When asked to describe their sound, the musicians that comprise the local band SpeakEasy began to toss out words.
After sitting back and thinking for a second, trombonist Nick Garrison leaned forward and said, “steamy,” in his low, deep voice. “Steamy,” the bandmates repeated in unison. The room agreed on steamy.
“Steamy,” guitarist Grant Hudson repeated again a few seconds later. “Oh man, I can’t top steamy. That’s it.”
He’s right. No word better encapsulates the music SpeakEasy makes. It’s all at once jazzy, sultry, eclectic, sexy and smooth. It conjures up the atmosphere of an invitingly dark, smoky room and demands you move your body to the rhythm. It is, in a word, steamy.
Onstage, SpeakEasy is bewitching to watch. Lead singer Andrea Mitchell commands attention, with her big voice and even bigger stage presence. John Mann V can be found doing anything, depending on the number. One minute he is tickling the bars of his enchanting vibraphone and the next he’s banging a tambourine. Chris Polk transitions from bassist to rapper and proves himself skillful at both. Garrison’s trombone provides a deep, brassy voice that sings with Mitchell as he rocks back and forth in time with the music. Hudson plays his guitar deftly and smoothly, while drummer Eli Williams provides a beat to which all other players react. They are never out of sync, combining all elements to create a sound that demands listeners pay attention.
That electric chemistry between musicians is constantly evident, even when the group isn’t performing. They laugh easily, tease playfully and joke often with one another. It’s evident just from watching them talk that this is not a group of people whose only connection is music. They’re a family, and that connection is the spark that makes SpeakEasy ignite onstage.
Mitchell sits at the center of all conversation. Her presence is the uniting force of SpeakEasy and her decision to begin performing with a band is what set SpeakEasy’s synthesis in motion. Mitchell, with her vibrant personality and stadium-sized voice, pulled each artist in. When asked what sets their group apart from others, Mitchell’s bandmates immediately point to her.
“That’s what people always tell us,” Hudson said as Mitchell shook her head modestly. “After shows, people always come up to us and say, ‘Man, your lead singer is amazing!’ That’s what they take away from it.”
Mitchell is hesitant to take credit for the band’s success, saying she believes what sets SpeakEasy apart from other groups is the performance style.
“I really do have fun every time I go onstage,” Mitchell said. “And it’s the most fun I have in my life. And I think that people enjoy that. They don’t want to be sang at, or performed at. They really want to see people doing what they do and loving it. And it allows them to get involved.”
Coming off of a win at DIG’s “INDIEcent Exposure: Battle of the Bands,” SpeakEasy has set aside the month of February to record.
“We don’t have any gigs, and we have a space rented out,” Mitchell said excitedly. After that, the group has big plans for the rest of 2014.
“Record, tour,” Mitchell listed off goals, “and five thousand fans on our Facebook page.”
The other members nodded in agreement. In these goals, as in everything else, SpeakEasy is in sync.