First Fall

After considering the unthinkable possibility that the music dream in his life may had come to an abrupt halt, guitarist David Larrea “by chance” meets drummer Gerardo Cisneros while attending a college class in late 2006. It would not be until a few months later that Larrea would contact Cisneros to express the need to get together, share some music and eventually form First Fall.

Each member who makes up the kinetic, genre-bending band, First Fall, has a few things in mind and spirit when they create their unique brand of music. These inherently include a strong work ethic and what it truly means to dive into their furthest artistic depths for a greater purpose and the best music possible. Like some of the great musicians who inspire First Fall, such as Dave Matthews Band, Santana and Maroon 5, their work continuously feeds their souls and minds. Conversely, their beliefs and strong spirituality also supports their fine output of jazz-infused alt-contemporary rock – and has for years.

Founding members, guitarist and singer/songwriter David Larrea and drummer/songwriter Gerardo Cisneros, as well as keyboardist Marvin Espinoza, piano player Adam Coronado and bassist/vocalist Joe Esparza were all raised in Southern California. Many grew up with a panoply of rich family heritage, active musician relatives and a community abounding in cultural arts.

Many of the members of First Fall have led successful musical lives before their formation of the band. David Larrea, after having played with several touring acts, led the rock outfit Handfed, which released one LP and one EP with the great television placement success of such songs as “In The Day,” “Won’t You,” and “Return” for hit series like NBC’s ROAD TO IRONMAN, MTV’s SURF GIRLS and Warner Brothers’ HIGH SCHOOL REUNION, as well as co-headlined the massive Expo Rock international music festival in Guadalajara, Mexico with the band Control Machete. Gerardo Cisneros founded and played drums for the popular Latin ska band La Banda Skalavera, which toured internationally and played on multi-regional television programs. Joe Espraza, friends with Gerardo since high school, played with regional bands before playing at the Grand Olympic Auditorium in 2006 with such acts as Paulino Bernal and Rosie Garcia. Other band members have acted as sound engineers, recording artists and live players in many other active musical groups or organizations over the years.

Today, Gerardo, David, Marvin, Joe, and Adam are able to weave their collective long musical histories and varied interests into the distinct sound of First Fall. Founded in 2007, First Fall is already on the way to reaching live wide audiences with their distinct music. First Fall recently played the Miami Music Festival in December 2009 with such acts as RCA’s 2AM Club and Jared Evan. In Los Angeles, First Fall played live for a full house at the legendary House of Blues venue on Sunset Boulevard.

Gerardo, David and several members of the band have described their songwriting and recording process as organic and evolutionary. For songs like “No Strings Attached,” David simply began with a chord progression that he had written, which was then followed by a lyric writing session with members of the band. In other cases, the entire band essentially jammed to arrive at a hook strong enough to lay a chorus down on top of. Sometimes, it is the need for the utterance truth and resolution. “One day at I.H.O.P., of all places, I was overcome by a sweeping heavy emotional moment and simply had to write down the words that were in my head. My wife understood the urgency of this and handed me a pen and paper and I began to write. This would later become the verses and chorus for our new single,” David explained. “It’s about understanding and engaging with one’s life and realizing that there is something better to life right now. It is a song about waiting to be touched spiritually.”

After countless rehearsals and several other live shows, First Fall entered the studio to record what will be their debut EP, entitled TUNNELS. Producer, singer and songwriting musical pioneer Hugo Larrea, father of David Larrea, led the production and the recordings at Tabernacle Sound Lab. Hugo provided an enormous contribution to First Fall’s unique sound. He spent several months with the band, openly challenging their choices, refining their tracks and only settling on the best material. Gerardo Cisneros similarly describes the band’s approach. “First Fall has to make high quality music that audiences can relate to. We have to earn the right to be heard.” Before being heard, their two recently released singles were mixed by producer/mixer Tim Palmer, who has mixed albums for such internationally prominent Grammy Award-winning bands or soloists as U2, Pearl Jam and Jason Mraz. The tracks were all mastered by Stephen Marsh, who has mastered the recordings of such acts as Incubus, The Donnas, Jeff Beck, Los Lobos and dozen