The Sure Fire Soul Ensemble Plays Sound Of San Diego

THIS IS KPBS "MIDDAY EDITION", I'M MAUREEN CAVANAUGH. THEY MAY NOT BE YOUR TYPICAL SAN DIEGO BAND BUT THEY ARE ALL ABOUT SAN DIEGO. JUST CHECK OUT THE NAMES OF THE SONGS LIKE, "IB STRUTTIN", AND "STROLLING ADAMS". THE SURE FIRE SOUL ENSEMBLE PLAYS THE SOUND OF SAN DIEGO IN NO WAY YOU MIGHT NEVER HAVE HEARD IT BEFORE. WITH A LITTLE MORE SOUL AND A LOT MORE FUNK. WE WILL MEET THE BAND, BUT FIRST, CHECK OUT THE MUSIC. HERE'S THE SURE FIRE SOUL ENSEMBLE PERFORMING AT THE KPBS STUDIOS WITH THEIR TUNE CALLED, "CITY HEIGHTS". [ MUSIC ] THAT WAS "CITY HEIGHTS" BY THE SURE FIRE SOUL ENSEMBLE, AND THE MEMBERS OF THE SURE FIRE SOUL ENSEMBLE ARE JESSE AUDELO WHO PLAYS SAX AND FLUTE, SHERYLL FELTEN ON HAND PERCUSSION, PETE WILLIAMS ON DRUG USE, MATT LABARBER BASS, NICK COSTA, DIEGO VELASQUEZ, ROBERT DOVE AND TIM FELTEN. THEY ARE HERE TO TALK ABOUT ABOUT ABOUT THE BAND. NOW, TIM FELTEN HAS BEEN WORKING ON AND OFF AT KPBS FOR SEVERAL YEARS, WE WORKED TOGETHER FOR A LONG TIME. TIM, IT'S GREAT TO SEE YOU. GREAT TO SEE YOU, TOO. THANKS FOR HAVING US. WE DON'T KNOW MUCH ABOUT THIS MUSICAL LIFE OF YOURS, THOUGH. THIS IS MY PRIMARY BAND RIGHT HERE, AT PEACE INSTRUMENTAL FUNK SOUL GROUP. TIM, I'VE HEARD YOU DESCRIBE THE BAND'S SOUND AS CINEMATIC SOUL. I SPENT A LONG TIME TALKING ABOUT HOW THIS IS PERHAPS NOT YOUR STANDARD SAN DIEGO SOUNDING BAND. IT'S NOT INDIE, IT'S NOT WHAT YOU THINK OF AS SAN DIEGO SOUND. BUT THIS YOU THINK OF AS REALLY BASED HERE IN SAN DIEGO. WELL, IT'S BASED IN THE LATE 60s, EARLY 70s, YOU KNOW, THE SOUNDTRACK MUSIC OF THE PERIOD. QUINCY JONES AND CURTIS MAYFIELD, MARVIN GAYE. YOU KNOW, THEY WERE DOING SOUNDTRACK WORK. AND SO, JESSE, WHAT OTHER INFLUENCES DO YOU DRAW FROM? I ABSOLUTELY LOVE PLAYING FUNK. AND SO ONE OF MY BIGGEST INFLUENCES WAS MacEO PARKER WHO PLAYED WITH JAMES BROWN FOR YEARS AND NOW HE TOURS THE WORLD AS PROBABLY THE PREMIER FUNK SAXOPHONIST, YOU KNOW, AS WELL AS JAZZ INFLUENCES. I STARTED HERE AT SAN DIEGO STATE, JAZZ STUDIES, SO I DRAW A LOT FROM ANY KIND OF JAZZ INFLUENCE. I LIKE MODERN PLAYERS. AS FAR AS PLAYING FLUTE, THAT WAS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT FOR ME, I HAVE NEVER REALLY HEARD FLUTE PLAYED LIKE THIS BEFORE. SO, I REALLY GREW ON THE STYLE OF HERBIE MANN AND EVEN SAN DIEGO'S KARL DENSEN, I LOVE THE WAY HE PLAYS FLUTE. WE JUST HEARD A TUNE CALLED "CITY HEIGHTS", YOU WILL BE PLAYING "STROLLING ADAMS" IN A MINUTE. DO YOU WANT TO ROUTE THE SURE FIRE SOUL ENSEMBLE AS A SAN DIEGO BAND, TIM? OR DO THESE PLACES WILL HE INSPIRE YOUR COMPOSITIONS? OH YEAH. I'VE LIVED HERE FOR HALF MY LIFE NOW. 18 YEARS. AND FOR A LONG TIME, ABOUT NINE YEARS, SHERYLL AND I LIVED NEAR ADAMS AVENUE. THAT PART OF TOWN, CITY HEIGHTS, AND ONE OF MY FAVORITE PLACES TO GO HANGOUT IS IMPERIAL BEACH DURING THE SURFING THE SEASON. AND YOU ARE A SURFER? YEAH, I DON'T LIKE TO GO THERE AFTER IT RAINS BECAUSE IT'S A LITTLE DIRTY. A LITTLE MORE FUNKY THAN YOUR MUSIC. A LITTLE TOO FUNKY FOR US, FOR ME. [ LAUGHTER ] SO HOW ARE SAN DIEGO AUDIENCES, JESSE, EMBRACING YOUR SOUND? THIS FUNK-SOUL SOUND? I THINK THERE IS A RESURGENCE AND WE ALL KNOW THAT THERE IS A RESURGENCE OF ALL THINGS VINTAGE. FROM CLOTHING TO VINYL AND THE MUSIC, ABSOLUTELY. INFLUENCES. YOU WILL HEAR NOW ON MAINSTREAM RADIO, YOU KNOW, INFLUENCES FROM PREVIOUS DECADES. AND SO, PEOPLE REALLY FLOCKED TO THAT. ESPECIALLY HEARING THIS BIG RAW SOUND LIKE WE HEARD IN THE STUDIO JUST NOW, HAVING AN A PIECE BAND, YOU KNOW, THE POWER OF IT IS JUST UNMATCHED. IT IS UNMATCHED AND I'M GOING TO ASK YOU TO DO IT AGAIN. SURE. [ LAUGHTER ] YOU ARE GOING TO BE DOING ANOTHER SURE FIRE SOUL ENSEMBLE TUNE OFF THEIR DEBUT OUT THEM -- ALBUM CALLED, "STROLLING ADAMS". [ MUSIC ] SO, THANK YOU. THANK YOU, AGAIN. THAT WAS "STROLLING ADAMS" BY THE SURE FIRE SOUL ENSEMBLE AND SITTING DOWN WITH ME AGAIN, TIM FELTEN AND JESSE AUDELO. AND TIM, YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU HAVE AN INSTRUMENTAL FUNK BAND LIKE A FIRE, I KNOW THAT YOU WRITE THE COMPOSITIONS BUT HOW DO YOU COLLABORATE ON THE CREATIVE PROCESS? SOMETIMES, IT'LL BE A DIRECT COLLABORATION WHERE WE ARE WORKING TOGETHER IN THE SAME ROOM AND COMING UP WITH IDEAS AT THE SAME TIME. SOMETIMES I WILL GET AN EMAIL FROM TIM SAYING, HEY, I HAVE THIS IDEA FOR A TRACK, I RECORDED A LITTLE SOMETHING, CAN YOU PUT SOME HORNS ON TOP? THERE'S A FEW OF THE NEWER TRACKS IN OUR NEXT ALBUM THAT WILL COME OUT WITH A FEW TRACKS LIKE THAT. SO IT'S A MIX PROCESS. I THINK WE LIKE TO REALLY GO STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS. RIGHT. THERE ISN'T A SINGER IN THE GROUP. NO SINGER. THAT IS A CONSCIOUS DECISION, TOO, HUH, TIM? YEAH. [ LAUGHTER ] HAVE YOU EVER CONSIDERED USING A VOCALIST? YEAH. WEAVER HEARST WITH ONE AND WE WILL PROBABLY GET HER INTO A NEPHEW COVER SONGS FIRST AND THEN MAYBE WRITE SOME SONGS AND I ALSO HAVE LIKED HIP-HOP FOR A LONG TIME SO MAYBE WORKING WITH SOME MC VOCALISTS AS WELL. YOUR FIRST ALBUM WAS RELEASED EARLIER THIS YEAR, GOT AN EXTRA SPECIAL GOOD STATUS FROM CITY BEAT. WAS THAT A GOOD EXPERIENCE, PUTTING IT TOGETHER, BOTH OF YOU, LOOKING AT EACH OTHER. WELL, YEAH. I THINK IT ABSOLUTELY WAS. I THINK IT WAS A LONG TIME COMING, ACTUALLY. THE BAND HAD BEEN TOGETHER FOR QUITE A WHILE AND THE PUBLIC, OUR FANS, WERE KIND OF DEMANDING SOMETHING SOLID. YOU KNOW, SO COMING OUT WITH THAT ALBUM WAS REALLY A GREAT STEPPING STONE AND IT GAVE US A LOT OF FORWARD MOMENTUM GOING INTO THE NEXT COMING ALBUM. WE WERE ALREADY THINKING AHEAD TO THAT. WHAT CAN YOUR FANS EXPECT FROM HER SECOND ALBUM, JESSE? I THINK THEY CAN EXPECT A LITTLE MORE EXPERIMENTATION. I THINK WE WILL DO A LITTLE BIT MORE FROM THE STANDARD FUNK AND SOUL THAT WE ARE KNOWN FOR, EXPLORE OTHER GENRES LIKE REGGAE, EVEN SLOWER TEMPO TUNES, DIFFERENT INSTRUMENTATION'S, A LITTLE MORE, LIKE I SAID, EXPERIMENTATION. TIM, YOU KNOW, I STARTED THIS OUT SAYING THAT YOU AND I HAVE WORKED TOGETHER AND I'M JUST WONDERING, WHAT DO YOU GET OUT OF MUSIC? MUSIC IS YOUR FIRST LOVE, OBVIOUSLY, WHAT IS THE FUN ABOUT IT? WHAT'S THE THING YOU GET OUT OF IT? OH, I ENJOY THE CREATIVE ASPECTS, THE STUDIO ASPECT OF IT PROBABLY THE MOST. BUT ALSO, JUST HANGING. HAVING A LARGE GROUP. IT'S LIKE HAVING A BIG FAMILY, WHEN YOU ALL GET IN A VAN AND YOUR TRAVELING TO SAN FRANCISCO OR WHEREVER YOU ARE GOING, IT'S JUST A LOT OF FUN. AND, YOU KNOW, GREAT TIMES. GREAT TIMES, GOOD TIMES. IT WAS GOOD TIMES HAVE YOU HERE. YOU ARE LEAVING US WITH THE FINAL TIM CALLED "THE HUNT", THANKS TO TIM FELTEN, JESSE AUDELO AND ALL THE MEMBERS OF THE BAND. ONCE AGAIN, THIS IS THE SURE FIRE SOUL ENSEMBLE. [ MUSIC ] THE SURE FIRE SOUL ENSEMBLE WILL BE PERFORMING NEXT TUESDAY, JUNE 30, ON THE HIDEOUT ON EL CAJON BOULEVARD OR CATCH THEM THE FIRST TO SATURDAY EVERY MONTH AT SEVEN GRAND IN NORTH PARK. BE SURE TO WATCH KPBS "EVENING EDITITION" AT 5:00 AND 7:30 ON PUBLIC TELEVISION. I'M MAUREEN CAVANAUGH, THANK YOU FOR LISTENING.