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DANIELLA TELLO-GARZON: From The Daily Northwestern, I’m Daniella Tello-Garzon, and you’re listening to Sound Source. This episode features Morning Dew, a student jazz fusion band that plays a mix of covers and original songs. They describe their music as a “unique blend of R&B and rap.”

DARSAN SWAROOP BELLIE: Hey, I’m Darsan, and I play the drums.

SIOBHAN ESPOSITO: I’m Siobhan. I’m on vocals and keyboard.

SAMMY SOBEL: I’m Sammy. I play guitar and sometimes sing.

ALBERT KUO: I’m Albert, I play the saxophone.

EDDY MADAY: I’m Eddy, I play bass and sometimes sing.

JOE NEDDER: I’m Joe, I play trombone and sing.

TELLO-GARZON: What inspired you to start Morning Dew?

SOBEL: Well, last year, there was a Battle of the Bands contest, and I really wanted to make a band. Siobhan was my friend, and I knew Siobhan was in the jazz program. So I was like, “Can you talk to the other jazz people? Because I want to get a hot group together?” And then she was like, “No,” but then I kept pressuring her to do it. And then we eventually did it. And now we’re still here.

TELLO-GARZON: So, what is the songwriting process like when you do write your own music?

SOBEL: I think usually one person will come in with a somewhat fleshed out idea and then present it. And then we’ll be like, “Oh, that’s cool,” or “Maybe not.” And then we’ll just build on it. So like, I can come in with a chord progression, and then the horns can write a line, someone else can write lyrics, and then we just kind of flesh it out together.

TELLO-GARZON: How would you describe your music to someone who’s never heard it before?

NEDDER: I’d say it’s a pretty unique blend of R&B and rap and just sort of like jazz fusion. It’s very upbeat and pop-y and brass and horn heavy. But at the same time, just really grooving. It’s music that makes you feel good and music that you want to get up and dance to.

TELLO-GARZON: What are your rehearsals generally like? What are the dynamics?

SOBEL: Well, first of all, they take a million years to plan because I’m like, “Alright, what day can we do this?” And then there’s always some person that can’t do it on some day. So, once we figure it out, we just kind of like come in. Takes us a while to think of what tunes we want to play. And then we just kind of run through the tunes. We collaboratively make different parts in each song and just give each other feedback.

BELLIE: Everything just sort of comes together one step a time. We don’t decide which step is going to come first, but they just eventually all come together.

TELLO-GARZON: What has been your biggest challenge as a group?

MADAY: I think currently, our biggest challenge is defining what our type of music is. Because a lot of us are good at a lot of different areas of music because we bring a lot of different backgrounds, from jazz and rap and R&B. And it’s finding the mix of all of those that really defines us as a band, because we don’t want to be a band that sounds like other bands. We want our own unique sound, and we’re trying to find that.

TELLO-GARZON: Thanks for listening. This is Daniella Tello-Garzon, and I’ll see you next time.