Recently establishing its name and style is the newly formed local band, The Belafonte.
“We’re trying to create music that hasn’t been done much before by combining electronica and dance elements with live rock instruments,” said band member Tim Beck, a senior from Boise.
The group has been together since the beginning of this semester.
Beck plays bass guitar, keyboard and guitar for the band while Adam Ebberts, a sophomore from Ardmore, Okla., does the programming for the group and plays the keyboard. Dave Nieman, a junior from Concord, Calif., plays guitar and Travis Shumate, a freshman from Tacoma, Wash., does the band’s vocals, occasionally playing guitar too. However, Beck said the group likes to have random guest musicians as well.
Beck couldn’t pinpoint one specific style to describe the group’s music because of the various musical backgrounds that the members contribute.
“Each person in the band has different musical backgrounds, but we all collide into one similar song we all enjoy,” Beck said. “We have roots in several styles of music so it’s a matter of everything coming together.”
The Belafontes have influenced music groups such as Rex Manning and The Postal Service.
The band typically writes its own songs; however, it has remade the song “Such Great Heights” by The Postal Service. “Adam recreated the entire beat,” Beck said about the song’s remake.
Beck’s favorite thing to do with the band is play in shows. “Playing in front of people and seeing them enjoying what you play and you enjoying it as well is the best,” Beck said.
Beck said that at their next show he hopes to see people dancing to their music because they try and make music people can dance to.
The group plans to play Nov. 18 at 11:30 p.m. at the Manwaring Center for the MC Late Night Cafe. The Belafonte also plans to play at a show Nov. 21 with the band Mcvarsity from Boise and a few other local bands. The show will be in Rexburg at The Gary House, located at 139 N 3 W, and it will begin at 7 p.m.
Though the band does not have any CDs yet, they plan to have a CD possibly early next semester, Nieman said.
“I really like their music. It’s fun and it just makes you want to dance,” said Corine Bell, a junior from South Lake Tahoe, Calif. “They sound real good together, but they look even better!”
Information concerning the shows can be found at myspace.com/audiothrill.
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