September 15, 2021
When it comes to majors-focused courses in San Diego State, individuals are surrounded by peers who share similar interests.
It is the story of a group of five students who met in class and who all had something in common: the love of music.
Saint Luna Band is a modern-classic alternative, independent and psychedelic rock band based at SDSU, featuring Bradyn Jace (singer / guitarist), Max Katz (bass / vocalist), Charlie Black (guitarist), Paarsa Heidari (drums) and Wick Hauser (guitarist).
Heidari, Katz, Jace, and Black all met in class in the fall of 2019, long before COVID-19 changed the world.
Katz, wanting a performance aspect on campus, started “Sunset House” where he and other musicians played small “backyard concerts”. Katz’s idea inspired other members to get involved.
Stuck in quarantine due to COVID-19, the friends started a group chat, sending videos of them playing music to each other. It was then that they started to think about forming a group.
“Max, Paarsa and I just played a day where we had all of our gear in the studio and something clicked,” Jace said.
Having all been in bands before, they soon realized they needed another guitarist, so they invited Black to join them. It didn’t take long for the newcomer to fit into the group’s world.
“Our fifth member, Wick, we found him on TikTok, so we posted one of our songs and he covered it,” Jace said. “Then we sent him a DM a month or two later, like ‘You wanna come jam?’ and he said yes.
The members initially said it was just something to do, just to play together and have fun. The musical abilities of each member brought something new to the workouts.
After the lockdown was lifted, SDSU helped the group secure a gig at a bar in El Cajon in May, where they performed in a corner of the room and students came out to support them. Since then, the group has been grateful to have the opportunity to have this “real group experience”.
“We love live music and were happy it was back,” said Heidari.
Saint Luna’s unique sound makes them eager to show off their talent as well as to experiment and change with each new song they produce.
“When we play live, we want to make sure we play things live,” Katz said. “We don’t play backing tracks or anything wrong, whatever we do, we do.”
The group had the opportunity to produce music in real studios through school connections and to record singles with professional equipment.
“Now that we’ve been to all of these studios and worked with a lot of really cool people and great equipment, we’ve been able to learn what we want and how to do it,” Katz said.
Saint Luna is hoping to grow up with the San Diego scene, however, they say they’re not too excited about an album just yet. The group said they have many singles in the queue, awaiting release.
The group’s goal is to go on tour and open for a better-known group as a starter. Saint Luna already has a fairly massive audience with 43.3,000 subscribers on TIC Tac and more than 4K on Instagram.
“Not only were we making music, we were proud of what we were doing,” Jace said.
Their new single will be released on September 17 and a live show on October 2 at Soma San Diego for all ages, tickets can be found on Saint Luna’s website or on Soma website.
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