The room vibrates with each note played; the light bounces off of the mirrors on the wall casting light and harsh shadows on the faces of the band members.
Just like a first class act, between four sound-proofed walls decorated with an array of fuzzy pink, leopard and zebra patterns; the rock band Real Fiction makes final adjustments to its three newest songs: “Otherside”, “Envy” and “Family.”
The atmosphere at the beginning of practice was light-hearted, but once the members grabbed their instruments it changed to one of complete professionalism as the band members made subtle changes to “Otherside.”
Real Fiction is a Torrance-based alternative rock band and two of its members are currently enrolled as students of El Camino (Lead guitarist Matthew Cruz, 22, linguistics major, and bassist Jack Curan, 25, undecided).
The band recently released a new music video for its single “I Want It” on YouTube Nov. 4 and the song was made available for purchase through iTunes and will be on Pandora and iHeartRadio soon, Cruz said.
Formed in 2012, the road to finding the current lineup has been long.
After losing the drummer and rhythmic guitarist, the band decided to look for members through Bandmix.com, which is a networking platform that helps connect local musicians who are seeking to join a band, Cruz said.
He added that the hardest part about starting off was “finding the right people that are as serious about our music as we are.”
Real Fiction has plans to start touring after February, the band is currently new music.
The current band lineup now consists of five members: lead guitarist Cruz, lead singer Christopher David, 28, Curan, drummer Esteban Carvajal, 23, and rhythm guitarist Abhinav, 28.
Although Cruz and Curan had previously worked together in a different band of the same name, the rest of the lineup met through Bandmix.com.
The band played a few shows together before hitting it off and clicking, Curan said.
Since then, Real Fiction has performed at Whisky a Go Go, St. Rocke and was “honored to play at The House of Blues on the Sunset Strip,” Cruz said.
Each member of the band has different sources of inspiration, from well-known rock names to different music genres and personal experiences.
“A lot of the stuff I write about is not really happy,” David said. “But I write a lot about personal experiences. I wrote the song ‘Family’ about the band.”
Real Fiction practices two to three times a week when scheduling allows, they said.
When band practice does begin, the joking is non-stop until the members pick up their instruments and begin to play.
“(The dream would be) to go on tour, show our music to the world and rock out,” Curan said.
Although they may very well be on their way to achieving their dreams of rocking out, they remain humble and level headed by maintaining their day jobs and teaching others how to play music.
“I want to give back to the people that gave to me,” Cruz said. “(Because) I also come from a family of musicians, (and) they are my real inspiration.”
