On The Verge

Phenomenal Handclap Band

New York, N.Y.
Phenomenal Fidelity
www.phenomenalhandclapband.com

Think of ‘70s music as the creative force joining two DJ/musicians—one with a passion for Brazilian music, the other for soul and rock. Sean Marquand and Daniel Collas knew each other from the New York music scene for more than a decade when they entered the studio to create original music based on their divergent ‘70s influences. “The fidelity of that music just blew us away,” says Marquand. “We started playing around with drum sounds and brought in some other specific ideas.” It was only a short step from there to the realization that they could “turn this into something that really represented what we were interested in.” The friends recruited a number of area collaborators—some of whom are part of the extended Budos Band/Antibalas/TV On the Radio family—to form The Phenomenal Handclap Band. The group recently released its self-titled debut, which meshes a variety of Woodstock-era psychedelic sounds with modern beats and indie hooks. “All the [band members] are really, really solid musicians so it’s all very easy,” says Marquand. “We are all friends.”