Before Prizilla, the band, there was Priscilla, the car.
Isabella Duncan, a 21-year-old UF sociology senior, first gave the name to her white Mercedes coupe. The “z” was added for aesthetic purposes, to make the name “cool and funky” — just like the pop-funk band.
With its saxophone-wielding frontwoman and distinct jazz influences, it’s not always easy for Prizilla to fit in with the existing music scene in Gainesville.
“You put us on a lineup with indie or punk bands, and people might be a little bit confused,” Duncan said.
Despite this, Duncan, the band’s lead singer and manager, works to get the band on stage at venues and festivals across Gainesville, like Playground Music + Arts Festival, where it performed earlier this year. Its unique position in the music scene often prompts Prizilla to carve out its niche.
For Duncan, this niche can be seen in the form of the Sunshine Music and Arts Festival, which Duncan organized and put on at Heartwood Soundstage for the second year in a row Feb. 27.
Last year, she worked with First Magnitude Brewing Company, which contributed its entertainment budget, allowing for free admission to the festival. This year, the event cost $15 and featured artists Jacob Sigman and Madwoman alongside Prizilla, as well as various vendors and artists.
Sunshine Festival is an opportunity to bring the Gainesville music community together and highlight the work of her friends, Duncan said, including the bands she is sharing the stage with. She attributes much of her band management knowledge to working with Madwoman, who introduced her to the work that goes into being an independent music artist.
Although Duncan feels challenged by it, she said, the work she does for Prizilla is her passion.
“Everything else is external,” she said. “I do school, I do work, but this is what I want to do.”
The band’s creation was the result of not only hard work but also some coincidence, starting with Duncan forgetting to sign up for an elective in sixth grade and choosing jazz band on a whim. There, she started playing saxophone, which she now continues to play for Prizilla.
It was because of her saxophone playing that she met bandmate McKayla Keels, a 20-year-old UF student, who now plays bass for Prizilla. Keels and Duncan were the only two women in the undergraduate section of UF’s jazz band.
“So, obviously we had to be friends,” Keels said.
Duncan just so happened to be singing jazz pieces when 30-year-old drummer Justin Stirrat and 28-year-old guitarist Max Bleiweis asked her to perform with their cover band. When she got the offer, she knew she had to bring Keels with her.
While Duncan had been creating music as Prizilla since the summer of 2022, the group officially played its first show in March 2023 and released its first EP, “People Person,” in November. At this time, the band’s monthly listeners on Spotify rose from 600 to around 7,000, Duncan said.
Despite belonging to very different genres than other local bands, Prizilla hopes to promote the Gainesville music scene through Sunshine Festival. Bleiweis said Duncan was inspired by flipturn’s work with local up-and-coming bands.
“You see that that [Playground Festival] can happen, and you're like, ‘I want to make this happen in our community,’” he said.
Long term, Duncan said the band hopes to move to a bigger city and pursue music full-time, opening for some of its favorite bands like Lake Street Dive and Lawrence.
While music can be an unpredictable career, the band members are ultimately pursuing their dream, Stirrat said.
“If [music is] something you truly love to do, why would you waste time living your life doing something that's totally against what you want to be doing?” he asked. “We find our way.”
Contact Juliana DeFilippo at jdefillipo@alligator.org. Follow her on X @JulianaDeF58101
Juliana DeFilippo is a first-year journalism major and general assignment Avenue reporter. In her free time, she loves to read and work on crossword puzzles.
