I’m standing in the place where stars are born, in the place where legends are made. Or, in the case of Soul’d Out, where semi-regular practices shape up about 11:26 on sporadic Wednesday nights (and possibly Sunday mornings … depending on football season).
I’m in the middle of singer Nick Hitchens’ basement, the jam pad where this 10-piece student group cuts its chops. Looking around, this narrow, ill-lit room appears more college dorm than conservatory. Here, weathered couches and Wendy’s cups reign, and the closest thing I can find to a textbook is a hardcover copy of Jon Stewart’s America (The Book).
But don’t be alarmed by the casual locale – practice or performance – these guys bring the funk.
In its brief year-and-a-half career, Soul’d Out has built a reputation and growing fan base from the ’70s funk, soul and R&B covers it has performed regularly at local bars, fraternity parties and all over the campus. Now, after winning the Battle for Art Attack, a year after finishing second, the band is practicing for its biggest stage yet – Byrd Stadium.
Lounging around the basement, the band members assemble instruments and it’s all laughs. No one feels the nerves in preparing for their biggest show to date.
“I don’t think any one of us take it seriously enough to be nervous,” says drummer and senior special education major Adam Soffrin. “We only get nervous when we’re judged, but I think the crowd out there will be pretty supportive since we’ve got all our normal fans coming out.”
In the year since Soul’d Out’s previous Battle defeat, the group’s fans have done just that. Since September 2005, Soul’d Out has performed its most high-profile shows at the popular Santa Fe Cafe, the venue it has come to love. Its appearances have become standing-room-only events, with long lines to enter and bar-goers filling both the patio and inside floor.
“I just really like the idea of being able to go to a bar in College Park that we all go to anyway and putting on a rockin’ show in front of a lot of people, and that’s my night, man,” says Hitchens, a senior English major.
Saxophonist and senior music education major Tyler Shultz agrees. “I feel like we play a lot better when … we have a big crowd where people are dancing to our music,” he says.
Back at the practice session, no one is dancing yet as the clock rounds 11 p.m. and no notes have been heard. Nobody seems to notice the time, however, further confirming Soul’d Out’s self-designation as “laid-back guys.” When they say they pride themselves in bringing the party, you know they mean it as much for themselves as for the fans.
“We’re not very serious when we play,” says guitarist Tony Amoyal, a senior computer engineering major. “We like to get on stage and have fun.”
“I feel like we have a lot less invested in our band and our progress than most other bands and musicians around,” adds keyboard player and senior American studies major Jared Rosenbaum. “We don’t have any plans to call Arista [Records] or anything. We don’t try to impress anybody.”
But it’s not hard to be impressed listening to Soul’d Out. Some members of the band are music majors with careers in performance, and others are well-practiced, longtime musicians. The high caliber of skill allows for successful on-stage collaboration and communication.
“[When] we played at the Calvert House once … this guy who we found out later didn’t even work there came up to the front when we had half a song left and started waving hundreds of dollars in our faces, asking us to play more,” Rosenbaum says. “We made up a couple songs, played a song we had in the works.”
“I think everybody, in terms of playing music, is the same way,” says trumpet player Erik Pearson, a junior electrical engineering major. “You’re doing it for yourself, but you want to play your music for people.”
So they play to crowds for now, but for how long is yet to be seen. The group just acquired its first demo and some members hint at the desire to continue performing, but with several members of Soul’d Out slated to graduate this spring, the band’s future is uncertain. For today, however, it is this weekend’s opening spot for Common that is on everyone’s minds.
“The Art Attack show is a turning point in some direction – we’re just not sure which,” Amoyal says.
As it nears 11:30 p.m., the group finally agrees to start practice. With a “1-2-3-4,” they’ve launched – bouncing bass, screaming horns and all – into KC and the Sunshine Band’s 1975 classic “Boogie Shoes.” Heads bob and feet tap. I sit back on a stray couch cushion, pen and pad in hand, and before long, I’m doing the same.
