More from Turner Hall

More from Turner Hall

MKE Rally Against Violence Show

Soul Amp plays MKE RAV, Turner Hall Ballroom
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 04/23/2005

MKE Rally Against Violence Show

Soul Amp plays MKE RAV, Turner Hall Ballroom
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 04/23/2005

MKE Rally Against Violence Show

Soul Amp plays MKE RAV, Turner Hall Ballroom
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 04/23/2005

MKE Rally Against Violence Show

Soul Amp plays MKE RAV, Turner Hall Ballroom
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 04/23/2005

MKE Rally Against Violence Show

Soul Amp plays MKE RAV, Turner Hall Ballroom
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 04/23/2005

News...

Did some more tracking on tunes this last weekend. M2 laid down soem sweet congas and bongos on Turn Out the Morning and Flowing On. We also created a soundscape piece with some funky things I have laying around the house. Might make the disk....

We're playing at Turner Hall on the 23rd of April with a gob of other bands.



M2 and I drove to town, Sunday April 18th...is not...Drank a beer of two and ate at Points East Pub dropped a disk off, chatted with James and Matt from Clementine and went ot Onopa's to drop a disk off....and have a beer.

Check out Clementine's tunes (WMA's) from above. They are cool neo-pop tunes, light a airy with catchy hooks.

Summerfest? MOBFest?

Well we put in our submission to Summerfest via sonicbids. I woudld like to see Sonicbids utilized by booking agents more. Summerfest still took snail mail submissions, your standard presskit. Though we opted to use Sonicbids. They stated that 40 bands would be booked via sonicbids EPK's.

I suspect it will go well for summerfest and they will book more using Sonicbids in the future.

Also submitted to MOBFest in chicago. Time will tell....

Red Fang

I stuck a Eminance Red Fang 12" speaker in my guitar cabinet last night. great speaker sound really nice. And a ton cheaper than a Celestion Blue....

We took a stab at recording a different version of Turn Out The Morning last night but had some computer and other issues that kept us from getting a good take.

Oh well...it happens.

Selections Made for Disk

Division Protoype III is done and on it are thirteen songs timed at around 50 minutes.

The tunes coming on the final release are as follows: (Not final order)

Spinning Things
Capital People
Seeing Jimmy
She Slit Her Wrists Again
Throwing Rocks At Cars
Shove
She Walks Up Ahead
Spiritual Mouthwash
Flowing On
Johhny's Wife
Memory of a Friend
Turn Out The Morning
Division

We're figuring out the final look and packaging but we'll be selling pre-release version at gigs until release sometime in June(?).

G4 Dual 1.24 GHz

Just ordered a new (used) computer for the Cat Box studio. My G4 400 Mhz power book wasn't cutting the mustard when it came to running AudioDesk 2.03 on Jaguar. I was having issues with the app crashing and hanging up during recording. I don't know if some of the problems are related to the weaker machine or if it was OS X overhead related. OS 9 pefromace always rocked on this machine and we never had issues with recording 8 simultaneous 24/48 tracks. The processer would max out trying to mix 10 tracks with effects plugins.

I really like the new effects in AudioDesk 2.03 and it was pretty much a no brainer to move on to a more powerful system for mixing and mastering our upcoming disk. Which by the way we are almost done recording. We have a few sessions yet to do but we are still on track for getting the disk in the can by May 1st.

Main Stage March 12

Heres a shot from a fan from the Main Stage gig on
Saturday. The gig went well we made some good bucks
and played to a warm crowd of about 60-80 folks. Most
were chatting and drinking....but hey it is a bar
after all.

We played two sets. Pretty much all our material but
the difficult Beautiful Painting tune. Starting with
most of the older stuff in the first set and all our
newset songs in the second. We probably played at
least 8 songs that had not been played out live yet.

It was a good gig. The Main Stage has great sound on
stage, free bud lite and bud for the band and a pretty
laid back atmosphere. Can't beat it. One of the better
venues in SE Wisconsin.

WCCX 104.5 Carroll College

Well Soul Amp lost it's radio virginity on March 10, 2005. I drove over to Carroll student center where the 10 watt radio station resides and dropped the Division - Protoype III off to promote the show on saturday at the Main Stage.

WCCX reaches about 20,000 people in a three to four mile radius of Carroll College. No sooner did I reach the the car and turn the key then there was Spinning Things playing. Even though I told them to play Division or Capital People they non the less played the opening track...

Thanks to WCCX.

Note to DJs: "Flowing On" has the word "Shit" in it.

M2 and Steve...

M2 and Steve prepping for a recent recording session.
Note the mic layout and foam baffles. Helps to reduce
the bleed from the guitar, bass and key amps. We try
to get as much live as we can.

Motion Sound KBR-3d

Cat Box SHots
Originally uploaded by bodland.

Here is M1's new motion sound rotary keyboard amp. USed in the recent recordings in the cat box. Dig the low tech recording technique. AudioTechnica AT2035 capturing the swoop of the the rotary horn. The Korg tosses out a ton of bass and the high SPLs blew the MXL990 and MXL2001 out of the water. The AT can handle a very high SPL. A great mic to have in your kit.

M1 runs the Wurli and the KORG-Cx3 into the channel with the rotary. The Kurtz PCX2 goes into the stereo input.

This as a very versatile amp. We'll be rigging it possibly with a half moon switch for controlling the rotor at the Korg rather than a footswitch as it is now. M1 likes to stand.

Cat Box SHots

Cat Box Shots during tracking of Division prototype III

Cat Box SHots

Cat Box Shots during tracking of Division prototype III

Division - Protoype III

For the March 12th shwo at Main Stage we'll have
another iteration in the quest for a final album.
Division. 10 songs. $10 bucks.

March 12th

Saturday march 12th Main Stage, Waukesha WI.
$5 cover three bands. Soul Amp is one of them.

Update from the Cat Box

Last Wednesday, and Saturday we started tracking again for the CD. We've been working on new songs and will possibly playing some of them at our upcoming Main Stage gig.

After about 6 months now of tracking, a tweaking our recording techniques and songs has paid off big time. From the scrappy basement we are getting this huge sound as we track 8 tracks live.

5 tracks on the kit -

two MXL 991 overheads, SM57 on the snare, Audio Technica D550 on the kick and a MXL 990 on floor tom.

SM57 mic on guitar cabinet with new Traynor YCV20 loaded with JJ EL84's and Groove Tube 12ax7-C, the Tex Mex strat is played straight in.

M1 got a new motion sound amp and we are micing it with a sturdy AT2035 on that the SPL on the motion sound blows every other mic into clipping. We DI the bass off the back of a Eden Metro.

We are really pleased with the sound we are getting and with the technical aspects of recording now faily locked in we are free to really starting thinking about how the songs sound themselves, we are tweaking dynamics and tones from the various instruments and some of the older tunes are finally showing thier true color.

We'd like to share some of these with you but we also want to wait for the CD to be complete...but if you keep checking in here at our blog you might get an opportunity to nab a version of a tune or two.

April 23rd Rally Against Violence

We are playhing the MKE RAV at Turner Hall on April 23rd for the Rally Against Violence organized by Milwaukee Artists for Social Change.

Should be a good event with music, info, art etc...

Master SOng List as of 2/05

Soul Amp Song Master List

Roughly in chronological order

1. Banner Day
2. Time on My Hands
3. Summer Holiday
4. She Walks On Up Ahead
5. Splash Jam
6. Take What You Want
7. New Day
8. Division
9. Tears
10. Jamie Says
11 . Cold Dinner
12. Sealed Away
13. Seeing Jimmy
14. Moves in for the Kill
15. Spinning Things
16. More Than I Asked For
17. Flowing On
18. She Slit Her Wrists Again
19. Turn out The Morning
20. Beautiful Picture
21. Throwing Rocks
22. Lucky For You
23. Capital People
24. Memory of a Friend
25. Shove

Soul Amp Blog Relocated

The Soul Amp Blog is now located at our official website

http://soul-amp.com

Click on the blog tab.

Also if you want to can find us here:


View Soul Amp's EPK

Soul Amp Calendar of Upcoming Gigs

News...

Some highlights of activities.

We have another gig at the Main Stage in Waukesha. March 12th.

Also we signed up for Sonicbids.com. SUmmerfest is using this. I am not sure we'll use it beyond trying to get a Summerfest slot as most of the opportuities cost between 15-50 bucks to through Sonicbids. Wheras you can send a press kit via snail mail for free to some of them. However some of the events only take saonicbids EPK....

YOu can view out EPK here...


View Soul Amp's EPK

It also has a calendar...

My Sonicbids Calendar

If we continue to use this I'll probably post this calendar in the main web page...

On the recording front we have four new tunes we're polishing. And a we are recording new versions of some our older songs about 8 so far on the list. We'll be in the studio tuesday and wednesday night and this saturday tracking.

SO for those of you who have the New Day and Tube prototype disk those there won't be anymore of those sold. I think I have aout 15 or so left of Tube.

That's it for now.
BRad

Soul Amp selected for Break up Song

We recently submitted our song She Slit Her Wrists Again to MKE magazine for a breakup song online compilation. Our song was selected and you can download it and all 15 other tracks here.

So we got a blurb in the MKE magazine out now and another link and reason to post.

Also in the list is one of my local favorites Spill.

Tone Quest Update

Well I have switched back to Groove Tubes 12ax7-c's for the pre-amp stages of the Traynor YCV20. The JJ ECC83S either need some burn in or one has an issue. Word out in the ether is that the JJ ECC83s' have some manufacturing issues. One reseller dicontinued the tube because he had 25% rejection rates. I am in contact with Bob at Eurotubes and I'll post a post-morteum once I find out what the scoop on these tubes are. Tonight I will be trying them in the Champ 12 to see if I can isolate the issue. This issue is a ratty high frequency static that seems to appear in overdrive settings.

I left the balanced JJ ECC83S in the phase splitting spot and it seems to be doing okay. Though I might try a 12AT7 that I have. To see what that will do.

The EL84's from JJ are performing well and the overall sound is better than the Sovteks. I might swap back again just to make sure though...

I also investigated speakers and have decided on the Eminence Red Fang AlNiCo 30 watt speaker. Partly because of some favorable reviews and price. It is 1/3 the cost of an Celestion Blue and is close to the sound. I am sure the tube amp wolrd will start hearing more about this speaker soon based on a few things I have read. One reviewer on Harmony Central put the Red Fang and Blue in a head to head test. He said the Blue was still the best but the Red Fang had a different yet equally musical sound. Quite a excellent value. The weak dollar has allowed Eminence to gain some ground on Celestion on their UK produced speakers. The big bummer on the weak dollar is that is has put UK amps pretty much out of reach.

I had some mp3s of the tone but unfortunately they have too much digital clipping on them to post. So I will rerecord the samples and with more care on the amp settings and what I play to to provide a better comparision.

I'll put a new section on the website called "Combo Tube Amp" for you fellow tone freaks out there.

Pestilence...

A illness has befallen the most delightful person that plays upon the drums in the band of gentlemen known as Soul Amp. Seems the sturdy M2 has been stricken with pneumonia and is home on bed rest by doctor's orders. His recovery is proceeding and his spirits are high. All the wish him the best in this difficult time.

In the mean time M1 and myself are generating a bevy of new tunes with the goal of having more to sellect from when the time comes to put the upcoming album in the can. Which BTW is slated for May 1st, 2005.

Upcoming gigs are nebulous at this time as we are concentrating on re-recording tracks already selected for the album.

Brad and Strat.

Brad and Strat.
Originally uploaded by bodland.

Once again getting ready for rehersal in the CatBox. I'm still in my work uniform.

What dedication.

Check out Free Music Here.

M2 in the CatBox

M2 in the CatBox
Originally uploaded by bodland.

M2 behind the Ludwig's during rehersal.

Free Lite Beer....

Free Lite Beer....
Originally uploaded by bodland.

Main Stage has these cool wing counters with couches and stools along the sides that make it a great place to chill and chat. Here we are partaking in some libation before we went on.

Main Stage Stage

Main Stage Stage
Originally uploaded by bodland.

Back stage at the main stage.

Main Stage

mainstageset
Originally uploaded by bodland.

Here is the set up at the Main Stage gig on Jan. 28, 2005.

M1 and Brad O. at the Main Stage

M1 and Brad O.
Originally uploaded by bodland.

This must be during Turn Out the Morning as M1 is on the Wurli.

Wide Shot...

Wide Shot...
Originally uploaded by bodland.

Hmmm....I do look a little wide.

Watching the listeners

Yesterday, I dropped one of the latest prototype CDs at a coffee shop in the area. I've played at this place in the past with another band I'm currently playing with. After I chatted with one of the owners about when they'll be starting to program bands again I ordered some coffee & a nosh and he told me he'd play the CD while I was there. I think the shop had around 20 people in it. I grabbed a copy of the Arts section of the New York Times, read up on Cirque du Soleil's new show in Las Vegas and sipped my coffee. While our CD was playing I noticed a few things...

- even on the shop's miniscule sound system we sounded quite good, Brad's vocals could be heard, lyrics understood plainly, even with a somewhat boistrous crowd and the front door of the shop propped open, letting fresh, warm outside air into the shop
- it was nice to sit around perfect strangers (although I find myself wondering why people use the expression 'perfect strangers', what makes them perfect? how exactly do we know for certain they're even all that strange? more strange than me?) and listen to our music
- it's one thing to play our CD for friends & family and have them give sincerely good review of our music, it's one thing to play live and get the same including the same from patrons in the bar/club, but it's an entirely different thing to be sitting in a coffee shop listening to our music and notice a patron with his wife as they enjoy the beautiful weather, sip their coffee and gradually start dancing in their seats, a wide smile gaining real estate on their face and their toes tapping like some sort of hoe-down hillbilly (hopefully the owner noticed)

So, I think we're on the right track. =)

JJ Electronics ecc83s

ecc83s
Originally uploaded by bodland.

JJ Electonics ECC83s or 12ax7. Word out in tubeland is that these tubes are some of the sweetest to come down the pipe since the Telefunkens in the early 60's. I'll be loading the Traynor up with these in a few days. Today I'll be putting down a version of a new tune on acoustic and will do some sample recordings of the Traynor and Champ 12 with the different tube sets I have.

The EL84 Power Tube

el84
Originally uploaded by bodland.

TYPICAL CHARACTERISTIC:

Ua = 250 V
Ug2 = 250 V
Ug1 = -7,3 V
Ia = 48 mA
Ig2 = 5,5 mA
S = 11,3 mA/V
Ri = 40 kOhm
µg1/g2

CLASS A AMPLIFIER:

Ua = 250 V
Ug2 = 250 V
Rk = 133 Ohm
Ia = 48 mA
Ig2 = 5,5 mA
Ra = 5,2 kOhm
Ug1eff(50mW) = 0,3 V
Ug1eff(N) = 4,3 V
N(10%)1) = 5,7 W
N2) = 6 W
1)Ug1fest fixed grid bias
2)Ig1


What does this MEAN!! I don't know but it looks cool...

Traynor YCV20

Traynor YCV20
Originally uploaded by bodland.

New amp. Soul Amp aquired this little gem from e-bay. I played the Sprizzo gig with it after I wired a switching 1/4 jack and installed a mounting plate to the inside cabinet to hold it.

I used the Fender 2x12 closed back cabinet that is loaded with EVM-12Fs. The cabinet is 8 ohm. Plugging in a cabinet to the Traynor automagically turns off the speaker and maintains the 8 ohm output requirement.

I replaced the stock Sovtek 12ax7 with Groove Tube 12ax7-c Shugaung made.

First off this amp being a EL84 cathode biased amp is a much differenet animal than the Champ 12 I have been using. The signal to the power tubes in the Traynor is split into two seprate opposite phases and are sent to the power tubes for amplification. The Champ is a single ended Class A with a single 6L6 power tube and has this one dimentional quality to it compared to the dual EL84.

Basically in a nutshell the Champ 12 is a "American" high gain rock amp. The Traynor is really more of a "Brit" type amp. Think Orange AD15, Vox AC15, Marshall 18 watt. It was designed in response to the Mesa Boogie high gain amp of the day. The two amps have very different sounds. The EL84 amp though is able to replicate the sound of the Champ 12 to a degree. The big bonus is that the EL84 amp has a higher degree of flexibility and a more complicated sound .

Be sure to get yourself some Free Soul Amp music by clicking here.

Another Promo Photo

soulampstand
Originally uploaded by bodland.

More pix for use somewhere. We'll maybe use this one for some glossies to.

Soul Amp Logo

walking_logo
Originally uploaded by bodland.

Here is a a first at a logo.

It is called the "walking dude" logo...

Sprizzo Jan. 29th

longview
Originally uploaded by bodland.

What follows are a bunch of pictures from the january 29th SPrizzo gig. Sprizzo is a small cafe'/coffee house/Art Gallery/Martini/Wine Bar....that is a lot of slashes. They have music on a regular basis and do everything from jazz, folk to alt rock. If the bands keep the volume down this is a fun place to watch and hear music. Great food, drinks and warm non-smoking atmosphere make for a very intimate music experience for all ages.

SPrizzo is not a late night place. Bnads fire up at 8 and typically they start shutting down by around 10-10:30. We were packed up and sitting in House of Guiness having a pint by 11:30.

Families welcome. We had quite a few fans who brought the kids. Which is great way for families to do something other than watch T.V. or go to ::choke:: Applebee's...go to Sprizzo...

Starting out the night at 8 p.m. we had pretty much standing room only for the first set. The second set was "mostly winging it" and havning fun trying out some variations on songs that were not in the first set.

Thanks to Patrick Netteshiem for the photos.

It was a good gig. We had a blast, sold some disks, ate some sammies and drank some moose drool.

Set up

stuff_car
Originally uploaded by bodland.

Here is the tight space to set up in at Sprizzo. We relocated tables at the front. Volume is key at this place. Keep the bass deep. M2 used HotShots to keep the volume down. Sprizzo's has a small PA. Use it if you play there. I placed my speaker cabinet to the left of the door to spread the sound.

All in all we had no complaints on the sound and we didn't blast people out.

Open Ax

Open Ax
Originally uploaded by bodland.

Steve

White
Originally uploaded by bodland.

Drumming with Bruce

Druming
Originally uploaded by bodland.

M1 on the CX-3

M1 on the CX-3
Originally uploaded by bodland.

Brad O. Smile...

Brad O. Smile...
Originally uploaded by bodland.

Mike and Bruce

Mike and Bruce
Originally uploaded by bodland.

M1

M1
Originally uploaded by bodland.

Steve and Thing

Steve and Thing
Originally uploaded by bodland.

Sprizzo's Chicken Nachos...

P1010023
Originally uploaded by bodland.

I am big nacho fan. And I am very picky about them. Real cheese. No canned goo. Sprizzo's has for the most part really good nachos. Except for a time when one owner decided it was better to have nacho cheese canned goo instead....bleech...

All I can say is between Sprizzo's Nachos with a Moose Drool and Es station's Nachos Con Carne and a margarita, Waukesha may very well be the Nacho capital of the known universe.

As and old punker from Minneapolis t-face used to say: "mmmm num nums"

This Is Sprizzo

P1010020
Originally uploaded by bodland.

Main Street Waukesha. We'll be playing on Saturday the 29th from 8-10.

This is also to site of "bean scene". Each Wednesday before practice a few soul ampers hang with their groovy "chicks", kids, friends etc. for Moose Drool and Nachos..or soup, latte', coffee...whatever.

"Tube" Potential CD Cover

Soul-AmpTUBEcov
Originally uploaded by bodland.

Well I downloaded the templates for various CD jackets/sleeves and inserts from DiskMakers to start tossing around ideas for the final graphics for the upcoming CD.

Playing with "tube" idea as cover I tried a few thing in PhotoShop. I have some ideas that we'll to take some more photos to realize...super secret ya know...

Prototype-IIb - "Tube"

Prototype-IIb
Originally uploaded by bodland.

Here is the cover design for prototype II dubbed: "tube".

M1 and I finished this up last night selection a range of songs that we felt sounded good together. We'll be selling these at the Main Stage and Sprizzo gigs for $5. This weekend in Waukesha.

The seven song disk is yet another step along the way to our completed album. It is likely that these versions will only be available on this disk.

If you lucked out and got the first prototype why stop there...come and get this one too...

I personally really like this little disk. It shows the progress the band has made musically since November. There are three new songs, Flowing On, Beautiful Painting and Turn Out The Morning.(new to us) on the disk and it's cool in that they are really fresh recordings made moments after the songs came together, probably the third or fourth take.

I am digging these new tunes as they revealed that we have broken through some hidden self imposed boundary and we started opening up some new sonic territory. Specifically in Beautiful Picture there is some really interesting stuff happening there it's dark and sweet. All in all tasty disk and a great step toward our finished album...

I was holding a pre amp tube (12ax7-c Groove Tubes) I bought and was admiring it as we waited for the track to processes the mastering effects. Mike said "lets take a picture of that...".

As I thought more about it seemed tube was a pretty name for this collection.

We all live in tubes of sorts.
Well rounded and confined.
In our own little columns of influence.
tube junky
corporate silo climber

See you at the gig...

Brad

Main Stage 10 p.m. Friday - Jan 29th.

Debut Gig - Main Stage 716 Clinton, Downtown Waukesha Wisconsin. 10 p.m.

45 minute set.

We'll be playing:

Time On My Hands
Banner Day
She Slit Her Wrists Again
Moves In For The Kill
Turn Out The Morning
MOre Than I Asked For
Sealed Away
New Day
Summer Holiday
Jamie Says

Breakup Song

Seems there is some sort of thing happening on MKE online...they were looking for local bands to submit a "break-up" song. So we tossed them She Slit Her Wrists Again, not exactly a little ditty bout Jack and Diane more of a "whoa...what's up with that.." you can download it here.

I guess this makes this our first...internet freebie release. Make sure you come out and hear it live sometime.

Prototype II

CD Prototype II

Soul Amp

Soul Amp is unique; the music is rich with experience and draws on a great variety of influences. The song-based sound is deep and warm with dynamics that set this four piece apart. Their tunes are soulful and challenging while being delightfully musical, at times heavy and other times wildly light and fresh. Mature listeners and music fans will appreciate Soul Amp as they pay homage to the texture and depth of sound once thought lost in our mostly digital instument music world. They are indeed the soul amplifiers for a generation that grew up through the 60's and 70's. This group of four late "boomers" will bring to your festival or club a welcome diversion into the sounds that define what rock music is and was.

MIke Fisk

Mike (M1) Fisk - keyboards

Mike hails from Colorado and is a self-taught piano player from early childhood. Mike has been in and around music for years as a composer and band manager. He co-wrote songs, produced and managed a popular band while in Colorado and produced his own album of instrumental piano. He is a prolific writer, "tech-geek" and brings a wealth of ideas to Soul Amp. In Soul Amp Mike comes out form behind the scenes and brings his talent to the stage. Mike sticks to traditional sounds. He utilizes a vintage Hammond organ, Wurlitzer electric and Yamaha Grand pianos in the studio and for stage plays a Korg Hammond tone wheel clone, Kurtzwiel PC2X controller and a vintage Wurlitzer. While working their day job, Brad and Mike frequently discussed their joint musical interests. Their conversations led to the conception of Soul Amp in 2004.

Mike Nettesheim - M2

Mike (M2) Nettesheim - drums/percussion

After meeting Brad at an open mic session Mike Joined Soul Amp in August,2004. He has played drums since 1972, professionally gigging and recording since 1980. His credits include regional touring band Tiger Rose, punk band Barking Spiders, alt rock band E'Gad and blues guitarist Jon Moore. Mike plays vintage Ludwig kits on stage and in studio. Soul Amp needed a drummer that could draw on a rich exposure to many forms of music without fear of experimenting with unusual beats and timings to accent the tunes. Mike's creativity is unflagging and as time went on he found that the music being made was indeed as he put it "amplifying my soul, it's my soul amp". Mike brings a great deal of skill and enthusiasm to Soul Amp and he and Steve are quickly becoming a rhythm section admired by other musicians.

Steven White - EB

Steven White (Esteban Blanco) - bass

Steve comes to Soul Amp from 25 years of playing rock, pop, top 40 and jazz. He started playing bass guitar in high school and since then has played with big bands, solo performers and a range of small-stage acts including the many performance groups while in music school. Some of his most successful gigs have been with Flat Rabbits, Pulse and U2Zoo. Steves primary influences are not only world-renowned bassists like Jaco Pastorius, Marcus Miller and Darryl Jones but also artists from other disciplines such as Joni Mitchell, Miles Davis, Joan Miro and Frank Lloyd Wright. His philosophy of playing is simple: know the song, listen to the players, carry the bottom line and always be willing to express yourself. Steve plays on Brian Moore 5-string, Fender Jazz 4-string fretless and Ibanez Musician 4-string basses and uses Eden amplification.

Brad Odland

Brad Odland - guitar/lead vocal

Brad started playing guitar in 1974 and has been playing and writing original material since 1985. While living in Minneapolis he joined the Landsliders as lead guitarist and backing vocalist. The Landsliders released a 6" EP and played in the region through the late 80's and early 90's. In 1990 while still gigging with the Landsliders he formed the power trio Frozen Soul and they wrote over 50 original songs over a four year period eventually releasing the cassette "Contemporary Music for Neanderthals". Brad moved to Madison, Wisconsin in 1995 and went "back to nature" for 8 years playing solo folk and original bluegrass. After Handful of Grass parted company in 2003, Brad looked to return to rock music.

In early 2004 he began working with keyboardist/songwriter Mike Fisk and together they found a common musical sense. Brad and Mike focus on lyrics that reflect experiences from simple slice of life tunes about relationships and love to darker explorations of loss, war and politics. Musically Brad draws on sounds from four decades of music including rock, pop, punk, blues, reggae and Americana and brings this experience to bear with the members of Soul Amp to sculpt a fresh sonic experience.

As a guitarist Brads understated playing style is simple but rich with emotion, texture and tone. His voice is soulful, personal and draws on years of singing folk, rock and bluegrass. Brad plays Fender Stratocasters through a modified 80's vintage tube Fender Champ 12 and 70's Fender 2x12 cabinet without effects. His playing relies on analog tech to milk the sound from the wires. Un-fettered by effects the true sound of the guitar and its player sing true.