The beat of the planet comes to Temple Bar
MID-CITY There’s no way these guys come from a hick town.
Sol Jibe, with their worldly mix of influences and flavors, hail from Reno, Nevada. Sure, there’s gambling and nearby Lake Tahoe with it’s posh hotels and resort town reputation, but “The Biggest Little City in the World” ain’t exactly a hotbed of creativity.
“People would never imagine we’re from a hick town,” said co-founder and Spanish guitarist Milton Merlos, during a recent interview. “I guess that’s why we say The West is our home.”
The band has had a hard time finding an audience in their native Reno due to the nature of the populace, according to Merlos. He believes the locals are more likely to groove to country western than vibe with the laid-back worldly sound this sextet produces. That certainly isn’t the case here in Santa Monica, where the band will be appearing Tuesday at Temple Bar.
“We had friends trying to pass the word. We always get a good response, but the crowd has basically been the few and the proud,” said Merlos. “Once our shows were over, everybody stays and we have a good time.”
Merlos feels such intimate settings have helped foster the group’s sound. It was in those small Reno clubs that he and co-founder/vocalist Tim Snider cultivated the soil that would later yield the band’s lush soundscape.
“It is an honest expression of our mixture. Tim was into punk rock and ska. I was into flamenco. Together, we fused our styles into the sound you hear today,” said Merlos. “It is inspiring to us when people are feeling our music without something to compare to or compete with. Each member contributes with their own artistic input. We want them [bandmates] to take advantage of their vehicle of expression.”
The lineup of the band has been somewhat in flux since they came together way back at the turn of the century, when Merlos and Snider were students at Reno High School. That early lineup was appearing and winning local talent shows. The group has grown to include percussionist Cody Remaklus, who is currently earning his master’s degree — fittingly — in world music at CalArts. Vocalist Jonathon Phillips adds to the mix with his deft play on the saxophone, along with his skillful singing of the group’s Spanish-language tracks.
Phillips doesn’t speak a lick of Spanish and has to be coached through his renditions in his adopted tongue, added Merlos. Unlike in Los Angeles, where Caucasians are commonly adept at speaking the region’s second most popular language, Reno locals aren’t often blessed with the talent of being bilingual. There is a small Latino contingent in the area, but not enough to produce a vocalist with the range to tackle the act’s authentic material.
The band has had to platoon their bassists during recent shows with Fernando Flores and Sam Minaie sharing duty on Sol Jibe’s latest release, “New Day.” Merlos wasn’t sure who was going to make the trip to Santa Monica’s Temple Bar.
Temple Bar — the Wilshire Boulevard hotspot — will open it’s doors Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. The band is expected to take to the stage at roughly 10:30 p.m. Cover is $5.
Merlos expects the crowd to be a mix of young professionals and bohemian hipsters.
“We’ve been playing a lot of festivals lately. We’ve played a bunch of [Grateful Dead-type] festivals in the Northwest. We did the High Sierra Festival recently and all the hippies were all into our music,” said Merlos.
“The people in the mountains are into sports and very organic. It was a good time.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 28, 2007. Read the original PDF.