This week’s featured band is Beatbeat Whisper, the Oakland duo of siblings Davyd and Ayla Nereo. The group’s self-titled debut has been championed by a number of critics, taken by their intuitive use of sound and space to craft full, strong melodies from, at most, two voices and sparse instrumentation. Ayla and Davyd describe the sound as “folk-ish”, with that “-ish” incorporating a variety of pop and rock influences that further set them apart from a more traditional folk setup.

It’s a surprisingly unified and consistent sound from a band with two individual songwriters, both of whom continue to also work on solo projects alongside the band. It’s also a sound that continues to grow and develop. In our interview a couple of weeks ago, the group discussed the exciting challenges of writing new songs together and involving collaborators and new instruments.

Beatbeat Whisper brought their guitars to The Bay Bridged Studios for an exclusive live performance prior to the interview. We’ve included a few songs from that terrific performance along with a couple of others in the show.

We’re excited to present Beatbeat Whisper’s next show at the Starry Plough in Berkeley next weekend:

Saturday, February 9th
The Starry Plough
8:30pm, $8
with Or, the Whale and Emily Jane White
presented by The Bay Bridged and ipickmynose

You can check out more Beatbeat Whisper at their web site and MySpace page. The band’s self-titled album is available here and on iTunes. The band is also featured on the Digital Cloud Records compilation Firsts, which can be purchased in our store.

Thanks for listening!

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