As they return here on this tour, they now have in tow a guitar/sitar player, Tyler Randall, and a live drummer, Joe Welch.
“When people come out to our show, they’ll realize we’re not just an electronic band. Since we’ve added them to the mix, portals upon portals of alternate dimensions have opened up.”
For Sonnymoon, it’s one more, Pinnochio-like evolutionary step. “We’re a real live band,” she says. “There’s no strings.”
Rabbit Test
Also at this show is producer and beatmaker B. Lewis, who was influenced by Peanut Butter Wolf in an entirely different way. Born and raised in San Jose, he quickly came to appreciate Wolf’s legacy as a trailblazer once he started making music in 2009.
“He definitely led the way, in the right way,” says Lewis.
Lewis hooked up with the tour through his work co-producing an EP by Boston indie band Bad Rabbits, who are also currently working on an album with the legendary Teddy Riley (producer of hits from Michael Jackson on down through Lady Gaga).
“It was a word of mouth kind of thing,” he says of his invitation to the tour.
Only 23 now, Lewis ironically didn’t discover labels like Stones Throw and Brainfeeder until he went away to Expression College in the East Bay.
“I hooked up with Insightful, who’s a really good friend of mine, and a producer as well. My buddy Rufio was also going there. They basically taught me how to make beats,” he says.
Rufio has since worked with Chris Brown and is currently on tour with LMFAO as a dancer. The three still work together through their collective, Alora.
“I’m just honored to be amongst those guys,” says Lewis. “It’s a really tight beat community.”
.Preview: Sonnymoon, Jonti, B. Lewis Push Boundaries of Sound at Pagoda
