Go Van Gogh
Gig Seeker Pro

Go Van Gogh

| SELF

| SELF
Band Rock

Calendar

This band has not uploaded any videos
This band has not uploaded any videos

Music

Press


"Go Van Gogh - Ruby and The Starlight Ballrioom Review"

Rating: 9


Go Van Gogh consists of the same members of Greenwheel, so you’d think it would be a carbon copy... right? Well, not the case for Go Van Gogh. They show us a completely different side on “Ruby & The Starlight Ballroom”, bringing sounds never heard on any Greenwheel CD.



It’s easy to see why they named themselves Go Van Gogh, their sound is just like a wonderful piece of art or a beautifully sculpted piece of clay. Painted with beautiful rhythms, lyrics, and everything needed to make a remarkable album. Saving us from the bland, un-inspirational music that fills the airwaves today.



Amazing ... Superb ... how many adjectives do I need to throw in here for you to buy this CD?



I’m a Greenwheel fan, so I hope it’s not the end of their great career, but I hope to hear a lot more from Go Van Gogh.



Stand‑out Songs: Fallen Asleep, After You, Runaway, Change, (and the rest of the album) - hitrockbottom.org


"Art and Inspiration"

By Laura Hamlett

It’s the same old story: Hometown band makes it big, enjoys moderate major-label success, then finds itself a victim of [consolidation/trends/poor sales] (throw a dart; take your pick) and returns home, broke and unsigned.
And therein, I believe, lies the difference between bands and artists, motivation and determination. Whereas a band might concede, “We had a good run; we tried,” the artist looks at it differently. The signing and dropping wasn’t failure so much as learning, experience, education, gifts on so many levels. The artist, therefore, comes home and says, “Let’s rethink this.”
That’s what happened with Greenwheel, whose members reinvented themselves last year as Go Van Gogh. “The decision was made to change our name and style, because we wanted to reinvent our whole outlook,” says frontman Ryan Jordan. “We wanted a clean start with a project that opened doors for us creatively, as opposed to a project where our creative focus was very narrow and calculated.”
Whereas Greenwheel had more a narrow, alternative rock-radio focus, the songs of Go Van Gogh are indie rock infused with many elements, including wave, dance, blues and even soul. “It’s more natural to write for Go Van Gogh,” Jordan says; “we had to force a state of mind to write for the radio. I always like to say that a good song should be able to be broken down and played with just vocals and acoustic, and a lot of the Go Van Gogh songs we brought to life that way.”
Last year’s release of Ruby & the Starlight Ballroom—seven songs of heartbreak, high energy and heart-stopping vocals—was the first step on the newly paved path that is Go Van Gogh. In the band, Jordan is joined by guitar virtuoso/backing vocalist Andy Dwiggins and bassist Brandon Armstrong; while the band searches for a permanent drummer (Drew Bailey, now of Troubadour Dali, left in May), veteran stickman Ed Zimmerle keeps a solid local beat.
Of course, all was not clear cut upon the quartet’s return to the Lou. Suddenly the four had to relearn the business of being in a band. “The hardest part was not having a label or people there to help you do the things it takes to make a band successful. Like money, of course, but booking for tours, publicity, marketing and all the things that make running a band on your own truly challenging.” Thanks to the area’s network of bands and resources, Jordan admits the learning curve has been less steep than initially anticipated.
Recognizing that any scene is only as good as its players make it, Jordan is more than willing to collaborate and share what he’s learned. “I think a good relationship among bands is key,” he continues.” Swapping shows and just helping each other out brings new people around and new ideas. Also just finding people out there—and they are out there, like Ken Williams and yourself—who will help you no questions asked. There is a lot of good in the music industry; it just tends to get overlooked with all the harshness that surrounds it.
“Having people that feel like they are a part of your band and want to contribute in any way to help is very beneficial,” he explains. “It’s like building your own record label.”
In throwing away the rules, the band has envisioned the possible. Go Van Gogh’s embracing of new media and new ideas has kept them at the forefront of the scene. In addition to making plans for extensive spring and summer touring and recording a full-length CD, the band is gearing up to release two new songs—first through iChannel.fm, then via Flash drive. When the bricks-and-mortar record shop loses its effectiveness, time to think out of the box, eh?
“iChannel is releasing the songs on January 31 at 8 p.m.,” explains Jordan. “After that, we will launch our website and new MySpace page, and also have the two songs available to download for free. We are also making flash drives with an EPK sort of package on them. It will have the two songs, art, photos, videos and all kinds of cool stuff. We went the old-school way of ‘singles’ and are doing a two-song release with the whole flash drive and free download—which is obviously more new school.”
If the industry doesn’t work for you, then make your own rules. Just make sure you have a good soundtrack along for the ride.
- STL:Sound Magazine


Discography

Go Van Gogh - Blood Money/ Get Up EPK - 2008 - Self Released (AVAILABLE FOR FREE DOWNLOAD AT www.govangogh.us)
Go Van Gogh - Ruby and the Starlight Ballroom - 2007 - Self Released (available on iTunes or govangogh.us)

Greenwheel - Bridges for Burning EP - 2006 - Self Released
Greenwheel - Electric Blanket - 2005 - Never Released - Island/Def Jam
Greenwheel - Soma Holiday - 2002 - Island/Def Jam (Available on iTunes)
Soma Holiday - Self Titled LP

Photos

Bio

Go Van Gogh. A band with an alias?...interesting

The former members of Greenwheel, once Island/Def Jam recording artists, have their sights set on: "what makes people close their eyes and feel the music, and also dance in such a manner wherein reality is forgotten."

Go Van Gogh's sound blends funky tones and classic melodic style. Combined with urgent dance hall beats, jagged guitar riffs, and an overall love for the drama and emotional abandon that makes hearts skip and feet stomp, Go Van Gogh will do more than get your attention.

Bassist Brandon Armstrong accurately describes what they desire for their sound, as well as their new philosophy. "We care deeply about our music, but we don't want to take ourselves too seriously. We're at our best when we're acting like complete fools with each other."

The chemistry between Brandon, guitarist Andrew Dwiggins, and sensational frontman Ryan Jordan, is ridiculous, but also very strong. How strong? Enough to craft songs worthy of Grammy Nomination. Their song "Breathe" earned a Grammy nod when Melissa Etheridge took the song to number 1 status at pop and adult contemporary charts back in 2004. Ryan explains "It was never something we expected, but we were absolutely honored nonetheless." "We write our songs based on our past experiences, but the songs come to life because of the chemistry we have in the moment." Andrew chimes. "Writing together is what we do best. No, wait... is it drinking gasoline and making prank calls to the nursing home?..hmm...We're pretty good at both I guess."

Touring across the U.S. in support of their first record gained these unassuming jokesters their fearless stage swagger. Supporting acts like Our Lady Peace, Hoobastank, Saliva, Breaking Benjamin, and Injected put them in front of thousands of faces every night. "We love to perform. Period." Singer/guitarist Ryan Jordan assures. "It's such a huge part in what takes us and our music to another level." With chameleon like adaptability, Jordan croons one moment, and shakes walls with fierce defiance the next. Passion is the word. It is as genuine as the sweat that cover Go Van Gogh after every performance. "We don't smell good when we play well, let's put it that way" Andrew insists. Brandon includes, "If we stood there and tried to play everything technically perfect, we would be robots. It would be sweet to be cyborgs of some type, but not robots."

If you don't give this genuinely talented and heartfelt music a chance, you're worse than a robot...drunk on gasoline...making prank calls to nursing homes.