Miami’s Aura the Band: “What You Can’t Put Into Words, We Put to Music”

Growing up in Little Havana, Aura Peralta found inspiration in the unlikeliest of places, an episode of The Simpsons. “Watching Lisa Simpson play the sax back in sixth grade, that’s when I knew music was what I wanted to do,” she recalls.

Now grown up, she sings in a band bearing her name, Aura the Band. Also comprised of Mike Calvar, Anuar Rumie, and Alexander Rosetti, the four-piece Miami soul rock outfit will be throwing the release party for its self-titled debut album at Churchill’s Pub on April 24.

Recorded in four days, Aura, the album, is seven tracks showcasing the band’s disparate influences. Anuar Rumie, the drummer, was once in a Deftones cover band. Guitarist Mike Calvar earned the nickname Mellow Mike for his love of alternative music. Meanwhile, singer Aura Peralta goes for the soul of her heroes Billie Holiday and Janis Joplin. The origins of the album come from the four members of Aura the Band once being five. “I started the band with Tiago Silva who, for personal reasons, had to move to Mexico,” she explains. "So the rest of us flew out there and joined him in Cuernavaca and did it all in four days.”

Influenced by not just the recording location, but also the bandmates' Cuban, Nicaraguan, and Chilean heritage, two of the album’s songs are in Spanish. “Since we were in Mexico we said, 'Let’s try a song or two we can market in Spanish.' All of our families speak Spanish.”

But the most important reason to sing songs in Spanish, according to Peralta, is more risqué. “I think it’s a sexier language.”

After swapping files through Dropbox, Aura the Band were able to complete mixing Aura, the album. It has been streaming on Spotify for months now. But the band wanted to hold off on releasing the seven-track effort as a CD until Silva could be present in Miami to celebrate its existence with his collaborators.

“We’re hoping to make it a big party” Peralta says. “It’s not going to just be music, there will also be art. People will be painting live. People will be painting bodies."

As for the outfit’s future beyond this release party, Aura the Band is already in the planning stages of a four- or five-song EP that will jumpstart an autumn tour. These days, though, Aura's inspiration won’t only be her favorite four-fingered animated saxophone player.

“We try to capture the moments in life you can’t put into words, and put them to music.”

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Aura the Band’s Aura Debut-Album Release Party. With Sigh Kicks, Wilkes Oswald, Alex Villar, Two Elven Folk, Nacho Londono, and Years Apart  8 p.m. Friday, April 24, at Churchill's Pub, 5501 NE Second Ave., Miami; 305-757-1807; churchillspub.com. Ages 18 and up.