Countdown to the Sunset Strip Music Festival: Vanaprasta

Vanaprasta, a Los Angeles-based band that draws its musical influences from the past and the present and got its start at venues like the Airliner in L.A., will be performing at the Key Club on Saturday during the Sunset Strip Music Festival.

 "We're really excited for this show," said bassist Taylor Brown. "It's not every day you get to share a bill with a band like the Smashing Pumpkins. We genuinely love playing live--especially when the stage and setting is big. We like to rise to the occasion." 

Vanaprasta's sound is eclectic, energetic and soulful with some experimental rock, according to Brown. The bassist dubbed the word "Guitarwave" to describe it.

This year will mark the band members' second appearance at the Sunset Strip Music Festival; they played to a packed Viper Room last year. 

"We were still so young as a band," recalled Brown.

The musicians have worked hard over the past year to solidify themselves as a band, he said, and the Saturday slot at the festival puts them in a spotlight.

"We kind of recognize how quick everything has come for us and we're really grateful for the position we're in now," Brown said.  

The five-piece band formed in December 2008 and has already generated lots of buzz. Vanaprasta's website says it earned the L.A. Times Top Pick and the Examiner.com designated the band's forthcoming CD, Healthy Geometry, as one of the most anticipated albums of 2010.

Everyone in the band contributes to writing the music and lyrics of Vanaprasta's songs, and the result is somewhere between Radiohead and Modest Mouse. 

Healthy Geometry was recorded with the help of industry greats such as Manny Nieto (HEALTH, The Breeders) and Dave Cooley (Silversun Pickups, Local Natives). The band plans to release a seven-inch vinyl with its newest tracks, "Minnesota" and "Skinny State," on Sept. 27.  You can listen to the songs online on the band's website. 

"We've been playing a lot of shows and rehearsing a ton this summer…We're always writing new material," Brown said. "There's a possibility you might see something new at the Sunset Strip Music Festival."

As for the future, Brown said, "We want to travel the world and write and play music every day.  We're all best friends and very confident in one another, so we envision us doing this together for quite a while."

In addition to Vanaprasta's Sunset Strip Music Festival show, the band also plays every Monday at the Echo in their hometown of Silver Lake. Admission is free Mondays at the Echo.

Vanaprasta's set time is 5:20 p.m. Saturday at the Key Club.

For information about the Sunset Strip Music Festival, click here.