'Which are you influences?' This is one of the questions which I suppose are often asked to new bands. Every musician has one or more bands or singers who have influenced him. Only someone who has grown up in a environment where there was absolut no music, can say that he isn't influenced at all. And I don't think someone like that would become a musician... But I suppose that there aren't many bands who have been influenced by music from the 40s and 70s. Except maybe Saint Bernadette.
Meredith DiMenna (sister from J.DiMenna) and Keith Saunders have met through a hiphop band and shortly after that they started making songt together, using the name The Saucers. They also started their own label Exotic Recordings. In 2006 they decided that they wanted to record an album and they first went looking for musicians. The new band got the name Saint Bernadette and consists besides Meredith and Keith of Jar-e, Joe Novelli and Craig Sala. They wanted to record the album live and start looking for a room or studio. When they heard about the ballroom on the second floor of the Bijou Theatre in Bridgeport, Connecticut. It was being redeveloped and the contractor gave them permission to use the room for five days. Two days to load in and load out and three to record. The album is produced by Chris Sanchez and mixed by Peter Katis. The result is "In the Ballroom and the CD was released early this month. The music has influences of old Motown and Atlantic records but also from jazz and bossa-nova, dreamy and sexy.
> mp3: I Own the City
> mp3: Sidestep