ICARES: Press Kit

Band Members:
Tim Blair (Drums)tim@icaresmusic.com
Mike Torczon (Bass)mike@icaresmusic.com
John James Reuben Shepherd (Lead Guitar)john@icaresmusic.com
Ryan Osbahr (Guitar and Vocals)(Booking/Labels/Venues Contact 402-968-6712 or ryan@icaresmusic.com or rjo@cornhuskermotor.com)

Websites
http://www.icaresmusic.com
http://www.myspace.com/icares

Discography
"Icares" selftitled June 2004
"In Good Company" May 2007

The singles "Hypnotized", "In Good Company", & "It's Up to You" as well as other tracks from the CD's play on Omaha's Z-92, KVNO, 89.7 The River and other local stations.

Icares Basic Show Requirements
Guitar #1 : Equipment -Vox 100 watt Valvetronix power amp w/ Marshall slanted 4x12
cabinet - 2 Les Pauls, 1 Explorer, and MegaPhone.
Requirements: 1-Guitar Amp mic w/ stand.
1-Vocal mic w/ boom stand, prefer Beta 58 (lead vocals).
1 Stage monitor.
Guitar #2 : Equipment - Mesa Boogie Head w/ Mesa 4x12 cabinet.
Requirements: 1-Guitar Amp mic w/ stand.
1-Vocal mic w/ boom stand, prefer Beta 58.
1 Stage monitor.
Bass Guitar : Equipment - Mesa Bass Amp w/ 1- 15" speaker.
Requirements: 1-DI box for Bass.
1-XLR chord for DI box.
1-Stage Monitor.
Drums: Equipment - 5 piece , 22" kick, 14 x 61/2" snare, 10",12",16"
toms, w/ 1 Ride & 3 Crash cymbals.
Requirements: 1-Snare mic w/ boom stand prefer SM57.
1-Kick Drum mic w/ stand, prefer Audix D6.
2-Tom Mics w/ boom stand or clips, prefer BETA 98.
2-Overhead mics w/ boom stands.
1-Vocal mic w/ boom stand, prefer SM57 or directional mic.
1-Stage Monitor set up to the back left of the drums. PA System Requirements 1 - 12 to 24 Channel Professional Mixing Console w/ at least
4 auxiliary outs.
- Professional PA Speakers, minimum 2, prefer 4 - 18" Subs,
and minimum 2, prefer 4 - Midrange speakers w/ horns.
- 4 - 12" Stage Monitors w/ horns.
- 1 - Delay / Reverb Unit.

Icares CD Release Party


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Press & Reviews
"You guys are gonna love this buy one trust me. Especially tracks 1, 7, and 8. Great work guys. Another reason Omaha has one of the top music scenes in the nation."

Since, I have listened to it on my good home stereo, twice. I can simply say Wow, but that wouldn't help sell any CDs. Here is a review of each of the eight tracks. The first song is a tribute to the late 90's Omaha sound. It really sounds exactly like it could have come off an OldBoyNetwork album; The vocal stylings are a dead ringer for Jimi Watson's. It is called "Hypnotized". The second song is called "When I'm not around" . The vocal stylings on this one lilt in a Celtic way, sort of like Tonic. The 3rd song "Fool" is kind of a signature song for Icares. Maybe the most high energy song, it features awesome drumming. Inspired and excited vocals and memorable lyrics are also a major part of the appeal of this song."Someday" is a short song that highlights the bassist and rhythm section. It Pops and bumps."Asleep at the wheel" is my personal favorite on this album. It features a dense tonal guitar and bass attack, Heroic vocals, and an interesting story. A truly great song.
"Someone I'm not" is the second oldest song on the album, which means they have had time to polish it to a high shine. Possibly the most memorable song on the CD."Come with Me" is a funny tune, also one of Icares older songs on this album, featuring a line in the chorus that says Summertime’s come, summertime’s go, don't bother talking, lets take off our clothes. The last song "Japanese" is the only song that has followed Ryan from the Goodspeed Days to the present. Presented in condensed form, without the guitar wankdom at the end, it is clear why this song has been a favorite for all these years.

SONG: Hypnotized
VOCALS: Voice and singing are great. Vocals could have started a little earlier from a radio standpoint. Hook stands out, nice job! Vocal effects are super.
LYRICS: Easy for listener to follow. Interesting, Well written!
MUSIC: You guys can play! Song structure is well thought out. Drums and strings fit together great. Guitar tone is real smooth yet a bit heavy, GREAT!
RECORDING: WAY above average for local! Along with Flurry and Venacules, this is the best mix, recording, and mastering job of all the submissions.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Keep writing,

The band realized that promoting the show is a big portion of the road to winning the $5,000, an opening gig for a national band at the Concert Cove this summer and another paying gig at Stir.

I’m not sure why more bands in general don’t contact me or the rest of the “press” to tell them what is going on or to ask for things. Maybe with 300 bands in town they just think they are going to get rejected or blown off, which may be the case at radio, but not here. Either way, I ended up sitting down with frontman Ryan Osbahr at the 49’r this past weekend to catch up with him on what the band has been up to.

Icares started in the ashes of Osbahr’s earlier band, the middle-of-the-road pop rock band Goodspeed, who were old-school Ranch Bowl regulars. When that band ended its time, Osbhar went on a quest for something better, more rockin’ and with a more solid cast of characters that might actually stick around.

It doesn’t sound like that happened at first as Osbahr said the band has gone through a slew of second guitarists. They had stopped looking for a second guitarist when the one Ryan had been dreaming about asked them if he could play. Guitarist John James Reuben came along and stated he wanted to flesh out the band to a four-piece once again with drummer Tim Blair and bassist Mike Torczon holding down the rhythm section. The band released their only CD, a self-titled effort recorded at Warehouse in 2004.

That brings us to now. I asked Osbahr why this battle was so important, and he explained to me that the band has never liked these competitions, but it was always ”a way to get a good gig at a venue they might never have been able to play at otherwise.” He referenced another Z-92 battle at the Anchor Inn a couple of years ago where the prize was to open up the Z-Bash in front of a large crowd and many national hair bands.

“We didn’t care about that,” says Osbahr, “we just wanted to play at the Anchor and it was a great gig.”

The Stir battle, of course, is a new venue for bands to play, but Osbahr isn’t denying that he’s interested in the money as well. The band would really like to get a second recording out on the market and the sooner the better, because the band feels like they have really evolved since the last record.

Osbahr said that what was once a pop-rock band now finds itself heading in more of a harder direction ala the Foo Fighters and Queens of the Stone Age. In observing the band sporadically during the past four years, I can vouch for an increasingly aggressive sound, but also that Icares, which was once a tolerable bar band, has become that tight machine that you always felt Osbahr strived for.

Check out the band’s Web site at IcaresMusic.com. If you dig the tunes head out to Stir, and support a band that is asking for it.

The last time I wrote about Icares they were promoting an appearance in a band competition that could possibly garner them a $5,000 reward that would have helped record the album they had been itching to make. They did not win the competition, and now after a year, many hocked instruments, and some plasma “donations,” the band is finally ready to release their second release “In Good Company” this Saturday at Club Roxbury. The band will be performing alongside A. Symbiont, Old Boy Network, Kill Bosby, and Safeword on this night. I sat down with vocalist Ryan Osbahr and guitarist John James Reuben Shepherd at the 49’r this past weekend, and looking over the dialogue there are three main points that the band really wanted to get across.

The first point was that this band is taking itself very seriously now – they want to sell merchandise – and that nice guys finish last. This is not to say the band are looking to become pompous or cocky, but in the band’s five-year history they have always been one of the go to bands in town that would take any gig and do anyone a favor. The band is now playing fewer gigs and being pickier about who they are playing with, as Shepherd explains, “This is a band that is not going to go out and expect everything to be handed to them. It is not about going out and getting girls, this is what we want to do with our lives. We would rather sell merchandise than get a big guarantee.” Osbahr continued, “Being the nice guys kind of cuts back on things, because when you want to be the professional band and take it to the next level, and we just play with bands that just bring their girlfriends and want to take our people off of us, it doesn’t further what we are doing.”

The second thing the band wanted to get across is that “In Good Company” is a concept record. Not in a Pink Floyd “The Wall” sort of way, but Osbahr explained that the songs focus around a breakup and realizing that you are in a relationship that you no longer want to be in. The band also approached student DJs at 89.7 The River about doing skits in between the songs, and the station and students were receptive of the idea, allowing for the album to be tied together with professional sounding, humorous radio sketches. Osbahr and Shepherd acted as directors and the DJs were voice actors of sorts and are “very talented and fun to work with” according to the duo.

The final point is that the band is really happy that they decided to record out of town. While the band recorded portions of the record here at Warehouse Studios, it was their experience at IB Labs in Chicago with producer Chris Harden where the band really found their legs on this album. According to Osbahr the experience of “recording with someone who did not have an idea about who we are already” helped them flesh out their sound. Plus recording with someone who has worked with Fall Out Boy, Butch Vig and Umphree’s McGee in a studio that was set up as a hotel of sorts with a big screen TV, XBox, and a wide array of unusual instruments to experiment with didn’t hurt either.

“In Good Company” is probably the most solid rock record I have heard locally in quite some time. The band set out to raise the bar locally, and amongst the rock crowd they have with this album. The band has been really focused on getting an edgier sound since the addition of Shepherd to the fold, and they have achieved that, but did not sacrifice accessibility or the amazing amount of radio friendly hooks in the process. It’s got a big, but not slick, production and should help the band achieve their apparent mantra which Shepherd left me with at the end of our interview last weekend, “Our moment is coming up, and we will have control again.”

Icares puts hard work into “In Good Company”

Icares encompasses a sound that appeals to the typical bar crowd. Singer Ryan Osbahr has the kind of soulful voice that’ll make the ladies screech with delight. In other words, Icares is simply a rock band in all essences of the word. Icares is an Omaha local favorite and it has been almost three years since their last release “Hypnotized.” The band’s new album “In Good Company” released in May 2007 is a telling of the trials of love. Icares has taken the route of a concept album detailing a breakup and the issues that come up with a rocky relationship.

The title track is an example of the mood of the album. Osbahr belts out lyrics like, “Sometimes things never turn out right.”

Transitioning into the songs, the band uses fake radio DJ commentary. The transition is a sketch that Icares created with the help of 89.7 The River DJs. Along with strong producing efforts, these details have allowed “In Good Company” to be a solid record.

Track 4 “Up to You” discusses the ever prevalent problem of people wanting to change their significant others. The lyrics are evidence of a rough breakup.
“I know that you want to, I could never let you. That fact is, I’m not who you want me to be.”

As the album progresses the lyrics seem to get angrier. “Falling to Pieces” adds hand claps for a more up-beat sound, but the lyrics are focusing on depression and reaching that breaking point. Track 9 “Christmas Scar” is a different look into the holiday season showing the depressing side of Christmas when you’re in a bad relationship.

“In Good Company” is a successful concept album and the lyrics represent the strong emotions put into the album. Don’t expect anything innovative or experimental about Icares, but in their own right, a strong rock sound works very well for them. Icares is an excellent part of the Omaha music scene because the band keeps the bar crowds entertained and having fun.

The band will also be playing at Kill Bosby’s CD Release Saturday October 20th at the Waiting Room.