Feature

Motorists stalled in the evening traffic at the corner of Airport and McGregor may have noticed Moe’s Southwestern Grill was extremely popular June 12.Patrons munching on tortilla chips and sipping on cold cervezas packed the patio, despite the scorching temperatures, to catch one of Mobile’s hottest up-and-coming bands, El Cantador.

El Cantador is the freshest original music coming out of Port City right now. With their truly unique blend of pop, alt country and maybe even a hint of punk (not really Latin, as you mighty expect from the name), they are bridging the gap between the opposite poles of the jam and underground sounds of the Mobile music scene. This has been evident in the impressive crowds they have drawn everywhere from the sorority/frat-packed halls of Monsoon’s to the black T-shirt aficionado enclave of Cell Block.

And they are just getting started.

They’ve been fine tuning their live performances and earning “street cred” in Mobile in preparation to spread their sound throughout the Southeast and beyond.

Front man Heath Underwood and I escaped to the confines of my car where we discussed the birth, infancy and future of El Cantador.

SC: I guess my first question would be who are the other band members and what do they do in the band?

HU: Joe Shanabrough, he’s the mandolin/slide/electric guitar player/good vibes. Sean Murphy plays drums and percussion. Johnny Gwin plays bass.

SC: What kid of previous experience have you guys had in bands, especially locally?

HU: Johnny’s played with a bunch of bands and so has Joe, actually. They’ve played together for a long time. Sean comes from a more of a punk/upbeat background. I played in a band with Johnny called Morris Minor. Joe and Johnny have played in Grateful Dead type bands and stuff.

SC: How long has El Cantador been together?

HU : We started in December. I mean, some of these songs are three years old, and some of these were done in studio with whatever I brought to the table or now it’s whatever anybody brings.

SC: That leads into my next question, what’s the song writing process like for this band?

HU: I have a key that goes to a secret labyrinth with a leprechaun inside, but it’s not the Crichton Leprechaun (jokingly). I don’t know, it used to be whatever bugs me like when you’re in your car or you’re at your IBM with a bottle of whiskey just for looks if somebody comes in. I think I write my best music listening to music – getting inspiration from others.

SC: What kind of inspirations do y’all have? I notice a definite Southwestern rock feel to your music.

HU: I like Pavement a lot. The only Wilco record that I’ve ever gotten stuck on, just from reading your Lagniappe thing, is the “Being There” record. It really changed how I wrote and played guitar. Then, there’s Townes Van Zandt. Johnny introduced me to X a few years ago. I really like John Doe.

SC: How has the scene responded to you guys?

HU: I think it’s been good. I think the other reason for wanting to play and start a band was that I wasn’t hearing anybody I really liked around here, except the Colonel Dixies, but they weren’t really playing. I mean, they’re doing other projects. I was like, ‘Forget this, it’s now or never. I think it’s been good. (Looking at Moe’s) This has been totally different. It’s weird that the sun’s up, and we’re really sober.

SC: But nobody’s complaining. Everybody’s digging on this. Tell me a little about the E.P. you guys have out.

HU: You mean the E.P. that was named at the last minute? We recorded some songs, and I just wanted to try some things and see what they sounded like. ‘O Captain’ that last track was kinda sparse, and then we’re going to re-record. It’s an E.P. of influences. It’s an E.P. of growing up; it’s an E.P. of starting and not knowing what you’re doing.

SC: What was the recording process like?

HU: We did it at Backdoor Studios, which is Sean’s dad’s (Pat Murphy) house (Delta Reign Headquarters). They turned their garage into a studio. Sean and I would meet usually during the day, and Pat may or may not be there. Sean did most of the bass and the drums, and I did acoustic and electric guitars. Pat plays Dobro on ‘Sparkle Eyes,’ but my goal in the future is to get a lot more people in town involved. It might be this basic four-member band, but when we record, we want to include a lot of local musicians, the people who have never played out before, you know, students or somebody in their 60s.

SC: When you accomplish that goal, will you bring that to the live show?

HU: Yeah, I want to. I think it’ll just be a matter of time and how much we’re playing. I think maybe for bigger shows.

SC: When are y’all going to have a full-length?

HU: I’d like to record in the fall. That’s probably when we’ll have it ready to be released.

SC: What’s the prospect of going on the road?

HU: I’m trying to get us gigs at least through August with some kind of east, west, south thing…like Nashville, maybe Atlanta. I think most importantly we have to kinda get out of here. It’s easy to fall into this trap where we’re playing the same songs at the same places and get burned out.

SC: Where do you want to see El Cantador in a year?

HU: Probably, not in Mobile, but playing Mobile. Being in a position where we can travel around and we’re not stationary. I know that Johnny has his full-time business, and he can’t leave that. I just want to watch it grow, and just see what happens. It’ll be whether or not I write any new songs.

Stephen Centanni is Lagniappe music editor. Contact him at scentanni@lagniappemobile.com.

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