AudioInflux

What began as a studio project in Rochester, N.Y. four years ago manifested into what is now AudioInflux – a name describing the twist and turn of harmonic material into something tangible, hard-hitting and downright funky.
The powerful pipes of Chris “Hollywood” English are located behind the drum kit while MC Marcus “MdotCoop” Cooper takes front and center for some lyrical rhyme and reason between hooks. This group left audiences chilled last Friday night as they took Nietzsche’s on a funktional journey with local bands Peanut Brittle Satellite and JazzBollah.
“I don’t know if we’re looking for a genre; it’s just something that I’ve always wanted to do you know,” said Kyle Uschold, bassist for AudioInFlux. “Ever since I started playing bass [I have been] like ‘I need an MC to play over.’ It makes you bob your head and what else is better to have an MC over than that?”
English received the nickname “Hollywood” while living in
North Carolina in 2004 after a friend heard him perform. English said that while it may be a little harder to fit in with the mainstream movement, the musical variance allows them to own their sound. He claims it keeps the music “not so one-dimensional.”
Under the red and aqua shadows from the lights on stage, a hypnotic, hip-jerking heartbeat ignited across the crowd. As the band delves into“Beautiful,” MdotCoop’s sharp verbal transitions sync with Uschold’s quick fingers on bass. Guitarist George Miller mouths his guitar solo out loud as Tony Gallicchino’s organ haunts through the mix.
And then there’s “Hollywood” English, who bites into the drums with wafer-crisp, singing all the while. If playing the drums and singing simultaneously could look this easy all the time, more drummers out there might actually try this feat.
“I have to play the drums to get the music first, and then like the music in my head will make my voice do whatever I need to do ‘cause if I got the rhythm down, everything’ll come to me,” English said.
Crowd favorites “Back in the Day,” and “Can You Feel,” kept the crowd’s sway upbeat and wavering. Gallicchino even treated the audience to a special rendition of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” using a vocoder, or a device that encodes an instrument’s pitch with speech, to sing the tune AudioInflux-style. - The Spectrum - The University of Buffalo

Saturday night at Skylark Lounge AudioInFlux was celebrating the release of its new CD “Here Comes The Audio,” a brash and bold new endeavor for these soulful, deep-dish groovsters. It’s a little more upbeat — the band has settled in on its identity and style — and the packed crowd lapped it up eagerly. The joint was jumpin,’ goin’ ’round and ’round. - City Newspaper, Rochester NY

After seeing ½ of their set at The Bull and Bear Pub in Syracuse the Saturday before this, I was convinced the ride to Rochester to catch a complete set would be worthwhile. I wasn’t disappointed.

Dub Land Underground is known as a major supporter of the local scene in Rochester giving upcoming acts a stage to show their talents as well as hosting regional and national acts. The dark performance room downstairs has the feel of a NYC club that comes alive when the music starts. It’s a cool feeling room with a great vibe that was lit up this night by AudioInFlux.

From the opening sample of “Hit Man” through the electronic spacey “Teleport” AudioInFlux had the crowd dancing and swaying with every note. It seems like the individual musicians in AudioInFlux were made to be in this band together.
The flow and interaction between them is smooth, beat heavy and groove driven strong. From their fabulous originals to their covers the band executes each with a joy that’s rare for any band. Though they currently gig a lot sharing the stage with others, AudioInFlux is destined to be head-lining more and more. Watch for them around the Northeast at festivals as well as clubs near you. This is an upcoming band with a long way to go, don’t miss out, you’ll be able to say “I knew them when”.

Setlist:
Hit Man – AudioInFlux
Can You Feel – AudioInFlux
Do You Know – Jamiroquai
Super Bad – James Brown
Red Barron – Billy Cobham
Back In The Days – AudioInFlux
Buster Brown – Stanley Turrentine
M Flux – AudioInFlux
Master Blaster – Stevie Wonder
Dag Nasty – AudioInFlux
I Believe To My Soul – Ray Charles
Telaport – AudioInFlux

AudioInFlux is:
Chris “Hollywood” English (Drums and Vocals), Nick Harcola (Keyboards), George Miller (Guitar, Samples and Vocals), Kyle Uschold (Bass), Doug Egling (Sax)
With: Marcus “M Dot Coop” (Vocals)

You can follow AudioInFlux at www.audioinflux.net and www.myspace.com/audioinflux or catch them live…
3/18 w/ Subsoil - Lovin’ Cup, RIT’s Park Point, Rochester, NY
3/27 - Sullys Pub, Rochester, NY
4/03 - Art is Life Fest, Barker Commons, Fredonia. NY
4/10 - ArtAwake, Rochester, NY 
4/23 w/ Black August - Lovin’ Cup, RIT’s Park Point,
Rochester, NY
- UpstateLIVE Music Guide by Greg Jackson - Volume 03 Issue 02 (Feb - March 2010)

When you hold this CD in your hands and look over the presentation it represents the treasure held inside. From its physical appearance grabbing you ‘til you place the disc into your player you can tell there’s something special in store, and there is.

Your first listen to AI’s self titled first CD should convince even the new listener that this band is the real deal, something their growing legion of fans already knows. From its beginnings in the fall of 2007 as a studio project to their much-anticipated first CD, AudioInflux has evolved into one of the region’s most popular bands. Crossing smoothly from genre to genre avoiding pigeon holes, creating a space of their own; jazz infused funk wrapped in soul. This four piece funk explosion is truly the sum of its parts with George Miller on guitar and vocals, Chris “Hollywood” English on drums and vocals, Kyle Uschold on bass and Drew Miltsch on keyboards combining to create sounds that are smooth and melodic while remaining edgy and funkified. Each track on their new CD is an exploration, an experience to be had individually and as a whole. Singles abound and the future burns white hot for this band.

The opening track, “Hit Man” gives a taste of what’s to come with its sampled opening and smooth blend of Miller’s jazzy George Benson guitar riff echoing back over English and
Uschold’s driving rhythm while guest Nick Murray’s key colorations complete the scene. This being one of the seven Miller penned songs accentuates the creativity of the group as a whole each piece has evolved through time and personnel changes landing here, right where it belongs. You can feel the joy as it kicks to the bridge.

“Back In The Day” came to Chris in a dream it seems and that may well be the reality from back in his day.

The band created a completely new song before discovering the basic rap was actually a song from the early nineties. The rest is pure Influx, each time English sings you know the sound is from his heart and it’s life on the line. When the reggae groove kicks in under his soulful reading you just know this is destined to be a radio hit it’s so smooth. Another thoughtful lyric, simple, street-wise and frank, when he sings, “We cannot choose which way we grow”, you know he’s been there before.

Special guest Marcus “MdotCoop” Cooper blows it up on “Can You Feel”, his versatility at improvisation astounds in live performance, but here, with the chance to prepare he reaches another level with his percussive delivery. Then English’s
rich phrasing compliments the silky keyboard refrain and
Uschold’s ever-present bass line giving plenty of basis for physical movement.

Miltsch gets his first chance to show his funk on the Ray Charles cover, “I Believe To My Soul” combined with English channeling the voices ingrained in him as he holds true to his roots. This is yet another example of AudioInflux defying genre while kicking it truly old school.

The band takes another direction on “Fat Lip” with Doug
Egling’s soaring sax lines and Quinn Lawrence’s triumphant horn blasts flying across the precise, jazzy tempo. Christos Dembeyiotis’ first guest appearance on drums provides a groove easy to ride over while his ride cymbal rings out for the next musical volley.

“Dag Nasty” kicks yet another texture into the disc and the band flexes its collective funk/soul pedigree.

The rhythm is so forceful that even Miltsch’s swirling organ sounds and Miller’s compelling tone changes can’t stop
Uschold’s bass and English’s drum syncopations until the whole thing crescendos into Miller’s solo section and the whole thing blows up!

The crowd goes wild and they slide in the outro, like buttah.

The disc’s second cover, Jamiroquai’s “Do You Know Where You’re Coming From”, features Nick Harkola’s liquid keyboards flowing over the persistent jazz/funk/drum and bass groove with Miller channeling Jay Kay’s voice through his
fingers.

On “Eventually” Dembeyiotis, Egling and Laurence return with the rare Miller vocal performance. Horns always seem to work with Audio, they’re a cool compliment the band includes in live performances occasionally and is always a huge hit with the audience. Truly a self-fulfilling prophetic lyric considering where the band is now, things have truly fallen into place.

A quick interlude “Midnight Stroll” highlights one of the
aspects that brought me to the band in the first place, the use of samples to help tell the stories they write. This transitioning into the space jams “Salrius Moon” with Devon Tramell on drums and “Teleport” with Christos at the kit. These are the two songs I heard first when approached by the band and although they’re colored slightly different now each fits perfectly into the continuing growth of the band individually and as a unit. Their regional buzz can only be enhanced and accentuated by their fabulous first release. “It’s an important moment in time” the song says, yes, yes it is.

AudioInfl - UpstateLIVE Music Guide by Greg Jackson - Volume 03 Issue 09 (Dec 2010-Jan 2011)

AudioInFlux began in October of 2007 as a studio project, but it has grown into a full-scale band live experience featuring George Miller (guitar/vocals), Chris English (drums/vocals), Kyle Uschold (bass) and Nick Harkola (keys).

This Rochester outfit defies genre placement with it’s funk inflected grooves that can transition to cool jazz and soul quick enough to turn your head from the dance floor. They add progressive elements with sampling and special guests from vocalists to a horn section to flavor their tasty offerings, leaving you wondering which direction they’ll turn next.

The band is hard at work on their first studio offering that they hope to release in early 2010 and if the tunes on their myspace page http://www.myspace.com/audioinflux are any indication, it’s going to blow us away with something truly original. Keep an eye and ear on this up and coming band. Their unique sound is infectious! I personally can’t wait to see them live.

You can catch them December 11th @ Dubland Underground in Rochester with Thousands of One. - UpstateLIVE Music Guide by Greg Jackson - Volume 02 Issue 08 (Dec 2009-Jan 2010)

MUSIC PROFILE: AudioInFlux

By Frank De Blase on June 30, 2010
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AudioInFlux is (clockwise from bottom right): Chris English, Kyle Uschold, Doug Egling, Drew Miltsch, and George Miller. PHOTO BY FRANK DE BLASE

The members in Rochester-based AudioInFlux wield their weapons wisely, emitting a sharp, funky groove. It threatens to break your neck if it weren't for the atmospheric, almost trip-hoppy overtones set to cushion the blow. Then along comes the vocals with all their joy and pain, sunshine and rain. Just picture Digable Planets if recorded by Tom Dowd at Stax, or a jam band that knows when to stop before the swirling masses yell "uncle." AudioInflux is a thing of beauty.

Guitarist George Miller brought together the band while he was living in Syracuse a year and a half ago, building it from the wreckage of the now-defunct Rochester band Space Agency.

"I wanted to completely start from scratch," Miller says. "I wanted to do funk/jazz; you know, experimental."

?When Miller split the Salt City for Rochester, the band lost members. Only Miller and bassist Kyle Uschold remained. "We were kind of bummed," Miller says. Then singer/drummer Chris English came along.

"And that's when everything changed," says Miller. "I met Chris playing basketball. We needed a drummer at the time and Chris told me he played drums and could sing a little bit." When he says this, the rest of his band mates in the room break out in laughter. Miller sticks to his story: "But that's what he told me, ‘a little bit.'"

The reason for the guffaws is simple: if anything, English sings a lotta bit, in a rich and raspy baritone, and has been singing for quite a while.

"Since I was 5," he says before correcting himself. "No, 3... no, in my mama's womb." The drums obviously started post-gestation.

"I started playing drums when I was 5," English says. "I taught myself how to read music, the rudiments, everything." English had played with AudioInFlux saxophonist/flutist Doug Egling in the band Bodega Radio, and had toured - and did side project session work - with legendary blues guitarist Buddy Guy. English met Guy while English was playing in what English calls a "high-class wedding band."

"Golf resorts, famous people," he says. "But I don't care about that." But he did care about being in a band where he could either sing or play drums. AudioInFlux was perfect; he could do both. "This is what I want to do for my whole life," he says. "Just find some people to vibe with."

And AudioInflux is all about the vibe, baby. This vibe and the band's sometimes-casual, always-deep groove helps it shrug off jam-band shackles. That's not to say that the band doesn't exhibit a fondness for the genre, especially in the open-ended middles found in its songs and perpetuated by the audience, which gets worked up even further with the band's resident MC, M.Coop.

"The crowd is a huge part of what we do, says keyboardist Drew Miltsch. "When we see them feeling great it just fuels us."

Uschold agrees. "It throws it back on them and then recycles back to us," he says. "It's like this perpetual awesomeness."

"There are songs that are never the same [twice]," Miller says.

"I think it's by having a jam sound, like a composition in itself," says Egling. "Not just a bunch of noodling. Or even think about it like a solo - ‘OK, let's do it quick, it's gotta make sense.' When it comes your time to step out and jam, the crowd pulls you out more. It's synergy. We're all in the moment and thinking on the same level. There'll be times where we're in a jam and Kyle and Chris will be jumping on some loop and it's like they're completely in each other's heads. And for me to be able to improvise on top of that is just...I love it."

"When it comes to the jam we're more on the jazz side," Miller says. "This is actually the band I've always dreamed of," he adds.

AudioInFlux is in the studio putting the final coats of paint on its debut CD, including a re-tooling of Jamiroquai's "Do You Know" and Ray Charles' "I Believe," which is exactly what you'll do when you hear how English tackles it.

"I just want people to listen to our music, man," he says. "The fame will definitely come if you just keep holding on." Yet some of the perks are already here.

"At the Water Street show when a girl just came up and tongue-kissed me after the show," he says. "Without saying a word."

AudioInFlux

w/J-San and the Analogue Sons

The Club @ Water Street, 204 North Water Street

Wednesday, July 14

9 p.m. | $5-$7 | 325-5600, audioinflux.net
- City Newspaper (Rochester) by Frank De Blase - June 30, 2010