The Inaugural Stank Jam: Crafting Vibrations for the Soul, Mind and Booty

Tonight’s (June 16) Stank Jam at The High Dive started out as a mere two-band bill when Electric Kif booked the date back in April and reached out to Locochino for local support.

The two bands have recently shared a short run of shows along with a handful of music festivals in the southeast and both have band members that used to own popular improvised jam sessions in their cities. Electric Kif held theirs in Miami and Locochino’s Blake Briand owns Gainesville’s sorely-missed hub of inspiration that was The Jam: Gainesville.

Shortly after the show was booked, Locochino devised an opening act that added something unique to the show while also sticking to the original two-band bill: The Inaugural Stank Jam, an unrehearsed opening jam session stacked with talented members of notable Florida-based bands. That’s when the show’s plans started getting a little crazier.

The idea of having both bands completely set up and playing at the same time was appealing: two drum kits, both bassists and the works. With the stage plot and inputs sorted out for both bands playing simultaneously, members of Locochino took turns inviting local guest musicians to join Stank Jam, because why not?

The “special guests” lined up for the Inaugural Stank Jam, include members of noteworthy acts like Duppies, Harvey & Whistle, Hedges, Maca Reggae Samba, Jazzology and more.

In a bit of a “but wait, there’s more” moment, Locochino and Electric Kif pulled in another festival regular who’s currently on tour with a “TBA” date on their calendar. Leisure Chief will squeeze in a set right after the Stank Jam before Electric Kif and Locochino perform their rehearsed sets.

And so it was: this two-band bill became three and “Stank Jam” roped in additional talent to front-load the show. The exciting part about all of this is that there’s a very high risk-reward situation happening during the 8 p.m. Stank Jam.

The jams will at least be interesting, but the potential for something truly amazing is considerable. And if not, there’s still three fully rehearsed sets to follow.

Let’s take a closer look at each band in closing; it should paint a pretty clear picture of why this lineup is above the ordinary.

Electric Kif will be in from Miami and have been spending a lot of time on the road since the release of their latest album, Heist, earlier this year. Electric Kif is a four-piece that serves up some of the most delicious cosmic funk that you’ve ever heard.

The diverse origins of the band’s members might surprise you: Eric Escanes (guitar) is from Borduaux, France, Rodrigo Zambrano (Bass) is from Mexico City, Jason Matthews (keys) is from Philadelphia and Armando Lopez (drums) is from Miami.

To quote from their official bio, “Electric Kif is a band who came together to perform music as an outlet in between sideman and session gigs with other artists ranging from Matt Schofield to Flo Rida…and many more in between.”

They’ve also played with other globally-recognized names like Snarky Puppy and make frequent appearances at music festivals that include GroudUP Music Festival, Okeechobee Music & Arts Festival and Orange Blossom Jamboree.

Locochino is the local band on the bill, hailing from your backyard and arguably born out of The Jam: Gainesville’s unicorn dust.

Again quoting from the band’s website, “Their show has been described as an adventure, at times guiding you on a trip across the galaxy and at others inciting a celebratory rage that satisfies and inspires.”

As no stranger to the festival scene, Locochino has performed for Suwannee Hulaween, Okeechobee Music & Arts Festival, Orange Blossom Jamboree, and many others.

Something special about this show is that it’s member Sam Coplin’s (guitar) last gig with the band as he’ll be leaving town soon for graduate school. It’s also likely Locochino’s last show until late September.

Sam is originally from Orlando with the rest of the band hailing from Gainesville.  Brian Johnson (guitar), Blake Briand (Keys), Nick Melms (bass) and Benny Cannon (drums) are the others you’ll see on stage.

For anyone who’s familiar with Locochino’s performances during The Jam’s era, they’re sending Sam off with an iconic closing song that hasn’t been performed since last year. Let’s not spoil it too much, but fans of the band will know exactly what that means.

As the primary organizers of Stank Jam, expect to see Locochino directing traffic for the majority of the opening set. Something to look for is curve-balls coming from Electric Kif or some of the guest musicians; most of the people on stage are friends after all and it’s only appropriate that they’re try to mess with each other to see what happens.

Leisure Chief, the latest addition to the event, is “an original music collective dedicated to crafting vibrations for the soul, the mind and the booty.”

The five-piece from Orlando is made of Derek Engstrom (drums), Chris McMullen (bass), Keegan Matthews (synth and such), Christian Ryan (sax) and Jordan Garno (guitar).

Leisure Chief has also performed at Orange Blossom Jamboree, Suwannee Hulaween as well as at others like Orlando Fringe Festival.

Doors are at 8 p.m. tonight at The High Dive, Stank Jam kicks off at 8:30 p.m., followed by Leisure Chief, Electric Kif and Locochino. The Facebook event page for Stank Jam is here and tickets are $8 at the door.  The show is 18+.

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