Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Common denominator

After ten years, they found her, and Katie gave Citrus a voice.
After ten years, they found her, and Katie gave Citrus a voice.

Halloween 2013 was a good day for Oscar Carrion and Andre Flores.

That’s the day the duo, who make up the band Citrus, finally scared up a vocalist after ten years of playing together.

“We’ve known each other for years,” said Carrion, 23, a guitarist who grew up in the Eastlake area with Flores, who plays keyboards, bass, synth, and sax. “We’ve been involved in project-to-project, where we were the only common denominator.”

Carrion and Flores were doing instrumentals, but not by choice.

“The singers we were working with weren’t the most competent vocalists,” Carrion tells the Reader.

Sponsored
Sponsored

That changed Halloween 2013, when Carrion and Flores went to a Halloween party in Talmadge.

“There was a three-piece band from Tijuana setting up, and this woman dressed as a Native American grabbed the mic and starts jamming,” Carrion said.

That was Katie Howard, 27, who sang in high school but not much since then.

“I grabbed the mic while the band was setting up,” she says. “I sang four lines and went to the kitchen.”

That’s where she met Carrion and Flores, who were impressed with her abilities.

“She has a musician’s ear,” Carrion said. “Katie picks up notes others wouldn’t. Plus, like us, she listens to jazz and R&B.”

The musicians talked and, recognizing some common ground, decided to jam.

“Oscar and Andre write a foundation, and I write the lyrics on the fly,” she says.

The result is a sunny mix of pop and funk with a dash of disco that reflects the East County surroundings where they live: “Splotches of color with lots of room to move.”

“I’m very influenced by the landscape,” Carrion said. “The rolling hills and the open space.”

Past Event

Citrus

  • Thursday, January 22, 2015, 8 p.m.
  • Sycamore Den, 3391 Adams Avenue, San Diego

Other influences include R&B artists like D’Angelo, Erykah Badu, and the Sunday afternoon request show on 92.5.

“We found out we were listening to the same artists separately,” Carrion said.

The group has been performing as Citrus & Katie since July, which is partially to avoid confusion with other bands using the Citrus moniker.

Their next gigs are January 16 at the Moustache Bar in Tijuana and January 22 at the Sycamore Den in Normal Heights.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Todd Gloria gets cash from McDonald's franchise owners

Phil's BBQ owner for Larry Turner
After ten years, they found her, and Katie gave Citrus a voice.
After ten years, they found her, and Katie gave Citrus a voice.

Halloween 2013 was a good day for Oscar Carrion and Andre Flores.

That’s the day the duo, who make up the band Citrus, finally scared up a vocalist after ten years of playing together.

“We’ve known each other for years,” said Carrion, 23, a guitarist who grew up in the Eastlake area with Flores, who plays keyboards, bass, synth, and sax. “We’ve been involved in project-to-project, where we were the only common denominator.”

Carrion and Flores were doing instrumentals, but not by choice.

“The singers we were working with weren’t the most competent vocalists,” Carrion tells the Reader.

Sponsored
Sponsored

That changed Halloween 2013, when Carrion and Flores went to a Halloween party in Talmadge.

“There was a three-piece band from Tijuana setting up, and this woman dressed as a Native American grabbed the mic and starts jamming,” Carrion said.

That was Katie Howard, 27, who sang in high school but not much since then.

“I grabbed the mic while the band was setting up,” she says. “I sang four lines and went to the kitchen.”

That’s where she met Carrion and Flores, who were impressed with her abilities.

“She has a musician’s ear,” Carrion said. “Katie picks up notes others wouldn’t. Plus, like us, she listens to jazz and R&B.”

The musicians talked and, recognizing some common ground, decided to jam.

“Oscar and Andre write a foundation, and I write the lyrics on the fly,” she says.

The result is a sunny mix of pop and funk with a dash of disco that reflects the East County surroundings where they live: “Splotches of color with lots of room to move.”

“I’m very influenced by the landscape,” Carrion said. “The rolling hills and the open space.”

Past Event

Citrus

  • Thursday, January 22, 2015, 8 p.m.
  • Sycamore Den, 3391 Adams Avenue, San Diego

Other influences include R&B artists like D’Angelo, Erykah Badu, and the Sunday afternoon request show on 92.5.

“We found out we were listening to the same artists separately,” Carrion said.

The group has been performing as Citrus & Katie since July, which is partially to avoid confusion with other bands using the Citrus moniker.

Their next gigs are January 16 at the Moustache Bar in Tijuana and January 22 at the Sycamore Den in Normal Heights.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Halloween opera style

Faust is the quintessential example
Next Article

Wild Wild Wets, Todo Mundo, Creepy Creeps, Laura Cantrell, Graham Nancarrow

Rock, Latin reggae, and country music in Little Italy, Oceanside, Carlsbad, Harbor Island
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader