One of these local talents is William Santana, a North Parker who has been jamming in the neighborhood for less than six months.<\/p>\n
Chico-born bassist Santana brought his talent to Berklee College of Music in 2014, where he met his current bandmate and best friend, Marc Polit. Santana dropped out to hit the road with Polit and Boston-based band The House in Cliff, who he toured with until the end of 2017.<\/p>\n Though Santana enjoyed the experience, he and Polit decided 2018 was time for a change \u2014 leading them to leave the band and take their music to the west coast, settling in San Diego and forming the new rhythm-based duo WidowMade.<\/p>\n \u201cI wanted to take it easier on myself and on my drummer [Polit] and on our health \u2014 our mental health specifically \u2014 and get somewhere with a better quality of life,\u201d Santana said, referring to the move to San Diego as \u201ca little bit of a Hail Mary.\u201d<\/p>\n His current digs on University Avenue is near popular Uptown venues he frequents, such as Bar Pink, Seven Grand and Soda Bar, where he works as a security guard. The complex is also home to \u201csuper creative people,\u201d such as producers, entrepreneurs and fellow musicians.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a vibe, dude, to be around that many creative individuals,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n And he has found these creative individuals all over San Diego, from bar hopping to the common Craigslist search. The latter is how he connected with The Frets, another local act performing at this year\u2019s festival.<\/p>\n Formerly Lad\u2019s Holiday, The Frets are a Pacific Beach-based alternative rock band also performing at Springboard West. Current band members are Liam Wilkes (vocals), Cody Seegar (guitar), John Martinez (drums) and as of October 2018, Santana (bass).<\/p>\n After a last-minute cancellation, Lad\u2019s Holiday received the opportunity to open Springboard West as a small act in 2018. There, they met songwriter and producer Billy Smiley \u2014 which led to a whirlwind year.<\/p>\n \u201c[Springboard West] really just kicked off the year and took [our band] in a direction that we could only dream would happen,\u201d Seegar said.<\/p>\n The group rebranded, changed their name to The Frets, and recorded an album in Nashville with Smiley, which was released last August. Now they\u2019ve been asked back to Springboard West as a closing band and will be returning to the stage as \u201ca more polished artist, so to speak,\u201d Seegar said.<\/p>\n \u201cIn terms of The Frets, they\u2019re perfect. They\u2019re part of why we realized that a lot of times, it takes more than one Springboard to do what we want to do,\u201d Coffing said, adding that the band has come a long way since last year\u2019s festival.<\/p>\n And part of The Frets\u2019 rebranding and growth includes adding Santana into the mix, who joined the group as its new bassist less than three months ago.<\/p>\n \u201cHis music knowledge is amazing,\u201d Seegar said of Santana, adding that the new bassist learned their songs \u201cin one practice, literally 30 minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s a contributing band member and the songwriting, I think, is only going to increase the creativity of the band,\u201d he continued. \u201cIt\u2019s great to have a bassist who likes to write songs as well and can help in that respect.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe best thing about The Frets \u2014 and the reason why it\u2019s a good mesh \u2014 is because it\u2019s the quality of product and writing good tunes and getting together, having a beer, having a good time, working it out,\u201d Santana said. \u201cAnd if it doesn\u2019t work, making sacrifices \u2014 I don\u2019t know, it\u2019s a healthy process.\u201d<\/p>\n Though this year is round two for The Frets, it\u2019s Santana\u2019s first time at the festival \u2014 and WidowMade\u2019s first time performing, ever.<\/p>\n \u201c[Polit and I have] been focused on getting the tunes out \u2014 just releasing the musical content when we want, on our own terms,\u201d Santana said, adding that he\u2019s excited to finally debut their songs on stage.<\/p>\n After the two-day educational boot camp on Jan. 10-11, all 50 artists will get a chance to show off their tunes to local music lovers, as well as professional scouts on Jan. 12 during the \u201cBand and Brew Crawl.\u201d The staggered stages are at various locations \u2014 including Winston\u2019s Beach Club, OB Theatre, The Harp and Mother\u2019s Saloon \u2014 with bands starting every 15 minutes.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you want to be crazy, you can literally see three songs from all 40 bands in one day,\u201d Coffing said. \u201cWe like to joke, \u2018It\u2019s like a wine tasting for music.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n![\"North](\"https:\/\/sduptownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/santana-casbah.jpg\")
![\"North](\"https:\/\/sduptownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/P9-new-frets-photo.jpg\")
![\"North](\"https:\/\/sduptownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Widowmade.jpg\")
Bands, booze and beach<\/strong><\/h3>\n