7 Come 11

Gianni Staiano knows his music history: he was raised on Sixties rock, studied classical music and jazz and, in his college years, fell hard for the boogaloo and funk made by the world famous Funky Meters. But the Santa Cruz, California-based musician is forever looking forward. “I’ve always been in love with the old stuff but I don’t want to make music that sounds like anything in the past,” the inventive musical savant says firmly. “I want to make something that sounds new. I want to do my own thing.” With the band’s EP Universe Out of Time, Staiano has done exactly that.

Learning to embrace the potential and push the limits and boundaries of his musical mind — and more specifically, how he can merge his classically-trained musical mind with new technology — has been a slow burn for Staiano, who attended the Berklee College of Music before studying jazz at San Diego State. “James Brown’s band used to get a lot of flack back in the Sixties because they weren’t playing the established form. Imagine that! It’s a fight you always have. But thankfully I have overcome the battle within myself to embrace all the new stuff and be more forward-thinking.”

Innovation smacks you in the face on 7 Come 11’s music, that whiplash mélange of futuristic funk is rushing head-on with fire in its eyes that calls to mind Herbie Hancock by way of Daft Punk. Most notably, 7 Come 11’s work is a sonic dance party.