The Mansfield-native band, La Belafonte, has decided to reunite for one night of “nostalgic fun” on Jan. 5 at Relax, It’s Just Coffee in downtown Mansfield. Miguel Arcero (drums), Michael Davanzo (bass/vocals), and Charlie Finn (guitar/vocals), banded together in Dec. of 2011 and played a handful of shows around Mansfield for six months before they all went separate ways for college.
Finn, the band’s front man, has been living in Australia at Hillsong International Leadership College for the last year. He plans on acquiring a Bachelor’s Degree in Contemporary Ministry. Arcero and Davanzo are both attending The Ohio State University in Columbus for Engineering and English respectively.
Before going back to school, the three decided to play a show for their close friends and family, along with local outfit Narrow/Arrow and Michigan band Moses. “We’re excited to get back and play again,” said Finn.
The trio’s music reflects a broad pallet of musical tastes, but according to Finn, it comes together nicely because they all want to achieve the same sound. “We’re all just guys that could just jam all day and make stuff up all day. So it works really well for us,” said Finn. He compares the band’s music resembles bands like Manchester Orchestra, Band of Horses, and any other independent rock groups.
According to Finn, the three have always been friends growing up. They all knew each other through music activities and always imagined playing and jamming together.
“One day we just decided to jam and had a good time. So we decided to start a band,” said Finn. After their memorable jam session, the trio decided to form a band and name it based on their favorite Wes Anderson 2004 flick, The Life Aquatic.
Their music came naturally to them as they would jam in basements. It is reminiscent of early 2000s rock, which is an era of music they all appreciate. Finn described their music as “clean guitar with a little reverb, and bass and drums. It’s just simple, and I think that’s what we liked about it because it sorta reminded us of those days (early 2000s).”
Finn grew up around music because his father, Scott Finn, is a musician. During elementary school, Charlie learned to play the drums, and from there and into middle school, guitar and piano. He started singing in eighth grade and has had a long-term involvement with music in church.
“I’ve always been involved with music in church. Most of my writing was outside of church. And I did a lot of solo performing before starting the band,” said Finn.
Finn does most of the lyrical writing and shared that lyrics reflect themes of hope rooted in his religious faith. While he is also the only one in the band who professes to have religious faith, Finn says groups’ diversity is not a point of tension.
“They’re the coolest guys in the world and totally respectful guys. They’ve always known me to be a Christian. It’s never been something I’ve tried to hide,” said Finn.
Although Finn said joining together in the future would be “the dream,” La Belafonte does not talk about the future often. They have joked about possibly sending music files through email like the modern day version of the band The Postal Service. For now, however, they are mostly concerned with living in the moment and enjoying the sounds they collaboratively create as friends and co-lovers of music.
“Just the moment of jamming in the basement and a song being formed; for the love of that moment. For the love of that moment we’ll have here on Sunday, where all our families will be here, all our best friends will be here. We’re playing old songs we wrote together that will remind us of an older time,” said Finn.
Local music fans can head out to Relax, It’s Just Coffee on Sunday night, Jan. 5, to enjoy the moment with La Belafonte, Narrow/Arrow and Moses. For more information on La Belafonte, visit their Facebook page and Bandcamp page. For directions and more details on the show, visit the Facebook page.
