Simple Minded Soldiers

What do you get when you bring three comparable souls
together from Scottsdale, San Diego and North
Hollywood? Easy? actually its simple, Simple Minded
Soldiers that is. These three unique artists came
together to form the local San Diego band Simple
Minded Soldiers in May 2005. On the drums is Ryan
Kelly from San Diego, bassist Clay McCallum from Los
Angeles and frontman/guitarist Austin Satterfield from
Scottsdale, Arizona. These three powerhouse musicians
connected immediately and it?s no wonder their music
spills flawlessly on and off the record.
Satterfield moved to San Diego in May 2004 but took
on music at the early age of 5. At age 11, Satterfield
was introduced to the sweet sound of reggae music and
from there found a whole new perspective on life and
its limitless boundaries. ?I started playing the
guitar, teaching myself the chords I needed to know
and after that, Hip Hop found me in a big way and I
went to my first emcee battle where I started to make
a name for myself by going to every battle rap I could
get my hands on, but reggae bled through my skin.? He
explained, ?When I heard Sublime for the first time I
knew I wasn?t alone on my quest. This really opened my
eyes. Then I decided to form a band called Jaded
Groove which I played with for four years but it
wasn?t quite what I wanted so up and left for
California.? Satterfield was introduced to former bass
player for Thicker Than Thieves, Clay McCallum.
Clay grew up in spending most of his teen years
in L.A. California. Getting his first bass guitar at
age 15 and has been playing around in bands since.
After moving to San Diego in ?95 and playing with
various artists around town, he joined the band
Thicker Than Thieves in 2002. T.T.T gave Clay the
opportunity to do tour & play countless shows
throughout the west coast including the Warped Tour &
Reggae on the River with The likes of bands like
Shortbus, Steele Pulse, Pepper, Toots & the Maytals,
Midnite & many more. After hooking up with Satterfield
& long time friend Ryan Kelly, forming their present
band Simple Minded Soldiers ?I discovered new found
inspiration & songs that flow fluid & easily?".
With influences like Stewart Copeland, Bud gaugh, &
John Bonham, Ryan Kelly's punk/rock/reggae injected
drumming was just what the band needed. A rhythm
minded Kelly Got his first kit in 9th grade. Growing
up around musicians and touring as a drum tech for
Unwritten Law for several years Ryan embraced music as
a whole. In 2002 Ryan formed the band Good Intentions
with singer/guitarist Alex Fritz. After playing with
G.I. for 3 years, Ryan was looking for something more.
Joining forces with Austin & Clay completed Ryan's
quest for an original southern California Reggae
infused sound.
Simple Minded Soldiers together with Sway Promotions
currently has a 3 song E.P. released. They are playing
shows throughout Southern California & will be posted
on their website: simplemindedsoldiers.com &
myspace.com/simplemindedsoldiers.