡También las patatas bravas! (risas)

Otra influencia más o menos clara de vuestra música es la realizada en Latinoamérica, algo que se ve sobre todo en los temas en castellano. ¿Veis muchas diferencias entre vuestras dos vertientes?
Es cierto. A nosotros nos gusta donde se unen las influencias, la intersección.Siempre ha existido intercambio entre las músicas de las dos américas. El jazz , por ejemplo, se formó entre Nueva Orleans y La Habana, y en los años 50 la música pop de Estados Unidos tenía mucho de ritmos de bolero. En los 60 el folk bebía de Mercedes Sosa o Violeta Parra, y en los 80 el ska estaba de moda entre muchos sectores de población de Estados Unidos.

¿Qué planes de futuro más inmediato tiene la banda?
Estamos planeando lanzar nuestro nuevo disco en el otoño de este año, algo que va a ser emocionante para nosotros. Estamos planeando una fiesta grande. Antes, vamos a publicar un EP digital y tendremos muchos recitales para promocionar los dos, inclusive un segundo tour por la costa Oeste. Quisiéramos volver a Europa si pudiéramos!

Seguro que sucede pronto. Mucha suerte! - Shook Down

In support of its upcoming EP release “Tip of the Sunfish”, Los Angeles music collective Salt Petal embarked on a brief, 4-date tour which includes a special concert for Latin Grammy award winner Lila Downs.

The event will take place on Saturday, September 22nd at 7:00 pm on the Levitt @ Luckman Stage at the Luckman Performing Arts Center. Special guests for the performances with Lila Downs include Las Cafeteras. Tickets are on sale now via Ticketmaster.

The tour began on August 25 at the Echo Park Rising event, a festival showcasing the community’s musical talent and local businesses.

Produced by Raymond Richards (Local Natives, Henry Clay People) and mastered by Mark Chalecki (Los Abandoned, Le Butcherettes), “Tip of the Sunfish” is a five song EP showcasing the band’s unique blend of Argentinian folk, Brazilian tropicalia, Cumbia and up-tempo indie rock. The EP includes “Stay Awhile”, “Sabotage”, “Baby”, “Songs I Used to Love” and “Por la Luna”.

“Tip of the Sunfish” will be available via iTunes and other select retail outlets on Saturday, September 15. - Al Borde

After hearing the Salt Petal track “Songs I Used to Love,” I was instantly taken aback to how refreshing this band’s sounded to me; and “refreshing” will definitely be the word-of-choice-description for anyone explaining what Salt Petal is.

The aforementioned track is from their upcoming EP Tip of the Sunfish, out on September 15th. I would highly recommend seeing them tomorrow, Saturday, at the free Echo Park music fest, Echo Park Rising. Salt Petal plays the Downbeat Cafe at 4PM.

Additionally, they are playing ACME’s Hollywood Saturday Night (Sept. 8th) and at the Luckamn Performing Arts Center in Pasadena (Sept. 22nd). - A Proper Opinion

Salt Petal’s tropical musings hide turbulent themes full of soaring melodies and pulsating rhythms. In their live shows, fantastic forms and bright visuals combine with 60s rock and Argentine folk in a vivid tapestry of sound. Like a mash of Blondie, Gal Costa, and The Smiths as if played by a traveling folk outfit in South America, this rising California band has played storied Southland venues and has appeared on multiple radio and TV programs.

The band started in late 2008 with a pair of friends who decided to try to create a niche they’d been looking for but couldn’t find in the musical scenes around Los Angeles. The sound they were seeking was related to the melodic and danceable traditions of Latin America, but mixed with the sensibilities of a jangly stripped down rock band. The result has been a five to eight-piece band of friends and family with instrumentation ranging between electric guitars, drums, bass, accordion, trumpet, synthesizers, percussions, flute, and cello. - Echo Park Rising

Breezy beats:
Indie-pop ensemble Salt Petal headlines main stage at Pasadena ArtWeekend Sunday.

The 7th Annual Pasadena ArtWeekend, taking place Friday through Sunday, aims to shine light on Pasadena’s myriad cultural offerings. In the process, it also hopes to identify common ground between diverse cultures and art forms.
Many of the weekend’s events spotlight local cuisine, art and dance. On Sunday, the main stage in Old Pasadena will host half a dozen groups, including Mojacar Flamenco and Ramya Harishankar’s Arpana Dance Company, which embody the concept of a “cultural dance festival.” Headlining that stage will be LA indie-pop ensemble Salt Petal, whose trilingual music handily fulfills ArtWeekend’s mission.

While other metropolitan centers renowned for their musical communities — Austin, say, or Portland or Nashville — are associated primarily with one particular sonic identity, Los Angeles is singular in that it encourages artists to upend conventions with new sounds. In that regard, Salt Petal’s enterprising members are emblematic of LA bands in that they create unexpected rhythmic and instrumental combinations that reflect the city’s mix of ethnicities, languages and inherited cultures.

“Hear the new sound in my bossa nova/ …You know it’s time now to learn Portuguese/ It’s time now to learn what I know and what I don’t know,” accordionist Autumn Harrison sweetly coos on “Baby,” as chunky guitars, shakers and keyboards swirl around her. It’s a melodic highlight of Salt Petal’s recently released EP “Tip of the Sunfish,” a breezy companion to its more elaborately arranged 2009 full-length “Say-So.” The five “Sunfish” tracks meld elements of ’60s rock, ’80s pop, cumbia, Argentinean folk and surf twang. In rhythmic contrast, the sultry “Sabotage” is grounded by guitarist Rodrigo Gonzalez’s fluid leads, and “Songs I Used to Love” sounds a bit like the Bangles gone tropical. The video for “Songs I Used to Love” is typical of Salt Petal’s disarmingly creative approach, with pantomime, impressionistic artwork and cartoonish animation embellishing the band’s performance in a house. Colorful visuals are a hallmark of their live shows as well.

Salt Petal should be familiar to locals who head-bobbed and danced during their sets when they played the Make Music Pasadena festival and Old Towne Pub, or anyone who caught their pre-show performance before Lila Downs’ concert at the Luckman Fine Arts Complex last month. Wear your dancing shoes and expect some goofy good humor at their performance Sunday.

Salt Petal headline on Pasadena ArtWeekend’s main stage, 35 N. DeLacey Ave., Old Pasadena, 5 p.m. Sunday. Free admission. For more info, go to pasadenaartweekend.com. To learn more about the band, visit saltpetal.com.
- Pasadena Weekly

Going down a bold path similar to the sonically eclectic Fool’s Gold, Salt Petal seasons the exuberant indie-rock on its forthcoming EP with all manner of global influences. The L.A. quartet, whose members include Autumn Harrison (vocals/accordion), Rodrigo Gonzalez (guitar), Hiroo Nakano (drums) and Dayna Richards (trumpet), fuses Argentinian folk, Brazilian tropicalia, Cumbia and up-tempo rock with such flair you’ll feel like you’ve traveled the world listening to songs on “Tip of the Sunfish.” Their single “Songs I Used to Love” bids for summer pop anthem status, as its musical elements are as diverse as L.A.’s ethnic makeup. Then in tunes such as the “Por la Luna,” sung entirely in Spanish, butter-smooth vocals from Harrison drape scintillating percussion throughout for a seductive listen. Produced by Raymond Richards (Local Natives, Henry Clay People, among others) and mastered by Mark Chalecki (Los Abandoned, Les Butcherettes), “Tip of the Sunfish” is due out on Sept. 17. - Buzz Bands

Combinando influencias internacionales con sonidos de la tierra materna, el cuarteto Salt Petal representa la diversidad de culturas latinas en Los Ángeles y adapta la música de siempre al estilo moderno.
Su nuevo EP es Tip of the Sunfish, que lanzó el sábado, y con él, quiere contagiar a sus seguidores con ritmos eminentemente suramericanos.
Su sonido es uno de los más originales que han surgido en Los Ángeles. Con una mezcla de cumbia, ritmo brasileño tropical y chamamé -folk del norte de Argentina-, los miembros de Salt and Petal incorporaron influencias latinas en sus canciones multilingües.
El grupo presenta música en inglés, español y portugués.
"Esperamos que, por lo menos, podamos hacer bailar a la gente. Es uno de los objetivos de la banda, hacer que la gente disfrute, baile y cante", dijo a La Vibra Rodrigo González, guitarrista del grupo. "A veces sentimos que la gente se siente tímida a la hora de bailar. A nosotros nos gusta bailar para contagiar a la gente por sí mismos. Queremos romper esa barrera".
Para González, que nació en Argentina, poder compartir su música es un homenaje a su querido Buenos Aires y a su familia.
"Soy nacido y crecido en Buenos Aires. Tengo mucha influencia de las bandas de Argentina, pero siempre crecí escuchando rock de aquí. Eso es lo que fui escuchando de parte de mi papa y mi hermano", dijo González. "Poder traer la música desde allá para acá es importante. La música es tan rica... Nos gusta expresar lo que sentimos. Traemos música antigua al estilo moderno".
Autumn Harrison, la voz principal y acordeonista de Salt Petal, dijo que su sonido va seguir evolucionando porque la influencia viene de su alrededor.
"Ninguno de nosotros somos de Los Ángeles. Yo soy de San Francisco, pero hemos estado aquí por diez años. Así que ahora sabemos cómo vivir aquí. Es muy bueno estar rodeado de gente nueva, con muchas comunidades y grupos de personas. La inspiración no falta", dijo Harrison.
Desde que el grupo se formó en 2009, los miembros han demostrado ser parte de la escena musical en Los Ángeles tocando su música en festivales musicales como Make Music Pasadena, Los Angeles Times Festival of Books y Echo Park Rising. Además, Salt and Petal también participó en el festival musical SXSW en Austin, Texas, y acaban de regresar de una gira por Europa.
"Estar de gira a veces se siente como un circo de música", bromeó Harrison. "Pero a nosotros nos encantan los conciertos".
Salt Petal estarán compartiendo el escenario con la ganadora del premio Grammy, Lila Downs, este sábado.
"Estamos muy contentos" de abrir el show de Lila Downs, comentó González. "Para nosotros era una emoción grande por el simple hecho de que hablamos el mismo idioma y me imagino que escucha las mismas influencias". - La Opinion

Posted: Monday, September 26, 2011 1:00 am | Updated: 7:13 am, Wed Sep 28, 2011.

Live performances to celebrate Latino Heritage Month 0 comments

Posted on September 26, 2011

* LFlores

by Lesly Flores

UPDATE (9/28/2011) -- Clarification: This article previously incorrectly stated that Eduardo Sandoval and Sean McFerran were members of Salt Petal.

A variety of live performances will be on display in The Living Room this Wednesday for Mane Entertainment's (ME) Showcase L.A., a free event which will start at 8 p.m. The event is being co-sponsored by the Chicano/a Latino Student Services (CLSS). This will be ME and CLSS's second year collaborating as a team to make this event possible for LMU students.

Showcase L.A. is specifically celebrating Latino Heritage Month, which started Sept. 16 and goes on until Oct. 16. Thus, CLSS has put together a slide show presenting the top 100 Latinos in L.A. and have invited many Latino-influenced performers to share their work with LMU students.

The main event that night will be a performance by up-and-coming California band called Salt Petal. The band is comprised of musicians who come from a variety of countries. Autumn Harrison is lead vocals and plays the keyboard and accordion. Rodrigo Gonzalez serves as guitarist. Jesse Herrera plays the bass and sings backup vocals. Hiroo Nakano plays the drums and Dayna Richards plays the trumpet and sings backup vocals. Their music is a concoction of tropical punk, folk rhythms and Latino influences.

The showcase will also exhibit work from the Spanish Club. The Spanish Club will be reading poems, essays and different work submitted to La Voz (The Voice), the undergraduate journal published by the group. Works submitted to La Voz are written in either all Spanish or a mixture of English and Spanish. Topics covered in the journal range from social justice issues to love poems. Nancy Flores, junior political science and Spanish double major and a member of the Spanish Club, will be reading excerpts from La Voz.

"I am really excited to present work from La Voz to all LMU students because we have only done readings from this journal at the unveiling of La Voz and Spanish Club meetings, but we have never done readings outside of this main event," Flores said.

There will also be strolling performances, similar to a stepping routine, from Sigma Lambda Beta and Sigma Lambda Gamma.

Tiffany Hunter, senior communication studies major and ME's signature events manager, encourages students to come and celebrate LMU's mission statement and promote social justice through this event. "I am excited to educate myself about this culture. I know this event was successful last year, and I am looking forward to seeing how the event will turn out this year," said Hunter. - The Los Angeles Loyolan

Band Salt Petal Delivers Latin Vibe To LMU Crowd
posted Oct. 2, 2011, 9:11:00 am
Photo by Roger Morante

Members of the band Salt Petal and a number of Showcase L.A. event organizers celebrate the conclusion of the Latin cultural heritage event at LMU on Wednesday evening Sept. 28, 2011.
Roger Morante / Mirror Contributor

Salt Petal, a Los Angeles-based band, played at the Living Room at Loyola Marymount University on Wednesday Sept. 28 at an event sponsored by Showcase L.A.

Showcase L.A. celebrates local Latino/a talent from the region, which gives students of Latin heritage a cultural event to be proud of at the beginning of the school year.

The night began with students reading a number of student selected Spanish poems prior to the main music event featuring Salt Petal.

Originally from San Francisco, Autumn Harrison took lead vocals and played the accordion while Dayna Richards blew the trumpet taking back up vocals.

After the cultural event, Harrison explained how Salt Petal came up with their music.

“Especially with songs that have a lot of rhythm, we try to fill in spaces,” said Harrison. “We are always moving and trying to put something in that space.”

Harrison spent some time in Brazil. This helped shape the unique Latin sound of Salt Petal.

“We have some background in South American folk,” Harrison said.

Their song “Todo de ti,” got a number of students moving to the various Cumbia beats on the dance floor anchored by Japanese drummer Hiroo Nakano.

Richards seemed extraordinarily excited throughout the set and her trumpet playing was one of the highlights of the show along with the Harrison’s accordion.

Rodrigo Gonzalez, who is from Argentina, played the electric guitar and L.A. native Jesse Herrera took bass. - The Santa Monica Mirror

“…with a repertoire of Spanish/English/Portuguese tunes that blend folk and rock and everything in between, Salt Petal is making a leap into album production with their debut album, Say-So…”

Fito Paez’s “Pétalo del Sal” may have inspired folk-rock band Salt Petal’s name, but it is the wonders of the world and the abundance of world music that have inspired the eclectic sound of this 7-man band. Having played the independent music scene since 2004 with a reportoire of Spanish/English/Portuguese tunes that blend folk and rock and everything in between, Salt Petal is making a leap into album production with their debut album, Say-So. Autumn Harrison, frontwoman (that’s right, front WOMAN) to the band talks to us about the inspiration behind Say-So, about representing female musicians in the upcoming “Women that Rock” musical showcase, and about what to do when life gives you lemons.


What’s in a name?
Rodrigo, our guitarist, has a vague memory of salt being sold in small, thin sheets in Argentina. There’s a connection between that memory and Paez’s “Pétalo de Sal” song, and although we haven't been able find those salt sheets to date, I suppose it’s ok if we never do. To us, salt petal is something that could be somewhere in the streets of Argentina or dried up in a desert or floating out in an ocean somewhere. It’s somewhat ephemeral.

Rodrigo, Eduardo and I were in a couple of bands together and played in many local bars, mostly doing classic and Latin rock covers. But none of the groups lasted much longer than a year so we eventually decided to do something acoustic for a change. Somewhere around that time I received an accordion as a gift, Rodrigo found an acoustic guitar, and Eduardo began using his congas instead of the drum kit. We started by playing a few bossa nova covers and then began creating new songs under the name “Salt Petal”.

We blend Latin and American folk traditions with the rawness and energy of more contemporary styles including indie rock and early rock and roll. Someone called us "frenetic accordion-calypso-jungle rock" once, which we thought sounded like a fun genre! But the thing with genres is that they are always blending and being created, so it's hard to box us into one specific type of music. We've enjoyed working with huapango, cumbia, chamamé, tango, samba, salsa and other Latin styles, and although there are quite a few bands in the States that are beginning to incorporate Americana and folk sounds into contemporary songs, we're doing something different by adding Latin rhythms and some heavier rock beats as well every once in a while.

Salt Petal, Debut album, Say-So
For our debut album we knew we wanted great recordings so that we could distribute our sound instead of trying to describe it with words. After doing research and getting advice from friends in the music business, we decided to finish some of our newer songs and record an entire full-length album. Rodrigo, Eduardo and I finished five songs in a few months and asked some musical friends to contribute on the recordings. We had a very talented sound engineer, Raymond Richards (Red Rockets Glare Studios) who also contributed some parts to a few of the songs, and the amazing Mark Chalecki (Little Red Book Mastering) mastered our final tracks. Raymond and Mark made the process really easy and everything was finished within a few weeks. We were fortunate to have so many great minds working on the album and we are thrilled with the results.

The songs on Say-So are our first attempts at creating a sound that is uniquely ours. The songs that comprise that album resulted from experiments where we would write melodies, words and rhythms we'd been thinking about for a long time.

Salt PetalBreak it down why don’t ya!
Each of the songs on Say-So feels very different from the other and therefore, each one represents an individual part of our sound. It’s fair to say that the strongest trait in all of them is the combination of joy and sorrow.

The idea for "Para Elegir", for example, started years ago when I observed Rodrigo’s struggling adaptation to a new life in LA. “Para Elegir” has a love song-esque melody to it but its lyrics are somewhat bleak. We felt that “Para Elegir” needed to evoke Argentina while simultaneously blending other sounds, which we incorporated with the use of the guitar, bass, and rhythms. Eduardo did a great job by backing the song with sounds that are upbeat and contrast the melancholic melody using a reggaeton beat and ending it with a double-kick drum.

"Hot Days" was inspired by a song I heard by Mia Doi Todd who is a Los Angeles-based singer that creates beautiful folk-inspired songs. Rodrigo and Eduardo created an amazing salsa son under that melody and completely transformed it into a mysterious yet danceable track. This song is very exciting for us because it started off with sparse instrumentation, but we've been playing it with the full band for live shows and it sounds incredible!

"Sunken Eyes" was our first song as a collective band. I was inspired to write this song from observing people around me. The song has a sense of intense frustration that is highlighted by the beat and the accordion.

In "Todo de Ti", we wanted to have a celebratory vibe so Eduardo created a huapango beat, which he then taught the band to play for its intro. The lyrics are about reconciliation and the melodies and rhythms are lively and upbeat. This song also has a killer guitar solo by Rodrigo, which we hope to feature more in future songs. It’s one of the things that we have planned for upcoming shows.
Salt Petal


“Women that Rock” musical showcase
There are some amazing local female performers, so it’s refreshing to be part of an event that highlights the fact that we are around. After performing in various bands over the years, I have noticed fewer women than men onstage and in practice rooms. Additionally, there seem to be more female vocalists than instrumentalists. Salt Petal is lucky to boast a female trumpet player, Dayna Richards, who unfortunately is unable to join us for this event but is truly an amazing instrumentalist!

Although I am the lead singer, I don’t generally consider Salt Petal a female-led band. There’s so much collaboration involved that it’s really the product of all of our members, male and female. However, I have had other women come up to me after shows really excited to see another woman onstage. If I help others identify with something in themselves, it definitely adds extra purpose to our performance.

I’m excited to be part of this event and to meet all of the other talented musicians and, of course, to play our songs!


When life gives you lemons…
When you’re part of such a big project such as a band, things like "never give up" and "believe in yourself" become very difficult to abide by, especially when it's 9pm and you’ve had a hard day at work and you have to decide between doing the dishes, trying to figure out the chords to a new song or watching television. Or maybe your cable got disconnected, or your car died and you have no money to fix it because you spent money on fixing your amplifier, or one of your band mates just called you to tell you they've moved out of state or you just received an email telling you that tomorrow’s gig was just cancelled… that's when you have to keep playing because you know if you don't ,you'll be disappointing yourself. It's like becoming two different people and showing the other part of you that you'll do your best no matter what life throws at you.

Salt PetalO Futuro ( a little Portuguese for ya’ll!)
We're trying to figure out where the future of the music business is in general, but we'd like to continue to play and develop our sound and move into new projects. We love playing live, so we plan to do as much of that as possible as well. Meanwhile, Eduardo also plays drums for the rock band Ideas Divergentes, which is playing frequently around town and is in the process of recording their first album. Rodrigo and I have both been commissioned to do a few recording projects which are currently in progress. Kellen lives in New York and is a member of the NYC jazz, hip hop, and indie rock communities. Dayna who plays trumpet with the band, is in the indie rock band "Alright Alright," and is also finishing an album. Jay, who plays bass, is a singer/songwriter and is promoting his debut full-length album, Eat Your Sad, And Louie, who contributes congas and percussions to live gigs, additionally plays for Mayaztek and other great Los Angeles based bands.

We are distributing our material independently and feel that we have a lot of control over what we do and where we go because of that independence. However, we are also investing a lot of time and money into our project and we'd eventually like some help finding a better balance. It's going to take some patience and creativity to figure out how to distribute and play to the extent that we'd like to, but we’ll continue to play á la Salt Petal and will hopefully continue producing music in the same realm as this first album… but better!

--

Catch Salt Petal’s groove at the upcoming “Women that Rock Musical Showcase” and log on to their My Space page to get your dose of Salt Petal’s folk-rock tunes.

See you at the show! - www.alborde.com

Presented by Gabriela Teissier of Primera Edición, Univision, May 11, 2009:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeHKKrnE98E - Primera Edicion, Univision

Interview by Stephanie Bradford and Carlos Alvarez. - Univision

Presented by Francisco Valdez "Pacorro" on November 15th 2010, Salt Petal performs a new original song, "Sky Turns."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5dWiZUN7nI - Telemundo Canal 22 "Con Chile & Limon" Los Angeles.

If it wasn’t already hot enough for you this summer, you will want to make sure to turn up the heat with Southern California’s Salt Petal and their heat wave of an album titled, Say-So! Autumn Harrison’s beautifully delivered bi-lingual vocals are guaranteed to charm your bathing suit off from the first listen, while Rodrigo Gonzalez’s mixture of fast-paced acoustic rhythms and slow and sensual acoustic-electric melodies form a sonic cloud that is guaranteed to take the world by storm. Listen closely, as you’ll hear everything that makes music the one true language of life. – Brian Ball, Director of Music & Talent, WomensRadio. - www.womensradio.com

Salt Petal is a fun and fast band with an adorable lead singer, who sings in both Spanish and English. She also plays the accordion, and thanks to Mad Men we now know that the accordion might be the sexiest instrument a woman can play.
- www.boredla.com