The Bio...
NinthLife is the latest incarnation of the band that has been a musical fixture at the Laguna Beach Art festival/music scene for the past 11 years. Keyboardist and guitarist Albert Eles is the only original band member. Singer and guitarist Cheryl Aranda is the second longest tenured member at five years with the band. Lead guitarist Steven Noguera and drummer Jess Baker joined in late 2006. Bassist Marc Croft is new to the band since July 2007. Here is a gallery of past band lineups:
| The band was originally named Living Proof. Members included (from L to R) Michelle Grubert, Albert Eles, Kellee King, Jerry Klein and Rosie Klein. They played together for several summer seasons and recorded a CD of original works titled "Living Room". |
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| Michelle exited the group after the 2000 summer season to raise a family and Living Proof carried on as a foursome for another season. (L to R) Jerry Klein, Rosie Klein, Kellee King, Albert Eles. |
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| The Kleins departed the end of 2001 to run their respective businesses so in 2002 Albert and Kellee then teamed up with a college friend of hers, Daniel Vu and Cheryl Aranda, a friend of Albert's to form LP3. Dan could uncannily always get awesome parking spaces at the gigs and so we coined the phrase, "Luck of the Vu." We still invoke the "Luck of the Vu" when arriving at a gig and it usually works. Thanks Dan! (L to R) Dan Vu, Cheryl Aranda, Kellee King, Albert Eles. |
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| In 2003, two more of Kellee's college friends joined: Eric Samson on drums and percussion, and Nick Schaadt on bass. It suddenly became evident that all traces of the original band and concept of Living Proof had all but dissipated. The time to re-christen the band had come. Ninthlife, the 4th incarnation of the band formerly known as Living Proof had come into it's own on July 5th 2003. These guys were a blast to play with. (L to R) Dan Vu, Cheryl Aranda, Kellee King, Nick Schaadt, Eric Samson, Albert Eles. |
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| Later that summer, Eric went to study at the prestigious Henry Mancini Institute while his friend, Josh Higgins, took over drum kit duties. (L to R) Josh Higgins, Dan Vu, Cheryl Aranda, Nick Schaadt, Kellee King, Albert Eles. |
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| Eric returned in late summer 2003 and moved over to percussion and vocals as Josh stayed on drums but in 2004 the group lost founding member Kellee so she could travel to Europe to study opera at the prestigious American Institute of Musical Studies in Vienna, Austria. We miss Kellee and her gorgeous soprano voice. (L to R) Dan Vu, Eric Samson, Cheryl Aranda, Josh Higgins, Nick Schaadt, Albert Eles. |
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| In 2005, Dan, Eric, Nick and Josh all became involved in a variety of other endeavors (cruise ship gig, parenthood, etc.) and so Albert and Cheryl carried on and performed as a trio with percussionist Mike Medeiros. Mike is a very inventive drummer/percussionist. Sweet! (L to R) Mike Madeiros, Cheryl Aranda, Albert Eles. |
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| The rebuilding phase began in 2006 when the group brought on bassist Carlos Moya. Michelle Grubert (from the original Living Proof group) sat in adding background vocals. (L to R) Carlos Moya, Mike Madeiros, Cheryl Aranda, Michelle Grubert, Albert Eles. |
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In late summer of 2006, Albert and Cheryl heard Carlos' cousin Steven Noguera play electric guitar in another band and begged him (on hands and knees) to join NinthLife. About that same time, Mike Madeiros was no longer able to continue playing drums and Carlos' friend, Jess Baker was anxious to play. Things were looking solid as the band prepped for the summer 2007 season but Carlos had to leave the band for personal reasons (we still love you!) and auditions brought in Paul Cooney. Paul played two gigs with the band but personnel dynamics are unpredictable and the chemistry ended up not being right for all concerned. We auditioned Marc Croft who stunned us with how good he was and how quickly he learned the material. That's actually more than nine lives (line-ups) for this group, now. The current group trumps all past groups. The sound and the energy are better than ever. These cats rock!