"A Los Angeles group proves that the blending of vintage soul and modern R&B isn't going extinct..."
- bandofthedayapp.com

A simple love song from a classic sound of brilliant fusion, The Endangered has definitely captured a niche market of eclectic, emotional listeners with their new self-titled EP. Hailing from California, with a skilled mixture of soul, pop, jazz, and blues, The Endangered is an up and coming sound that puts one into a familiar rocking sway in reminisce of a past lover. From the opening song to the intricate thread of emotions in love and self -discovery, this EP is well worth a few listens to see how this group really feels.

Usually you can tell by the lyrics, but with this group it’s the musical nuances and rhythms that let you into the experience. From the initial bass line followed by cymbal ringing and a steady guitar riff opens a story of a young woman, “She’s afraid of the night, she preferred whiskey over wine.” An introspective woman, with a silky low soprano voice, Maiya tells the story of how she fell in love and it broke her heart. She warns, “She is you, she is me….she’s a thousand shades of blue, and she’s broken in two….you had to break her heart.” The opening track has a jazz swing groove and even a clever B arrangement after the bridge. Broke Heart is naïve yet hopeful, I was immediately drawn into the collective’s view on what was next.

View slideshow: The Endangered Band

Check out The Endangered Band's New EP on iTunes : http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-endangered-ep/id522392886
Photo credit: http://endangeredband.com

Calling On You - The Endangered Band Calling On You - The Endangered Band
“My face is finally dry from the weight of my tears, my dreams were interrupted by the sum of my fears.” If nothing else this EP is filled to the brim with great writing and musicality. Sure, there are many other vocalists who could have given this project life but I appreciate their choice in a transparent, talented voice full of emotion not of tricks, but calculated grace and style. Calling On You, the second song on the EP has a more of an R&B slow jam feel with a summer jazz chorus. The musical choice cleverly matches a love song with a slightly remiss attitude of going back to that same old good thing. (Check out the video on youtube here: http://youtu.be/Pt3W_JBTNs4)

You’ll Be Mine, the third slot on this EP, is a soft rock love song wishing to reunite with the perfect love that you unfortunately lost. The driving chorus and clever vocal arrangement makes this a great riding tune. The balance between the driving choruses and laid-back verses makes a masterpiece of music. Carefully swooning to the ballad of the verse, pushing the limits to the chorus, and pleading in the bridge, how could anyone say no to this song? The Endangered definitely gets a spot on my summer track list with this selection and the next one.

My favorite of the compilation is Dollars. Comparing love to the music industry always requires skill and finesse, but putting the two head to head in contrast is seldom done. When I first listened to this track I thought it was strictly about struggling as an artist but the writing leans itself to many interpretations, and even taps on one’s love for the industry over just the love of art. The closing track, Mistakes, continues the trend of clever writing and meaningful singing and musical choices over musical tricks and fancy vocals. Though insightful of how blind we all are when we are in love, I enjoyed the low points and relaxed groove of this song over the overly climactic bridges.

Overall this EP is a must have and deserves multiple listens. There are very few dynamic live bands that cover original material with such grace and clarity today. This band is full of soul, skill, and charisma with and unique approach to sound. The musicality of the live instruments can be enjoyed just as much as the fresh vocals and writing.

We encourage you to follow through and hear more from The Endangered at http://soundcloud.com/theendagered . There will be upcoming local promotional listening parties at The NEW Hip Hop Club 1920 (August 21st), and The Up & Up Microphone on upcoming Tuesdays (August 14th and August 28th). Stay up to date on their latest with their website : http://www.endangeredband.com or on facebook (/endangeredband) or twitter - http://www.examiner.com

There’s a musical group based in Los Angeles, California, that you need to know about. It’s a collective of four musicians/songwriters who came together officially in 2009 with the goal of making good music. To place them in a genre would be doing them a disservice. Let’s just say they’re vintage soul, with a nod to rock ‘n’ roll.
They’re funk and blues. D’Angelo, with a Pearl Jam twist. The new edition of Mint Condition. The Roots with mostly West Coast roots.
They’re The Endangered, and you probably don’t even know who they are. Let’s familiarize ourselves.
The Endangered includes founding member Nick Block, a guitarist and Seattle, Washington, native who settled in Los Angeles some years ago. It was his intention, after graduating from California Institute of the Arts in 2007, to open an in-house production facility where he and his buddy would write and record songs and sell them to other artists. In 2008, he found a recording studio to use, and his mission began.
The other half of the original duo is Gene Coye, who’s straight out of Chicago, Illinois. A percussionist by trade, Coye wrote music alongside Block in the beginning, putting together a sampling of songs that they planned to use as demos. However, he and Block both knew something was missing.
Enter Frank Abraham, a bassist who had worked gigs around his Los Angeles hometown for years, and who had clearly left an impression on Coye. He was what was missing.
“He was amazing each time I saw him play,” Coye recalls. “We needed him. [We were] just glad he was available.”
Together, the trio blended their talents to block out three songs. Everything was going smoothly. Of course, they needed one more piece—a major one.
Meet Maiya Sykes, who is that major piece. Sykes has been singing and writing for most of her life, and upon joining the collective, immediately began writing. After having spent only half a day in the studio listening to tracks, she penned the lyrics and melody to what became the song “Broke Heart” in fewer than 30 minutes.
And that’s how the foursome came to be. It was less than a year later when the group, after inking a publishing deal with Modern Works Music Publishing, decided that they should use their songwriting skills to further their own musical career and would try their hand at becoming a band. All they needed was a name. Why The Endangered?
“We didn’t see other artists or bands doing what we were doing, or playing the kind of music we wanted to hear,” explains Coye. “It was like our sound, or style of music, was becoming endangered.”
“Exactly!” echoes Sykes. “I also found that, as people who played for other musicians—as we all have—the type of music that we wanted to play was becoming an endangered species. So that name really resonated with us.”
The group describes their sound as “vintage soul,” which, according to Abraham, is music like it was in the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s—“a formula of actually writing a song with a bridge and a verse.” That’s where their influences lie as well. When asked to name artists with a similar sound, The Endangered chose The Police, Stevie Wonder, and Radiohead.
“I also feel that the vintage and alternative-soul labels really encompass a desire to include many different styles of music," Sykes contributes. “It goes back to the days when you heard The Rolling Stones and The Marvelettes and Marvin Gaye on the same radio station.”
GRAMMY-winning producer Steven Miller, who has worked with everyone from The Manhattan Transfer and Bobby McFerrin to Backstreet Boys and Dave Matthews Band, was brought on board to hone the band’s sound, giving shape to their self-titled debut EP.
“We went through a range of our material and explored what would be best to do with him relative to his experience in the music industry,” Block explains about working with Miller.
“He was able to listen to a lot of our music and we just, very organically, selected the five songs that appear on the EP.”
Those songs include the yearning lead single “Calling on You,” as well as “Broke Heart,” “You’ll Be Mine,” “Dollars,” and “Mistakes.”
During their high-energy live performances, the band, in addition to their original material, pulls a few covers from up their collective sleeve, including Foo Fighters’ “My Hero” and The Police’s “Message in a Bottle.”
“We love surprising fans with familiar songs,” Sykes reveals. “The sighs and gasps we hear are everything.”
After building a solid foundation in Los Angeles, the band is finally ready to hit the road and open some ears to their vintage sound. According to Block, it will be happening very soon.
“We’re putting together the resources we need to get out within the next few months. We look forward to going to Chicago; Washington, D.C.; Philadelphia; New York; New Orleans; and even up the coast to San Francisco and Seattle. That’s definitely our priority.”
Your priority should be to further familiarize yourself with The Endangered. Spend some time with their music - LuxuryAwaits.com

Hey SoulTrackers, the time has come! After a month of receiving nominations from you and having 3,000 soul music artists and industry people narrow the choices down, we finally have named our finalists for the 2012 SoulTracks Readers' Choice Awards, the world's most popular awards celebrating independent soul music! There were so many quality artists it was a tough job, but our committee narrowed it down to seven finalists in each category.
This year's SoulTracks Readers' Choice Awards will be broadcast on December 3rd at 8:00 p.m., hosted by our good friend Jodine Dorce of Jodine's Corner with help from the queen of tech, Nina Morena. Stay tuned and we'll tell you all of the places you'll be able to hear the awards show. We will honor the greatest music and artists from the period of October 1, 2011 to September 30, 2012 (here are our eligibility rules).
Voting
You, the SoulTracks subscribers, will pick the winners from now until November 7, 2012! Your personal ballot will come to you by email. We will begin sending out ballots by email on Monday, October 22.
Want to vote but not a SoulTracks subscriber? Well, now is the time to become one, and it's always FREE! Just sign up at the top left hand side of this page and you'll will receive our periodic newsletters, free music downloads and more. You'll also receive your personal Awards ballot within 24 hours.
Here are this year's Awards finalists (all categories are for independent artists only, except for the Major Label Album of the Year):

NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Amma Whatt
Daley
DJ Kemit
Gloria Ry'ann
Jessica Reedy
Kia Bennett
The Endangered - Soultracks.com

Since 2009, guitarist Nick Block, drummer Gene Coye, bassist Frank Abraham and vocalist Maiya Sykes have been rocking crowds as The Endangered. The group creatively blends vintage soul, adult contemporary R&B, rock, Hip-Hop and jazz that has kept them in the minds of Los Angeles’ indie music lovers for quite some time. In order to prove themselves as more than a lounge act, The Endangered have recently release their groundbreaking self-titled debut EP.

On Wax: Hows everything going today?
The Endangered: We’re great!!

On Wax: Who are The Endangered?
Maiya Sykes: A group of very enthusiastic musicians who enjoy soul as our base but enjoy elements of jazz, Hip-Hop and rock so we have a fairly eclectic sound but try to stay true to the music as possible. We’re hoping that people like our sound.

On Wax: Talk about how you guys met.
Gene Coye: Nick and I met in school at Cal Arts and started working together in the studio. We needed some low end to the music we were making so we called Frank. We started noticing so we had a musical vibe so we decided that we needed the extra icing, cherry and everything on top and that’s where we got Maiya.

Maiya Sykes: Awwwww

Gene Coye: We called Maiya, realized that we had something special and here we are as The Endangered.

Nick Block: I think it took around twenty-five minutes to write our first song and it was an amazing grove. That’s when we realized that we are a really cohesive songwriting team.

Where did you get the name The Endangered from?
Maiya Skyes: We were looking at music styles that we liked and what we liked to play. We saw that in the public eye, that the music that spoke to us which was more of the live stuff, was slowly being x-ed out. We were getting jobs that around town were slowly phasing out musicianship so we thought that the type of musical style was starting to become like an endangered species. That was something that we wanted to protect, it was something that glued us together by the music. That’s where we got the name from and when we looked it up as an idea, we were floored that nobody had used the name.

You mentioned the lack of live instrumentation or musicianship in today’s popular music. In you guy’s opinion, where does that stem from?
Maiya Sykes: Well the great thing about technology is that it’s opened musical doors and that everybody has access to technology. Just because one has that technology doesn’t mean that their actually good at it. I think because you can do this very quickly, everybody thinks you can be a musician which is a lovely idea so I’m not sure that I want to take that away from the public eye but I do want to bring back the idea that musicianship is just more than easy access and graphics but learning styles of music, honing your craft, it’s playing and getting better at those different styles of music. There’s more to it than just turning on a computer. As a society we like a disposable things and high turnover of things. I’m hoping we get back to a societal thought of preserving things. Disposable things are important but the preservation of things are just as important.

Talk about your recently released EP for a moment. How was it working with Grammy award winning producer Steven Miller(Pink and Dave Matthews Band).
Gene Coye: Working with Steven was great. Up until that point, we were more of a live performing band so he helped us identify ways to reconstruct our songs in the studio so that it evoked the same passion that we had live. It captured that studio quality. He never got in our way during the recording process and we just captured a sonic sound that we wanted. Working with him at Ocean Way was an amazing experience.

Maiya Sykes: We were like kids in a candy store it was hilarious.

Talk about the EP’s first single and first song that was created as a cohesive whole with “Broke Heart.”
Nick Block: That was actually the song that gave us the feeling that we had something special. We called Maiya and she wrote the song immediately on the spot. The writing process was that easy.

Maiya Sykes: We have an eclectic nature and “Broke Heart” embodies that perfectly. Lyrically, I wanted to play around with different tense because I feel that many people don’t do that in lyrics. I wanted to talk about different sides of a relationship when it falls apart. There really isn’t just one focal point so that’s where I came up with the lyrical idea for it.

What did you learn from your live performances and how did you translate that into a project?

Maiya Sykes: That’s an interesting question.

Gene Coye: Well we always approach separately. You have to be a little accurate with your idea in the studio I’d say. Live you have an opportunity to explore ideas. There’s always that freedom as oppose to the studio where you have to capture that moment. Even if you have to record six takes, you’re still trying to catch that special moment.

Nick Block: Sometimes playing live I think - onwaxmagazine.com

"The best thing of summer is always finding a new band or artist to throw into your circulation of music. Well this summer you should check this band out." - KSSU

Something Else Review ..."If there’s a fresh sounding ensemble that can keep the great soulful sounds of yesteryear from going extinct, The Endangered could very well be the band that will do it." - Something Else

Something Else Review ..."If there’s a fresh sounding ensemble that can keep the great soulful sounds of yesteryear from going extinct, The Endangered could very well be the band that will do it." - Something Else

I was getting gas a couple of weeks ago when I saw this falcon pursue a sea gull for about five minutes. It was pretty amazing simply because that was about as close as a confirmed city guy like me comes to seeing nature’s primal life and death struggle unfold before my eyes -- unless I’m watching Animal Planet. There was a time when falcons were plentiful in North Central Indiana. But, they’ve been endangered in urban areas like South Bend for a long time. We have raptors in South Bend these days because a bunch of nature lovers reintroduced them about 20 years ago.
The soul/rock/funk and pop band The Endangered got me thinking about the concept of endangered species. A band selects a name such as The Endangered for a reason. Their reason for choosing the name is that they believe something about the modern music industry’s ecosystem makes their brand of music and musical philosophy an endangered species.
Of course, Maiya Sykes, Nick Block, Frank Abraham and Gene Coye won’t be the first musicians to believe they’ve been marginalized by the industry. Jazz musicians can write the book on that. Doth they protest too much? Perhaps. Sites such as this one attest to the fact that there are a lot of artists making good music. However, there aren’t too many places where high quality music like The Endangered can be heard, on terrestrial radio anyway.
While it might be difficult for The Endangered to break through the pop music clutter and be heard, their new self-titled EP reveals a quartet with a lot of good things to say. The five tracks on The Endangered are marked by their quality and diversity. The tracks are well-written both from a lyrical and music composition standpoint. It moves seamlessly from the funk/rock of “Broke Heart,” to the title track, a ballad that combines an acoustic pop feel with bass-infused R&B that is elevated even higher through Sykes’ vocal work.
The quartet dives deeper into the rock genre on the power ballad “You’ll Be Mine,” while “Dollars” finds the band taking a clear-eyed look at the financial constraints that going the indie route places on a band. The tune asks how artists and the public should define success. If an artist doesn’t go platinum does that mean the artist is not successful? The quartet asks that question starkly in the number’s hook “If it don’t make a dollar will it break my heart/If it don’t make a dollar will it fall apart/If it don’t make dollars is it real/Can I call it art?”
The final track, “Mistakes,” is the strongest moment of a high quality project. On this radio-ready, adult contemporary cut, Sykes sings about walking into a relationship with no fairy tale illusions. She knows that love entails a certain level of risk. Yet, she is willing to take the plunge. I hope that music fans willing to take a similar plunge on The Endangered’s EP. They’ll assume no risk on this enjoyable album that combines solid material and even more impressive performances. Highly Recommended.
By Howard Dukes - SoulTracks.com

One of the best parts of my professional life is when I come across new music–which I do a LOT–and actually fall in love with it after just one listen. That’s rare, but when it happens, I become hooked. Meaning I literally walk around singing the hooks from the song.

That happened to me just this week when I listened to the group The Endangered for the first time. I heard one verse of their debut single “Calling On You” and felt myself smile. It was the production by GRAMMY Award winner Steven Miller. The real instrumentation by the band–guitarist Nick Block, bassist Frank Abraham and drummer Gene Coye. But mostly, it was the velvety voice of lead singer Maiya Sykes that took me there. Her voice was breezy and calm and warm, like a summer day. It sounded so familiar. So comforting.

So, of course I loved it.

The band, straight out of LA and touting itself as vintage soul/rock, lives up to its name, with each song from their EP, dropping May 22nd, making you wistful for the days when R&B was pure, and all about the music. It’s singers, and instruments, and quality production–most of which, in today’s market, is endangered, indeed.

Check the single below, and then get ready. Trust me, after one listen, you’ll be “calling” them one of your favorite groups. Enjoy. - Dawson's Ink

My face is finally dry from the weight of my tears. Now I am dreaming again! Dreams full of you! I find myself Calling on You! I am talking about this new great song I am listening right now! “Calling On You” is a beautiful song by a new (must listen) group called The Endangered! Why The Endangered? “We named the group The Endangered because we felt that the type of music we enjoyed playing was slowly being edged out of the popular music lexicon,” says Maiya Sykes. But her beautiful voice captures our soul and we want to return back in good music! Band’s first EP, The Endangered produced by Grammy(R)-winning, industry veteran, Steven Miller (Jack Johnson, Pink, Dave Matthews Band and more), The Endangered is comprised of five tracks including “Broke Heart” – the first song written by this group, along with the band’s first single, “Calling On You”! - Popping Cherry

Earlier this week we bemoaned the lack of bands in the game. However, a paucity of groups in the soul music mainstream doesn't mean that they're not thriving underground. One indie soul band who is ready for their time to shine is the Los Angeles based four-piece The Endangered with band members Maiya Sykes, Nick Block, Frank Abraham and Gene Coye. We previously selected them as Bounce-Worthy back in 2010, and they've since polished up their act and linked up with GRAMMY-winning producer Steven Miller (P!nk, Jack Johnson) to tighten up their sound. The result is their official debut, a five-track self-titled EP, due to be released to digital retailers on May 22nd. The first single, "Calling On You," is something that we were introduced to when we first stumbled upon The Endangered, but it's been revamped and remastered, its bluesy soul left in tact, however. If you missed out when we first hipped you to this talented band, don't be the same fool twice. Download "Calling On You" from iTunes now and stay tuned for the song's music video to premiere soon.
- SoulBounce

Earlier this week we bemoaned the lack of bands in the game. However, a paucity of groups in the soul music mainstream doesn't mean that they're not thriving underground. One indie soul band who is ready for their time to shine is the Los Angeles based four-piece The Endangered with band members Maiya Sykes, Nick Block, Frank Abraham and Gene Coye. We previously selected them as Bounce-Worthy back in 2010, and they've since polished up their act and linked up with GRAMMY-winning producer Steven Miller (P!nk, Jack Johnson) to tighten up their sound. The result is their official debut, a five-track self-titled EP, due to be released to digital retailers on May 22nd. The first single, "Calling On You," is something that we were introduced to when we first stumbled upon The Endangered, but it's been revamped and remastered, its bluesy soul left in tact, however. If you missed out when we first hipped you to this talented band, don't be the same fool twice. Download "Calling On You" from iTunes now and stay tuned for the song's music video to premiere soon.
- SoulBounce

A simple love song from a classic sound of brilliant fusion, The Endangered has definitely captured a niche market of eclectic, emotional listeners with their new self-titled EP. Hailing from California, with a skilled mixture of soul, pop, jazz, and blues, The Endangered is an up and coming sound that puts one into a familiar rocking sway in reminisce of a past lover. From the opening song to the intricate thread of emotions in love and self -discovery, this EP is well worth a few listens to see how this group really feels.

Follow The Endangered @theendangered or http://endangeredband.com
Follow The Endangered @theendangered or http://endangeredband.com
Mr. Briggs
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5 photos
Check out The Endangered Band's New EP on iTunes : http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-endangered-ep/id522392886
Check out The Endangered Band's New EP on iTunes : http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-endangered-ep/id522392886
http://endangeredband.com
Usually you can tell by the lyrics, but with this group it’s the musical nuances and rhythms that let you into the experience. From the initial bass line followed by cymbal ringing and a steady guitar riff opens a story of a young woman, “She’s afraid of the night, she preferred whiskey over wine.” An introspective woman, with a silky low soprano voice, Maiya tells the story of how she fell in love and it broke her heart. She warns, “She is you, she is me….she’s a thousand shades of blue, and she’s broken in two….you had to break her heart.” The opening track has a jazz swing groove and even a clever B arrangement after the bridge. Broke Heart is naïve yet hopeful, I was immediately drawn into the collective’s view on what was next.

“My face is finally dry from the weight of my tears, my dreams were interrupted by the sum of my fears.” If nothing else this EP is filled to the brim with great writing and musicality. Sure, there are many other vocalists who could have given this project life but I appreciate their choice in a transparent, talented voice full of emotion not of tricks, but calculated grace and style. Calling On You, the second song on the EP has a more of an R&B slow jam feel with a summer jazz chorus. The musical choice cleverly matches a love song with a slightly remiss attitude of going back to that same old good thing. (Check out the video on youtube here: http://youtu.be/Pt3W_JBTNs4)

You’ll Be Mine, the third slot on this EP, is a soft rock love song wishing to reunite with the perfect love that you unfortunately lost. The driving chorus and clever vocal arrangement makes this a great riding tune. The balance between the driving choruses and laid-back verses makes a masterpiece of music. Carefully swooning to the ballad of the verse, pushing the limits to the chorus, and pleading in the bridge, how could anyone say no to this song? The Endangered definitely gets a spot on my summer track list with this selection and the next one.

My favorite of the compilation is Dollars. Comparing love to the music industry always requires skill and finesse, but putting the two head to head in contrast is seldom done. When I first listened to this track I thought it was strictly about struggling as an artist but the writing leans itself to many interpretations, and even taps on one’s love for the industry over just the love of art. The closing track, Mistakes, continues the trend of clever writing and meaningful singing and musical choices over musical tricks and fancy vocals. Though insightful of how blind we all are when we are in love, I enjoyed the low points and relaxed groove of this song over the overly climactic bridges.

Overall this EP is a must have and deserves multiple listens. There are very few dynamic live bands that cover original material with such grace and clarity today. This band is full of soul, skill, and charisma with and unique approach to sound. The musicality of the live instruments can be enjoyed just as much as the fresh vocals and writing.

We encourage you to follow through and hear more from The Endangered at http://soundcloud.com/theendagered . There will be upcoming local promotional listening parties at The NEW Hip Hop Club 1920 (August 21st), and The Up & Up Microphone on upcoming Tuesdays (August 14th and August 28th). Stay up to date on their latest with their website : http://www.endangeredband.com or on facebook (/endangeredband) or twitter @theendangered . - the examiner