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Behind the Synth: Close The Distance Chat NAMM 2020
Blake chats with Honolulu-based band Close The Distance.
During NAMM 2020 Blake chatted with Close The Distance (formerly EMKE), an Alternative Rock band from Honolulu, Hawaii during NAMM 2020. The group features sisters, Kira (lead guitar/vocals) and Ezri (bass/vocals) Santos, and Payton Sekigawa (drums). Kira, Ezri and Peyton all teach at Hawaii MusicWorks, the family music school, and perform all over the Honolulu area. The Yamaha MODX figures prominently into their sound. "I feel like ever since we got the MODX we've actually been songwriting differently. Usually we write separately and then come together and collaborate on the idea. We actually wrote our song 'Back to Life' together, and it all just started with sounds on the MODX". Check out Blake's conversation with Close The Distance below:
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About the author
Yamaha Synthesizer Product Specialist Blake Angelos has over thirty years of experience with music hardware and software. An expert in music technology, Blake has conducted numerous clinics, master classes and presentations throughout the United States, Europe and Canada. In his role as Product Specialist for the Synthesizer Department Blake appears in many product videos and artist interviews, writes many articles for YamahaSynth.com and co-hosts a regular Podcast called “Behind the Synth”.
Before his work with Yamaha, he taught music theory and jazz studies courses at Arizona State University; managed a technology-focused music store in Seattle and was a production supervisor at Microsoft, where he led a team that developed groundbreaking interactive music content for the Microsoft Network. Blake holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Northern Colorado and a Master of Music degree from Arizona State University. Blake currently resides in Bellingham, Washington with his family, and between his travels around the world for Yamaha, he performs as much as possible with several jazz and creative music groups in Bellingham, Seattle and other places in the Pacific Northwest.
