Trumbull Rocker Primed for Success

Two-piece indie rock band Ports of Spain has a sound that seems to belong to a much larger band.

The group is composed of 2004 alum Ilya Gitelman, who plays guitar, and drummer Sam Carlson of Fairfield. Gitelman said the band features strong melodies and a mixed-genre sound that lies somewhere between post-rock and shoegazer styles.

Music blog Dirigible Press said the group’s first album, "Winters Teeth," demonstrates an “inventive use of loops and electronic elements [that] assemble swirling and grandiose palettes of sound seldom delivered by a duo.”

“People have said they’ve never heard anything that sounds like us,” Gitelman said.

The pair met at Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven two years ago, when, as he walked by a practice room, Gitelman stopped in his tracks hearing Carlson on the piano. Gitelman, who has been playing guitar for 13 years, had been looking for other strong musicians to play with.

After meeting by chance and forming a band, Gitelman and Carlson released "Winters Teeth" in October 2010, recording the EP at Adorea Studios in Hartford, where Gitelman had done some work as a studio musician.

Carlson, now a senior at Southern, had been playing and traveling with different local bands for years, so he already had connections in place with venues and promoters to help kick off a tour. The band began touring sporadically after putting out the album and is currently planning a summer tour of the east coast.

“We've played at a lot of varied and interesting places. Everything from basements to auditoriums. It's great to see things really starting to come together,” said Carlson, who has been playing drums for ten years and piano for two. The two also play together in the band "Winter White."

Gitelman, who graduated from Southern in 2009 with a major in media studies, moved to the U.S from Russia in 1991, and has lived in Trumbull for 12 years. In addition to Ports of Spain, he also plays in a duo with an accomplished Russian folk music vocalist at Russian festivals around the state, and recorded a studio album with the singer this past summer.

Gitelman cites band teacher Peter Horton and English teacher Mary Curtiss as positive influences during his years at Trumbull High. Curtiss, he said, had ”such spirit; she cultivated a real love of the material.” Hers was one class, he said, that he was always excited to walk into each day.

He also met friends and fellow musicians Brendan Wolfe and Charlie Jones during high school. His friends got him into heavy metal music, and together they played in various garage bands.

“It’s funny looking back, but it meant so much to me at the time,” said Gitelman. “It was all leather and tight pants,” he said, laughing, but, he pointed out, “I understand what I saw in it.”

In addition to playing and performing music during high school, Gitelman's discovery of singer Elliott Smith and the similarities between their voices further helped the band develop its sound. Discovering Smith led Gitelman to nurture his vocal abilities, and now Gitelman backs Carlson on vocals, who performs most of the lead singing parts.

Combining the repetitive, improvisational sound of a jam band with the singular sounds of groups like Wilco and The Decemberists, Ports of Spain’s unique and symphonic sound also benefits from Gitelman’s use of the looper pedal, a device, he said, that can record a musical phrase and repeat it in a loop while the guitarist continues to play.

This piece of equipment, Gitelman said, makes it possible to “layer over sounds and build soundscapes.” Songs on "Winters Teeth" like “Fields” and “Trophy Scars” showcase this effect.

Gitelman said this is, in part, why everywhere they go, people describe their music as sounding so much bigger than a two-piece band. The guitarist said he has high hopes for the future of Ports of Spain.

“This is the first band I’ve been in where I’m confident that we’re going to get signed,” Gitelman said.

Ports of Spain is performing at the Acoustic Café in Bridgeport on Nov. 30 and will be playing at Stella Blues in New Haven on Dec. 14. For more information on Ports of Spain and to hear their music, go to http://portsofspain.bandcamp.com or visit the band’s Facebook page.