What: Brian Laidlaw and the Family Trade with Bomba de Luz and Chastity Brown Trio
When: Friday, 10:30 p.m.
Where: The Icehouse Restaurant, 2526 S. Nicollet Ave., Minneapolis
Cost: $6
Ages: 21+
Lydia Hoglund’s house wasn’t supposed to become the prime hangout spot when she was in seventh grade. But then again, if it hadn’t, Bomba de Luz may not exist as it does today. Drummer Jonas Taghavi used to bring his girlfriend over to Hoglund’s place when he wasn’t working on percussion. The house has now become a creative space in the wake of the band’s growing popularity.
The alternative folk quartet met in junior high, though they didn’t begin producing their jazz and Latin inspired soundscapes until their sophomore year of high school. Fast forward to their senior year, and it’s clear that puberty, two critically acclaimed albums and a full schedule has matured the eclectic band’s dynamic.
“It’s been an incredible experience,” Hoglund said. It’s a sensible evaluation of the quick progression the group has had, having been featured in an in-studio session for 89.3 The Current and enjoying a coveted spot among First Avenue’s Best New Bands. The attention is focused on their passionate sound. The funky, fluid guitar work of Evan Slack paired with the aching resonance in Hoglund’s Buckley-esque delivery jives well with Taghavi’s complex grooves and the circling jazz walks of bassist Gavin Taylor-Stark, suggesting that they’re making music beyond their years.
“We don’t get introduced as the high school band,” Taylor-Stark said. The band’s animated, firecracker of a front woman has a lot to do with this.
“Lydia is someone who draws a lot of diverse attention to us. The hip-hop scene likes her, the rock scene likes her, the folk scene likes her,” Slack said.
The age label doesn’t have a huge effect on their identity as artists, either.
“I don’t think it bothers us as much as it makes us worry about what will happen when we get older,” Hoglund said. It definitely hasn’t stopped other local artists from wanting to collaborate with them: Bomba de Luz opened for Heiruspecs at the Turf Club last year, and Hoglund was recently asked to collaborate on a full-length album with P.O.S.
“I thought, ‘Okay, now, we’re a part of something,’” Hoglund said. Evan Slack also knew that this was something more than what they’d initially bargained for as a band.
“I was like, ‘Yeah, so, about college…’ It told us that this was serious,” he said.
And it only gets more serious from here on out if their plans for the coming years are any indication. They’ll begin work on a new album, book bigger shows and engage in another business that they insisted on keeping under wraps.
“We don’t know where it’s going to go, but we’re approaching it much more maturely than we did,” Slack said.
