Photo courtesy of The Suffers
In short, The Suffers are far from suffering. This loud and proud ten-piece soul band from Houston released its debut EP “Make Some Room” in January of this year to a resounding “finally” from local fans waiting anxiously for the group to make its mark.
Lead singer and the only woman in the group Kam Franklin explains, “We came together in 2011, but it took us awhile to release our own EP, mostly because we wanted to make sure we were delivering the level of instrumentation that we knew we were capable of.”
The wait was worth it—and since then, The Suffers have had the opportunity to share their first set of original songs on tour, with performances ranging in size from intimate venues to large-scale festivals.
The group is defined by strong rhythm and horns sections and comprises musicians Nick Zamora (drums), Kevin Bernier (guitar), Jon Durban (trumpet), Jose “Chapy” Luna (percussion), Michael Razo (trombone), Cory Wilson (saxophone), Adam Castaneda (bass), Alex Zamora (guitar) and Pat Kelly (keyboard). Franklin’s massive voice soars impressively over the ensemble.
Franklin explains, “The band was started by Castaneda, but I don’t think he originally intended to have this many people involved. He planned for it to be a reggae jam band that got together for weddings here and there, but it evolved instead into what it is now.”
The Suffers’ uniquely contemporary jazzy, soulful sound is the result of the performers’ home base. Franklin says, “The inspiration for what we call ‘Gulf Coast soul’ is the city of Houston and the people that live there. There are so many different cultures and nationalities here that you can’t help but draw something from all of them.” The result is a combination of blues, soul, Caribbean music, country and even hip-hop at varying proportions throughout the EP. Franklin says, “Recently, I met a man while we were playing in Washington who said we sounded like a cross between Chaka Khan and Chicago - I'll take that.”
The band’s creative process for new songs starts when one musician comes into studio with a bare bones idea. The rest of the group will jam out to that original idea, and Franklin may even write harmonies and melodies on the spot.
The final lyrics are usually more premeditated, crafted by Franklin based on a variety of life experiences. She says, “I’ve learned that it’s usually not what I’m going through right in that moment, but more a reflection of what I’ve just gone through in the past or inspiration from people I talk to. My girlfriends and family are huge parts of my day-to-day life that keep me going, so the lyrics sometimes come from conversations with them.”
The name of the group comes from an old Jamaican movie called The Rockers, described as a reggae interpretation of the Robin Hood myth. A group of Jamaican musicians trying to get even with the mafia types in the business call themselves The Sufferers in the film, but, Franklin says, “we thought 'The Suffers' was simpler.”
The group’s unusually large size has proven an advantage at music festivals with huge stages and crowds placed several yards away. Franklin says, “The bigger the stage, the better for us. We’re really able to fill out the space and the sound.”
Because so many of the acts sharing the stage with The Suffers at festivals like LouFest are based in pop or indie rock, the group also enjoys bringing neo-soul to a younger demographic with less previous exposure to the genre.
“Expect a combination in our set of old stuff and new stuff, and we usually throw in one cover," Franklin says. "We like people to leave feeling like they’ve had a fun time. You go to our shows and dance and forget about why you were mad when you were driving over or what you were mad about at work that day. Expect a very loud singer and a very good time.”
The Suffers perform Sunday, September 13 at 2:30 p.m. For more information, visit loufest.com.
