Nouveau-retro gothic rock band, formed in Chicago at the turn of the century, now hovering around the Bay Area of Northern California. "A compelling blend of post-punk guitars, razor-sharp programming and heartfelt melodies" was one way to describe it all.
Begun as a studio project in 2001 by Mel Draper and Dan Precision, Soulscape was conceived as a dynamic collective of musicians who shared a passion for 80s and 90s post-punk, goth and darkwave. Blending angular guitars, crisp programming and heartfelt vocal melodies, a number of songs were soon penned that sought to capture the essence of such influences as New Model Army, Girls Under Glass, Fields of the Nephilim, Suspiria, and Bauhaus. A three-track single, The Dreamfree EP, was released in 2003 before the project turned into a fully-fledged live band following the departure of Dan and the addition of Michael Verzani and Sam Ruppert. New material was written amidst a flurry of live Midwest performances, and in the summer of 2004 the debut album 'Grave New World' was finally released with a live performance at the Milwaukee Midsummer Scream festival, fittingly held in the Masonic Grand Lodge.
Personnel changes forced Soulscape off the road for two years before the band, with the return of Dan and new members Wim Leydes and Tony Mainiero, played a Halloween show in Chicago alongside Cinema Strange and Tragic Black. Yet another hiatus followed before the band released their first recorded music in more than five years in the shape of the track 'End of Ages,' included on the 2009 Gothic Sounds of Nightbreed compilation CD. End of Ages was originally to be the lead single for the second album but most of the new material was abandoned shortly after the song was released. Several rough demo tracks did find their way out though that hinted at a harder-edged new style and in 2012, with Red Sun Revival's Rob Leydon joining the group, work began on the new album, tentatively titled 'All Things Standing Shall Fall.' A taster of the forthcoming album was finally provided in February 2013 with the release of the digital-single 'Winter Light.' A new single will be released in the Fall to be followed in the Spring by the new album.
Very rarely.
Gothic rock, punk, post-punk, darkwave, synth-pop, industrial.