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Photos by Kelly Griffith The Indie Rock band, ...soihadto..., came to Chapel Hill Feb. 8 in search of excited fans and some much-needed rest from the harsh winter weather in Baltimore, Md. The group members, Rahn, Honus, Duff and Yungwirth, met with fans and rocked out with their unique melodies and high energy. Duff Goldman, the band's bass player and the star of Food Network's Ace of Cakes, said he started his bakery in Baltimore so that he could make his own schedule while living life as a musician.
“The tour has been cold,” guitarist Rahn said.
With two feet of snow in their hometown of Baltimore earlier this month, the Indie Rock band, that includes star of Food Network’s Ace of Cakes Duff Goldman, was forced to postpone shows from its first tour in Pittsburgh, Pa. Blufield, W.V., Norfolk, Va. and Annapolis, Md.
They shoveled their way out for a concert in Chapel Hill on Feb. 8 and just in time to dodge the majority of the record-setting 49.2 inches of snow that was dumped on Baltimore this month.
Duff said the show on Food Network that follows the staff of his bakery, Charm City Cakes, each week was not what he envisioned when he started decorating cakes for a living. He actually created the bakery to work around life as a musician – something most of his employees, who are also in bands, have appreciated.
“It’s sort of been one of my goals for a very long time,” he said.
Now, he has to balance being a member of the band with his responsibilities at the bakery and to the show. He said the winter was a convenient time for the tour because the bakery is closed for a winter break in February.
The band members, Duff, Honus, Rahn and Yungwirth, said it has been a wild ride – literally.
After a show in Chicago, the band members got in their van and slid across icy roads. That is when the weather started playing against them.
The band continued to travel until performing in Wilmington, Del. when the group decided to go home to Baltimore to wait out the winter weather.
The turnout has been great in some places like Harrisburg, Pa. where the band played at the Appalachian Brewery to a packed house.
“That was one night when we truly felt like rock stars,” drummer Honus said. “It was crazy.”
Apparently, many people across the country are fans of the instrumentals. The group released its first CD, “Adventure Stories (Not Based on Fact?)” with Grape Juice Records Feb. 2 to a lot of positive feedback. The band’s Facebook and MySpace page walls are filled with fans asking for shows closer to their hometowns.
Still, the band members say they are paying their dues and most of the fan base is from grassroots efforts and self-promotion.
“We do it the true Indie way,” Honus said.
Even when the crowd is more intimate like the nearly 15 that gathered at Club 506 on Franklin Street in Chapel Hill last week, the band rocks out with unique melodies and high energy.
“If one person shows up, we’re going to give them an awesome show,” Duff said.
The group loves meeting their fans before and after shows. Because of Duff’s work on Ace of Cakes, Honus said the age range of fans has grown.
“We do get a lot of 40-something housewives coming out, which is new,” Honus said. “That’s different from the old days.”
…soihadto… began when Rahn put a classified ad in the Baltimore paper in 2001 and Duff answered. When Duff said he knew of other Indie Rock bands like Elliott and Isis, Rahn knew he had found his bass player. Three days after their first meeting, the two began playing music.
Honus joined the band in February 2006 and Yungwirth, the band’s second guitarist and a sommelier at a restaurant in Baltimore, followed in August of the same year.
The members don’t think of being in the band as a hobby, but they didn’t expect to be on tour or have a national record.
“For me this is just a bonus,” Honus said who started playing in the band to have an artistic outlet. “It’s definitely a pleasant surprise.”
Much like their music without vocals, the band’s name is free to be interpreted by the listener.
“We have the dots on the front and the back because it’s open-ended and like our music you want the listener to draw their own conclusions on what our name is and what it means,” Honus said.
While songs are usually written during band practice while the group jams out, inspiration for titles comes from the band members’ life experiences. They hope to create a mental picture for the audience.
“Then we kind of let the listener roll with it,” Honus said. “We realized there is a market for instrumental music and not having a singer allows us to go where the music takes us,” he said.
Find out more about …soihadto… at www.soihadto.com or find the band on iTunes.
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