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HeadSoup was born, in
a dorm room, as Fish HeadSoup. The name was soon shortened
to HeadSoup. Not that the band has anything against fish,
but it just seemed to roll off the tongue a little easier.
All the members of the band share a deep passion for music.
Add to that some slightly skewed but fertile musical minds,
a dynamic voice or two, 10 strings and a drum apparatus and
you have the ingredients of their humble beginnings.
HeadSoup's members
came together from opposite ends of the country and consider
themselves very fortunate to have found each other. The
band's focus has always been about serving the song with the
ultimate goal to always treat whatever piece of music they
are playing with the utmost respect. They constantly search
out new forms of music and once they've “discovered” them
completely immerse themselves in that form. A common
denominator among the members of the band during their early
years was that their households were filled with music. Each
one of them wore out hundreds records from their parent's
vinyl collections. “We also loved the radio when we were
young, with real live DJs that would talk to you about the
music and the musicians, kind of like a friend with
knowledge that we craved” says lead singer Nik Rael.
HeadSoup was playing any club, gymnasium or VFW hall in the
Philadelphia area that would have them and their loyal fans
would always ask them when are you going to record some of
their songs. At the time the band was just completely into
the experience of playing live and hadn't given much thought
to recording. They started out by recording a couple of
“demo” tunes and just passing them out to friends. Somehow
one of those “demo cassettes” found its way to a
Philadelphia area radio station and to the band's shock and
surprise the station began playing it. People called in
requesting the two songs and the band realized that maybe it
was time to look at recording a little more seriously.
HeadSoup's self-titled
eight-song debut CD was released in the late '90s. Actually
released might be too strong a word, they pretty much sold
them at gigs out of the trunks of their cars. Even with this
limited distribution it didn't take long for the band to
gain a strong regional following. As any group of musicians
that has pursued their dreams will tell you, there are
easier ways of making a living. HeadSoup has seen their fair
share of trials and tribulations. They have slept on friends
floors, played outdoor shows in torrential downpours, been
forced to move out of their apartments in the middle of the
night and have even on occasion been forced to live in their
cars. On one cold dank night after a gig, a gang even tried
to take their car with all their equipment in it. It was
only through some curbside negotiation and a few bumps and
bruises that they managed to salvage their gear and their
“apartment." The band also played one of the last shows ever
at The World Trade Center just days before the 9/11 attack.
In 2003 the band moved to the Hudson Valley in New York and
things have been looking up ever since.
Their second CD
"Worlds Fade Away”, produced by long time Van Morrison
guitarist John Platania was released in early 2004 and
received strong regional air play. This CD was released as
by lead singer/writer Nik Rael rather than under the
HeadSoup name because it began as more of acoustic CD than
the band album it evolved into. “Worlds Fade Away “ is a
HeadSoup album through and through and the band would like
to apologize for confusing their fans in any way: Also
in 2004 drummer, vocalist extraordinaire Steve Petrone
joined up with Nik in HeadSoup. Steve is the former leader
of the very popular Hudson Valley band, Andy Gootch.The band
has spent the last couple of years touring and writing songs
for their next CD tentatively tiled “E Sharp”. Radio and the
Internet have been very kind to the band and we gain new
fans everyday and we'd like to thank you all.
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