MUSICIAN OF THE MONTH: Float the Boat
By Aydan Prime,
Bluedevilhub.com Staff–
Along with Golden Beats by Dre and Ginger Beauty And Wellness Collection, one of Oprah’s most recent favorite things is the Davis based band, Float the Boat. The band recently played at Davis Idol, and makes frequent appearances at Davis High events.
Circling a set of trombone player Davis Perez’s ski equipment, Float the Boat spends band practice playing songs from their set list and bantering with one another in the Perez family living room. The band consists of Adam Buderi on drums, Natalie Wheeler on guitar, Josh O’Guinn on bass, Aaron Hirst and Camila Ortiz on vocals, Nicholas Bachand on trumpet, Emily Rogers on saxophone and Perez on trombone.
The ensemble of DHS seniors began as a small group of musicians in the 8th grade, which over the years acquired and switched out new musicians to become the band today.
“It started with just me, Davis, Logan James and Devon Hayakawa,” said Buderi. “We wanted to add more horns to the group, so eventually we added Davis on trombone, Nick on the trumpet, and most recently Emily on the saxophone.”
Buderi also claims that the horns are what really set the band apart from other musical groups in Davis. “We don’t have a lot of crazy songs that we play that like us showboating and stuff but our horns make us sound unique.”
Float the Boat mainly plays within the musical genre of ska, a style of upbeat music that originated in Jamaica during the 60’s, and was a precursor to reggae. “We play specifically punk ska,” said Hirst.
“We cover a lot of Real Big Fish and Street Light Manifesto, and we also play this one band called Kids These Days. It’s not really ska but it has horns,” Buderi said.
The band says they have about one and a half original songs, one of which they lost all of the sheet music to.
“We wrote it in the key of all the other songs we play,” Perez said. “There’s not a lot to say about it. It’s about 16 measures and then mostly solos.”
Buderi says he is unsure about a future for the band aside from a few shows they plan to play during the summer, but believes that the members of the band will continue to play music.
