Fortuno is comprised of three — Ellis, Eli, and Tobi — whose shared proclivity for warm, nostalgic, ambient melodies has carried them from their hometowns along the East Coast to Los Angeles, where they now reside. The group coalesced in 2018 near the ragged shoreline of southern Maine, where Ellis and Tobi shared a music major, acapella group, and a cover band at a small liberal arts college. Eli, then a USC kid, jazz guitarist and former high school classmate of Ellis’, joined shortly thereafter. By the fall of 2018, the trio had released its first singles, Be/Feel, and began to plot a move to Southern California.
In late 2019, Fortuno appeared across LA at venues including the Roxy, the Peppermint Club, and intimate pop-up shows with Sofar Sounds. At the advent of the pandemic, the group burrowed into its Koreatown studio to produce its debut EP, which is preceded by singles ‘This Life,’ ’Scared,’ and ‘Leaving Here,’ and has been celebrated by Lyrical Lemonade, Dummy Mag, and — not to be forgotten — an enthusiastic biker gang of junior high boys from Westport, CT. “How This Goes” will be released in September of 2021, and promises more clear-headed, tender-hearted moments.
