Sheer U4RIA

When a musician refers to his day job, minds inevitably drift to scenes of waiters and baristas, or maybe to set dressers on a film crew—not to those weighing the effects of various preventive medicine or the environmental devastation implied by the latest flood stage projections.

Comprising a physician, a civil engineer, a manager of a successful car dealership, an entrepreneur and an environmental scientist, local R&B outfit U4RIA sets the curve when it comes to musicians with more intellectual day jobs. Together they blend modern funk and hip-hop signatures with a wallop of grooving 1970s soul power. After drawing huge turnouts for concerts at Live After Five and Hollywood Casino last spring, the quintet plans to release a debut batch of original songs sooner rather than later.

“I always have my portable recorder, and sometimes original songs start by accident, just a little keyboard thing or guitar riff,” says Sean Griffin, the band’s guitarist and de facto producer. “We have this whole archive of ideas. Time is definitely a challenge. It’s just a matter of focus.”

The band practices twice a week and plays live as often as possible, even if that means making certain sacrifices.

“We whip out our calendars and find the time for it,” Griffin says. “But this is something I’d be doing whether there was an audience there or not. I think the others feel the same way.”

At 27, Arianne Deruise is the youngest member of U4RIA—her bandmates are all in their early 40s—and the energetic singer, called “The Creole Cutie” by fans, often levels the band’s sound with her smooth vocals that flow like ribbons through Dr. Rani “Tha Hip-Hop Doc” Whitfield’s sly raps. Deruise works as a Disaster Recovery Specialist at the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness. Though she is the youngest in the group, she is also the only woman. She says she knows how to organize and motivate her collaborators when she needs to.

“Little momma has a big voice,” Deruise says with a laugh. “Sometimes this band is just like working for Homeland Security. I have to be ready for whatever comes my way.” u4riatheband.com