Lead singer of 1967 performs at the Starbucks on 32 Street and Lincoln Drive.
SPM Acoustics: 1967 from The State Press on Vimeo.
Magic: being in a group of people making a piece of music. For 1967’s guitarist and backing vocalist Scotty Saenz that’s the definition.
Lead singer of 1967, Jaime Reynolds, stands in the warm-lit Starbucks at 32 Street and Lincoln Drive tapping his foot and nodding his head. Having played since he was four-years-old, an acoustic guitar accompanies his checkered pants and a black shirt as he sings “Blink of an Eye.”
“Music is always in my head. I just can’t shake it,” said Reynolds in an interview with SPM before his scheduled gig at Starbucks.
After singing two songs for a few night owls and baristas, Reynolds says he was hired for a solo gig at the Starbucks, but he is meeting the rest of the band, Saenz and drummer Nathan Marchi, afterward for another gig at a 21-and-over bar.
In a prior interview, Reynolds said that it’s his passion and love for music that drives him to continue making music.
Reynolds, a full-time musician, normally plays at intimate local venues to small crowds. Sometimes he schedules a double header like this night and lines up nighttime gigs when his two band mates are able to join him.
In a previous interview with Reynolds and Saenz, Saenz said he and Marchi are not full-time musicians, which makes it a struggle for the band to schedule gigs with all three members present.
“I’m not a full-time musician,” Saenz says. “We’ve got jobs and school and families, so we have to work really hard to make plans happen.”
Saenz adds that the Tempe-Phoenix music scene is just a circle of friends, but aside from friendship, everyone in that circle is a fan of one another’s music.
For 1967, local band Authority Zero made an impression. At acoustic gigs, Reynolds says he and Saenz perform renditions of Authority Zero’s “Big Bad World.”
Occasionally, Saenz and Reynolds perform that song with Authority Zero, making the performance educational and allowing them to learn the song correctly and at its best.
Earlier Reynolds said he wants his listeners to get bliss from of their music. Saenz nodded in agreement.
“If the lyrics are right, make them help you cope with whatever you’re [dealing with],” Saenz said, finishing Reynolds response.
1967 recently released a four song EP called “If Love Ruled the World.” Reynolds will be performing at the Polytechnic campus in Mesa Nov. 2, and the band will be performing at the Spirit Room in Jerome on Nov. 24.
You can find 1967 on iTunes, Spotify and at Zia Records.
Reach the writer at nagonza1@asu.edu or via Twitter @NoemiPossible
