The Stone Church in Newmarket hosted electro-funk band Hornē Electric Band this past Friday, Aug 4. Popular in the New York music scene, the band delivered a unique sound unlike any local Seacoast band.
University of New Hampshire (UNH) senior environmental conservation and sustainability major Chris Salemme, the drummer of local funk band Clandestine, which opened the show on Friday, explained that having a band like that play in Newmarket was unreal.
“When I first checked them out my mind was blown,” said Salemme. “But when I got there and heard them sound checking I was like oh my god. It sounds like— I don’t even know what it is. It’s that cool.”
The Hornē Electric Band is based out of NYC and is comprised of members Tyler Blanton on MalletKAT, Synths and Compositions, Massimo Biolcati on Bass, Corey Rawls on Drums, Yacine Boulares & Chris Bullock on Saxaphone, and Wayne Tucker and Mike Maher on Trumpet.
Hornē Electric Band put out their self-titled debut album this year, featuring interesting tracks such as “I’ll Put Pants on,” or “Cunning Linguist,” or “Dudes in Flannels”.
Multinational corporation and conglomerate Yamaha recently welcomed drummer Corey Rawls to their Legendary Artist Roster. Rawls uses the Yamaha Absolute Hybrid Maple drum kit in Red Autumn finish with the 800 Series hardware.
“Definitely one of the best drummers I’ve ever seen,” Salemme said.
The band features no guitarist, a unique deprivation of a quintessential instrument. Instead, their music is full of with experimental electronic sounds, such as Blanton’s MalletKAT, which is a MIDI percussion mallet controller. Someone even called out “this sounds like a video game.”
Opening band Clandestine usually features members Chris Salemme on drums, Mikey Lathwood on bass, Andrew Emanuel on saxophone and Keith Perry on guitar. However, Perry couldn’t make the show so coincidentally Clandestine played a guitar-less show as well, subbing in keyboardist Adam M. Levine to add complexity to their sound.
Clandestine was formed through mutual ties rooted at UNH. Originally playing jazz gigs, the band took a step in a different direction when offered to play at a venue as a “rock” band. Though they are not rock, Clandestine covers music of all genres from jazz standards to Michael Jackson, putting their own funk twist on it.
Clandestine has a busy Saturday coming up, playing a show at Flight Coffee in Dover, NH from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., and then quite literally running down the street to open for local band Slack Tide at Fury’s Publick House just past 9 o’clock.
Clandestine plays regularly at the Stone Church, and Salemme noticed a dip in attendance at the Friday show.
“Nobody showed up, and they really deserved to be heard,” Salemme said, referring to the Hornē Electric Band. “Honestly the crowd was minimal but excellent, because the funny thing is, when they were playing in between each song everybody cheered so loud, including myself, that you would swear the place was packed but then you’d turn around and there was nobody there.”
The bands are planning on reuniting at the Stone Church to play a show together in the spring. They are hoping to draw a larger crowd this time.
“The Stone Church is the spot,” Salemme said. “It’s one of— if not the only place you can check out live music if you’re under 21. And everyone goes, people under 21, people over 21, everyone’s there. It’s just such a great place to have.”
