Music
Press
"OPEL....Indie/Soul! Organ and a saxamaphone...WHAT?!!? These guys began the dance party that was to follow their set until the end of the night. James the front man for Opel does alot for local music as well, a new radio show at STCC I believe, spotlighting local bands (friend Opel and send your band's cd's to James for his radio show) and V.I.A. (Valley Independent Artists) compilation cd to benefit the Flywheel! This guys doing alot for local music, along with making us dance! Their song "Heroin" kicked ass! How does a sax solo go into the sound of a chick screaming??? HOW??? I don't know but that's what I heard. They had played with Space
Captain for their first live performance at The Basement last night and I thought something sounded like a chick screaming then but blew it off and tonight at their second show I heard it again! I'm still not sure if that sound's coming from the keyboards or the sax but I really think it's coming from that Sax,,,I mean that guy is a magician as well! Opel covered "Bungle In The Jungle" by Jethro Tull, but really they just threw the title of the song into their song "Strange Encounters"...I believe is the title, thereby fullfilling their cover song duties and slipping another original song in there!" - Mark Sheehan, The Happy Valley Showdown, http://www.myspace.com/indybattle
Discography
LPs:
"Strange Encounters" 2008 - Listen to a preview at www.myspace.com/opelmusic
Compilation Albums:
An early recording of Opel's song "The Nile" is on the compilation album "V.I.A. 2006, Music From the Pioneer Valley". www.myspace.com/valleyindependentartists
"The Spinning Season Volume 2" (2008) features "Strange Encounters" and "The Nile".
"V.I.A. Volume 2, Building Momentum" (2008) features "Turquoise Scarab Over the Kingdom of Isis".
Photos
Bio
Opel's songs seem to be instantly accessible to audiences, even those who have never heard their music before. When Opel takes the stage the crowd pays attention, people start dancing, and you can feel the energy change in the atmosphere. "We've played some pretty strange gigs," says songwriter James Fiore. "Like this one battle we played at Pearl Street, it was all metal bands. You'd think we'd get booed off stage or something, but instead these metal kids started gettin' down to our tunes."
Opel formed in 2005 when former neighbors, James Fiore and Bill Szafarowicz, began playing music together. It was evident to James that Bill's bass style was a perfect match for the songs he'd been writing. Over the next two years they would perform with many area musicians until arriving at the unique ensemble that defines them today.
The members of Opel have a wide array of influences, much like the various colors in an opal. Opel's songs leave plenty of room for improvisation in order to give Jonas Toutant's tenor saxophone and Josh Guenter's organ a chance to shine. "Its always exciting when Jonas plays something I've never heard before," says James "its a new experience every time we take the stage together."
Links
