<>Local music enthusiasts might not recognize the name Inphadelic, but they probably have seen some of the new band’s members onstage. Formed six months ago, the group features guitarist/vocalist Deven Finnie, vocalist Nikki Anderson and guitarist/keyboard player Stuart Pilkenton. Finnie was a member of Blind Curve, an alternative hard rock band that played all over the Monterey Peninsula during the ‘90s. Anderson, vocalist for the now defunct CSUMB band Under_Score, and Pilkenton, who has been a part of The Next Blues Band and The Remedy, are also veterans of the local music scene.

Finney says the band began to form a year ago when he started playing with Pilkenton. Six months later, bassist Sam Salermo and drummer Reggie Badini became members. By the time the band played their first gig at Seaside’s Cuz’s Sportsman this past Halloween weekend, Anderson had also joined the fold.

Utilizing both a male and a female lead vocalist, Inphadelic plays songs by John Cougar Mellencamp, the Talking Heads and No Doubt. “We are trying to pick abstract songs from the decades,” Finnie says of the band’s cover song choices.

In addition, the band has 10 original numbers that Finnie says are all over the alternative-rock map. “They vary quite a bit,” he says of the band’s material. “I don’t control what I write.”  

Finnie says the band almost named itself the Bone Shakers and the Magnificent Bastards before settling on the made up word Inphadelic, which is a cross between the words “psychedelic” and “infidel.”

“Who knows what it means?” he says.

Inphadelic plays Nell’s, 2110 North Fremont St. in Monterey, this Saturday at 9pm. No cover. 641-0793.