Joe Sanchez is happy to be back to pace of Whidbey Island living. He’s in the arms of his community and able to walk by people and actually have them smile back at him.

The Sister Monk Harem flutist and the other members of his band returned in mid-May from a seven-month tour on the East Coast, where they became seasoned by a harder attitude among the natives and by the cigarette smoke in the bars they played.

They usually shared their dates with five other bands which leaned far from Sister Monk Harem’s self-described “acoustic world music with a spirited gypsy funk ethno-fusion,” and more toward the dark side of rock.

They’ve become a staple on the Whidbey entertainment scene, and after their trip, they’re glad to be back to play a different kind of venue. So when Sister Monk Harem plays to its home crowd June 21 at Whidbey Island Center for the Arts — with guest bassist Jim Plato and vocalist Joelle Jaffe — expect to hear them peel a different kind of vibe off their musical onion.

Sister Monk Harem has been playing Whidbey Island for four years, playing in concert, at Langley’s Dog House, and outdoors at the Bayview Farmers Market. The band is comprised of South Whidbey musicians Kathleen Dean on percussion and vocals, songwriter Jody Rubel on guitar, and Sanchez lending his talent to percussion, flute and digeridoo.

They have two CDs out, the 2001 release “Residing in Nowhere” and last year’s “Original Mind,” and look toward recording a third in the fall.

Much of the band’s new sound comes from going through Hell(‘s Kitchen, N.Y.) and back, and having to deal with personal tragedy and suffering.

“We came back with an album worth of songs that up until now were always joyous and eternal, but now there’s this theme about suffering, change and transformation,” Rubel said. ” We still keep that triumphant edge to the songs, but now there’s all this depth.”

When not holding their own in the steamy bars, Sister Monk Harem took to the streets of New York and set up their musical shop in places like Central Park, Grand Central Station, the Greenwich Village Starbucks and random street corners and alley ways.

“East coast is so different from Whidbey — so much rougher, and by putting ourselves in that arena it gave us more strength to play,” Sanchez said. “I feel like such a stronger musician because of it.”

The members of Sister Monk Harem agree it’s good to be home, and hope to continue the momentum with shows on the island and around the north Puget Sound area.