High Pulp Announce New EP Featuring Falon Sierra, JusMoni, and Shaina Shepherd

With the first days of near-blistering heat upon us, funk fusionists High Pulp have emerged from the basement to bestow upon us some fresh new summer jams. Teaming up with a trio of beloved Seattle musicians, the constantly evolving groovesters have announced that they’ll be releasing a string of singles over the course of the summer, adding up to an EP titled Light Fix.

The core members on the upcoming EP are Antoine “sous chef” Martel, Rob “bobbygrooves” Granfelt, Andrew “Deemo” Morrill, Scott Rixon (bass), Gehrig Uhles (Guitar), Rob Homan (Keyboards), and Victory Nguyen (Tenor Sax & Flute), making High Pulp more like a collaborative collective than an insular family. Last year, they released their debut album Bad Juice, which premiered on KEXP. Since then, the band has been playing a steady stream of shows around Seattle, bringing their improvisational 60s and 70s-inspired sound to the forefront of the Seattle scene.

Light Fix sees appearances by R&B/soul singers and KEXP favorites Falon Sierra on the song “Glow”, Shaina Shepherd of Bearaxe featured on “Broken Little Dolls”, and JusMoni collaborating on “Not By Chance.” Look out for “Broken Little Dolls” in late June, “Glow” in August and “Not By Chance” in September. KEXP asked each of the artists to describe the songs to us, ahead of their releases this summer.

Alongside the announcement, the band is sharing a “family photo” featuring nearly every one that’s ever played in or collaborated with High Pulp since its inception in 2015. Granfelt had this to say about the importance and making of the picture:

“The family photo was an idea that we had after being asked countless times about who was officially in the band. This was always a reasonable question because depending on the gig, and different scheduling constraints, we would need to find subs/alternate players. After a while, we stopped thinking about this as a band with rigid members, and more as a collective. We tried to embrace the difference in sound depending on who was playing with us from day to day. The beauty of jazz and improvisational music is that swapping individuals in and out is something that can be celebrated and, in our case, has added to the depth of our sound. this photo features everyone that has played with us since our inception, with exception of our three friends Chris CD Littlefield, Samantha Boshnack, and Victor Puentes - three wonderful trumpet players that couldn’t make the shoot. That said 19/22 isn’t too bad with everyone’s busy schedule!!!”

In the family photo you have (L to R):

Victory Nguyen (Tenor Sax)
Walter Torres (Percussion)
Raphael Zimmerman (Trumpet)
Shaina Shepherd (Vocals)
Phil Homan (Lights)
Drew Pine (Live Sound+Mixing Engineer)
Etri Ajbour (Percussion)
Jerome Smith (Trombone)
Alex Dugdale (Trumpet)
Andrew Morrill (Alto Saxophone)
JusMoni (Vocals)
Gehrig Uhles (Guitar)
Scott Rixon (Bass)
Rob ‘bobbygrooves’ Granfelt (Drums)
Greg Kramer (Trombone)
Rob Homan (Keys)
Isaac Poole (Trombone)
Falon Sierra (Vocals)
Antoine ‘sous chef’ Martel (Keys)

High Pulp is embarking on the Bad Juice Tour this summer, with a kickoff show in Seattle tomorrow, Friday, June 14, at Chop Suey and ending on Saturday, July 6 in Spokane at Lucky You Lounge. Find their full list of dates here. Below, watch Falon Sierra and JusMoni’s KEXP in-studio performances.