Rock n Roll Soldiers
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The Rock n Roll Soldiers are a rock band from Eugene, Oregon. Its members are: Marty Larson-Xu (vocals, guitar), Oliver Brown (drums), and Evan Sernoffsky (bass guitar). Their sound has been described as "skuzzy, sleazy punk tailored for drinking, fighting and tattooing" by MTV News reporter James Montgomery. Larson-Xu himself describes it as high energy old-school rock and roll with a "greater modern sensibility" (Rocket Net Webzine).
The Soldiers are known for their energetic live performances, which typically involve the dismantling of Oliver's drum kit and a charismatic Larson-Xu presiding over and playing into the mayhem as much as possible.
Contents |
- Marty Larson-Xu (Vocals/Guitar)
- Oliver Brown (Drums)
- Evan Sernoffsky (Bass)
- Jeremy Briggs (Bass, parted ways to pursue other interests)
- Quinn Brown (lead Guitar, parted ways after passing out on stage at a concert.)
- Kevin Sciou (Replaced Lucas Gunn when he left the band after high school. Left to play in a country band with former Starrgunn bandmate Carter Falco. Replaced by Lucas Gunn.)
- Lucas Gunn (Lead Guitar)
In 1997, childhood friends Marty, Oliver, Evan, and original guitarist Lucas Gunn (brother of Chris Gunn, guitarist for The Hunches) came together to form the band that would one day become the Soldiers. The four friends, just barely out of middle school, were only beginning to learn to play their instruments as the band started to take shape. The name of the band itself came from the name of a Radio Birdman tour. Larson-Xu explains to MTV.com:
"Our favorite band was Radio Birdman, so we got our name from them," frontman Marty Larson-Xu said. "One of their tours was named Rock 'n' Roll Soldiers, and we were like, 'Yes! That's it!'" (MTV.com)
Being a quiet, small, college town, Eugene was not the ideal place for the Soldiers to make their mark. The Rock n Roll Soldiers had to find their own entertainment, and this music was their outlet.
As a result, many of the Soldiers' songs deal with the boredom and frustration of growing up in a small West coast town.
The Soldiers' music began catching the ears of those on the West coast, and soon enough the Soldiers were opening for bands like The Donnas and the New Bomb Turks.
Fresh out of high school, Lucas and the rest of the Soldiers parted ways, and the band picked up French guitarist Kevin Sciou former guitarist of StarrGunn (Shooter Jennings Rock band). Sciou is quoted as saying his decision to join the soldiers was based partly on their familiarity with "The Flaming groovies". They continued touring the West coast, and recorded two EPs; "The High School Sessions EP," and "The Weak Blame the Strong EP." These two EPs were picked up by San Francisco label Gearhead Records, and released only on vinyl. In 2005, the Soldiers signed a deal with Atlantic Records, and Warner Music Group's subsidiary East West released the two EPs as a compilation CD, aptly titled, "The Two EPs". This CD served as their unofficial nationwide debut. As their influence spread, the Soldiers began touring the country, frequently making it out to the East coast. Recently, the Soldiers played a series of West coast shows in support of Shooter Jennings.
The Rock n Roll Soldiers' song "Funny Little Feeling" received national play, being featured in a Verizon wireless commercial, popular television shows such as One Tree Hill and Smallville, and several video games including MVP Baseball 2005, L.A Rush, and Gran Turismo 4. Also, their song "Flag Song" is featured in several of Electronic Arts' 2006 video game titles. The Soldiers are also featured on the Drive-Thru Records compilation CD "Listen to Bob Dylan: A Tribute Album." The Soldiers contributed their own rendition of Dylan's classic "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35"
In recent months, the internet community has garnered much support for the Soldiers. Their official street team, The Rock 'N' Roll Army, is being operated through the popular website Myspace.com.
They were featured on episodes of MTV's MADE and True Life.
In July of 2006, Kevin Sciou left the Soldiers to go play with former StarrGunn band mate Carter Falco. They replaced him with the original guitarist from high school, Lucas Gunn.
In June 2006, they released their debut album, So Many Musicians to Kill. The album is currently available through PayPal, in local Eugene, Oregon music stores, and iTunes as well as other indie rock music stores across the country.
Currently they are working on a new album, of which two confirmed songs have been recorded, Water Tower and Black. A release date is not yet disclosed. They are currently touring through July and August.
In August 2007, the band put a brand new song on their MySpace page, titled Baby Monster, and announced they will have an album released in 2008. Also in August, Marty Larson-Xu posted a new blog entry on MySpace. It said that they have a booking agent in Europe booking a tour in early 2008.
- So Many Musicians to Kill (RNRS Records/Beverly Martel, June 2006)
- Upcoming Album (RNRS Records, 2008)
- The Weak Blame the Strong (Gearhead, 200?)(Vinyl only)
- High School Sessions (Gearhead, 200?)(Vinyl only)
- The Two EPs (Atlantic/East West, April 2005)
- Official Website
- Official Rock 'n' Roll Soldiers Street Team
- Official MySpace
- Outside video interview on The Brittany Equation Show
- http://www.zipperfish.net/music/rnrsoldiers.php - VIDEO Interview back stage with RNR Soldiers
- Montgomery, J. MTV News article Retrieved Nov 5, 2005
- Inman, J. Las Vegas City Life Retrieved Nov 5, 2005
- Pure Volume Bio, Retrieved Nov 5, 2005
- Anne Carlini Interview, Retrieved Nov 5, 2005
- Rock Net Webzine interview, Retrieved Nov 5, 2005
- RnRTV #53, Retrieved June 3, 2007