SPAM ALLSTARS
Say what you will about South Florida’s flighty reputation, the flux created by this region’s migratory habits — its status as a hub of the Antilles and the Americas — is a huge driver of cultural exchange. It’s also why no distinct musical identity has ever completely taken root. Rumba, pop, rap, punk, disco and even country — many genres are represented. It is that variety and resiliency that stands in for the idea of a unified “Miami sound.”
So it’s no surprise that when asked by PureHoney how his Miami band has reflected its surroundings over two decades-plus, Andrew “DJ Le Spam” Yeomanson exclaims “like one of those crazy funhouse mirrors!” The band is Spam Allstars and like the name implies, they’re an aggregate — a supergroup in a can that you crack open for body-moving beats and eclectic, intelligent sound.
SPAM ALLSTARS
Yeomanson began as a solo DJ but gradually added players, and the project evolved into an ensemble that cross-wires turntablism and the power of the descarga — the jam. Spam Allstars have issued six albums. The latest, 2017’s “Trans-Oceanic,” boasts a beautiful Francesco Lo Castro cover and six fully-realized, funkified Afro-Cuban acid-jazz bangers. It’s an amazing feat of output given Yeomanson’s prodigious work as a collector, restorer and reissuer of classic recordings, and as a producer of various acts, through his City of Progress studio in North Miami.
“The past few years I have spent a lot of time working with other artists on their music,” he says, “so it’s easy for the band to get sidelined.” But he’s quick to reassure that at least another album’s worth of Spam Allstars material is already recorded.
The rest of current lineup is a veritable murderer’s row of South Florida talent: Chad Bernstein on trombone, Jose Elias and Aaron Lebos on guitars, AJ Hill on saxophone, Tomas Diaz on percussion and vocals, Ted Zimmerman on trumpet and Tony Smurphio on synthesizer.
Whenever they hit a stage, they get right to work on a Miami sound that is constantly evolving and accessible to all. “Playing music is sacred to me,” Yeomanson says. “It’s always going to be part of my life.”
Spam Allstars perform on September 7 at Voltaire in West Palm Beach. spamallstarsbiz.com ~ Abel Folgar
