SO & SO

So & So
Viper Room
September 7, 2011
Better than: Being stuck in a steam room with 98.7 FM on the radio.

Los Angeles-based folk-rockers So & So performed a triumphant gig at the center of a nuclear reactor last night. . . oh, wait. It was actually the Viper Room, which seems to have redirected its air conditioning budget into buckets and buckets of black paint. The band's set, and especially lead singer Amie Miriello's sultry stage presence, matched the heat in the room.

Upon taking the stage, keyboardist/vocalist Brandon Rogers greeted the crowd with a hearty, "What's up, Viper Room?!?" as he manned his two-tiered kit. They kicked things off with the inappropriately-titled "Cold as Hell." Visibly perspiring, Miriello nevertheless wailed and hip-thrusted through the uptempo number. Bassist Bana Haffar deftly added chunky rhythms that teetered on the edge of sonic domination. Somehow, it all fit together.

?"We are So & So, and we got something to say!" said Rogers, which was repeated by Miriello on "No Sex," albeit through a layer of digital delay that made the message difficult to make out. The effect highlighted her bell-like voice, however, and it reached almost Kate Bush-ian highs on the seductively playful tune. Guitarist Jay Dmuchowski displayed some fine fingerpicking skills, as well, more Lindsey Buckingham than campfire strummer. "Man, the AC in here is great," Miriello joked at the song's completion, giving voice to what everyone in the teeming sweat lodge of a bar was thinking.

The multiracial, three-guy and two-girl group clearly takes lyrical and harmonic influence from Fleetwood Mac, which was was made explicit in the set's highlight, "Broke." Sounding like a heartbreaking Stevie Nicks-led ballad from Rumours or Tusk, it is as moving as contemporary pop music gets. Miriello documents a relationship gone wrong: "So abandon all your hope/ 'cause you bent me 'til I broke/ and I can't save you now." The set took a more upbeat turn with "Monkey See," their most carefree rocker of the evening. Rogers even beat his chest emphatically, to the delight of the hometown crowd.

??The last two songs moved into more traditional rock territory. "Back to the Front," one of their newest tracks, explored the dark side of Hollywood and its commoditization of women. "No sucking dicks for money, girls!" Miriello admonished. She quickly added, "Only for fun!" The song itself rides a funky beat, laid down expertly by drummer Adam Hanson. They closed the set with "Ready," for which Dmuchowski finally broke out his electric guitar. He channeled his inner Jimmy Page on the brief-but-gnarly solo, and the group reached a state of ecstatic interplay that proved to be a final high point.

Opening artist Bobby Jo Valentine, a San Francisco boy, made his Los Angeles debut, seeming like the nicest guy to ever pick up an acoustic guitar. He peppered his Jack Johnson- and Jason Mraz-flavored set with a string of "Thank you"'s to the audience, his new pickup band, the venue owners and (I think) random strangers walking down Sunset. He sang of wanting someone to "chase away his dark," even though his demeanor was not particularly dark.

His songs often had a nautical bent, as well, often referencing drowning and ships in his acoustic- and ukulele-driven ditties. "This is the rocker on the album," he declared before "Some Days." He was right, in that it sounded more like Matchbox 20 than Jack Johnson. His set displayed some pleasant tunes and witty wordplay, but we would like to see him stretch himself out musically and lyrically, perhaps even letting himself get angry at some point in the future. - LA Weekly

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).

Take a listen, and click here for more on the group.

By Ian Drew for Us Weekly. To read more of Ian's blog, click here. - USWeekly.com

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

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.com

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.com

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 - China Shop Magazine