Sunday, November 1, 2009

Scientific Superstar's official band Bio


Near the end of 2006, after a 10 years hiatus from playing in a band, Paul Gallant decided that it was once again time to dust off the instruments and put together a new musical project. He knew from the beginning that this project would be very different from anything he had done in the past.

Computer & sampling technology had a come a long way since 1996, so he knew that this would be a big factor into the writing style of this project. There would be drum loops, synths, and retro computer sounds but, not in a way that it would dominate the sound and the writing style of the band.

After putting together a few song ideas he decided to call old friend and former bandmate Thomas DeVries. Thomas was not only an amazing bass player but, also had a lot of knowledge in writing traditional & computer based music. 

Soon songs began to come together, but deciding how to pull them off live became the new challenge. The first draft of the band was Paul on guitar & vocals & Thomas on bass playing along with backing tracks. It just didn't have the right feel. They agreed that if this was going to work that they would need real drums.

Paul bought a drum set and started teaching himself how to play. One problem that soon came up was how hard it was to play a traditional drum kit and sing at the same time. A Janet Jackson headset mic was not an option, so he decided that a stand up drum kit might be the perfect fit. After finding a cocktail kit on bay he found it to be the perfect solution.

They spent a few months writing songs and putting together a live show and ultimately decided on the name "Scientific Superstar". Not wanting to rely on the sound systems in local clubs, Paul started saving up money and ended up buying a PA from a former strip club to handle the backing tracks.

Into their first year of playing shows, Scientific Superstar was asked to join the local co-op record label Subdivision 67. Soon after they released their debut CD, "The Scientific Superstar" The CD included a full 8 page comic book that featured a story about Paul & his friend Johnny's life of writing music as a non-playing band. 

Into the second year of playing, Paul decided that the band really needed a full time singer to free him up to concentrate on drums and backing tracks.

He didn't actively pursue anyone but one night at a show on Duke's campus he saw someone that he instantly knew would be a perfect fit. Her name was Junko and she was singing for the band "Fujiyama Roll". They were a band that did j-rock/j-jpop style music with all the vocals in traditional Japanese style.

Paul asked Junko if she would be interested in doing some vocals for them, and soon their first song came to life called "Doomed lucky day". The chemistry seemed perfect, and the timing worked out, and soon Junko joined them full time. Junko came onboard halfway through the writing of the 2nd CD, but ended up doing vocals on 3/4 of the songs.

That brings us up to present day with their 2nd CD "Doomed Lucky Day" just released and the 3rd CD underway.

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