SOJAI, a groovy ska band from the eternal heaven of Ojai (pronounced Oh-Hi), California has won the ’2011 Best Band Name Ever Award’ at the recent Fortuna Music Awards Show held last Thursday at the Casino Fortuna Resort in Caprice County. SOJAI also received the ‘Lyricist Award’ for their lyrics to their hit “Drinking Alone.” Bassist Loren Alford accepted the award for the band.

FortunaDaily reporter Sarah Klein spoke with Alford.

Sarah Klein: How did you guys meet?

Loren Alford: I was playing guitar and James Kaye Miller was singing at a local coffee shop, Full of Beans, in Ojai When I bumped into John Espinoza and we started talking. He mentioned that he played music and picked up a guitar. He then played two of his original songs and right away I was interested.

SK: How did the band form? Good chemistry?

LA: I asked John if they could maybe sit down one day and play some music together. John said, “I am currently in a band, we just don’t have a bass player.” I laughed as he remarked, “Can I step in, I don’t play guitar. My first instrument is bass.” The drummer Albert Mireles was skeptical at first of the new bass player as John assured him that I was cool. One week later everyone got together and as they put it, “It felt as though we had been playing since high school.” Everything clicked and SOJAI began.

SK: What are your future plans?

LA: Hopefully we’re doing shows wherever we can play. We are up for anything at the moment. If you need us to play tell us the date and we will be there.

To listen to the work of SOJAI Click Here for their Myspace page.

“Drinking alone all by myself
with the new friends I have made,
Jack, Johnny, Jim and Jose.
I got the bottle on my left and
her on my mind..”
—- SOJAI