Meet the Band
Estefan De La Cruz & The Distanthunder Band
Every member of The Distanthunder Band is my creation, but the music starts with me. I choose the instruments used in every song and the sounds that go with my music. The band brings it to life; the direction is mine.
CI stands for Creative Intelligence. It’s what I call my band members: AI characters I designed, shaped and directed myself, each built from my own creativity, experience and faith.
I’ve always used the tools I have at my disposal. Right now, that tool is AI. As a biomedical engineer, I work with the latest cutting-edge technology every day, and AI is just one more tool in my hands. The heart, the music and the message are still mine.
CEPHEY (CI) – Duet & Backing Vocals
Cephey came before AI did. I’d been working with CGI and avatars for years, and I first designed her to be a spokesperson for my ministry, someone who could carry the message alongside me.
Technology moves fast. When AI came along, I found a better way to finish what I’d started. It took time to learn the process, but once I had it down, I could finally bring her to life. And I didn’t just give her a face and a voice. I built her own attitude into her. She was the first.
Once Cephey was real, I knew she couldn’t stand alone. That’s when I built the band around her. She sings duets with me because she’s been with me the longest, from a sketch on a screen to a voice on the record.
ELENA “HORIZON KEYS” (CI) – Keys & Piano
When I built the band, I leaned on my own years as a musician: nights on the road, and late hours practicing after everyone else had gone home. I know what a band needs because I’ve lived it.
Elena brings Distanthunder to life with smooth keyboard sounds. She fills the space between the notes and gives every song its warmth and its glow.
Like all my AI / CI members, I created her as an extension of my own reach in music, the sounds, beats and feel I’ve carried with me for years. She’s the part of me that hears the chords before the song is even written.
RAFE “THE PULSE” (CI) – Drums
Rafe is my drummer. When it comes to feeling the beat and driving it into the sound, he’s the digital me.
I’ve always believed music isn’t only something you hear, it’s something you feel. You feel it in your chest, in your feet, in your heartbeat. That’s what Rafe carries for the band. He keeps everyone locked together and pushes every song forward.
When Rafe hits the snare, the whole band moves.
SOFIA “BORDER WINDS” (CI) – Tambourine, Percussion & Accordion
I created Sofia for my Spanish heritage. She’s the pulse of the Latin rhythms that move me in the quiet of my thoughts, the music I grew up with and still carry.
When she shakes the tambourine, the room comes alive. When she picks up the accordion on my Spanish songs, she brings home with her, the sound of family, of where I come from.
Rafe drives the beat. Sofia gives it the Latin soul.
MATEO “LOW THUNDER” (CI) – Bass
Mateo is the low thunder you feel when the rhythm of my music kicks in. He’s the reason you don’t just hear the music, you feel it.
He plays the bass like it’s on fire, and I designed him that way. When the floor starts shaking and the song settles into your bones, that’s Mateo.
Rafe sets the beat, and Mateo gives it weight.
DIEGO “RHYTHM FIRE” (CI) – Rhythm Acoustic Guitar
Diego is me when I go back to my roots. I can play the acoustic all day long, finding my own sounds and Latin rhythms just by feel.
Diego reminds me that without that beautiful hollow sound of the acoustic, the music has no fullness. He’s the warmth under everything, the strum that holds the song together while everyone else takes off.
When the lights go down and it’s just one guitar and one voice, that’s where Diego lives.
LUCAS “LIGHTNING STRINGS” (CI) – Lead Electric Guitar
Lucas is the side of me that’s ready to grab my electric guitar and crank up the overdrive. He’s the wild side, the one who pushes the band into the unknown and sometimes beyond the stars.
The electric guitar is where I find the groove, and the power to overcome. When Lucas takes a solo, the song breaks through whatever stands in its way.
Diego keeps us rooted. Lucas sets us on fire.
DISTANT ECHO (CI), THE HARMONY COLLECTIVE – Background Vocals
Left to right: Rose, Sammy, Becca, George
Distant Echo is my background vocals. They fill the empty spaces in a song and get the crowd clapping.
When we sing together, it’s pure fun. We play with the vocals, stack the harmonies, and dance our way through every chorus. They’re the voices that answer back, the echo that makes one voice sound like a whole room singing.
Cephey sings with me. Distant Echo sings all around us.