Genre Busters

Sonia Dada has an image problem. Unless you ask the rock group’s rather reluctant leader, that is.

The Chicago-based octet has no one named Sonia, is not affiliated with the L.A.-based rock trio Dada and has no charismatic leader a la Mick Jagger or Bono. For that matter, you’d probably be hard-pressed to name anyone in the band.

Yet, mention this lack of star power to Dan Pritzker, the group’s founding member, songwriter and lead guitarist, and he shrugs it off as simply ludicrous.

“We have eight individuals who make up Sonia Dada, and each one brings something unique and essential to our repertoire,” said the affable 38-year-old in a recent telephone interview. “To draw unneeded attention--or a spotlight--to any one band member would seem odd. . . . It’s our collective voice that essentially defines who we are.

“Besides, it’s the songs, not our personalities, that matter. We play an eclectic mix of what’s broadly defined as pop music. But sometimes when people can’t qualify and quantify our style, it becomes difficult for them to interpret what we’re trying to do.”

Sonia Dada, which performs Saturday night at the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano, offers a bit of everything: soul, R&B;, funk and gospel to rock, folk and strains of Southern-fried rock. Formed in Chicago in 1991, the group has released three albums on Atlanta-based Capricorn Records, including “My Secret Life,” its first album in nearly three years.

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One unique attribute of the group is the gospel training of three of its vocalists, tenor Michael Scott, baritone Paris Delane and Shawn Christopher, Sonia Dada’s newest band member. The balanced, rich vocal mix includes soaring, a cappella harmonies and shared lead roles.

Such lofty matters as love, loss and redemption are recurring themes examined by Pritzker, the band’s lyricist. Much of his prose is abstract and impressionistic and, he says, born of short bursts of inspiration.

“I suppose I am more visual and ephemeral as opposed to being precise and literal in my songwriting approach,” Pritzker said. “I tend to work from phrases that sound good to my ear. That appeals more to me than sitting down and telling a story in a linear fashion. I think pop songs move better when linked to rhythm, melody and harmony. I guess I’m not a real good carpenter, if you know what I mean.”

Still, one of the best songs on the album tells a short story and remains evocative at the same time. A stirring, soulful ballad titled “Green Eyed Esther” chronicles the life of a person who’s lived through most of this century, seeing everything from “the horse-and-buggy and Second World War to civil rights, Vietnam and all Mike Tyson’s heavyweight fights,” Pritzker said.

“It’s about this old black woman, and looking at the world--and all its changes--through her eyes. Musically, it’s funny because I originally wrote it in this odd tuning . . . almost as this up-tempo, bluegrassy, banjo kind of piece. We tried it in so many different ways before settling on the final arrangement. But I think in the end, we finally got it right.”

The eclectic nature of the group has come under attack by some critics for being opportunistic, a charge the bandleader staunchly refutes. He said the band’s “melting pot of styles” is a natural representation of the diversity within the band and born from each member’s deep well of musical influences.

“I read this review a while back by some guy who was really cynical,” he recalled. “He claimed we masterminded a way to cover every possible radio format. Man, nothing could be further from the truth. We tend to work from song to song to song. I’m not good enough to write to order. . . . Actually, I write more to disorder.”

Pritzker said their real strength is that they play American music. “You can hear its various strains throughout our songs. I mean, we have three black singers with gospel and soul backgrounds. Our drummer [Hank Guaglianone] is a jazz guy who’s still in love with [John] Coltrane. . . . I listen to everything from Mahalia Jackson and Louis Armstrong to the Grateful Dead, Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder and Ry Cooder. So it only makes sense that each of our record collections is represented somewhere on the records we make.”

Being hard-to-classify can be a detriment commercially, Pritzker acknowledged. “But I don’t know what else we can do. Triple A [format] radio is playing us, and I was told our single [“Don’t Go Giving Your Love Away”] is being shipped to Modern Adult Contemporary and Top 40. The encouraging news is that when people do get a chance to hear or see us, they seem to respond to our eclecticism.”

* Sonia Dada, Grand Street Cryers and Rocco Deluca perform Saturday at the Coach House, 33157 Camino Capistrano, San Juan Capistrano. 8 p.m. $13.50-$15.50. (949) 496-8930.