Actor Ezra Miller brings his band, Sons of an Illustrious Father, to Sister Bar
Sons of an Illustrious Father driven by ‘a lot of natural chemistry’
There’s a natural chemistry when Josh Aubin, Lilah Larson and Ezra Miller are in the same room.
It’s also the magic that brings Sons of an Illustrious Father to life.
“We have a lot of natural chemistry as musicians and musical minds and bodies and soul,” Miller says in an interview. “What we enjoy of connection is the fruit of a great effort to hold space as human beings.”
Larson says, “Most of the work is emotional labor, and it makes us function as a band and caring for one another.”
The three make up Sons of an Illustrious Father. The band will perform Monday, June 24, at Sister in Downtown Albuquerque.
The group started in 2009 as a duo and eventually grew to five members but has since settled on the three.
Each member writes and plays a little of everything, in addition to trading instruments and co-producing the music.
They describe the music as “genre queer” — a bit punk, a bit folk, a bit raw and a bit elemental.
The band recently released a cover of the Pussycat Dolls’ hit “Don’t Cha.”
Miller says a couple other releases and singles are forthcoming.
“Our next album and EP are in the works,” Miller says. “We continue to go write and home in on it. There is a body of work that is next.”
During the writing process, Larson says, time is a “predator.”
“One of the biggest obstacles is we have an unquenchable thirst and endless flow,” Larson says. “We are a huge part of our music, and our task is navigating and finding little pockets in which we can fulfill that urge.”
Miller agrees and says there is an inherent challenge with any relationship.
“When one person has a huge amount of vulnerability, it raises the ante,” Miller says. “I think we’re all in that process as individuals in the context of this band. It pushes each of us to feel deeper into our own expressions. When you witness your beloved friends in their most vulnerable, you want to show up to that table.”
Aubin says all the members have their own space before the show.
“I feel like me, personally, I take a lot of time to just sort of relax my mind in a certain way,” Aubin says.
The three are so connected that they sync their breathing before getting on stage.
“That’s been unchanging,” Larson says.