Biography
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Years Active
2005 – present (19 years)
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Founded In
Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, United States
“It’s hard to find a band that can speak to an eclectic and diverse crowd,” says Debony Burrowes of State of the Arts and Culture. “There’s something in that soulful funk that everyone gets.”
As the Funky Indie Soul quartet Soulganic prepares to release their third studio album, Didactic Interstice, in 2013, they look forward to continuing to serve up grooves that speak to the masses.
Soulganic’s signature sound has been described as “organic music from the soul” (OkayPlayer), “a perfected blend of funk and soul” (Soulified, UK), and “the bluesy soul of old-style R&B, laced with Latin percussion” (Skope Magazine). They’ve also drawn comparisons to artists as varied as Santana, Nikka Costa, Living Colour, Curtis Mayfield, and Buddy Miles. Whether it’s pulsating rhythms with Latin overtones, hard-edged rock riffs, raw emotional blues refrains, fluid jazz phrasing, or insistent funk and soul syncopation, Soulganic’s compositions carry a meaning that’s universal: “Aspects of existence,” according to Creative Loafing‘s Jeff Hahne. “Life, love and all the things that go along with it.”
Formed in 2005, Soulganic’s music has garnered a reputation of being “organic, growing moment by moment with aural combinations that are pleasing to the soul,” said music writer Branna Calloway. Drawing upon influences as varied as the individual member’s origins (extending from the Twin Cities to NYC to DC to Puerto Rico), these combinations are a rich palette of earthy hues. At the core is each member’s musicality: drummer/keyboardist Cory McClure; guitarist/vocalist Ryan McKeithan; lead vocalist/bassist Anthony Rodriguez; percussionist Lucas Torres.
Their albums, 2007′s All Directions Forward and 2009′s From the Storm to the Sun, established and evolved, respectively, Soulganic’s trademark musical styling, garnering praise from music critics worldwide.
After nearly four years of working nearly non-stop on their craft, the quartet took some time to reorient themselves. “What we needed,” says lead vocalist/bassist Anthony Rodriguez, “was some time away from Soulganic as a thing, and even each other as people. We needed some space to think, to recharge creatively, and to re-approach our craft. When we eventually got back together, the ideas were fresh but familiar, and the concept of space and really letting the music breathe began to take shape.”
Over the next year, the band began to compose songs that fed into those concepts. Didactic Interstice was born. This collection of new tunes, paced by the slow-burning bluesy lead single “Wildfire,” sets the tone for Soulganic’s revamped approach: sparse, earthy, organic, and full of emotion.
“We believe that, after all is said and done,” says Rodriguez, “the human connection is what’s most important. If our music can serve as a means for establishing and nurturing that connection, then our work is done.”
Now that’s something that everyone can get.
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