Wires were scattered across the floor of the dimly lit parking lot on the roof of Garage 14, plugged into guitars and speakers. A crowd waited for Gainesville alternative band Crimson's album release party to start.
Crimson, a local college student band, began recording its newest album, “Cowabunga,” at Pulp Arts recording studio in March and is planning its official release mid-July.
The band was formed by lead singer Kevin Ayoub, a 19-year-old Santa Fe College psychology sophomore, while he was still in high school. A year and a half later, the band looks very different.
After high school, the members of the original Crimson group moved, and the current members, people Ayoub met in class or through the local music scene, slowly trickled in.
Now the group is made up of Ayoub, drummer Gray McNamara and two guitarists, Michael Palomares and Satoru Christman.
“Cowabunga” happened almost by accident, said Palomares, a 19-year-old Santa Fe music sophomore.
The band originally planned to record only a few songs. Once they started recording, they quickly realized they had a lot more music they wanted to share with their audience.
“I would say that this album was very free-form, and that was why I liked the ‘Cowabunga’ title,” Ayoub said, “because we were just chilling, having a good old time, you know, jamming.”
The band held a release party June 21 to celebrate the new album. A small crowd gathered around the performers, moshing or sitting farther back in chairs or on picnic blankets brought from home.
Tanuja Chummar, a 22-year-old UF food science senior, first saw Crimson perform in a benefit show at the Civic Media Center. She’s been coming to their shows ever since.
“I like the guitars,” Chummar said. “They have a six-string bass — that's pretty cool, that’s pretty unique.”
The band takes inspiration from its members' favorite genres and is influenced by everything from classic rock bands like Rush to indie artists like Mac DeMarco.
“It creates almost a unique sound, something that isn't easily replicated,” Palomares said.
As the sun set and lights across campus flickered on, the show finally started, kicked off by the opening performers, indie alt-rock band Dio and Friends and grunge band Lead Vase.
Crimson took the stage around 9:30 and played songs from “Cowabunga” and tracks they plan to release in the future.
Each song was entirely different. Some had the audience swaying quietly, while others, like their song "Pan," had the entire crowd dancing and moshing.
For its last song of the set, Crimson played “Born from Death,” one of their softer songs. The audience was asked to join the band members and sit together on the ground while they performed.
Crimson is planning to tour across other parts of Florida to celebrate the album and expand its audience. In addition to more Gainesville gigs, the group has shows set for Tampa and Boca Raton leading up to the album's full release.
Contact Brandy Sumner at bsumner@alligator.org.
Brandy Sumner is an anthropology and English junior and this summer's music and performance reporter. This is their first semester working at the Alligator. In their free time they enjoy playing guitar, reading and writing.
