![\"furcast](\"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/furcast_johann.jpeg\")
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Johann Carbajal of Furcast. Photo by Jasmine Maurie.<\/em> <\/p>\n There\u2019s an element of mystery that surrounds most great bands. For Furcast\u2014the up-and-coming experimental group that seamlessly blends psychedelia, hip hop, jazz and R&B\u2014being off-grid had never been intentional.<\/p>\n \u201cWe only just got \u2018social\u2019 this past year,\u201d said Johann Carbajal, the group’s multi-instrumental mastermind. \u201cWe were like, \u2018Man, how do you even do that?'”<\/p>\n They\u2019re performing more than ever before, in anticipation of several new releases this year: Tall Robot is reissuing the group\u2019s 2010 EP\u00a0Together\u00a0<\/em>on vinyl before summer, and the group will be self-releasing its debut album,\u00a0A Walk Through Hell,<\/em>\u00a0(partially\u00a0mixed by the late Ikey Owens) later this fall.<\/p>\n With a growing cast of fervent supporters across Long Beach and beyond, Furcast is rising to the top of the local music scene in spite of its members\u2019 admittedly introverted nature.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYou know how there\u2019s always that quiet one in the band that\u2019s not social but they\u2019re all about\u00a0the\u00a0instrument?\u201d Carbajal said with a laugh.\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s almost like four of those guys attracted each other and now is a band. Like at school, the four loners get\u00a0together and are like,\u00a0\u2018Hey, you guys wanna hang out?\u2019”<\/p>\n Carbajal, who was born and raised in Carson, grew up listening to West Coast hip hop and R&B\u2014\u201cpretty much anything on Death Row,\u201d he said, referring to Dr. Dre\u2019s now-defunct record label. His first CDs included Tupac, Boys II Men, Outkast and DJ Quik.\u00a0<\/p>\n He began taking classical piano lessons in middle school, by his own volition. Today, he can\u2019t put a finger on why he wanted to\u2014it was partially to set a good example for his three younger siblings and make his mom happy.<\/p>\n \u201cI think I was doing it to try to I guess do what good kids do,\u201d he said after a pause.\u00a0<\/p>\n Carbajal stuck with the piano lessons all throughout high school, where he kept it a secret\u2014he had seen people get beat up for listening to certain types of music. It wasn\u2019t until his senior year that he gained the confidence to admit that he played keys. That led to one friend inviting him over to a garage where a group of older guys regularly got together to jam.\u00a0<\/p>\n The following year or two spent in that garage was pivotal to Carbajal\u2019s development as a musician. He learned to play the guitar and the bass (which all came pretty naturally to him, thanks to his years-long foundation in piano), and the guys introduced him to everything from Nirvana and Smashing Pumpkins to Radiohead and Oingo Boingo. They formed a band called Astrochimp, a power-pop \u201cWeezer type\u201d outfit. It was during this time, in the months after high school, that Carbajal realized he wanted to play music for life.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI always wanted to go to the garage,\u201d he said. \u201cI was like, I\u2019d rather do that than anything else.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n During his time at El Camino College as a classical piano major, Carbajal was approached to join an LA-based indie pop band called China Room as a bass player. There, he met two of his current Furcast family members\u2014guitarist Vincent Mazza and drummer Gary Bramlett.<\/p>\n![\"Furcast](\"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Furcast_res_april_2016_flyer5100.jpg\")
That could be why although Furcast\u2019s four-piece ensemble has been creating music together since 2009, the group has only recently started sounding the radar here in Long Beach, its adopted home base. They\u2019ve taken over this month\u2019s\u00a0Monday\u00a0night residency at 4th Street Vine following a hyped performance on Beach Streets\u2019 main stage in downtown promenade last month.\u00a0<\/p>\n