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Oceans: The Journey
Pauly Hansen
(bass)
Q: What were your first thoughts that entered your mind when you got into the Oceans band?
A: Damn - I better think of something good to play!
Q: How did being in the band affect you - for better or for worse?
A: Got to explore some music I might not have otherwise thought about and have really been able to actively input my creative ideas.
Q: In a sentence or two about each of the four other guys, what is/are the most surprising impressions you have had about your band mates so far?
A: Despite all of our different backgrounds and influences in music and life - we just really seem to work well together and just know what a song needs. That - and Mark can put down a Guiness ridiculously fast, Davide will most likely misuse the English language no matter how many years he's lived here, Paul will not quit karate no matter how many bones he breaks, and when he is broken, Leo can get the pain-killers for him!
Q: What kind of music or artist would most people be surprised that you are
listening to?
A: Scar Symmetry, Soilwork, God Is An Astronaut, Orange Blank, Duran Duran
Q: Outside of music, what are other things that keep you busy and/or
entertained?
A: There's other things?
Q: Apart from loved ones and putting aside material worth, what's your most prized possession?
A: A neon light sculpture my sister had made for me that is a replica of my flying-V guitar that a couple of friends helped me make.
Q: Anything about yourself that you think most people would find rather uncharacteristic or surprising about you?
A: I blew up a Dairy Queen once. You know - one of those stupid seasonal ones. There was soft-serve for miles and kids were forever picking chocolate sprinkles out of their hair.
Mark Jacobson (drums)
A: The first time ;) , I thought this was gonna be a lot of fun. The music just kinda came. The second time (after being let go, and brought back a month later, minus the singer, thanks Davide), there was a strong bond between us all. I knew we were going to to around for a while.
Q: How did being in the band affect you for better or for worse?
A: Definitely for the better. It gives me a challenge and pushes me musically. These are some great guys who became great friends.
A: The huge differences in music backgrounds and personal life amongst us all. Davide and the number of languages he speaks, and ability to butcher English... Paul, his random knowledge of helpful / useless information. Someone else with ADD who can ramble on forever or just stare at a wall... The way Pauly can always be laid back and mellow. Then he gets up on stage, and uses all of it... Leo has ideas and an energy that just never slow down.
Q: What kind of music or artist would most people be surprised that you are listening to?
A: Neil Diamond, the Monkeys, Tiny Tim.
Q: Outside of music, what are other things that keep you busy and/or entertained?
A: Work full time in a warehouse. Was care taking at my apartment for over 5 years. Just got a house, so lots of work there. Help organize a neighborhood block party. Work with a fireworks company doing professional displays. Hunt, fish, camp, hike.
A: My drums. I've been a drummer since birth. I need the rhythm to keep me going.
A: I love to bake, I used to be an altar boy at church.
Davide Raso (guitar/vocals)
Q: What were your first thoughts that entered your mind when you got
into the Oceans band?
A: Damn I really wanted that U2 tribute band!
A: Well thanks to certain members that shall remain anonymous I resumed smoking for 3 years... until the band made me quit again. Now they made me re-discover the love for Guiness again...
A: I can't believe how diverse we are... there is the metal dude five-string man, the Steve Gadd-wannabe drummer hitting anything in his way, a karate kicking guitar player that plays different notes then I do... and our doctor vocalist that is driven by EPO and or testosterone shots. He's doped...there is no other explanation for his determination!
A: Once in my 20's I was heart broken and Michael Bolton helped me cure my disease. Other artists: Toto, Andrea Bocelli, Robben Ford, Miles Davis.
A: Finishing my basement. Phase one (family room/studio) is done. Phase two (bathroom) I still have to start. I guess I have to run those stairs when duty calls.
A: My stubborness...
A: After playing soccer for almost 15 years, I switched to street biking and my biggest accomplishment on the bike was to pedal over 3 overpasses in the Swiss Alps 45 miles of going up with an average incline of 8 degrees, total 85 miles, finished in 8hrs. and 14 minutes!!!
Leo Aguilar (lead vocals)
A: I was trying to find a way to spice up my ordinary life. When I received the email informing me that I was in, I was immediately excited with the thought of becoming a rock star, yet at the same time scared by the enormity of the commitment. I exclaimed "Yes!" at first, then later "Oh, no!" I was not sure if I just fulfilled a long-time dream or just made my life a whole lot more complicated.
A: I now have a greater appreciation for the amount of work that musicians put into their work. There is a lot of artistic, emotional and physical energies involved, and for that I have a greater respect for the discipline and dedication that being a musician requires. It's a huge responsibility, so I have discovered extra amounts of strength and discipline that I never thought I had. The downside... I have developed a more acute sense for bad music, and I just realized now that there are so many of them on radio.
A: Davide is the organized one. Without him, we'll be just playing and goofing around most of the time during rehearsals. He also wears his heart on his sleeve and it's easy to read his emotions. I guess all Italians are like that. Paul P. is surprisingly very well informed in many areas. My impression is he reads a lot, and he is quite engaging to discuss anything under the sun. (over)
As for Mark, I wonder if every drummer has to have some degree of ADD to be able to move that fast with his hands and arms. He is very intense when playing, and then he just goes out to smoke very calmly afterwards. Pauly struck me as the quiet one, but onstage he's like a werewolf under full moon. His energy is infectious. Altogether, we are a hodge podge of personalities, but surprisingly we get along pretty well. Beer is always a unifying factor.
A: I may be singing rock now but I have strong pop and RnB roots vocally. I listen to a wide range of genres, music from Usher and Whitney Houston to Nirvana, from Bruce Springsteen to tribal chants. I loved the Mamma Mia musical. It all depends on my mood.
A: I am very much into the arts. I keep myself busy learning new stuff, like video-editing or photoshopping, all through self-study. I used to paint people's portraits as a hobby. I hate to stagnate intellectually and I like exploring stuff outside of the walls of my daytime job.
Q. Apart from loved ones and putting aside material worth, what's your most prized possession?
A: My iPhone. Honestly, what else can this thing not do? I'm still disappointed it can not cook my noodles or beam me up yet, but I hear that's coming soon at the app store.
A: I like posting thought-provoking comments in the internet discussions, just to get people to reflect on and analyze ideas. I can be a subversive provocateur commenting about politics, celebrities and world events. I also am not one to answer questions with one-line replies. You get a paragraph from me. Oops, you probably know that by now. Haha!
Paul Pederson (guitar/vocals)
A: I'm gonna crank up and rock these guys' faces off. Wait, that was just the audition...coming from a 13 year history of mostly cover bands, I was stoked about writing and performing all-original music.
A: It built up a ton of confidence in my songwriting abilities, and introduced me to some truly magnificent beer.
A: Davide - I thought he was Polish by his accent when I first met him, very surprised to find out he's Italian-Swiss! He's got an amazing gift for production, and is a great manager when it comes to keeping us focused.
Pauly - His musical talent is un-matched by his boundless kinetic energy when he plays!
Mark - How DOES he always find the pocket to play in??? He and Pauly are like the right and left shoes of the band. They always keep us marching in step.
Leo - After 4 vocalists, I couldn't be happier with the talent this guy brings to the group. Plus he practices medicine.
(Why are doctors always practicing, shouldn't they do it for real sooner or later???)
Q: What kind of music or artist would most people be surprised that you are listening to? A: The Ting Ting's, Imogen Heap, Michael Franti and Spearhead--all of whom I was introduced to by the local MPR station, "The Current."
A: Karate (which keeps me occasionally INJURED), iPhone hacking, cooking, drinking beer, and doing dishes.
A: My Vaughan framing hammer. That sucker is like an extension of my arm when I'm building. Burn down the house, I'll re-build it with my trusty Vaughan.
A: I'll try to fix anything once. I often succeed, and learn something in the process. When I don't, it's usually an expensive thing!
Any other questions which you think might be interesting to be added in the bio?
What is the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow ?
OCEANS: THE JOURNEY
Oceans is a rock band in the Twin Cities whose music has been variably described as a fusion/variant of progressive, alternative, art rock, and powerpop genres. Currently, the band is composed of Davide Raso, founder and guitarist; Mark Jacobson (drummer/percussionist), Paul Pederson (guitar), Pauly Hansen (bass), and Leo Aguilar (lead vocals).
The band has undergone transformation over the years since its inception in 2005. Its formation was borne out of a plan by Davide Raso and Eric Danielson, both guitarists, to put up a U2 tribute band. However, over the course of their collaboration their direction shifted towards an all-original band, an undertaking which they found more creatively challenging. They then recruited Pauly Hansen (bass) and Chris Hagens (drums), independent musicians whom they met at the famed underground Area 52 musicians' cooperative. Danny Melgarejo assumed the band's first-ever lead vocalist role. Together, they completed the original line-up of the band. Inspite of a very inspired start, the band, however, had a tough time taking off the ground, eventually finding itself in slow dissolution with Hagens leaving for Panama and later Danielson abandoning the band over unresolved clashes with Melgarejo.
Paul Pederson took over Danielson's guitar post and Mark Jacobson joined the band shortly after as its new drummer. Unfortunately, creative and personality differences with Melgarejo led to conflicts that resulted in everyone leaving except for Davide, who against all odds held hope to keep the band's foundation intact. Having just moved to a new practice space, he convinced Pederson to return and rebuild the band. Shortly after, Jacobson and Hansen were also prevailed upon to rejoin the band. Thereafter, the band breathed its second life. Having formed a bond of friendship that was less fragile than personal pride, this quartet then went on to form the solid core of the band that has endured to the present.
The band initially named itself SH/VR. This original name was later rejected as sounding too metal or hard core rock, and thus was renamed Oceans in 2007 to reflect its music and honor its tumultous history. Oceans found renewed energy with the inclusion of Lorenzo Michelutti as its new vocalist and main lyricist. His compositions would then lay the groundwork for the band's eventual first album "Endurance." Plans for recording the album with Michelutti as lead singer abruptly came to a halt, however, when he took on the responsibilities of frontman in another local band "Concentual." As he could not divide his time and attention between two bands, he elected to devote himself exclusively with his new project. Once again the band found itself incomplete and uncertain sans a vocalist.
After a few auditions, Robert Powers took over as lead vocalist. His role proved to be a passing stint, however. It would take another eight months before the group found its fourth singer, Rhea, a classically trained vocalist whose powerful voice matched the energy of Oceans' rock music.
The band went on to record its first album "Endurance" and celebrated its completion with a huge CD-release concert at O'Gara's Club on October 10, 2008, approximately 18 months after Rhea joined the band. The CD earned rave reviews from music critics and was featured on "The Ripple Effect," a California-based blog website run by music industry veterans. Its lead song "Tall and Bulletproof" was an instant favorite at the Twin Cities Radio, an internet music radio station that featured independent artists. The band did an acoustic performance of the CD at the Vera Cafe in uptown Minneapolis and was broadcast live via internet by TCR. For the first time after a few years of uncertainties, Oceans appeared to have gained musical traction and direction.
This momentum hit another turbulence in early 2009 when Rhea left the band over artistic differences. Her sudden departure left a big void as she was an exceptional singer whose vocal abilities seemed difficult to replace. Hers were "big shoes to fill," admits Leo Aguilar, who took over the frontman role four months later. Luckily for him, he brought in his own pair of shoes, a soul-tinged rock vocal style and frontman skills that were different and uniquely his own.
After four months of intensive rehearsals, TCR introduced Aguilar in his debut performance with Oceans on September 22, 2009. The instrumental and vocal performance was so impressive that the band decided to release the show's live recording as its second CD, entitled "The Live Sessions." That smashing radio show bow was followed by a successful concert at O'Gara's Club on October 3 that marked Leo's first ever performance on a concert stage.
Sooner than it expected, Oceans now seems to have regained stability and renewed inspiration. The band is currently working on new materials as it prepares to record its third album, which is on track to be released in 2010.
