Summer Fling On Their Origins, New Music, and Navigating a Seven-Piece Group.

Summer Fling perfectly intertwines jazz, pop, and funk to create their upbeat groovy sound. The goal for their seven-piece live performances around New York City? Have fun. And they do just that. The band is composed of Eddie Kam (vocals), Evan Macaluso (guitar), Dani Johnson (bass), TJ Milan (sax), James Jimbo Worsey (trumpet), Grant Tucker (alto sax), and Balam Sarellano (drums). Their music includes eccentric horn solos and guitar riffs, an unshakable rhythm section, and vocals with a perfectly sliding range. Not only do they include improvised sections during all their gigs, but they put on a show. We sat down with Summer Fling ahead of the release of their latest single, “Blissful Haze.” 

Let's start back from the beginning. The band formed in 2020. Can you talk about how you all met and how the band originally formed?

Eddie: So it originally was formed in Westchester, New York, and it was originally Evan, myself and Grant. And we all grew up in Larchmont, New York. We formed the band there. We were playing on the street corners busking in front of Groove, this children's music center in our town. So we played gigs there and we played one gig and that was it. And we only kind of did it in the summer right out of high school. And then it's evolved a lot since then. 

Evan: I was there from pretty early on, but not the very, very beginning. I mean, I was there since the beginning of it being Summer Fling. At that point it was both us and Grant and a couple other people who were coming in and out. We had a different drummer, a different guitarist. And from there, I think it wasn't until you (Eddie) started going to school that we started doing more gigs in the city. 

Eddie: We all kind of went to different colleges and some of the people who were originally in the band went to colleges that were in Texas and California and stuff. And so we couldn't really do the band. Then it kind of evolved once I went to school in the city.

Dani: I met Eddie before he went to The New School. He went to City College for a year maybe, and we had a class together.

Jimbo: I initially joined in summer of 2020 as a sub for Grant. And then when Grant came back, we started doing two horns, and I joined because I knew Evan. And then Evan recommended me to Eddie because we both went To New School together.

Evan: And TJ showed up on our doorstep. 

TJ: I think me and Balam are the most recent members of the group, and I came in 21 or 22. Yeah, 22. Was it 22? Do you know when I joined? I don't quite remember that. 

Eddie: I don't know. I think you subbed.

TJ: It was similar to a Jimbo. I subbed for Grant. No, I didn't even, I came in as a guest originally. I do my own music, and I came in as a guest and I was like, “this is just a lot of fun.” I was really silly and goofy and I really wanted an outlet to just kind of be silly and goofy. I tend to make very serious music otherwise. I really appreciate Eddie for giving me that space to just kind of be silly. In our, most of the advertising stuff we do is just kind of me berating Eddie. It's pretty good. It's fun. 

Evan: We found that that's what sells for sure. 

Photo via Tori McGraw (@afterr.hourrs)

I want to talk about your last single “Aim Well,” which came out in May of 2022. I thought it had a really nice soothing intro and intermissions of solos. Lyrically, what was the meaning behind the song?

Eddie: I had a friend and I didn't know if I should ask her out. I didn't know if she was going to ask me out. And so I kind of wrote a song that was a little bit kind of like, “aim well or amen.” Meaning, is this going to happen or is this not going to happen? And so that's kind of what that song is about. It's really evolved since we released it a couple years ago. That song came about, and it was with the original formation of the band, much smaller. I think there were four of us at the time. It wasn't the current formation and it has a bit more lo-fi kind of vibes. Since then it's become a little bit more deranged. There's a lot more dancing, there's a lot more crazy noises. Some of the fun things about writing in this band is that I'll write something, or Evan will write something, and it will be something that's really meaningful or personal. And then it's like, “okay, how do we make this fun?” “Aim Well” has taken on a life of its own, and I wrote it about the indecisions, the not knowing which way things are going to go. 

To go back a bit, “Black Elephant,” your EP in October of 2021. I really liked the song and how it's almost like a darker, heavy jazz song. Sonically, how do you work in all the elements when you're creating a song and find where everyone fits? I know that song was with a different group, but even now, how does that work out for you guys?

Eddie: We all kind of have different genres of music that maybe we would even say are our main genres of music that we live in. I know TJ and Jimbo can both speak a little bit more about that, but they'll come from different elements of music. They'll bring their own element and that's what I think makes it a really cool sound.

Jimbo: I mean outside of this, I mostly do more improvised music and work with electronics and other things. I approach this not really from a pop or rock type background. And so I guess between the three horns, there's Grant, TJ and I, and each one of us comes from a slightly different background. 

TJ: So I guess it is weird because I have an ADHD brain when it comes to music, so I kind of make a very wide swath of things. I don't exactly know what element I bring to this group. I'm just kind of unhinged and silly I guess. So I come from a very kind of hip hop into free jazz background, which is a weird sort of way of phrasing that. My music also tends to be very cultural, so I come from that kind of background. So especially rhythmically, I bring sort of, I'll just say brown people elements into the group. There's literally no other way for me to phrase that. 

Dani: I do a lot of  pop, rock, and jazz, funk, a lot of that sort of thing.

Eddie: We all studied at jazz schools.

Evan: Yeah, that's all I was going to say too. I think you (Eddie) maybe have the clearest pop sensibility. I feel like you're leading the pop direction of the band, but the rest of us originally came from improvisational backgrounds one way or another. Which is interesting in this case, applying it in a pop context because it comes out more as silliness or kind of improvised bits or the horn section dancing. Regardless of whether it's serious or not, it is improvised. 

Photo via Tori McGraw (@afterr.hourrs)

Your new song is coming out in two days, “Blissful Haze.” I noticed this brighter sound and just a little bit more upbeat than maybe what you have released right now. I’m interested in the process behind creating that song.

Eddie: We've evolved as a band. We've played a lot more shows and this was part of an album that we recorded, so this is the first single off that. We recorded it last fall. At that point as a group we’d played over 35 times. We were kind of much more confident to play with each other and know the songs. There's a larger group, there's seven of us now and it used to be four. We wanted different sounds on the album itself. I would say out of all the songs on the album, that one is the most pop. This is a song we're really looking forward to releasing  and it was a good time. 

Evan: Yeah, I'm trying to remember exactly how it came about. I think it was the second song that we ended up really writing for the album. The album has seven songs. 

TJ: I think regarding the silly energy and whatnot, this more broadly pertains to the album recording style or whatever. We basically lived together for three days. Grant and I slept in the same room, and he would just tell me about his dreams all the time. So the band was definitely kind of on that path to becoming unhinged. The actual process of recording I think solidified us as being as unhinged as possible. We were all cooped up in a little house and delirious. We just kind of went kooky and crazy. From there I think that sort of solidified the relationship that we all have with one another. And that sort of created the energy that then became the album and then became the branding. 

Dani: The version now is very different from the version even a year ago. I don't know when we first played that song, but we played it for a long time and then we recorded it. Things just kind of develop sort of naturally and then into something that's I think a better version over time. 

TJ: I think we just learned how to loosen up around each other, and then we brought that energy out into everything we did. 

Dani: Also, I said 2020 that I joined. That's totally wrong. It's 2022 for sure. 

TJ: If you joined in 2022, there's no way I joined 2021. We really just kind of appeared in the band at some point. I think 2022, 2023 maybe?

Eddie: I asked Dani to join the band because she was a TA in my class. And she was playing bass in my vocal performance class, and I thought she was a great bass player, and I was too nervous to ask her. So I emailed the teacher. No it's really loser behavior. I was like, “I'm too nervous. What if she says no? She's going to laugh at me and think that I'm not good at music.” And the teacher gave me Dani's email, and then I wrote Dani and she said yes. 

TJ: Do you (Balam) remember when you joined this band? 

Balam: Around this time last year. 

Photo via Tori McGraw (@afterr.hourrs)

You said that your goal is to “deliver an unforgettable show while spreading heartfelt music of love, inclusivity, and electrifying horn solos.” So in your opinion, what do you think draws people to your shows?

Evan: Bribery. It's kind of back to the improvisational thing again. I feel like we come from a world where groups play songs and it's sort of a typical song structure one after another. We're not alone in this, but we approach it with more flexibility, and you ultimately don't entirely know what you'll see. We like to try and keep it open with guests and covers and antics. 

TJ: I think it's really the antics. The antics bring people in and then the music makes people stay.

What do you want people to take away from your music?

Eddie: I would say, just have fun. There's a lot going on all the time. Everything's stressful. Everyone's lives are stressful and this is a very good outlet, both as an audience member and as a member of this band. Just put on a good show, have fun, and have a good night. I think that that's kind of a big motivating factor in when we perform. 

Evan: I think it's a success whenever we have a gig where people want more from us by the end. You hope that in doing an hour long set or however long it ends up being, that it feels shorter than that. You want the audience to think that you've been there for a shorter amount of time than they have been. It's escapism. You want people to get wrapped up in it and invested in us.

Dani: I think I would second what Evan said, escapism. I like playing with this band a lot because it's just fun. I hope others that watch us do as well.

TJ: It is not just the energy and it's not just the shows. I think when you get down to it, the music is all about heartbreak and shit. Okay, all the music is not about heartbreak, but a good portion of the music is about sort of the pains of life and whatnot. But it's framed in such a positive way, and it's okay that these things exist. Fucking, you can't have a joy without sadness.

Follow Summer Fling on Spotify, Instagram, and their website for more information. Stream their latest single, “Blissful Haze,” here.