Sound Passion

Turn It Up: We chatted with members of Orange County alternative pop/rock band Bayadera. Find out what they had to say and listen to some of their music.

From left, Dat Nguyen, Evonne Untiet, Chris Payne, Gina Bandy, Donn Untiet, and Saatara.

ometimes the best things are unplanned.

“We met each other at music school,” says Saatara, electric guitarist for Orange County alternative pop/rock band Bayadera. “We met up and I think we were just sitting outside at a concrete bench and we started playing guitar. We just started playing, started jamming, with no particular music in mind.”

Ten years later, and with some additions to the band’s original three members, the five-member Bayadera has completed several live and two studio-recorded albums; recently won in the Best Song and Best Alternative categories at the 2008 Orange County Music Awards; and even got the chance to play “Superstition” with Stevie Wonder last year.

“Every step we took, just kept getting bigger,” says Saatara.

Upcoming Shows • Soka University in Aliso Viejo, May 8, 11:45 a.m.-1 p.m. For details, call (949) 480-4134. • Sawdust Art Festival in Laguna Beach, July 5 and Aug. 9, 5:30 p.m. $7 for adults; $6 for seniors; $3 for children 6-12; children 5 and under, free. For details, call (949) 494-3030.

Web-Exclusive: We learn a little more about guitarist Dat Nguyen.

Though their latest album, Rotation of the Earth, released worldwide in March, has a distinct Latin flavor throughout, the band is a mixture of many cultural and musical influences.

“Bayadera is a unique word, which is why we chose it,” says lead singer Gina Bandy. “It’s a Native-American word and it means fire dancer. We felt like it was able to encompass our music and our diversity.”

Diversity is a theme that pops up often when band members talk about their music and backgrounds. Saatara is from Iran, and in addition to music, he works in investments. Bandy, of Slavic and Puerto Rican heritage, is also in nursing school. Dat Nguyen, who plays acoustic guitar and sings background vocals, was born and raised in Vietnam, and has been blind since early in life. “Music is how he sees the world,” Bandy says of Nguyen. “What he creates is his sense of perception.”

The band is rounded out by Chris Payne on bass and background vocals, and Donn Untiet on drums. Untiet’s wife, Evonne, is the unofficial sixth member, playing percussion periodically at shows.

Songwriting is a collaborative process for the group. Sometimes a band member comes in with an idea; sometimes it’s a full song. Very often, the band’s songs – like the band’s origin – are the unplanned result of spontaneous jamming. “Every song is different, the way it’s birthed,” says Bandy.
 
To purchase Rotation of the Earth, go to www.bayadera.com.

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