Soup

Artist Information

Biography

"On their debut disc, 'The Great Awakening', there is a definite debt to earlier bands in the genre like the Grateful Dead and Phish... Soup has established its sound... it is familiar - love, peace, happiness, and guitars. The disc is enjoyable, and there is a long tradition of bands to suggest that they may succeed with an approach like this."
Frank Kocher San Diego Troubadour

"Soup is a band for all occasions and situations. The songs are memorable and the music is upbeat, dancable and if you listen to the lyrics you just might learn something."
Cathryn Beeks of ListenLocalsd.com and 102.1 KPRI

"Throw it in a pot and you got Soup! A mixture of many things classic, Soup will arouse feelings of the good ol' days. So you better check them out now!"
Tim Pyles ~ FM 94.9 San Diego

"'The Great Awakening' by SOUP is a solid debut statement. Song for song, note for note, it has a feel-good groove to it... So if you like college alternative rock that dishes out bluesy ditties reminiscent of Blind Melon, Counting Crows and The Grateful Dead, then you should jump into this CD head first."
Cyrus Rhodes
President - Indie Music Media, LLC.
MusesMuse.com

Audiences and critics agree. A timeless sound, a universal sentiment, and an honest organic approach make Soup an emerging band to watch out for.

Soup aspires to make music that reflects their desire for a positive change within themselves. They seek to inspire their listeners to transcend the current social tide to promote peace, hope and love.

A Brief History of Soup…

Throughout the years the band has taken on several forms and many players have found themselves sharing the stage as Soup. Starting as a solo project Jonathan Fleig got his start at the Flying Bridge in Oceanside, CA in the Spring of 2008. It grew into a quartet adding Collin Wicker on bass, Eli Slover on electric guitar and Tyson Bay on hand percussion. This first line up had a sound affectionately labeled “front porch” music.

As Soup grew they often recruited David Schultz to sit in on drums. The addition of drums expanded the sound greatly. The decision was made to find a full-time drummer and do away with the hand percussion all together. In the Fall of 2009, Soup flew to Fleig’s home state of Kansas and spent two weeks at Planet Paul Studios in Wichita. The sound of the record, the look of the band and the vibe of the music had organically taken on an old school appeal.

They returned to California emboldened by their accomplishment and soon found a full-time drummer in Nolan Greene. They began preparing for a CD Release Party to be held at the Historic Star Theatre on March 12th, 2010. Not long after this show, Slover left the band. The remaining trio continued to perform and soon enlisted Grant Kimball to play lead guitar. Kimball proved to reinforce the vintage sound and added a much more “hard rock” element to the music.

Summer of 2010 brought a lot of growth. They received favorable reviews for T.G.A. and in a successful college radio push they were in rotation on over 130 stations. They toured San Diego and Orange County with U.K. band “Heal the Last Stand.” By September, they had traveled as far North as Eugene, OR. With some interest from a major record label Soup recorded a five song live EP entitled Downhill March at El Cajon’s Superior Sound. Unfortunately, the label took a pass.

Triumphs and disappointments go hand in hand. Like most young bands Soup dealt with many growing pangs. The constant ups and downs proved too much and Kimball took a break in October. Tim Flood briefly filled the spot. In this two month period Soup played their first L.A. shows and were invited to play the small festival Marshalpalooza on the UCSD campus.

In February 2011 the band reunited after a small hiatus. By March their California dates included shows in San Diego, North County, Los Angeles, San Fransisco, Arcata and they also began to venture into Arizona. The 21st Annual Los Angeles Music Awards nominated Soup for the Best Americana/Roots Artist of the year and the song Enemy was nominated for Best Americana/Roots Single of the year. Despite these successes discontentment was growing among the members. Wicker and Kimball both left the band in June.

At this point, Fleig and Greene are the only official members of Soup. Seasoned musician Greg Burman has been playing bass with the band since June. Soup is currently working on new material and looking for the right players to fill out the line-up. They will record a new record soon and continue to book and play shows.

Instrumentation

Jonathan Fleig - Lead Vocals, Rhythm Guitar
Nolan Greene - Drums, back vocals
Greg Burman - Vocals, Bass

Discography

The Great Awakening Released March 12th, 2010
(Nominated for two L.A. Music Awards-
Best Americana Single of the Year 'Enemy'
Best Americana Artist of the Year)

Downhill March-Available Soon

Available on CD Baby, Itunes, Digstation and many other online retailers.

Radio Playing Soup:

102.1 FM : Encinitas, CA
94.9 FM : San Diego, CA
BearCast : Cincinnati, OH
Bulls Radio : Tampa, FL
CFMU : Hamilton, ON, CA
CFRE : Mississauga, ON, CA
CHMR : Saint Johns, NF, CA
KACY : Arkansas City, KS
KALA : Davenport, IA
KAMP : Tucson, AZ
KANN : College Station, TX
KASF : Alamosa, CO
KBBI : Homer, AK
KBSU : Boise, ID
KCOU : Columbia, MO
KCSS : Turlock, CA
KDNK : Carbondale, CO
KDWG : Dillon, MT
KEOL : Le Grande, OR
KFAI : Minneapolis, MN
KGAR : Lemoore, CA
KHNS : Haines, AK
KHSU : Arcata, CA
KHSU : Huntsville, TX
KIDE : Hoopa, CA
KLPI : Ruston, LA
KMSU : Mankato, MN
KNDS : Fargo, ND
KNWD : Natchitoches, LA
KOPN : Columbia, MO
KPUR : Forrest Grove, OR
KRFC : Fort Collins, CO
KRSC : Claremore, OK
KRUI : Iowa City, IA
KSAU : Nasogdoches, TX
KSCL : Shreveport, LA
KSJD : Mancos, CO
KSYM : San Antonio, TX
KTCB : Kennewick, WA
KTSW : San Marcos, TX
KUAC : Fairbanks, AK
KUPS : Tacoma, WA
KURA : Ouray, CO
KURE : Ames, IA
KUWS : Superior, WI
KVNF : Paonia, CO
KWCR : Ogden, UT
KWCW : Walla Walla, WA
KWLC : Decorah, IA
KZMU : Moab, UT
M3 Radio : New York, NY
NVWR : Reno, NV
SCAD : Atlanta, GA
WARC : Meadville, PA
WARY : Valhalla, NY
WBNY : Buffalo, NY
WCBE : Columbus, OH
WCBF : Fredonia, NY
WCFM : Williamstown, MA
WCNI : New London, CT
WCWM : Williamsburg, VA
WCWP : Brookville, NY
WCYT : Fort Wayne, IN
WDWN : Auburn, NY
WERU : East Orland, ME
WFDU : Teaneck, NJ
WFSB : Cleveland, OH
WGBK : Glenview, IL
WHSN : Bangor, ME
WHUS : Storrs, CT
WIDR : Kalamazoo, MI
WIIT : Chicago, IL
WIUX : Bloomington, IN
WKKL : West Barnstable, MA
WLCA : Godfrey, IL
WLFR : Pomona, NJ
WLJS : Jacksonville, AL
WLTL : La Grange, IL
WLUR : Lexington, VA
WLVR : Bethlehem, PA
WMCO : New Concord, OH
WMCX : West Long Beach, NJ
WMEB : Orono, ME
WMHB : Waterville, ME
WMLN : Milton, MA
WMPG : Portland, ME
WMSC : Upper Montsinclair, NJ
WMSE : Milwaukee, WI
WMTU : Houghton, MI
WMUF : Farmington, ME
WMUH : Allentown, PA
WMVL : Purchase, NY
WMXM : Lake Forest, IL
WNSU : Fort Lauderdale, FL
WPHS : Warren, MI
WPPJ : Pittsburgh, PA
WPTS : Pittsburgh, PA
WRDP : Chicago, IL
WRFL : Lexington, KY
WRKC : Wilkes-Barre, PA
WRNC : Ashland, WI
WRSE : Elmhurst, IL
WRST : Oshkosh, WI
WSBG : Clemson, SC
WSCW : Worcester, MA
WSIA : Staten Island, NY
WSPN : Saratoga, NY
WTTU : Cookeville, TN
WUNH : Durham, NH

Official Website

http://www.souptheband.com

Links

• Facebook
• MySpace
• Twitter

Audio

• Enemy
  Listen  
• Down Hill March
  Listen  
• Cope
  Listen  
• Postcard
  Listen  
• 5th of May
  Listen  
• The Great Awakening
  Listen  
• No Worries
  Listen  

Lyrics

• 5th of May
• Enemy
• The Great Awakening
• Cope
• Postcard
• No Worries

Video

Disguise

O Brother

Photo Gallery

Press

• Nobody Takes the Brown Acid (The Great Awakening Review) [+ Show ]
  

  Soup hails from Southern California, a quartet of roots-rockers whose sound is a sort of throwback t...Soup hails from Southern California, a quartet of roots-rockers whose sound is a sort of throwback to earlier decades when the San Francisco psychedelic sound and jam bands ruled. On their debut disc, The Great Awakening, there is a definite debt to earlier bands in the genre like the Grateful Dead and Phish, and has a vibe that makes the listener want to burn incense while playing it.
  
  "5th of May" follows an instrumental opener; the goofy lyrics, country-rock melody, and Jerry Garcia-inspired guitar fills make for a fitting introduction to the feel-good hippie vibe that permeates the music here. The lead vocalist (uncredited throughout, as are the guitars) has a bluesy howl that goes well with the protest song "Enemy," which has a counterculture message, "You've got me down on my knees/But I'm not your enemy." The title cut has an acid-rock chord progression, acid-rock lyrics, and morphs into a long, frenzied coda that throws in snippets of Chambers Brothers, the riff from "Going Down," lots of fuzz guitar, and choruses like "Love/love/love/ God is Love." Feedback ushers in "Cope," and the mood is sustained as more screeching, overdriven lead guitar wails; this one evokes a flashing amoeba light show, like the old Country Joe and the Fish albums. Nobody take the brown acid, man.
  
  Not all of the tunes here hit the mark, as some of the mid-tempo shuffles ("Postcard," "You Will Bear") fade quickly. There is a Doors feel to "Disguise," which wraps two guitar licks around snare drum shots for a hook that resolve as lyrics professing love take over, until an echo-freakout ending.
  
  The disc was produced by Fleig and the band in Wichita, Kansas, with Wayne Van Zee handling the drums. The mix is muddy in spots, burying the vocals here, blasting them too loud there. The overall feel works, since it sounds a lot like late '60s vinyl.
  
  The disc saves its best for the end. "The End (Celebration)" relates how love is going to ultimately triumph over hate and war, to an instrumental rave-up. The end (of this disc) comes with an extended jam featuring duel lead guitars.
  
  Soup has established its sound with The Great Awakening, and it is familiar - love, peace, happiness, and guitars. The disc is enjoyable, and there is a long tradition of bands to suggest that they may succeed with an approach like this.

• Soup Puts Their Music Where Their Mouth Is [+ Show ]
  

  The band is not set to arrive for another hour, yet a solid crowd is already gathering. Many arrivin...The band is not set to arrive for another hour, yet a solid crowd is already gathering. Many arriving on foot, some in rusty old cars and vans, a steady stream trickles in to form a line along the shaded wall of a warehouse building here in the industrial section of Oceanside off Airport Road. Moving slowly and patiently, people mill about greeting what appear to be old friends as the sun begins to burn through the morning’s marine haze. Others keep quietly to themselves, choosing to wait in their possession packed vehicles where they most likely spent the night. The crowd is mostly older but diverse, although beards and long hair are a common trait. A few young women arrive accompanied by their small children. Everyone looks tired and hungry. A slightly heightened anxiety fills the minutes before the opening of the doors, but an orange VW bus noisily pulls up to the front of the building just in time to send broad smiles of recognition sweeping across the crowd. Four young men disembark the bus and waste little time in pulling out guitars and amplifiers. They are promptly greeted by one of the facility’s crew leaders, an older gentlemen with a name-tag that reads Frank pinned to a light blue polo shirt. “We are so glad to have you back,” he says to them with sincere enthusiasm. One eager member of the crowd approaches them to ask if he can help carry the equipment, and they oblige his request. As he proudly bear hugs an amp to his chest and waddles towards the front door, the members of the band share a look that says, “If only we were welcomed this warmly at all our shows.” Then again, there are not free meals, clothing, haircuts and books at all their shows either. The band, aptly named Soup, humbly accepts that the crowd at Brother Benno’s Center, an all-volunteer soup kitchen and organization committed to serving the poor and homeless in San Diego’s North County, is here foremost to curb the hunger in their stomachs; however, as lead singer Jonathan Fleig confidently shares, “We are Soup because we aim to feed you something good for the soul as well.” Saturday mornings at Brother Benno’s has become an unexpectedly regular, if not anticipated, gig for the members of this recently formed Oceanside band. Now, looking like they themselves just crawled out of bed, the bohemian clad band mates quickly go about setting up in a tight pocket of space at the end of a long row of bench-tables filling the large room distinctly reminiscent of a grade school cafeteria. After a communal recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance, Jonathan, strikingly biblical with his straight brown hair running well over his shoulders, begins reworking a familiar church hymn on his weathered guitar as the line graciously starts filling their trays with abundant amounts of mashed potatoes and cornbread from the kitchen at the other end of the room. Jonathan’s calming voice over earnest strumming is soon joined by a percussive shaker at the hands of Tyson Bay, who casts a kind smile enclosed in a beard that would invoke the envy of Grizzly Adams. Jonathan catches and returns his fellow Kansas native’s smile, perhaps a shared recognition of this return to the elemental beginnings of the self-proclaimed “front porch music” style that defines the alt rock sound of Soup. Next to enter the jam, which Jonathan has now shifted into a medley of hymns, is the steady bass of Collin Wicker, who sways tranquil and content with his shaggy blond hair that looks like he may have just walked away from a morning surf session. Finally, meandering notes jump off an electric guitar enthusiastically wielded by Eli Slover, whose baby face covered in a healthy mustache could easily get him cast as the fresh rookie cop in a 70’s detective drama. The tables in front, next to the band, fill up by the end of the medley, and Jonathan takes a moment to greet and thank the audience before inspiring a number of whooping cries from the benches by announcing, “The next song will be one by the late, great Johnny Cash.” Quickly dispelling any notions that this is a textbook praise and worship act, the band breaks into a raucous rendition of “Folsom Prison Blues”. With heads bobbing, knees bouncing, and fork loads of food swaying rhythmically on their way to the mouths of the hungry diners, the warehouse is jumping. Although all Reagan babies, together the members of Soup somehow conjure up a spirit of a time long past. This a spell visibly and audibly appreciated by the hand clapping and occasional celebratory yelps of those in the crowd who may very well have already fought in a war before any members of Soup were even born. The band rolls seamlessly into their own material, keeping the tempo up. Their songs – featuring choruses of “I ain’t going to worry anymore,” and lines like “I know I’ll over come it if I’m honest in my ways” - have started to catch on with the revolving audience of all ages, race and gender that come and go over the course of the nearly two hour set as they eat and make room for others. Jana, a middle-aged woman with soft green eyes, cannot help but reveal how pleased she is with the music. With her long blonde hair still dripping after having just returned from a shower, one of the numerous services offered at the center, she laughs about a phone call she just made to her son. “He couldn’t believe that I was at Brother Benno’s. He told me,’It sounds like you are at a bar,’” says Jana. “I really look forward to Saturday if they are going to be here. They raise everyone’s spirits for the whole week.” She shakes her head and lets out another joyful laugh as she notices and points to Tyson now playing a tambourine with one of his bare beet. Going barefoot upon a couple of old rugs has become a favored practice of the band to provide a sense of home no matter where they might find themselves playing, whether it is outside at the Oceanside Sunset Market or their regular gigs at The Royal Dive. “They just look like they were meant to be together,” continues Jana before asking what has become a common question around Brother Benno’s: “Where did these guys come from?”
  

• Great Awakening a Solid Debut [+ Show ]
  

  The CD kicks things off with “Flurries” a peaceful intro piece that serves up acoustic rock groove t...The CD kicks things off with “Flurries” a peaceful intro piece that serves up acoustic rock groove that leads you into track 2 “5th of May” an upbeat Americana rock groove with driving rock rhythm meshed with an infectious bluesy-rock melody that flows & ebbs its way through to emotional fruition. I especially like how this piece builds towards a grand slam finale. Track 3 “”O Brother” dishes out yet another solid track with it’s passionate, heartfelt vocal delivery by Fleig, solid bluesy rock groove & impressive lyrical content. The CD makes a solid first impression dishing out 3 rock solid songs in a row. As the CD unfolds I can hear many musical influences reminiscent of classic Counting Crows, Grateful Dead, Everclear, Blind Melon, & even Blues Traveler & Pearl Jam. Right from the start you will notice Fleig & company feel quite comfortable just letting it all hang out musically, not holding anything back. The overall musical vibe has a nice bluesy-rock, raw indie feel to it. The bands playing is rock solid across the board as they dish out impressive bluesy guitar licks, rock solid rhythm guitar playing & a few acoustic chops that will make your head spin. Equally as impressive is Fleig’s vocal presence as he takes several vocal risks throughout the CD indicating to me a strong & confident vocal ability. Fleig’s voice goes down smooth & is full of passion, & recklessness abandon. Fleig’s got the voice & plays guitar well. If he just so happened to write all these songs – well that pretty much makes him a musical triple threat. The musicianship from all the other members in the band is above the bar & has everything you would expect from a standard 3 piece delivery. Fleig clearly makes the (singer to listener) vocal connection with his singing. The songs themselves are short & sweet musical experiences, each one possessing unique personality, flair, & signature groove in classic Jam Band fashion. From upbeat “ No Worries” to passionate “Enemy”, “Cope” & You will Bear” to dynamic “Great Awakening” to heartfelt “Mourning” this CD has something for just about everyone. I especially like the jam band pieces “Postcard”, “Great Awakening” & “Disguise.” The CD ends with “The End” the perfect finale statement.
  
  The Great Awakening by Soup is a solid debut statement. Song for song, note for note its has a feel good groove to it. It’s strong suit – the song for song rock solid consistency & amazing vocal presence of lead singer Jonathan Fleig. Like the aforementioned he is a musical triple threat & should be considered a premier talent within this band. Let’s just hope his head doesn’t ever catch up with his talent any time soon. I would go so far as to say he’s the next Shannon Hoon or Jack White. If The Great Awakening has a slam dunk live presentation then that would make a pretty lethal combination. No doubt they are a lot of fun to check out live. So if you like college alternative rock that dishes out bluesy type ditties reminiscent of Blind Mellon, Counting Crows & Grateful Dead then you should jump into this CD head first.

Setlist

Soup's live show is a dynamic experience all ages can enjoy. The positive open atmosphere they create causes listeners to realize Soup is not merely a musical endeavor, but a spiritual exercise. In a recent interview founder and frontman Jonathan Fleig was asked, "What makes Soup so different from all other bands?" His response was simple. "We believe what we are selling."

The set is always expanding with new material and each performance is unique. Primarily playing original music Soup also performs covers ranging from Radiohead to Johnny Cash.

"Soup is a band for all occasions and situations. The songs are memorable and the music is upbeat, dancable and if you listen to the lyrics you just might learn something."
Cathryn Beeks of ListenLocalsd.com and 102.1 KPRI

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