Chiba-Ken

Chiba-Ken has changed their name to Save Our Souls. Please visit their Last.fm page "Save Our Souls" for the most current information. Chiba-Ken was formed in New York City in 2003 by lead singer George William. The name comes from a town in Tokyo, Japan where George was staying at the time. Upon returning to New York, George, a trained actor and singer who was performing as "Tony" in the Off-Broadway hit "Tony-n-Tina's Wedding" as well as a guest role on "All My Children", met up with drummer Jason D'Amelio and guitarist Elias Tannous...

Chiba-Ken was formed in New York City in 2003 by lead singer George William. The name comes from a town in Tokyo, Japan where George was staying at the time. Upon returning to New York, George, a trained actor and singer who was performing as "Tony" in the Off-Broadway hit "Tony-n-Tina's Wedding" as well as a guest role on "All My Children", met up with drummer Jason D'Amelio and guitarist Elias Tannous, two musicians who had been veterans of the NYC rock circuit as teenagers. The next piece of the puzzle came by way of Kazakhstan, a place made famous recently by the movie "Borat".
Guitarist Julian Petrov, who was born in Kazakhstan, was living in Israel singing and playing guitar in his former band. Julian decided to relocate to America and after auditioning in front of a board of US officials, he was granted an Artists' Visa.
Julian auditioned and was accepted into Chiba-Ken and his first show was opening for none other than Iron Maiden at the Blossom Music Center in Ohio in June of 2008. It was a dream come true for the band and for Julian especially.
Chiba-Ken returned to their studio in Long Island and began writing new music. They recorded their second full length album entitled "Hard To Be Human" with producer Mike Watts (As Tall As Lions). The band relocated to Los Angeles in June of 2009 and after playing the world famous Whisky A Go-Go and Viper Room they quickly gained notoriety as one of the Sunset Strip's best new rock bands. It was there that they met and teamed up with bassist Hal Berkstresser. A Berklee School of Music grad, Hal has been recording and touring since he was 14 years old, and is an exciting new add to the band.

-Chiba-Ken was one of the last bands to play and be signed at the world famous CBGB's in Manhattan.