Local band Jaded Fantasy headlined their first show, Color Contrast, at the House of Blues B-Side with supporting acts Shayna, Angel Groove, and Sound of Youth on March 8, 2020.
Jaded Fantasy originally started as a collective and eventually formed into a band. Prior to the group forming in December 2017, the members felt jaded needing a sense of direction in their lives and felt like they could do more than just going to school at UNLV and work. To them, the band itself and making it big was the fantasy.
Members include Jared Viray, Aisa Dimalanta, Jeremiah Delacruz, Christopher Ortega, Emmanuel Aleman, Sidney Phichith, James Chung, Joshua Viray, and Kyle Manaloto. The nine member band would describe their sound as a mix between a lot of different genres anywhere from alternative to R&B to hip hop but to them, they feel genreless. Their shared passion for music helped them release multiple singles and an EP.
“I think what led up to headlining a show was our hard work. I think it’s also the publicity we’ve been getting. We have a lot of supportive fans whether that be our family, friends, or people who just genuinely listen to our music,” said Jared Viray, founding member of Jaded Fantasy. “I think we have a lot of potential so headlining a show is the first big step for us and I feel like we earned it.”
To prepare for the show, the group practiced three to four hours every other day spending as much time as they can together as well as remixing their instrumentals to make sure they’re right.
“A typical rehearsal is usually meeting up at someone else’s house. We goof around for 30 minutes before we actually start, but once we do start, we run the set heavy. We usually run vocals first and then within another couple hours we add instruments like guitar and bass in. We figure out what we need to do and if we need to restart a song, we’ll restart a song,” said Viray.
The group has learned a lot from their past three performances as supporting acts. Despite technical difficulties to not being able to perform freely with stage space, they have figured out what they needed whether it was equipment wise or stage presence wise and projecting. They also want to enhance the audience’s experience watching their show by engaging with them
during every couple of songs asking the crowd how they’re doing.
“We all have our own different personalities with some of us being more reserved and some of us being more extroverted, I think that adds in getting the crowd into the specific vibe for each song whether it’s a song that’s really high energy someone with a high energy would probably talk to the crowd,” said Viray.
The venue was filled with people supporting local talent. Time and preparation in rehearsal and implementing what they have learned from past performances provided the audience with a high energy show. To them, headlining a show is a huge step in their direction turning their fantasy of making it big into a reality. As for what is in store for them in the future, new music, merch, and their website are in the works.
Jaded Fantasy can be found on social media @jaded_fantasy on Twitter and Instagram with music on all streaming platforms.
This story has been published on the UNLV Scarlet & Gray Free Press.
Comments