SO & SO
Gig Seeker Pro

SO & SO

Los Angeles, California, United States

Los Angeles, California, United States
Band Pop Singer/Songwriter

Calendar

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

Music

Press


"SO & SO Announce Self-Titled EP set to drop July 26th"


Whether they’re conjuring dreamy pop harmonies or turning out soulful beats, Los Angeles based SO & SO is not your average troupe of ordinary indie pop musicians. With their debut self titled EP dropping July 26th and full-length album ASAP slated for release in Fall 2011, SO & SO transcend traditional pop and undulate gracefully from trip-hop to rock and indie pop to electro-fusion. With the incredible award winning multi-platinum producer Rob Wells (Mika, Cyndi Lauper, Justin Bieber) on board, the California quintet comes together to exude propulsive energy that’s innovative, fresh and sonically all-their-own on this perfect introduction to what SO & SO are all about.

SO & SO came to fruition when singer Amie Miriello (Dirtie Blonde) and guitarist Jay “Raisin” Dmuchowski (Dirtie Blonde) joined forces with producer Rob Wells at ATV in Canada to compose a songwriting trio and sell the tracks to other artists. However, after the first few tracks were cut they realized that they had stumbled onto something very special, a novel sound Amie describes as “sexy indie pop with real soul,” a sound they wanted to take on themselves. That batch of tunes would eventually become the inspiration for their upcoming full length, ASAP (fall), but SO & SO weren’t quite complete just yet…

While playing a gig at LA’s Molly Malone’s, Amie stumbled upon Brandon Rogers a top 12 finalist on Season 6 of American Idol, and was immediately smitten by his effortless vocals. While Brandon was wholly focused on his solo career, he quickly recognized their special and electric vocal chemistry, accepting Amie’s offer to join SO & SO without hesitation. Drummer Adam Hanson and bassist Bana Haffar round out the band and fully connect the dots between pop palatability and dirty soul, a unique, one-of-a-kind dynamic heard throughout ASAP as well as SO & SO’s self-titled EP.

Their brilliant upcoming EP showcases a whirlwind of emotion juxtaposed with poignant poetic rumination. On “Heart Beats Slow” acoustic guitars growl into a powerful chorus, while “What’s the Use?” meanders from tripped-out electronic textures to a hand-clap fueled hook. At the heart of the music lies Amie’s entrancing croon, flares of Jay’s evocative guitar, and a dual backdrop of undeniable soul by drummer Adam and bassist Bana. Like icing on a cake, Brandon provides a decadent layer of rich, organic vocals.
- Press Here


"Red Bull Studio Live Sessions presents: SO & SO"

So & So recently stopped by the Red Bull studio for an interview and performance. So & So, comprised of Amie Miriello, Brandon Rogers, Bana Haffar, Raisin Higgins and Adam Hanson are set to release their new EP and you can support the band by going to Pledgemusic. Your pledges will will help them with the marketing and the promotion of their release. It will also get you really cool exclusives from the band such as videos, songs and photos over the course of the campaign. You can check them out May 19th when they perform at The Hotel Cafe and hopefully, that'll convince you to pledge a little something. It's gonna be a great show as we've witness last year when we wrote this:
"So & So, with diverse musical backgrounds, embodies the sound of classic Americana, fusing folk, rhythm & blues and rock. . It's hard not to take your eyes off of Miriello. Her fiery on-stage presence along with her smoky voice makes for one hot performance. And if Miriello is the fire, then Rogers is the ice. Rogers is Mr. Cool on the keys and his refreshing, soulful vocals compliment Amie's. But even though their melodies are simple, their songs will stay with you long afterwards." - Picksysticks


"An Interview With "SO & SO""

So & So is Amie Miriello, Brandon Rogers, Bana Haffar, Adam Hanson, and Jay Dmuchowski – who prefers to be called Raisin Higgins. The band came together when Amie, an established singer in the Los Angeles area, and childhood friend Jay teamed up with producer Rob Wells to form the ultimate songwriting team. It wasn’t long after that the duo sought out the perfect partners in crime and the project matured into a full-fledged band. With the addition of American Idol Season six contestant and soulful singer Brandon, Adam on drums, and bassist Bana, So & So came to fruition in September 2010. The feisty five and I sat down for some laughs as they discussed their new album on the horizon and big tour plans for 2011. In between interview questions and technically off the record, the band and I bonded over intimate descriptions of their colons and jokes they have painfully refrained from saying in front of Mormon audiences.

I’ve noticed some interesting nicknames in your bio. What is the background on those?
Raisin: Wait I have to tell you something really super quick. My name in this band is not Jay. It’s Raisin.

Brandon: Oh here we go! (Rolls eyes)

Amie: There are no nicknames anymore. They are just for us.

Raisin: I’m the only one that has one. Mine stays! I have to have it. It’s not a nickname anymore. It’s my name.

What was the inspiration behind starting the project?
Amie: We had worked with producer Rob Wells on some of my solo stuff in the past and we really loved working with him. So when the other projects we were doing kind of fell through, we decided we really wanted to do a project with him. First it started as a writing team, then it became a band, and one by one we found all the members and that was it.

This one’s for Brandon. How has you experience on American Idol influenced your career?
Brandon: You know, I was working as a background singer for years and then I decided I wanted to go out on my own. I wrote an album and the second I put it out I auditioned for American Idol and then I immediately had to take it off the market because I had made it onto the show. It was a great experience on the show and when I got off, a lot of people knew me but I still had to do the footwork. It helped but it didn’t help amazingly. It didn’t change my life in the sense of being famous all of a sudden, but it did allow me some opportunities that I wouldn’t have had otherwise.

Are you still working on solo stuff or is So & So your main project?
Brandon: No, actually right now this is my main focus. This is all of our main focus.

Amie: We all have other projects that we want to pursue but we’re obsessed with this, so this is taking up our time and energy so we’re cool with that.


Amie, you actually met Brandon, when he was opening for your solo project at Molly Malones…
Amie: Yeah and we sang together and were like, “Oh wait. That sounds awesome!”

Brandon: We’re like “Hmm, that’s interesting.”

Tell me about the upcoming album.
Brandon: “ASAP.”

Amie: It’s just a great album. It’s a compilation of songs that Jay…[Laughs]…sorry – Raisin, and I wrote with Rob.

Raisin: I’ve known her for 18 years and she still won’t call me Raisin.

Amie: I won’t do it. [Laughs] I just f*ckin’ can’t. All of us fell in love with the record. It’s fun to play every night. It’s called “ASAP” because we need it to get out there right f*cking now and we need people to hear it right now.

Are you guys doing a lot of live shows?
Brandon: Yes we’re doing a lot of shows – as many as possible!

Adam: Yeah we did a lot over the summer. We did like every other week at Hotel Café. We did Molly Malones, one at King King in Hollywood, and we’re going on tour in February. We are gonna tour up and down the East coast, on college tours.

Brandon: Supported by Red Bull. Thank you Red Bull!

Any crazy American Idol Stories? I’m going to be done with the Idol questions after this one…
Brandon: You know the craziest thing that ever happened to me in my entire life happened after Idol. I got to go to Afghanistan to sing to the troops out there and that sort of stands alone in my mind as the dopest craziest thing that happened to me after Idol. It was me, Justin Guarini, Nadia Turner, and Gina Glocksen from various seasons of Idol. We just went out there and hung out with the troops and flew around in helicopters with shotguns. It was amazing. It was terrifying and awesome at the same time.

Was it high security and people with machine guns escorting you around?
Brandon: Yes we felt safe as eggs – safe as babies. It was crazy. Simon was usually nice to me. The way I got voted off – maybe that was crazy. I forgot the lyrics to a song.

Raisin: No you got voted off because of Howard Stern.

Brandon: You know what…people like Sanjaya…little kids like Sanjaya and Howard Stern loved to vote for him.

Amie: That’s the funniest shit ever that Howard repeatedly voted for Sanjaya.

You guys recently had a So & So song placed on One Tree Hill. That’s exciting!
Amie: Yeah Jay and I have had songs placed on like every show and it’s mother. But this project is so new. The fact that we’ve had one on One Tree Hill is premature and awesome. And we have another one coming on One Tree Hill for this 8th season so we’re really excited. As soon as the record is out and available on iTunes we are going to slam the placements.

Brandon: Our ultimate goal is to take over the world.

How do you guys describe your sound?
Brandon: That’s the toughest question. I tell people, “You listen to it and tell me what you think.” It’s driven by Jay – I mean by Raisin.

Bana: It’s like Indie pop and country.

Brandon: It’s like indie pop folk soul classical heavy metal…I don’t know. It’s a rainbow of fruit flavors.

Amie: It’s soulful radio rock that could be played on the radio.

Brandon: Radio, radio,….radio

Amie: We’re not scurred of success.

Brandon: We’re not too cool for school where we’re like; “You can’t use our song for a Target commercial. Please use our song for a Target commercial!”

Amie: Yes, please. Use our song for a tampon commercial, I don’t f*cking care.

Brandon: I don’t know about that…

Amie: I don’t care. Bring it!

What’s on the agenda for 2011 aside from the tour?
Amie: We just want to play – all the colleges, all the festivals. We’re doing South by Southwest…We want people to see us so much that people have to recognize us and know who we are.

Brandon: I think the music, the writing on it, the singing on it, the musicianship is just all strong enough that whoever gets a taste of it will want some more.

Raisin: You can’t deny it. Even if you don’t really love it you can’t say it’s not great.

Bana: I think one of the most interesting things about this band is the fact that there are two lead singers and they’re both very strong singers but they don’t overshadow each other. They do a really good job of staying out of each other’s way but complimenting each other and that’s a very unique aspect of the band.

Raisin: And we’re all friends too. It’s very easy to be in a band if we’re all friends.

Since you guys are all friends, have you had any big fights yet?
Amie: We fight ALL the time

Raisin: We argue about music and some other things but Amie and I really go at it because we’re like brother and sister so our fights are way deeper and basically everybody in this band besides the two of us knows that they just have to deal with that.

Brandon: Witnessing their fights is something special.

Amie: They are all based on what’s best for the band.

Brandon: As far as personal arguments we have the ability to be honest and to take it. It’s all about making the band and making it better.

Amie: And then when someone’s feelings do get hurt we all get upset and are like, “We didn’t mean it.”

Amie: when Jay on I are on tour though we actually don’t fight, it’s weird. It’s almost like other people are so annoying that we feel we have to team up against everyone else.

Brandon: This will actually be the first time of me going on a tour with people I’ve actually known before. Usually it’s like you meet them when on tour and you’ve got to learn how to live with somebody on a bus instantly. It’s a good practice but I wouldn’t recommend it to everybody. So this is gonna be great.


I heard a rumor that one of you is a former Abercrombie model.

Adam: Oh Jesus. [Blushes]

So I’m guessing that’s you Adam?
Amie: He gets so mad!

Adam: I’m not mad. I just always looked at it like a job. I didn’t search out being a model. A friend of mine asked me if I would do a few jobs and I got signed quickly in Boston and I did a few shows. It was good. It was fun. It was no different to me than painting a house.

Raisin: I think it’s different. The guys you see painting houses definitely look very different.

Adam: But I was actually a painter in high school.

Brandon: I can see him actually painting a house with his overalls open, all “Yeah…look at this house.”

Were you ever the giant picture right when you walk in the store?
Adam: Somebody in Florida – one of my aunts, said they thought they saw me but I don’t think so.

Raisin: You think your aunt would know who you were.

Adam: I don’t know she’s old. [Laughs]

Any plans to come out of retirement as an Abercrombie model down the road?
Adam: They did offer me the senior package at one point.

Raisin: it’s called the classics

Amie and Jay were high school friends; Brandon and Amie met at Molly’s…how did Adam and Bana officially come into the picture?
Adam: I met Amie because I was working with songwriter/producer David Ryan Harris and she was doing a session with him and he told me to go and see her live. So I did, twice. I thought she was amazing so I offered my box Cajon services. She didn’t know what that was, I said awesome and ever since then…

Amie: I thought they were cajones.

Brandon: Cajones means balls and Cajon means box

Well it is between your legs…

Adam: It is…it’s right under my balls.

Amie: It’s like he’s playing his balls

Adam: I hit just before the balls. Anyway, the strength of the songwriting was just amazing and just the presence of Amie and Jay’s comments were amazing.

Amie: They are all about sports. He will stop a song in the middle of the set and be like, “This song is kind of like football.” Talk about the source of fights…

How is a song like football?
Raisin: How is it not like football?

Amie: Don’t open that up!

Brandon: He’s gotta do it once so it can be documented.

Raisin: The way I feel in this band is that we are all on some kind of offense where there are two offensive stars like a quarterback and a star running back (points to Amie and Brandon) these two. Right? And we are their offensive line behind them -blocking for them and stuff like that. After the show, pretty much you’re gonna walk off stage and say, “OK they are the stars,” like you would say a running back or quarter back, but they couldn’t get there without the actual offensive line that nobody actually watches on the field.

Adam: That’s amazing

Raisin: It’s just the funny thing is comparing Bana to an offensive lineman.

Bana: I don’t even know anything about football but I joined the band when Brandon called me one day to sub for one of their shows because their bass player quit a day before the show.

Adam: We called Bana the day before the show and she learned everything and she was amazing.

Amie: Yeah, she’s great. Bana’s from Lebanon. She just found out about peanut butter and jelly sandwiches the other day. She came to rehearsal she’s like, “You know what’s really good? Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.” We’re like, “Duh!”

Brandon: We’ve been having peanut butter and jelly sandwiches since infancy.

Bana: And now I have one every single day. I swear to God.

Brandon: She’s been awakened.

Any pre show rituals?
Amie: A shot of Jameson usually, but I’m on a cleanse.

Bana: Yelling at management

Amie: While smiling

Brandon: For me, my ritual is no drinking, warm ups and I generally try to stay away from people.

Raisin: I’ve gotten a bottle of water from Stew before every show since 2005.

Adam: We probably will develop more when we don’t have to set up our own shit.

Brandon: I’m guessing the drinking before a show thing will go when we get out on the road. If I drink too much before a show I’m a complete, to use an Amy term, ‘shit show’

Amie: I drink before every single show, during, and after. But I’m on a cleanse right now and my life is f*cking terrible.

How long’s the cleanse?
Amie: Ahh… it’s till Sunday.

Brandon: You do realize this is being recorded Amie.

Amie: Yeah but they’re not playing the tape on this thing. And second of all, I don’t give a shit if they do. This is how I talk.

[The conversation then took a turn into the ins and outs of cleanses with a round table discussion on that state of each band member’s colon, which I was nicely asked to refrain from publishing but was thoroughly entertained by]

Brandon: And that’s the only word that I thought we wouldn’t get to in this interview, but somehow we got to… “colon.” - China Shop


"So & So: Not Just Lucky Musicians With Funny Nicknames"

If you’re one of those music hipsters who knows everything that’s new, hot and about to break, then you’re familiar with Miss Muffet (Amie Miriello), Sven (Brandon Rogers), Raisin Higgins (Jay Dmuchowski), Victory at Sea (Adam Hanson) and Bana Banana (Bana Haffar). If not, please meet So & So, the next hot group of talented musicians out of Los Angeles.

No, they’re not a bunch of inexperienced musicians who happened to get lucky and like funny nicknames but a collective group of artists who decided to pull their assets together and create a sound and experience that would take their fans and themselves on a new adventure. Spearheaded by Miriello (lead vocals), So & So came together when she decided to revamp her music career after severing ties with Jive Records.

“I’m getting older and caring less and less what people think of me. Throughout my career there were always label people telling me what they thought was best, and I wasn’t confident enough to disagree. Now I’m indie and I’m an old bitch! This is the real me – now,” says Miriello.

Miriello and Dmuchowski (guitar) met when they were teenagers in Connecticut and have been inseparable ever since.

She explains, “Jay is my best friend, even more like my brother, and he’s beyond talented. I always come back to Jay. We have a chemistry you don’t find in any of these contrived writers’ rooms.”

Then they met Rob “Turtle” Wells – who produced and wrote the original songs with Miriello and Dmuchowski – on Miriello’s solo project. He’s currently not performing with the band but remains part of the So & So family.

Soon after, Rogers (vocals, keyboards) joined the clan.

He adds, “Amie and I met a couple years ago after her show at the Roxy. My band started opening up for hers at Molly Malone’s. That’s when we started occasionally singing together and we realized that our voices did something special. When she asked me to be in the band, I was already so impressed with her as an artist that I felt like it could be a great fit for me. I’m not really a group person, but this just felt right.”

Hanson (drums) joined the band and then later Haffar (bass). The two of them individually bring a strong rhythmic sensibility to the live performances even though they tend to have a demure presence on stage. Rhythmically, they charge the show with a lot of energy and passion. Hanson is a Berklee College of Music alumni and Haffar has studied music abroad as well as performed extensively.

In this strange town we call Los Angeles, thousands of hopefuls show up desperately trying to make it in Hollywood. It’s a place where best friends who move into town together quickly become enemies when opportunity knocks. Not true with So & So; they seem to not only be friends but also fans of one another.

Dmuchowski explains, “Amie is the ultimate sex symbol without even trying. Then Brandon, well, you don’t become an ‘American Idol’ finalist if you’re not a born star. Adam is a former Abercrombie model, and the most kick-ass drummer I know. Then there’s Bana, who is an early 20s knockout, and she is one of the most well known bassists in L.A.”

Enough said, any more and we’d be questioning if they were paying each other to gloat.

The most important factor of course is the music.

“The younger fans will love it because the subject matter we tackle is all the stuff you go through in college. Finding your place, falling in love, getting too high at a party, etc. The older fans will dig us because on a musical level, the songwriting is strong, the concepts are well realized and the musicality is there,” Rogers explains.

So & So have an understanding about themselves that’s confident but not pretentious. They just seem to know where they’re going without trying too hard. You get the real gist of who they are as a band when you see them live. Strong vocals, soulful melodies, serious undertones and thoughtful lyrics drive their shows and make the audience want to join in and come back for more.

Categorized as indie rock/pop/folk/soul, Dmuchowski concludes, “The music is good to listen to. I know it sounds overly simplistic, but it’s true. In entertainment, you can’t fall into the trap of pleasing yourself all the time. We want to make music that we love or else we wouldn’t have fun playing it, that’s obvious. But it’s for people, a lot of people.” - Campus Circle


"Hear an Ex-Idol Finalist's debut single"

Whatever happened to Brandon Rogers?

Hear what now! The American Idol season 6 finalist has formed a new band, SO & SO, with two former members of the band Dirtie Blonde. Now, the pop quintet are letting Us listen to the first fruits of their labor, the catchy single "What’s The Use," off their upcoming LP, ASAP (hitting stores November 15). - US weekly


"SO AND SO at Hotel Cafe"

The Hotel Cafe was the perfect setting for my first So & So experience, the new Los Angeles-based band from singer/songwriter Amie Miriello. It's been a long adventure for Amie, her musical journey spanning over a decade and around the country and ending up in Los Angeles where she joined up with American Idol alumni Brandon Rogers. Rounding out the rest of the band is Raisin Higgins, Adam Hanson and Bana Haffar.

Showcasing songs from their upcoming debut album, "ASAP," So & So, with diverse musical backgrounds, embodies the sound of classic Americana, fusing folk, rhythm & blues and rock. . It's hard not to take your eyes off of Miriello. Her fiery on-stage presence along with her smoky voice makes for one hot performance. And if Miriello is the fire, then Rogers is the ice. Rogers is Mr. Cool on the keys and his refreshing, soulful vocals compliment Amie's. But even though their melodies are simple, their songs will stay with you long afterwards.

Rogers, you probably remember for being the first singer kicked off Season 6 of American Idol. But before Idol, Rogers was touring and singing with Christina Aguilera and Justin Timberlake. He met Amie at one of her shows and soon enough, his band was opening up for her at Molly Malones in the heart of Hollywood.

Miriello's journey was a long one. It’s been about four years since Miriello fronted the indie-alt band Dirtie Blonde and toured with the likes of INXS, Gavin DeGraw and Nick Lachey. Not long after, she went on her own and released her own solo album, "I Came Around," to rave reviews.

Now, with their debut-album expected to be released next year and an upcoming tour, So & So hopes 2011 will be their breakout year.
- Picksysticks


"So & So: Not Just Lucky Musicians With Funny Nicknames"

If you’re one of those music hipsters who knows everything that’s new, hot and about to break, then you’re familiar with Miss Muffet (Amie Miriello), Sven (Brandon Rogers), Raisin Higgins (Jay Dmuchowski), Victory at Sea (Adam Hanson) and Bana Banana (Bana Haffar). If not, please meet So & So, the next hot group of talented musicians out of Los Angeles.

No, they’re not a bunch of inexperienced musicians who happened to get lucky and like funny nicknames but a collective group of artists who decided to pull their assets together and create a sound and experience that would take their fans and themselves on a new adventure. Spearheaded by Miriello (lead vocals), So & So came together when she decided to revamp her music career after severing ties with Jive Records.

“I’m getting older and caring less and less what people think of me. Throughout my career there were always label people telling me what they thought was best, and I wasn’t confident enough to disagree. Now I’m indie and I’m an old bitch! This is the real me – now,” says Miriello.

Miriello and Dmuchowski (guitar) met when they were teenagers in Connecticut and have been inseparable ever since.

She explains, “Jay is my best friend, even more like my brother, and he’s beyond talented. I always come back to Jay. We have a chemistry you don’t find in any of these contrived writers’ rooms.”

Then they met Rob “Turtle” Wells – who produced and wrote the original songs with Miriello and Dmuchowski – on Miriello’s solo project. He’s currently not performing with the band but remains part of the So & So family.

Soon after, Rogers (vocals, keyboards) joined the clan.

He adds, “Amie and I met a couple years ago after her show at the Roxy. My band started opening up for hers at Molly Malone’s. That’s when we started occasionally singing together and we realized that our voices did something special. When she asked me to be in the band, I was already so impressed with her as an artist that I felt like it could be a great fit for me. I’m not really a group person, but this just felt right.”

Hanson (drums) joined the band and then later Haffar (bass). The two of them individually bring a strong rhythmic sensibility to the live performances even though they tend to have a demure presence on stage. Rhythmically, they charge the show with a lot of energy and passion. Hanson is a Berklee College of Music alumni and Haffar has studied music abroad as well as performed extensively.

In this strange town we call Los Angeles, thousands of hopefuls show up desperately trying to make it in Hollywood. It’s a place where best friends who move into town together quickly become enemies when opportunity knocks. Not true with So & So; they seem to not only be friends but also fans of one another.

Dmuchowski explains, “Amie is the ultimate sex symbol without even trying. Then Brandon, well, you don’t become an ‘American Idol’ finalist if you’re not a born star. Adam is a former Abercrombie model, and the most kick-ass drummer I know. Then there’s Bana, who is an early 20s knockout, and she is one of the most well known bassists in L.A.”

Enough said, any more and we’d be questioning if they were paying each other to gloat.

The most important factor of course is the music.

“The younger fans will love it because the subject matter we tackle is all the stuff you go through in college. Finding your place, falling in love, getting too high at a party, etc. The older fans will dig us because on a musical level, the songwriting is strong, the concepts are well realized and the musicality is there,” Rogers explains.

So & So have an understanding about themselves that’s confident but not pretentious. They just seem to know where they’re going without trying too hard. You get the real gist of who they are as a band when you see them live. Strong vocals, soulful melodies, serious undertones and thoughtful lyrics drive their shows and make the audience want to join in and come back for more.

Categorized as indie rock/pop/folk/soul, Dmuchowski concludes, “The music is good to listen to. I know it sounds overly simplistic, but it’s true. In entertainment, you can’t fall into the trap of pleasing yourself all the time. We want to make music that we love or else we wouldn’t have fun playing it, that’s obvious. But it’s for people, a lot of people.”

By: Jewel Delegall - Campus Circle Magazine


"An Interview with SO & SO"

So & So is Amie Miriello, Brandon Rogers, Bana Haffar, Adam Hanson, and Jay Dmuchowski – who prefers to be called Raisin Higgins. The band came together when Amie, an established singer in the Los Angeles area, and childhood friend Jay teamed up with producer Rob Wells to form the ultimate songwriting team. It wasn’t long after that the duo sought out the perfect partners in crime and the project matured into a full-fledged band. With the addition of American Idol Season six contestant and soulful singer Brandon, Adam on drums, and bassist Bana, So & So came to fruition in September 2010. The feisty five and I sat down for some laughs as they discussed their new album on the horizon and big tour plans for 2011. In between interview questions and technically off the record, the band and I bonded over intimate descriptions of their colons and jokes they have painfully refrained from saying in front of Mormon audiences.

I’ve noticed some interesting nicknames in your bio. What is the background on those?
Raisin: Wait I have to tell you something really super quick. My name in this band is not Jay. It’s Raisin.

Brandon: Oh here we go! (Rolls eyes)

Amie: There are no nicknames anymore. They are just for us.

Raisin: I’m the only one that has one. Mine stays! I have to have it. It’s not a nickname anymore. It’s my name.

What was the inspiration behind starting the project?
Amie: We had worked with producer Rob Wells on some of my solo stuff in the past and we really loved working with him. So when the other projects we were doing kind of fell through, we decided we really wanted to do a project with him. First it started as a writing team, then it became a band, and one by one we found all the members and that was it.

This one’s for Brandon. How has you experience on American Idol influenced your career?
Brandon: You know, I was working as a background singer for years and then I decided I wanted to go out on my own. I wrote an album and the second I put it out I auditioned for American Idol and then I immediately had to take it off the market because I had made it onto the show. It was a great experience on the show and when I got off, a lot of people knew me but I still had to do the footwork. It helped but it didn’t help amazingly. It didn’t change my life in the sense of being famous all of a sudden, but it did allow me some opportunities that I wouldn’t have had otherwise.

Are you still working on solo stuff or is So & So your main project?
Brandon: No, actually right now this is my main focus. This is all of our main focus.

Amie: We all have other projects that we want to pursue but we’re obsessed with this, so this is taking up our time and energy so we’re cool with that.

Amie, you actually met Brandon, when he was opening for your solo project at Molly Malones…
Amie: Yeah and we sang together and were like, “Oh wait. That sounds awesome!”

Brandon: We’re like “Hmm, that’s interesting.”

Tell me about the upcoming album.
Brandon: “ASAP.”

Amie: It’s just a great album. It’s a compilation of songs that Jay…[Laughs]…sorry – Raisin, and I wrote with Rob.

Raisin: I’ve known her for 18 years and she still won’t call me Raisin.

Amie: I won’t do it. [Laughs] I just f*ckin’ can’t. All of us fell in love with the record. It’s fun to play every night. It’s called “ASAP” because we need it to get out there right f*cking now and we need people to hear it right now.

Are you guys doing a lot of live shows?
Brandon: Yes we’re doing a lot of shows – as many as possible!

Adam: Yeah we did a lot over the summer. We did like every other week at Hotel Café. We did Molly Malones, one at King King in Hollywood, and we’re going on tour in February. We are gonna tour up and down the East coast, on college tours.

Brandon: Supported by Red Bull. Thank you Red Bull!

Any crazy American Idol Stories? I’m going to be done with the Idol questions after this one…
Brandon: You know the craziest thing that ever happened to me in my entire life happened after Idol. I got to go to Afghanistan to sing to the troops out there and that sort of stands alone in my mind as the dopest craziest thing that happened to me after Idol. It was me, Justin Guarini, Nadia Turner, and Gina Glocksen from various seasons of Idol. We just went out there and hung out with the troops and flew around in helicopters with shotguns. It was amazing. It was terrifying and awesome at the same time.

Was it high security and people with machine guns escorting you around?
Brandon: Yes we felt safe as eggs – safe as babies. It was crazy. Simon was usually nice to me. The way I got voted off – maybe that was crazy. I forgot the lyrics to a song.

Raisin: No you got voted off because of Howard Stern.

Brandon: You know what…people like Sanjaya…little kids like Sanjaya and Howard Stern loved to vote for him.

Amie: That’s the funniest shit ever that Howard repeatedly voted for Sanjaya.

You guys recently had a So & So song placed on One Tree Hill. That’s exciting!
Amie: Yeah Jay and I have had songs placed on like every show and it’s mother. But this project is so new. The fact that we’ve had one on One Tree Hill is premature and awesome. And we have another one coming on One Tree Hill for this 8th season so we’re really excited. As soon as the record is out and available on iTunes we are going to slam the placements.

Brandon: Our ultimate goal is to take over the world.

How do you guys describe your sound?
Brandon: That’s the toughest question. I tell people, “You listen to it and tell me what you think.” It’s driven by Jay – I mean by Raisin.

Bana: It’s like Indie pop and country.

Brandon: It’s like indie pop folk soul classical heavy metal…I don’t know. It’s a rainbow of fruit flavors.

Amie: It’s soulful radio rock that could be played on the radio.

Brandon: Radio, radio,….radio

Amie: We’re not scurred of success.

Brandon: We’re not too cool for school where we’re like; “You can’t use our song for a Target commercial. Please use our song for a Target commercial!”

Amie: Yes, please. Use our song for a tampon commercial, I don’t f*cking care.

Brandon: I don’t know about that…

Amie: I don’t care. Bring it!

What’s on the agenda for 2011 aside from the tour?
Amie: We just want to play – all the colleges, all the festivals. We’re doing South by Southwest…We want people to see us so much that people have to recognize us and know who we are.

Brandon: I think the music, the writing on it, the singing on it, the musicianship is just all strong enough that whoever gets a taste of it will want some more.

Raisin: You can’t deny it. Even if you don’t really love it you can’t say it’s not great.

Bana: I think one of the most interesting things about this band is the fact that there are two lead singers and they’re both very strong singers but they don’t overshadow each other. They do a really good job of staying out of each other’s way but complimenting each other and that’s a very unique aspect of the band.

Raisin: And we’re all friends too. It’s very easy to be in a band if we’re all friends.

Since you guys are all friends, have you had any big fights yet?
Amie: We fight ALL the time

Raisin: We argue about music and some other things but Amie and I really go at it because we’re like brother and sister so our fights are way deeper and basically everybody in this band besides the two of us knows that they just have to deal with that.

Brandon: Witnessing their fights is something special.

Amie: They are all based on what’s best for the band.

Brandon: As far as personal arguments we have the ability to be honest and to take it. It’s all about making the band and making it better.

Amie: And then when someone’s feelings do get hurt we all get upset and are like, “We didn’t mean it.”

Amie: when Jay on I are on tour though we actually don’t fight, it’s weird. It’s almost like other people are so annoying that we feel we have to team up against everyone else.

Brandon: This will actually be the first time of me going on a tour with people I’ve actually known before. Usually it’s like you meet them when on tour and you’ve got to learn how to live with somebody on a bus instantly. It’s a good practice but I wouldn’t recommend it to everybody. So this is gonna be great.

I heard a rumor that one of you is a former Abercrombie model.

Adam: Oh Jesus. [Blushes]

So I’m guessing that’s you Adam?
Amie: He gets so mad!

Adam: I’m not mad. I just always looked at it like a job. I didn’t search out being a model. A friend of mine asked me if I would do a few jobs and I got signed quickly in Boston and I did a few shows. It was good. It was fun. It was no different to me than painting a house.

Raisin: I think it’s different. The guys you see painting houses definitely look very different.

Adam: But I was actually a painter in high school.

Brandon: I can see him actually painting a house with his overalls open, all “Yeah…look at this house.”

Were you ever the giant picture right when you walk in the store?
Adam: Somebody in Florida – one of my aunts, said they thought they saw me but I don’t think so.

Raisin: You think your aunt would know who you were.

Adam: I don’t know she’s old. [Laughs]

Any plans to come out of retirement as an Abercrombie model down the road?
Adam: They did offer me the senior package at one point.

Raisin: it’s called the classics

Amie and Jay were high school friends; Brandon and Amie met at Molly’s…how did Adam and Bana officially come into the picture?
Adam: I met Amie because I was working with songwriter/producer David Ryan Harris and she was doing a session with him and he told me to go and see her live. So I did, twice. I thought she was amazing so I offered my box Cajon services. She didn’t know what that was, I said awesome and ever since then…

Amie: I thought they were cajones.

Brandon: Cajones means balls and Cajon means box

Well it is between your legs…

Adam: It is…it’s right under my balls.

Amie: It’s like he’s playing his balls

Adam: I hit just before the balls. Anyway, the strength of the songwriting was just amazing and just the presence of Amie and Jay’s comments were amazing.

Amie: They are all about sports. He will stop a song in the middle of the set and be like, “This song is kind of like football.” Talk about the source of fights…

How is a song like football?
Raisin: How is it not like football?

Amie: Don’t open that up!

Brandon: He’s gotta do it once so it can be documented.

Raisin: The way I feel in this band is that we are all on some kind of offense where there are two offensive stars like a quarterback and a star running back (points to Amie and Brandon) these two. Right? And we are their offensive line behind them -blocking for them and stuff like that. After the show, pretty much you’re gonna walk off stage and say, “OK they are the stars,” like you would say a running back or quarter back, but they couldn’t get there without the actual offensive line that nobody actually watches on the field.

Adam: That’s amazing

Raisin: It’s just the funny thing is comparing Bana to an offensive lineman.

Bana: I don’t even know anything about football but I joined the band when Brandon called me one day to sub for one of their shows because their bass player quit a day before the show.

Adam: We called Bana the day before the show and she learned everything and she was amazing.

Amie: Yeah, she’s great. Bana’s from Lebanon. She just found out about peanut butter and jelly sandwiches the other day. She came to rehearsal she’s like, “You know what’s really good? Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.” We’re like, “Duh!”

Brandon: We’ve been having peanut butter and jelly sandwiches since infancy.

Bana: And now I have one every single day. I swear to God.

Brandon: She’s been awakened.

Any pre show rituals?
Amie: A shot of Jameson usually, but I’m on a cleanse.

Bana: Yelling at management

Amie: While smiling

Brandon: For me, my ritual is no drinking, warm ups and I generally try to stay away from people.

Raisin: I’ve gotten a bottle of water from Stew before every show since 2005.

Adam: We probably will develop more when we don’t have to set up our own shit.

Brandon: I’m guessing the drinking before a show thing will go when we get out on the road. If I drink too much before a show I’m a complete, to use an Amy term, ‘shit show’

Amie: I drink before every single show, during, and after. But I’m on a cleanse right now and my life is terrible.

How long’s the cleanse?
Amie: Ahh… it’s till Sunday.

Brandon: You do realize this is being recorded Amie.

Amie: Yeah but they’re not playing the tape on this thing. And second of all, I don’t give a shit if they do. This is how I talk.

[The conversation then took a turn into the ins and outs of cleanses with a round table discussion on that state of each band member’s colon, which I was nicely asked to refrain from publishing but was thoroughly entertained by]

Brandon: And that’s the only word that I thought we wouldn’t get to in this interview, but somehow we got to… “colon.”

Words by Nicole Pajer. Photos by Zoetica Ebb. - ChinaShopMag.com


Discography

ASAP - To be released in the Fall of 2011

Photos

Bio

SO & SO can do just about anything.

Whether they're conjuring dreamy pop harmonies or sliding through soulful beats, the Los Angeles sextet stirs up a sound that's both heartfelt and hypnotic. On their forthcoming debut album ASAP, SO & SO don't worry about the status quo. They don't pander to prototypical pop conventions. They don't write with the radio in mind, but they do create songs that might just make you listen a little closer. On "Heart Beats Slow," acoustic guitars curl into an overpowering chorus, while "What's the Use?" meanders from tripped-out electronic textures to a hand-clap fueled hook. Then there's the psychedelic piano kicking off "Hazel and the Rip in the Space Time Continuum;" it's so uplifting it borders on transcendent. At the center of the music, Amie Miriello's enticingly dangerous croon entrances, while Jay Dmuchowski's guitars color the backdrop with intricate and evocative flourishes. Simultaneously, Brandon Rogers adds another layer with his undeniable vocals. SO & SO go anywhere and everywhere sonically.

About their sound, Amie comments, "It's sexy indie pop with some soul in it." That's surely an apt summation, but Brandon goes one step even further. "If Aimee Mann sang like Kelly Clarkson, it'd be SO & SO."

SO & SO organically arrived at that crossroads between pop palatability and down and dirty soul. Amie and Jay have been playing together for over a decade, founding Dirtie Blonde and touring everywhere in support of the band's JIVE/Sony debut. Their stint in Dirtie Blonde yielded the hit single "Walk Over Me" and it introduced them to the world. After the group disbanded, Amie began pursuing a solo career, but something was missing. She reveals, "I'd done my solo project for two years, but I was sick of playing acoustic. I wanted to do something bigger."

Something bigger came in the form of the songs she began composing with Jay. That batch of tunes would become ASAP. Without any adult or label supervision, they hit Sony ATV in Canada to write with producer Rob Wells (Cyndi Lauper, Justin Bieber, Olivia Newton-John) in 2009. The three initially joined forces to compose a songwriting trio and sell the tracks to other artists. However, after the first few songs were cut, they knew they had something very special and ASAP was born with Rob co-writing and overseeing production.

In the meantime, Amie and Brandon had a chance encounter. Brandon was opening for Amie's band at Molly Malone's in Los Angeles, and they decided to perform a couple songs together. They captured a chemistry that would filter through the songs on ASAP, instantly creating their own dynamic. Brandon had an equally impressive resume. He was a Top 12 finalist on Season 6 of American Idol, and he toured as a background singer for Christina Aguilera, Usher and Justin Timberlake, to name a few. However, their meeting was the beginning of something special.

In 2010, drummer Adam Hanson officially joined the SO&SO family. A Berklee College of Music graduate, his soulful beats provide a backbone to SO&SO's live show.

SO & SO really shine live. Amie goes on, "I've always been a live vocalist. We're a pop band, but there's a real rock and soul edge to what we do on stage. Whatever happens during the show is not planned or choreographed—it's rock 'n' roll."

Brandon concurs, "It's pure energy. We can feel the crowd when we're up there. If you love the record, when you see us live, it'll change things. If you hate the record, you're still going to love us live."

In that sense, SO & SO grip onto a classic creative urgency where anything's possible. "Happens Every Day" is a propulsive electro-fusion pop song, while "Broke" is a poignant and poetic rumination. From trip hop to pop to rock, there's no stone unturned on ASAP.

"This record is the template for what's to come," Amie explains. "We can incorporate anything into SO & SO. From the starting point, I wanted us to be able to go in any direction without the final product being unbelievable."
Brandon adds, "We want to exist without boundaries. We want to break through. We want to do whatever kind of music we think we should. This is unlike anything I've ever done."

Ultimately, SO & SO is also unlike anything you've ever heard. Amie continues, "This record is our baby. I want SO & SO to grow and be something that doesn't end. It means everything to me. We all have the same vision to create awesome music and be happy."

SO & SO will make a lot of listeners happy in the process as well... — Rick Florino, August 2010