Sodajerk

There is more than one artist with this name: From Valenzuela City, Philippines, and off the clinkers of Indie Rock, Sodajerk, a four-piece pop group that comprises of Ryan Marquez, Remi John Noman, Ronald Santiago and Manny Gallo has become part of the early Manila indie scene. The band has played countless gigs since forming in 1995.Their love for Scot-pop could not be denied with Influences like Teenage Fanclub, BMX Bandits, Eugenius, The Pastels and 18 Wheeler.

From Valenzuela City, Philippines, and off the clinkers of Indie Rock, Sodajerk, a four-piece pop group that comprises of Ryan Marquez, Remi John Noman, Ronald Santiago and Manny Gallo has become part of the early Manila indie scene. The band has played countless gigs since forming in 1995.Their love for Scot-pop could not be denied with Influences like Teenage Fanclub, BMX Bandits, Eugenius, The Pastels and 18 Wheeler.

Their first release, "That Happy Glow", a split EP with twee popsters, Carnival Park under Dorothy Records was released in 2001 in limited edition. Some of the bands' songs also appeared in various compilations like "Working Titles" on Factory Girl and "Dashboard Teddy v.1", again on Dorothy Records. They also have a cassette EP with rare demos and unreleased recordings on Italy's Best Kept Secret label.

Currently, Manny Gallo plays with Grace Period and Sunday Picnic Love Affair and Ryan Marquez is with Apple Orchard and Golden Teardrops.

http://www.freewebs.com/sodajerk/



Sodajerk is a band formed on one guiding principle: despite what may be coming out of the current Nashville scene, country music doesnt have to suck!
Sodajerk began in Pittsburgh with longtime friends Bucky Goldstein and Poppa John Tucker as an outlet for their shared love of 50's rockabilly, 60's country, 70's classic rock, 80's metal and early 90's college rock. They found that when they mashed the booze filled swagger of The Replacements with the tear-in-my-beer twang of Johnny Cash, something special happened....the Sodajerk sound was born.

The first record (1999's Can't Put You Down) was almost entirely recorded by just the duo, and was greeted with warm reviews and high critical praise in their hometown, ultimately winning a spot on the Top Five Releases of 1999 by local press.

They followed with 2001's Unhappy Hour which continued the tradition, ending up on yet another Top 10 Releases of the Year list in Pittsburgh's press and leading to the bands involvement with festivals such as the Nashville New Music Conference and North By Northeast in Toronto. The end of 2001 brought them the honor of being chosen by Jim Beam as one of their 5 finalists in the Jim Beam National Backroom Band Search held in Nashville, of which Sodajerk ultimately placed second (not bad for some yanks!)

The winning streak continued in early 2002, as Sodajerk took top honors in the Grafitti Rock Challenge in Pittsburgh, a long running, yearly band competition, that in the past has seen the participation of such bands as Pittsburghs own Rusted Root and The Clarks. This led to the recording of the bands third record (2003's Brand New Low) which landed the band in regular rotation on such AAA stations as 91.3 WYEP. It even found its way onto celebrated singer songwriter Jesse Malins website under the heading Fine Art: Top 25 Albums, alongside legends such as Wilco and Neil Young (were blushing now!)

The constant gigging in Pittsburgh and other cities on the east coast (Nashville, Toronto, Raleigh, Ocean City, Harrisburg) plus the opportunities they've had to share the stage with bands as diverse as The Jayhawks, Charlie Daniels, The Drive By Truckers, Reverend Horton Heat, Scott Miller, John Mellencamp, Wayne "The Train" Hancock, Bobby Bare Jr., Robbie Fulks, The Red Elvises, The Tarbox Ramblers, Montgomery Gentry, and even heavy hitters such as Nashville Pussy and Static X led to Bucky and Poppa Johns desire to capture more of their live sound on the next record, which ended up being simply titled Sodajerk, released in 2005. It's a raw rock n roll blast that immediately has found its way into regular rotation again on 91.3 WYEP (garnering 15 spins a week) and to the top of critics lists.

In 2005, the duo relocated to Atlanta with the intention of heavier gigging and touring. After rounding out the band with Ben Drankin on guitar and Blake Parris on bass, Sodajerk finished up work on their next record, "Sodajerk 2" for early 2007 release.