Photo: Pegasis - thebandpegasis.com
Pegasis
Pegasis
What do gospel-singing sisters do when they want to sing about more than God?
“We decided to become genre-less,” say siblings Marvellis, Yaina and Rissel Peguero, along with Rissel’s jazz guitarist husband, Matt Hillman, in a collective voice in an interview conducted online about their group, Pegasis. The WAMI-nominated quartet travels from Green Bay to celebrate the release of their second EP, Two, at Anodyne Coffee Roasting Co. (224 W. Bruce St.) for an 8 p.m. show on Thursday, June 16.
Going from the Pegueros’ previous work plying their sumptuous sibling harmonies to a unique hybrid of soul gospel, Southern gospel and their Dominican roots to no genre at all may be a bit of an overstatement. When I suggest that their current amalgamation of smooth jazz, soul, pop and Latin American flavors is easily accessible but difficult to categorize, they concur.
“You said it perfectly! We decided our sound doesn’t fall into one category, and it doesn’t have to. We write what we feel, and it comes out how it comes out.” But how does it come out for the quartet in the home of the Packers, a city not really known an incubator of musical innovation?
“The advantage is that we’re one–of-a-kind,” they proclaim, “but that’s also the challenge.” As for tendencies toward musical closemindedness in Northeastern Wisconsin, they observe, “People haven’t really heard our style before, so they are wary of listening. In our experience, people tend to say they only listen to one type of genre, so that creates an environment not conducive for different and new experiences.”
Despite this obstacle, Pegasis has been able to amass a following in the Fox River Valley and thereabouts.
“We always tell our ‘fams,’ like fans but family, ‘Keep an open mind, and listen to everything that comes your way.’” The sisters became open to changing up their approach when Rissell met Hillman in an academic setting that literally set the stage for their romantic future. “They met playing for the jazz band at University of Wisconsin Green Bay. John Salerno, the jazz band director, asked Matt to learn a jazz melody and Rissel, the harmony. They met on stage without having rehearsed it, and that set them up for their future together.”
The couple performed as a duo under the name M.A.R. before, as they say, “that style started to crossover into our group.” Hillman’s addition to the clan precipitated the Peguero Sisters’ name change to Pegasis and a redirection of their lyrics “We realized being in the gospel genre was too restrictive on our creativity. We had things we wanted to say with our music that wasn’t about religion.”
They describe their next release as “a love album with personal stories. We want it to be reminiscent of the old boleros of Latin America; the music of our abuelos and abuelas (grandfathers and grandmothers) would listen to on those lazy Sunday afternoons.” In the meanwhile, Pegasis have Two to promote as they embrace a bigger city and hope to encourage listeners.
“We’re trying to expand our performing radius into larger markets. We’re hoping that Milwaukee natives greet us with open ears and open minds. Being a diverse band—women of color and immigrants—we’re hoping we can also inspire other people that look like us into the creative field and for them to know there is space for them.”
