Vudu Caravan Brings the Funk Back

The experimental indie rock group marries its members’ unique styles, bringing a fresh sound to Santa Clara’s concert-goers

Vudu Caravan first hit the Santa Clara music scene this past Friday with their first large public performance. Crowd-members excitedly grooved to the band's rough and rhythmic originals at the band's premier. 

“We're bringing back a lot of sounds, we're putting in a lot of new sounds, and we're creating a magical love baby of so many genres,” shared Raul Muri, bassist. 

The five members began practicing together in September. Lead singer Kailyn Pedersen recalls their first practice and fondly mentions that Muri joined as a bassist with no bass guitar – he was just so enthusiastic to be playing in a band. 

“We could mobilize to all meet at the same time and all bring different talents and then also have a similar vision of what we wanted to create,” said Pedersen. “Then it just stuck. Everyone wants to be here and wants to keep going and wants to do well.”

Each member has distinct influences – they claim some of their individual favorites as hard rock, psychedelic rock and indie pop. The band feels that their excitement for their unique sound is a component of what sets them apart. Muri shares how their passion for what they create bleeds into the audience when they perform. 

“We have insanely good chemistry not only with ourselves, but with the audience,” said Muri. The audience likes our sound and we love our sound which makes them love it more. You see that in the way that I move; I'm going crazy on stage and people react to that. I'm moving 'cause I love the music I'm playing and people in turn are going crazy 'cause they see me whipping my head around. I guess it's because they like my music too.”

Members found this past Friday performance rewarding as a first step in mastering audience interaction while performing, and for the experience of playing with other creative Santa Clara bands. 

Pederson deems Friday their “catalyst to continue,” a sentiment echoed by others who noted the inspiration of seeing “Vudu Caravan” listed among many other talented bands. They share that playing alongside their gifted peers not only affirmed their own flair, but encouraged practicing to master their forte. 

Will Ferguson, lead guitarist, fondly recalled that Friday's performance wasn’t competitive – it was a union of talented and passionate student-led solo artists and bands. The setlist for the band's debut was almost exclusively originals, which created a sense of pride and connection for the band to their work. Ferguson elaborated that performing music they love doesn’t always reflect what the audience will know, but is all the more rewarding when they can still get everyone jamming out; audience enjoyment came from the quality of the music, not its familiarity. 

Their process for creating typically begins with something a member is excited about. From there, they fit the pieces together that each of them create and tweak continuously. Muri came into the practice I sat in on with a bassline, and within an hour the band had a rough draft of a song. 

“The process is just a series of a bunch of filters,” explained Muri. “Whether that filter adds something or takes it away, every one of us is a filter and the song just kind of flows through all of us and we each add or like to take away what we want.”

Working with new musical perspectives is equally rewarding and challenging to Pedersen, who shared that this was one of the difficulties she found in being in a band for the first time. Ferguson, however, has found working in a group to be a highlight of creating songs. 

“Having different perspectives allows you to not have a dry period in creativity,” shares Ferguson. “But then someone brings something new, you're like, ‘oh, that's a new sound,’ or ‘I haven't thought of it that way.’ It forces you to play outside your comfort zone, to adapt and improve in any way you can to mesh it all together.”

From there, the band works to make their music translate into a live performance, creating a setlist from their songs, adding the jams and flourishes that would be absent from a studio recording and, in Muri’s words, “practice over and over until you feel confident that when you get on stage you can just forget about everything and melt some minds.”

Vudu Caravan is planning to release music by the end of this calendar year. Each member is eager to keep pushing and see what’s next to come for the ensemble.

Ferguson shares his favorite part of working with the group is the opportunity to have a crowd forget about their day for a minute or thirty minutes, allowing the crowd to have a cathartic release and enjoy each other's company and the shared experience of live music. The supplemental benefit of being in a band is the community.

“I'm playing with people that I enjoy spending time with and everyone just wants to have fun with music,” shared Reilly Duncan, Vudu Caravan’s drummer. “We all love music in a way of: do it for your own experience, and then others will appreciate that because they see you enjoying you up there.”