Sin Nombre is a refreshingly tight-knit ensemble of seven, or eight, or nine folks who crisscross genres, change up instruments, bring in impromptu guests, improvise at every show, and make the audience feel like they were invited to a private party. And all while they blow everyone away with their musicality, stretching from jam-band moments and ’70s-tinged folk harmonies to a fiddle riff layered over soulful keys and Afro beats.
Among the rotating members of the band are Emilio Rios (guitar), Frankie Carsonie (guitar), Clarabel Moes (fiddle and vocals), Lily Akers (mandolin and vocals), Ashwin Suseendran (keyboard, trumpet, vocals), Adi Biacs (bass guitar) and Nick Quijano (drums).
The two guitarists seamlessly transition between lead and rhythm, accompanied by a bass guitarist, an on-point drummer and a keyboardist/trumpet player who’s also a Ph.D. fellow in ethnomusicology at UCSC. The two lead singers mesmerize with their soulful timbre and textures, interchanging verses or converging with beautiful harmonies.
Having started singing in a family band at 7, Clarabel Moes has a natural stage presence. She traces her musical roots back to that band, which she describes as “basically an elaborate scheme to get us into music festivals as a family.
“It was really fun and that’s how I kind of got introduced to the idea of jamming,” she explains.
Clarabel, Lily and Frankie—one of the band’s core two guitarists—are housemates, but their connection was first made through music. “I was playing at a backyard house show in the summer in Santa Cruz, opening for his old band. It was one of those magical little spots…I heard him play, and he heard me play with my band, and that’s how we met,” Clarabel recalls.
Says Frankie: “We’d like to say Sin Nombre is an ongoing conversation…we’re just coming to it as we go. Sometimes we’ll get into a random EDM jam, and sometimes we’ll get into a funk-afro jam.”
Always leaving room for improvisation, they take turns having solos, sometimes switching up instruments with another band member. Musician friends or other artists on the lineup can pop up onstage.
Bassist Adi credits Frankie as the driving force behind Sin Nombre’s inception. “He was the group’s glue person, and the driving force initially. He was the one who said, ‘This is going to be sick’ and got it going.’” Frankie’s musical journey led him from Columbus, Ohio, to Santa Cruz, where he orchestrated the band’s formation through serendipitous encounters and impromptu jam sessions.
“Sometimes there could be 20 to 30 musicians rotating out…and there was always a potluck,” Frankie reminisces about sessions at the beautiful riverside ranch home that he and several other band members share as housemates.
From these loose rehearsals grew a deeper connection. “One special river jam night, you could tell everyone was listening…everyone was locked in, and we were all meshing. We had played two or three songs that night, and I texted everyone later that week. It was like nine of us—and everyone pulled up at that house to play again, with that specific sound in mind. And literally that day, while we were playing, we got a text saying, ‘Hey, do you guys want to play at a private party?” Frankie recalls.
Needing to come up with a name on the fly, they adopted Sin Nombre, which means “without a name” inspired by a street sign they had seen while traveling in Pescadero, Mexico.
Sin Nombre has released music that can be found on Spotify and other online sources. With plans to release an EP, they will now go through an album’s worth of material to structure their free-flow jams into a more refined form of songs.
As to their genre, says Frankie, “It’s kind of P-Funk style, like in Parliament land, where we’re doing whatever we want…whatever that may be at the moment. You know, Sin Nombre is sin genre.”
Sin Nombre plays Sept. 14 with support by opener Mild Universe and Flat Sun Society. Doors at 7pm; music at 8pm. Tickets are $17. Felton Music Hall, 6275 Hwy. 9, Felton; feltonmusichall.com.
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Lucille Tepperman is a freelancer writer, follow her on Instagram here .
