Fortified featured Snarky Puppy keyboardist Shaun Martin, vocalist N'Dambi and guitarist Mark Lettieri, among others. They formed Ghost-Note and released their first album, Fortified, on the Ropeadope label in October 2015, incorporating influences from jazz, hip hop and EDM music. In 2014, Searight and Werth wanted to create another band that would focus on percussion and what they termed "conscious funk". Searight and Werth performed together with Snarky Puppy through seven albums (of nine the group recorded during that time). Nate Werth was a music student at the University of North Texas and a member of Snarky Puppy, then playing jam sessions around Dallas. Until we have some “official” music to share, listen to this song, which actually inspired one of the Niles City Sound demos.Robert "Sput" Searight founded God's Property, a gospel choir affiliated with Kirk Franklin. Stay tuned as we’ll be sharing news about the group as we find out more info! In the meantime, check out the photo gallery below for a glimpse into the studio sesh. “And everybody feels the same way, so cutting in, I think, is going to be here.” I think this is the spot for me now,” Sput said of Niles City Sound. The demos still need a few bells and whistles (and there’s one we’re hoping Mavis Staples might sing on, because Mononeon loves Mavis!), but the goal was to cut around six songs, meaning there is a likely possibility they’ll return to Fort Worth soon to record a few more. “So the producer kind of challenged us to just make music and put it out.”
“We were supposed to do it in a few days and we aced it in a few hours,” he said. Sput, who’s originally from Dallas, had a few days booked at Niles City Sound-the studio where Leon Bridges recorded his Grammy-winning first album, “ Coming Home”-for a separate project, which he and the guys finished, unsurprisingly, in record time. And before I knew it, we were cutting songs … I love that guy for that.” “I literally came here just to get out of LA, come hang, and play music with Mono while he’s in town. “Sput is pretty good at facilitating things like that,” Xavier added.
MONONEON GHOSTNOTE GYPSY SALL TV
What they have so far is three or four original demos inspired by their own musical influences-Herbie Hancock, Earth Wind and Fire, Mavis Staples, and music from popular TV and films from the ‘70s and ‘80s. “There’s no plug-in, no cheat code, and no advice you can give to try and match that energy.”
“There’s nothing like the magic of everyone being in the room at the same time,” said Xavier, who also plays keys with TOTO. “There’s a crazy chemistry between all of us, this comes easily inspired-we are relishing the moment.”Ĭonsidering it’s practically the first time in months these guys have gotten to play and perform together, the studio sessions captured a palpable sense of joy, stress-free creativity, and truly organic collaboration-all of which are reflected in the music. The result thus far from the band-Robert “Sput” Searight, Dywane “MonoNeon” Thomas Jr., Dominique “Xavier” Taplin, and Jelani Brooks-is about four demos’ worth of groovy, dance-y, and extra funky vibes. It began about a week ago so they don’t yet have a name for themselves, or song titles, or a name for the record they plan to release, but what we do know is that something very special is afoot, and that the musicians themselves are equally excited for what’s to come.
There’s a new supergroup in the making from a super trio of musicians.