Up Until Now w/ David Murphy (sts9) Jeremy Salken (Big Gigantic) @ Cervantes

Written by Kate Lynn, Photos by Bronwyn Van Wyhe

Last Thursday’s show at Cervantes was definitely one for the electro books, as artists from both coasts (and some Colorado favorites) joined together for the sole purpose of making our bodies move.  And non-stop, they did.

The Best Dancers.  Whether or not they are actually the best dancers is debatable, but they certainly had the crowd unable to stop moving about with the heavily-sampled, but still delightfully original, future-funk sound they pushed out through the speakers (via at least one iPad!)  These guys are an excellent addition to the electro-bass-funk sound that has been steamrolling through the scene, and their latest EP, not so aptly titled Stop Playing This EP, is available for FREE DOWNLOAD!

Up next came my personal favorites for the evening, the Boulder trio Sunsquabi.  In just 2 and a half short years playing together, this band has grown immensely in their sound, now bringing you a live experience that can’t be missed!  They truly set the tone for the rest of the evening with their high-energy  showcase of smooth funky bass lines, ultimate guitar shredding, and super steezy synth sounds.  Expect a new EP by summer’s end as this fusion of excellent musicians continues to push on and create beautifully syndicated dance-worthy tracks, but until then you can hop right on to the Squabtrain and head on over to their catalog of FREE DOWNLOADS on Soundcloud.

Shweez (Kendrick of Two Fresh) played a short set of original sounds next, which encompassed total club-raging beats and saucy hip-hop breaks in perfect synergy.  Despite technical difficulties from the get-go, he raged on and kept the crowd uplifted and in a trance, readying us for the crazy storm that was about to throw us into a dance frenzy for the final 2 hours of the night.

Up Until Now W/ Special Guests David Murphy (STS9) Jeremy Salken (Big Gigantic) @ Cervantes (Denver, CO)

And cue feature presentation.  Jay Murphy, the mastermind behind Up Until Now, came from Atlanta, GA to show us he means business, serious dance business.  Rounding out the night with nearly two hours of electro dance music, Jay and his very special guests David Murphy (brother, bassist of STS9), and Jeremy Salken (drummer of Big Gigantic) dangerously brought the heat to our feet with their assembly of tactful production, synth-ful manipulation, melodic bass lines, and on-point drumming that ultimately left the crowd calling for an encore to the encore.  We were also treated to a couple songs with sit-ins by Borham Lee on keys (BreakScience), Adam Deitch on drums (BreakScience), and Kevin Donahue on guitar (Sunsquabi).

Overall, this night was the perfect collection of talent and different styles of dance music, and just the right amount of tantalizing audio flavor that Denver was looking for. [KL]

Photos by Bronwyn Van Wyhe

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