Mortar and Pestle

Mortar and Pestle formed three years ago in Oakland, California with members Janaysa Lambert (vocals) and Paul Shinichi (keyboard) playing together after hearing each other at a friends warehouse party. Realizing they had something special, Janaysa and Paul wanted to push the sound even further. So they recruited Sean Paul Duke , a local drummer extraordinaire, with roots in metal and mathematics .
Painting with melodies, singing with story, their refinement captures raw emotion and vulnerability, while maintaining an unmistakable power and might. Mortar and Pestle's unique blend of soul, rock, pop, and dance is influenced by a wide range of genres and artists including: Radiohead, Mercury Program, Phantogram, Little Dragon, Bonobo, and Stereolab. Their sound carries the beauty and nature of the redwoods, ocean, and mountains surrounding them in the Bay Area, but delivers a knock out punch from the brick, grit, and smoke that is Oakland. The band will be recording their first full length album 'Electric Angel' in the spring of 2012.
To date they have played extensively in Oakland, San Francisco and surrounding Bay Area with plans of reaching wider audiences very soon .