On Fifth

On Fifth is an acoustic duo is based heavily on vocal harmonies and acoustic guitars as the expressive vessels for two songwriters. They are largely influenced by Jazz, Classic Rock, French Chansons, Folk, Blues, and even Funk, and therefore, consider their style to be eclectic. On Fifth first began performing as a group by busking where 5th meets G in the Gaslamp Quarter of San Diego, California (which inspired the naming of the group). As street performers, the two members were able to ignore the industry’s obstacles for newly formed musicians and create their own performance space.

Both Shereen Fahrai and Fedra Ramirez have thrived from the exposure to cultural diversity. Shereen, a native San Diegan, was always exposed to the openness-of-mind of the Californian culture and grew up amongst the two distinct cultures of Iran and Mexico. Fedra, raised during her early years in Mexico City, migrated with her family along various cities within The States to end up in San Diego (where she and Shereen met through participation in a theatrical production in their school). This exposure created in the two a sense of detachment from a sole culture. Id est, rather than become defined by a genre or restrained to a single language, they delve into music of distinct cultures (e.g. singing occasionally in other languages), and past time frames to compose/arrange music. In using these resources, they are able to weave through their compositions, arrangements, and performances a thread of their own personality thus, reinventing that which influences them.

Though quite young, the members of On Fifth demonstrate their prolific nature by performing at a diverse range of stages around San Diego (including House of Blues, Lestat's, Queen Bee's, The Epicentre, universities, local festivals, weddings, house parties, corporate events and local radio programs) as well as continuously writing their own material and working occasionally as session musicians.