About

…the Sonic Castaways…

The Sonic castaways is a Washington D.C. based band that started their musical journey in 2016
Guitarist and singer/songwriter Alejandro Cortes is the first founding member of what was originally called ‘Naufragos del Sonido’, later translated to English as Sonic castaways. Alejandro (Alex – ‘El Gato’) Cortes was born and raised in the South of Spain and lived in Madrid for many years. As a teenager he fell in love with Classic Rock and Blues, dreaming to be like Bruce Springsteen, Mark Knopfler or Eric Clapton.
These styles blended in his head with other sounds that would come naturally to him as he was exposed to them while growing up like Mediterranean Rumba or Flamenco.
While living in Madrid, Alex collaborated in several musical projects with international artists that expanded his musical range, playing Rumba, Folk, Funk, Reggae and learning from every musician that he had the chance to jam with.

In 2012, Alex moved to the US and slowly started building a new life. For a while, he focused on completing old material and started putting into music and words all the new ideas and feelings that he was experimenting in his new journey.
He started attending open mics in the DMV area and jamming with local musicians, slowly getting into the DMV music scene.
It was in 2016, at the old 7DrumCity rehearsal place on U street, where Alex ended up jamming with two guys, Dan Aaron (Drummer) and Jack Froude (guitar) in one of the potlucks that 7DrumCity typically hosts. It was instant chemistry and they all knew that they had to explore that connection further.
Dan came from a very different musical background as a Jazz drummer, but he would play Rumba and Bossa like a natural. Because of his groove and energy in the live shows, he was nicknamed ‘The generator’. Jack’s background was Blues and Classic Rock, which was the perfect complement for the fusion project that Alex had in mind. Jack’s punchy and powerful licks granted him the title of ‘The switchblade’.
After several months operating with an acoustic line-up (Cajon, Spanish guitar, Acoustic guitar), a new addition came to close the circle. Brad Warren, ‘La Pantera Negra’, was the ‘What Brave Soul’ band bassist that Dan and Jack where also part of. Brad’s musical background was Motown and progressive rock and his killer bass lines where exactly what the band needed to move on to the next level.
It was a fun way to put it, calling the band ‘Sonic Castaways’ was a way to highlight how eclectic and different each band member’s musical styles where and at the same time, the struggle to make something unique out of it and the adventure of doing so!. With this line-up, the band has been gigging the DMV playing in classic venues like Tropicalia, Bossa Bistro, Vinyl Lounge at Gypsy Sally’s, Velvet Lounge, Marx Cafe, Haydee’s… for over a year and a half. The newest addition to the Castaways family is David ‘El Tumbao’ Foreman, bringing the party and the Caribbean soul on the Congas.