Mergence Adds "Surf-Samba" Track to Its Arsenal

By Anthony Sandoval Fri., Mar. 1 2013 at 7:00 AM

Categories: Carnaval Eléctrico

Continued from page 1

Roedl knows firsthand what the über-popular venue is like when the music moves to the parking lot outside. Barely six months after from the two-day festival Los Dias de la Crescent (where he was one of the event's performers), he can still smell the braised pork belly and feel the electricity from the eager crowd.

"The first festival was pretty cool the way the whole thing was set up," he says. "I mean, how cool was that? And for them to contact us for the second one, it's just icing on the cake. When you look at the other bands that are on this and the fact that they're going to set up in the parking lot again, you just know this is a really cool bill."

So cool that they altered their schedule when the offer to perform came in.

"We have a nice Gmail calendar that we use to check everyone's availability, but that went out the window when this opportunity came about," he says. "This is one of those lifetime moments that make you feel good about what you do."

And what they've been doing is creating some buzz of their own throughout Southern California. Mergence spent most of their time last year writing and venturing into the L.A. area in hopes of spreading their sound and reaching a broader audience. If their last tour is any indication, things are looking pretty good.

"When we played in Costa Mesa, there was a whole group there that was singing along to our stuff," Roedl says. "We were just blown away that we were that far out from Phoenix and there were still that many people out there even though we've never played that town before. That was a pretty good feeling man."

Mergence is scheduled to take part in New Times' Carnaval Eléctrico at Crescent Ballroom on Friday, March 8.