![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/kaleid_floratura.jpg\")
<\/p>\nTatiana Pe\u00f1a and Adrian \u201cTreetop\u201d Marquez initially teamed up as a musical duo in the late 2010s. \u201cWe started our musical journey together through protest,\u201d says Pe\u00f1a. \u201cWe traveled the country and attended many concerts and festivals.\u201d The duo settled in Santa Cruz in 2019, \u201cWith a bunch of songs to share, an album to record and a band to look for,\u201d she says. By the end of that summer, Floratura had come together. \u201cAnd we were ready to say something to the world,\u201d Pe\u00f1a says.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Floratura is Marquez on guitar, Pe\u00f1a on mandolin, keyboardist Jack Reed, Noah Mogor on bass, and drummer Jacob Gilmore. Marquez notes that the lineup shifted over time, but not in the conventional manner. \u201cOur keyboardist started off as our drummer,\u201d he says with a chuckle. \u201cOur current drummer was our original bass player.\u201d Pe\u00f1a notes with pride that Floratura\u2019s band members \u201cplayed musical chairs\u201d at practices; \u201ceveryone can play everything,\u201d she says. Nevertheless, that rich variety eventually coalesced around set roles.<\/p>\n
Floratura released an EP in 2023. The four-song Bucket of Seeds<\/i> displays a good-timing, funky, late-period Grateful Dead vibe, yet the songs are tightly constructed. \u201cOur drummer is really into statistics,\u201d Marquez giggles. \u201cHe says that our music is one-third lyrical, one-third very composed music, and one-third improvised.\u201d That equation adds up to a sonically appealing whole.<\/p>\n
Live onstage, the mix is a bit different. \u201cOn our recordings, all of the solos were improvised,\u201d Pe\u00f1a says. \u201cAnd in our shows, we take those improvisations way farther. A four-minute studio track might turn in to a 13-minute song.\u201d A restless sense of exploration is baked into Floratura\u2019s recipe. \u201cSome songs are really expansive; others we keep tight to the arrangement,\u201d Marquez says.<\/p>\n
The group is nearly done recording a full-length followup to Bucket of Seeds<\/i>. Where the songs on the EP were all composed by Marquez (\u201cbefore we even met the rest of the band,\u201d Pe\u00f1a points out), the 13-song Oasis Glow<\/i> will reflect compositional collaboration involving the entire group.<\/p>\n
And Pe\u00f1a emphasizes that there\u2019s a yang quality to the yin of the EP. \u201cBucket of Seeds<\/i> has a daytime, major tonality,\u201d she explains. \u201cThe LP will have a beautiful, nighttime essence.\u201d Pe\u00f1a and Marquez are reluctant to announce a release date for the album; some production work remains to be done, and then there are the ongoing bottlenecks in vinyl pressing plants. \u201cWe want to have the vinyl in hand before we release anything,\u201d Pe\u00f1a says.<\/p>\n
But attendees at the Kaleidoscope Music Festival are likely to get a taste of the music from Oasis Glow<\/i>. \u201cWe\u2019ve been playing some of those songs for some time,\u201d says Marquez. \u201cLive performance seems to be the most nourishing thing for the group, and the live arrangements fit that vibe into a record format.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the group\u2019s earliest days, the musicians bonded over their interpretations of Grateful Dead classics. But these days, Floratura is careful not to let the band\u2019s unique character get swept away by hewing too closely to that sound. \u201cSome of our members are a little more fond of the Dead\u2019s tone,\u201d Marquez says, choosing his words carefully. \u201cAnd some of them aren\u2019t so attracted to it.\u201d Tasked with pinning down a label for Floratura\u2019s music, he pauses and then offers this: \u201cOriginal music, sprinkled with a culture-adjacent, jam-bandy thing.\u201d<\/p>\n