We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Buddha Jones And The Man. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Buddha Jones And The Man below.
Buddha Jones And The Man, thank you so much for taking the time to share your lessons learned with us and we’re sure your wisdom will help many. So, one question that comes up often and that we’re hoping you can shed some light on is keeping creativity alive over long stretches – how do you keep your creativity alive?
We try to keep learning to make new music that excites us. We’re also fans of each others’ playing and support each others’ new ideas and new directions. The excitement of never really knowing what comes next keeps us creative and in a place of constant change.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
The band was originally formed in 2013 by Tito Acevedo (vocals, guitar), joined by Ed Moreno (keys, vocals), Rudy Gonzales (percussion), Jesse Solorio (bass, vocals), Pat Diederichs (baritone sax), and Manu Gomez (drums), with Darnell Cole (guitar) jumping on board intermittently. We recently added Arturo Ramirez (tenor sax) to the roster. We also welcome a few of our musician friends to join us in the studio or on stage to collaborate with us.
Our goal is to create unique blend of afro-psychedelic, blues and funk-driven soul music that is familiar and completely new simultaneously. Our most recent album, “Ofrendas”, (released on Spotify in May) introduces elements of salsa, jazz, afrobeat, cumbia, and indigenous music inspired by our various cultural backgrounds.
Our focus moving forward is to continue gigging in Los Angeles and eventually hit the road again. We are also gearing up to write new music for another record to be produced in the fall for a winter release. At the moment, we have no idea what a new record would sound like and that’s very exciting.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
I think staying excited and engaged with our art is number one. Then having respect for each other and treating one another with integrity is important to keep us working in harmony as a unit. Then having no assumption or expectation of what success looks like, or how we get there. The act of creating has to be its own reward. Everything else that comes our way is a bonus that we meet with gratitude.
What is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?
We went through a significant line-up change recently that brought its share of challenges. Our new drummer, Manu, joined the band after our previous drummer and founding member, Adam, left the group after eleven years to focus on his personal life. There was no drama or blow out or anything like that. We’re still family and it’s all love between him and the band. We’re very grateful to have so many experiences and memories together. It was a definitely a test and a challenge to replace him, but luckily, Manu was available. Manu was the drummer in one of our favorite bands to gig with, Glifos. He was our first choice as a replacement and he jumped right in, bringing his own style and bright energy into the project. We’re thankful to have him on board. We were back to regular rehearsals in two weeks and back to gigging in about six. It’s safe to say it all worked out for everyone.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/buddhajonesandtheman/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@BJATM
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1ex1YeXuf1hj78YVOzQOgb?si=8AnWf-epQHqV8AbbKuJ5Lw
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