(K)NOWLEDGE
Westfield, Massachusetts, United States
Music
Press
Almost a decade in, and guitarist Jason Salois freely admits that his band, Nol*Edge, is still navigating its way along the sizeable learning curve that is the biz, so to speak. But this time—for the first time, he notes—it sure is starting to feel like the proverbial home stretch.
"Musically, we get it, without a doubt," he says. "Industry-wise? We're still getting there, but at least now we know what it's all about and what we have to do."
Next on Salois and company's to-do list is to rock out a June 27 engagement at Chicopee's Maximum Capacity on a bill rounded out with fellow decibel-deliverers Nosho, Anti-Love, Intolerance, A Day In A Light and Nixon's Spirit.
After that, however, Salois says that the band will not resurface on the local live circuit until late September. And this ain't no summer vacation. Rather, he goes on to explain, the downtime will serve as a chance to put the finishing touches on what he believes to be Nol*Edge's strongest effort to date, a new disc titled Beneath The Rising Sun, and then gear up for a massive autumn tour.
"We just finished tracking the new disc, and it's soooo tight... just built on a big, open sound," he says. "It's easily the best product we will have ever put out, and so also our best chance to really make a go of it."
Look for the Rising Sun to settle on local record store shelves mid-September, and a CD release party proper to take place Sept. 25. - Nol*Edge to play its last local show until a new disc drops this fall;
True to its moniker, Westfield's Noledge proved that its members were already well schooled in the art of unleashing an airtight audio assault when the band burst onto the local scene with 2002's Changing Tides. After releasing another EP in 2004 and supporting acts like Saliva, Jet, Trapt and Killswitch Engage along the way, guitarist Jaysun Salois revealed that Noledge's business acumen may very well rival its collective musical ability these days.
"My friend in Gone By Daylight and I just spend countless hours exchanging stories about shows, promoting, what works and what doesn't," he said. "We've been implementing some of these ways to raise awareness, revenue and what have you, and we've seen quite a jump in both fan response and band morale."
With the recently released full-length Winding Of The Heart Strings—a sprawling, 13-tune collection that is easily the band's most mature effort to date—coupled with a well-orchestrated multimedia assault that includes ringtones and text message updates for fans as well as a noticeable uptick in merchandise offerings, 2008 may very well be the year that industry execs get hip to Noledge.
And in the event that none of them feel like traveling to the Pioneer Valley any time soon, Salois says he and bandmates Ian Mulanouskus (drums), Whit Cass (bass) and Parker Sharp (vocals, rhythm guitar) will also be taking their show on the road for the first time in the band's history.
"I'm in the process of putting together our first tour, called The Atlas of Intersections, which gets us out to the entire Northeast, hitting every state," he explains. "We'll definitely be doing that this fall, and in the near future we even have our sights on touring in Japan—with the help of a friend I have over there."
Before hitting the local highways or the land of the rising sun, however, Noledge has at least two high-profile area shows of note in the immediate future. The first finds it returning to the scene of its recent CD release party, Maximum Capacity, on a special 18-plus show this Friday, Jan. 11 with Breaking Records recording artist Lourds. On Monday, Feb. 4, Noledge plays Hartford's Webster with Nonpoint, Hell Yeah, Machine Head and Ankla. - The Valley Advocate
Discography
Changing Tides EP ~ Released December 2002 ~
Changing Tides (Single) ~ Released to Radioplay January 2003 ~
Making Waves On Planet Earth ~ Released January 2005 ~
Flood (Single) ~ Released to Radioplay January 2005
Burning Paradise (Single) ~ Released to Radioplay February 2005 ~
Perfect World (Single) ~ Released to Radioplay April 2005 ~
**Flood, Burning Paradise and Perfect World are still receiving regular airplay
Winding The Heart Strings ~ Released November 21, 2007 ~
Beneath The Rising Sun ~ Release Date September 25, 2009 ~
Photos
Bio
365 East Main St. Chicopee, MA. 01020
413-537-4124
homebrew323@yahoo.com
www.myspace.com/knowledgemusic
(K)NOWLEDGE BIOGRAPHY
The alternative, heavy rock band (K)NOWLEDGE, based out of Springfield, MA., broke ground in 2002 with the release of their first E.P. "Changing Tides". It was a 6 song debut featuring Parker Sharp on Vocals, and rhythm guitar. Jay Salois as lead guitar and vocals, with Whit Cass playing bass and vocals. Ian Mulanouskus on the drum kit rounded this four piece. They pushed 1,000 copies locally, and began to build a name in the New England music scene by promoting, selling merchandise, doing radio broadcasts, hosting a website, and playing shows at bars, clubs, colleges, and anywhere they could connect with people.
The band went to South Hadley, MA. to Planet Z studio in 2004 to record, and mix their second release with engineer Chris 'Zeuss' Harris. "Making Waves On Planet Earth", an 8 song album, sold 1,000 copies and gave the band a revitalized sound that landed them larger showcases at bigger venues with national/international artists. With a small street team to aid them, they started duplicating their own "sampler" CD's consisting of a few select tracks from the record, and handed them out for free at concert events all over New England. With redesigned merchandise, positive press and media response, and a small, but growing fan base spanning the globe in many countries, this new music was being heard. Scott Heflon, owner of Boston's, Lollipop Magazine received 2 songs from M.W.O.P.E. in 2005, and put them on 2 compilations with a list of national acts, and select locals. They distributed 40,000 copies in the U.S. and abroad.
With the growing success of their previous efforts, (K)NOWLEDGE began writing their first 'full length' album. During the writing process, the band continued to work, and utilize all other angles of their thriving business.
2007 brought the release of, "Winding The Heart Strings". These 13 songs were recorded, and mixed under the direction of independent label owner/producer Ben Jon at Still Work Records studio in Holyoke, MA. During the process of promoting, and selling another 1,000 records, (K)NOWLEDGE shared the stage with bands such as; Nonpoint, (Hed)p.e., Unearth, Saliva, Jet, Trapt, Ben Kenney of Incubus, and many others. At that point, it was time to focus on booking the first tour. With an upgrade on all merchandise, including the launch of myspace, facebook, cdbaby, and many other electronic mediums, as well as multiple free ring tones, and 3,000 samplers to hand out for free, 2008's "Atlas of Intersections Tour" was booked, and ready.
The tour (completely booked, and funded w/out label support) would take the band down the East Coast of the U.S. from Vermont, to Florida over a 4 week period. The response was incredible nightly, the connections made were many. Constantly promoting, and working from location to location, this journey proved that the band was capable of handling time on the road in a professional manner from load in, to load out, and in between. It also strengthened the bond between the four members to a whole new level. The inspiration from tour, prompted them to get back, and write the best album they could create. Using their time on the road as insight towards the new album, they filled a dry erase board with the exact elements they wanted to combine to create the new record. During the writing of the new album, (K)NOWLEDGE gained Chris Paul Basso (B.A.M.) as their manager.
September 2009 (K)NOWLEDGE will release, "Beneath The Rising Sun". This ten song, high energy-pulse pounding delivery is certifiably the high point so far in their young career. Recorded with Grammy nominated engineer Angelo Quaglia of Northfire recording studio in Amherst, MA., it was then transfered to Jim Fogerty of Zing Recording studio (Killswitch Engage) in Westfield, MA. to be mixed. Finally the album was sent to West West Side mastering in New Jersey where Eric Horowitz finalized the master. September's release will offer an all new stage design, one of a kind fan collectibles, all new digital media, as well as global radio play, and more touring.
After 7 years together, 4 records, over 15 songs broadcasted on radio programs around the globe, a self-funded tour, over 50,000 c.d.'s distributed with their music, and countless days, and hours of working hard for the band, and their fans, the only thing left undone is to sign to a record label, make albums, and tour the world. (K)NOWLEDGE is ready to work for, and is ready to sign to a record label to continue producing music on a professional level.
Links
