Whiz Kid of the Week: Newly Signed Savannah Van Band Features Sierra Madre Student Matthew Kwa

Grammy Award winning songwriter, vocal producer, arranger and engineer Kuk Harrell lists the likes of Celine Dion, Usher, Jennifer Lopez, Rihanna, Mary J. Blige, Katy Parry and Sting as clients on his Suga Wuga Music website.

Harrell is said to be one of the most sought after vocal producers in the industry. He and his cousin, Tricky Stewart of Red Zone Entertainment, currently advising and preparing American Idol contestants for their weekly performances, recently added a young new band to his star studded list, the Savannah Van Band, as a venture to nurture and prepare promising young artists for the fast paced music world.

Kuk Harrell has been quoted saying, “My vision is to introduce great new talent to the world and take them to the highest levels of success, to discover and develop artists that have something powerful to say to us with their music, that are full of life and hope.”

This recently formed band of young musicians includes bassist and backup singer, Matthew Kwa of Sierra Madre. Kwa, who plays several instruments including drums, guitar and keyboard, was introduced to the band through his brother, who works with a Van family member.

Kwa started studying keyboard at four, then moved on to percussion at ten, then decided to teach himself guitar at eleven. He started performing early, in junior high at 13, at his church in the youth worship band at City Blessing Church in Claremont.

He formed a band named Abigail at age 15 with Maranatha schoolmates, which lost members as they went away to college. Then Kwa formed another band, To the Moon and Back, which dissolved when one of the members moved to New York University.

Kwa, now 20, is a student at Pasadena Community College, and a 2009 graduate of Maranatha High School in Pasadena. Savannah Van, lead singer, is just 16, and hails from Simi Valley. Alex Strahle, 18, of Pasadena and Nico Aranda, 16, of Northridge are the group’s guitarists and Ronnie Manaog fills out the band on drums. The group writes all their own music, which they describe as alternative pop rock.

They’ve performed at the Viper Room on the Sunset Strip, The Breathing Room in Northridge and the under 21 club, Chain Reaction, in Anaheim  in recent months, to enthusiastic reviews.

So what’s next?  Matthew Kwa says that in the months since they’ve been in contact with Harrell, Suga Wuga and Red Zone, “Savannah Van Band has been working on getting their music out there, rehearsing and performing”… in addition to most of them going to school.

The two attached YouTube videos include an interview Matthew Kwa as well as a part of their performance at the Viper Room. Click on "View Gallery" above to see the videos.

You can also find Savannah Van Band on Facebook and on their website or you can follow them on Twitter.