SoundsL!ke

SoundsL!ke is the musical pairing of Nani Ferreira-Mathews and Ian Elkind, of Brooklyn, New York. As guitarist and lead singer, Nani leads the band’s spirited songs with a raspy and rooted voice. Each song is a creative excursion on the guitar that is paired precisely to the calculated and rhythmic beats created by Ian on drums. With the added bonus of Ian’s pop punk voice as second vocalist, SoundsL!ke makes a lot of noise for just two people.

Nani’s musical journey started at the age of eight at a smoke filled bar in a small Georgia town. Hanging out with her mom and dad at their workplace was a regular happening. One evening, with her feet dangling from a bar stool, and sipping on a Shirley Temple and humming along with the jukebox, one of the regulars leaned over and slid an old gray guitar pick toward her. “You should play guitar one day,” he said as he passed on his guitar pick to her. Nani took the gift, went home and saved that very special pick in a safe place. At the age of 16, Nani purchased her first guitar and pulled the old pick out of the bottom of a jewelry box and began to teach herself from an old guitar book.

Since then, songwriting and singing have been part of Nani’s everyday life. Taking notes from her work in journalism, the lyrical content is often informative and always explorative, rhyming words that shouldn’t rhyme and singing every line from the darkest corners of her lungs.

Nani moved from Atlanta to Brooklyn in 2010 to pursue love and dabbled in playing out in the NYC music scene. Challenged for the first time to arrange songs for public listening, Nani began to flourish as a performer and musician. When the love she flew to the city for had run out, music was still there to console her. She was asked by a fellow musician a few months into her arrival in NYC if she came here for music, Nani responded, “No, music is my mistress.” Less than two years later, the music is her main love. Any listener can hear the making of a romantic journey of art and passion in the cryptic lyrics and crooning of this rich vocalist.

Ian began learning piano at the age of 8. He picked it up quickly by simply listening and recreating the tones with ease on the black and white keys. He played classical masterpieces with grace, but after each lesson he would turn on his favorite bands and long to create a more rocking sound. Knowing that classical piano would never give him the rush he felt when listening to lead guitar riffs and popular music composition, he left the piano bench for good and picked up the electric guitar. After years of classical piano, he had his first guitar lesson at age 14.

Electric guitar gave Ian the satisfaction that the piano never could. His guitar teacher pushed him to be a very calculated and meticulous player and began recording their sessions for Ian to listen back to. Within a few months of lessons, Ian became infatuated with the science of sound. Guitar lessons soon turned into recording and production sessions. Ian took his playing to new levels while learning how to manipulate sounds in these recording sessions. Two years later, at only 16 years old, Ian had met another one of his teacher’s students and they formed a band.

After years of playing in multiple bands and cultivating a completely different sound, Ian made a name for himself as the front man of Brooklyn's punk band New Atlantic Youth. (NAY) Still fascinated with the science of sound, Ian recorded and produced two EP’s for NAY.

Having a knack for picking up instruments quickly, Ian would spend hours of his free time on the drums working on complicated rhythms and getting a workout. Eventually he created his own style, which he describes as "maniacal but calculated."

SoundsL!ke formed out of challenge. Nani was looking for a drummer, not a guitarist, and plainly told Ian, "We won't work in a band." Ian reintroduced himself as a drummer saying, "You need a drummer right? I'm no drummer but it sounds like I play drums."
Smirking, Nani responded, "Well it sounds like I play guitar. I guess we'll be called Sounds Like."