Fort Wayne’s musical diversity was on full display on a recent night at The Ruin.

As we know, we have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to indie rock, bluegrass, country rock, honky tonk, metal, punk, and hip-hop. Now, the sounds of neo-soul are permeating through the walls of local venues.

The bill at The Ruin included two bands that are not even a year old but are definitely turning heads. First up was the funky, soulful sounds of Augmentasia, mixing soul with hip-hop. Next up was Sun.Dyle, who formed late in the summer but have been hitting the trail hard. 

Sun.Dyle, comprised of singer Emma Torres, saxophonist Ashton Morris, guitarist Luke Delgado, bassist Ben Beutel, keyboardist Ben Francis, and drummer Carlos Rosa, have already released a four-song EP, Faintest Idea, and are working to get their names out there.

“I do a lot of our emailing, just contacting people, saying, ‘Hey, here’s the EP we put out.’ We’ve been able to pick up some gigs here and there,” Torres said.

One of those emails reached ALT 99.5FM/102.3FM’s Zack Skyler. Upon hearing their music, they were selected for the ALT Homegrown Spotlight.

like-minded musicians

When it comes to the funky, jazz fusion, Los Galaxy were one of the first young bands to embrace it. 

Although Los Galaxy have disbanded, the sound remains. Morris was a member of that band, which actually played a role in Sun.Dyle forming.

After moving to Fort Wayne from Seattle with his father, Delgado could not help but be drawn to music he could hear from his downtown window.

“I moved right downtown into Superior Lofts, so Promenade Park is right there,” Delgado said. “That summer happened to be the same summer that Los Galaxy started playing. They would also busk right at that corner, and I would hear them. Not gonna lie, coming from Washington state, the West Coast, to Indiana — jazz fusion is not what comes to mind. I was hearing that, and I was like, ‘Wow, that’s awesome.’ That’s music I love. I ended up touching base with (Morris).”

The pair would get together to jam from time to time, with Morris sitting in on Delgado’s own project, Candlelit. Eventually, they decided to take things up a notch.

“We met, and I was kind of like, ‘I like this guy’s style,’ but wasn’t sure what we could do together,” Morris said. “It took about a year for us to be like, ‘Let’s make a band.’ 

“We started jamming more and doing some gigs as a duo. We ended up having Carlos come on pretty early, but then we were like, ‘It’d be cool if we had bass and a singer.’ ”

The bass player was Trevor Perkins, and Delgado had someone in mind for lead singer, someone who had taken operatic vocal performance at PFW before taking a break.

“I grew up heavy on Amy Winehouse,” Torres said. “Amy Winehouse, Ella Fitzgerald … the really epic singers, the ones with voices that make you feel a certain way. 

“I had a classical training background for about two years, but then I was kind of thinking about stopping singing. That’s kind of when this group came in. It was like, ‘I can write for you guys.’ I’m a huge lyric nerd and I can sing passionately and be creative about it.”

Making changes

With a group together, Sun.Dyle got busy recording Faintest Idea, which hit Bandcamp in early November and all streaming services a month later.

“The first four songs we wrote, we pushed out as an EP,” Rosa said. “That allowed us to have the material to pitch to venues to get us shows. 

“We pushed that out as fast as we could. We recorded it, and like a month or two later, we released it.”

Along with getting their music out to venues, the EP also allowed the band to learn something about themselves.

“It was after the EP that we decided we could benefit from adding another instrument,” Rosa said. “That’s when we added the keys.”

Along with Francis joining the fold, Perkins departed and Beutel stepped in. Despite the lineup change, the music continues to flow — so much so that they’re already planning a full-length album. Mind you, this is all within months of forming.

“We were writing more songs than we could keep up with,” Rosa said. “We just had all this material. So, we decided to have a whole separate album that is just all the new songs we wrote. We had too many. We didn’t want to have an album that was too long.”

With so many people contributing to the writing process, it’s easy to see how they already have so many songs in the catalog.

“We really cherish everyone’s creative input,” Morris said. “That is the best way to go about it. Everyone has a say, and we make sure everyone knows what they’re saying is valid.”

Doing what they love

It is that kind of camaraderie that shines through when talking with Sun.Dyle and watching them perform. From Torres’ vocals to Delgado’s head-bopping alongside his bandmates’ music, their love for the music is evident.

“My favorite thing to do, whether it’s in front of a crowd or in my room alone, is to play,” Morris said. “That is one of my favorite things in the world to do.

“If I can do anything in the world, it’s to be able to play music for people.”

And he and his mates have been doing that.

Along with playing a pair of shows over the holidays and being in the ALT Spotlight, they’ll soon be featured in WBOI 89.1AM’s Meet the Music program. Their next live performance is slated for Feb. 16 at The Ruin.

“We’re using most of January to record,” Rosa said. “We have a full-length album in the works.”

“We’re going to put a lot more time into it. We’re not going to push it out quite as fast (as the EP). We’re expecting a release by early spring.”

Until then, it’s a safe bet that some shows will pop up and they will continue to solidify their sound.

“I really love it so far. I really, really love it,” Morris said. “I was literally just rehearsing two hours ago, just messing with new songs. We’ve really been pushing songs out left and right.”

And they’re adding just another flavor to the local scene.

“It’s really amazing to see what the Fort Wayne music scene is becoming and what it is growing into,” Morris said. “We’re taking a lot of influences from groups that have developed here. 

“All of us have played in different projects, and we’re really excited to see them come together and make a sort of musical goulash.”

It’s a safe bet that when Delgado was moving from the Pacific Northwest to the Midwest, being in a “musical goulash” was not on his bingo card. However, he’s been savoring this tasty scene.

“There’s no music scene there like there is here,” he said. “It’s just so ironic, because you think of Seattle: Jimi Hendrix, Nirvana, grunge, and all that stuff you’d think there would be a music scene. Nothing like it is here. It’s a community here. 

“It’s so cool. Everyone is so easy to talk to. We’ve had a lot of local bands help us with the tips on things like getting gigs and stuff like that.”