Plastic Soul

rkbsound · Post by **rkbsound** » Sat Nov 05, 2005 6:02 am

No Ricks in this band, but if you are in the area of upstate/central New York, this trio has The Beatles down pat. You can check them out at plasticsoul.net. Legitimate talent and a whole lot of fun!

brammy · Post by **brammy** » Sat Nov 05, 2005 1:30 pm

I agree, they're great.... really good vocals that capture the Beatles sound... BUT the instrumentation suffers because they only have one guitar (even if that one guitar does a pretty good job of covering all the parts). So much of the Beatles sound was the combo of Lennons rhythms and George's lead. If these guys got the second guitar added into the mix they'd be fantastic.

winston · Post by **winston** » Sat Nov 05, 2005 3:36 pm

Judging by the sound bites on their website they do a very good job for a three piece band. I was very impressed.

brammy · Post by **brammy** » Sun Nov 06, 2005 4:27 pm

yup... they are 3/4 of the way there.

mclennon · Post by **mclennon** » Sat Nov 12, 2005 12:29 am

I like the image of the band. I love that Intro pictures all dressed in black. I personally find a little bit ridiculous when men at theirs 40 (or more) try to fit in those Beatles suits they wore in the old days.

I mean, it isn’t necessary to dress as a young mop-top Beatle to sound as a very good Beatle band, IMO.

chingnchime · Post by **chingnchime** » Sat Nov 12, 2005 6:24 am

I think their music samples sound good, but it seems a bit silly to not have 3 voices, particularly on things like NOWHERE MAN, where the 3 part harmonies are a big part of the song's appeal (at least for me).
Surely, there's a 4th member out there somewhere.

strawbfan · Post by **strawbfan** » Mon Jan 16, 2006 6:24 pm

I have a couple cds of Jon Liebings original songs.He`s a really good songwriter,and first rate guitar player.

mark_barnes · Post by **mark_barnes** » Tue Jan 17, 2006 3:46 pm

Thanks very much for the shout-out, Jeff -- and to others for your nice comments. I'm an occasional lurker in the Rickenbacker Forum and was quite surprised to find this thread.

I hope to make the band more "on-topic" very soon by finding a fireglo 360/12 with toasters and getting it into the act!

BTW, Steve, we do employ three-part harmonies. Unfortunately, the board mix source for the live clips on the website had Jon's (drummer) vocal relatively low in the mix, which is why it sounds like there are only two voices on "Nowhere Man." You can hear Jon quite clearly when he's featured on "Boys" and "Act Naturally," but John and I are drowning him out on some of the three-part harmony songs.

Mark (guitarist, Plastic Soul)

brammy · Post by **brammy** » Tue Jan 17, 2006 5:15 pm

Hi Mark... I know that adding band members is not something done easily or lightly, but why not get another guitar in there to increase the accuracy of the early Beatle sound which was so much a 'rhythm guitar + lead guitar' combination? (to say nothing of the overall Beatle look of the band and any added vocals that might come with the 2nd guitarist).

mark_barnes · Post by **mark_barnes** » Tue Jan 17, 2006 6:54 pm

Hi Kent,

In the three-year existence of the group, we've never seriously considered adding a fourth member (despite having many nice and talented folks express interest in the job).

Our biggest (mostly) unspoken fear is that the chemistry/friendship we share would be compromised by introducing someone new to what is already an unlikely mix of personalities.

Also, it's somewhat hard to explain, but we've never wanted to be like the other "tributes" with which we're familiar. Being a three-piece -- dedicated to presenting the songs as the Beatles themselves did *live* (or as we imagine they might have played them live) -- is a big part of the "schtick" that differentiates us from both the impersonator groups and the productions endeavoring to replicate ever note laid to tape by the Fabs in the studio. The "fun factor" is that it also raises the bar for us as musicians, and presents us with stimulating challenges to overcome in a live setting.

I've gone on far too long already, but if you're *really* bored, you can read a bit more of our "mission statement" here:

http://frontiernet.net/~mbarnesx1/bio.html

Who knows? We could be going about this all wrong, but we're doing exactly what we want to do and having far too much fun to worry about it.

All the best,

Mark

brammy · Post by **brammy** » Tue Jan 17, 2006 7:56 pm

Well, at least we agree on one thing:

Non-Beatles album: Getz/Gilberto

... great stuff!

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Tue Jan 17, 2006 8:17 pm

If you like Getz/Gilberto, try some Caetano Veloso. I've collected most of his stuff and have seen him in concert here and in Brasil. Just watched an Almodovar movie tonight and he performed an old song in Spanish: "Paloma". Fabulous...

winston · Post by **winston** » Tue Jan 17, 2006 8:21 pm

Mark B,

I used to play in a blues based hard rock trio. I have great empathy for your position and your desire to stretch yourselves as musicians.

I also agree that you don't have to play another artists material note for note (including their mistakes BTW) to make a song sound great.

The music that I listened to on your website was enough for me to recognize three things inherent in your music: Talent, dedication and commitment.

You have all of those things working in your favour. Why tempt fate by submitting to pressure to conform and perhaps mess up the chemistry that you three naturally have. I would not do it. In fact I applaud your steadfastness in this regard.

Keep up the good work and enjoy your time together.

brammy · Post by **brammy** » Tue Jan 17, 2006 8:38 pm

Thanks for that tip, Paul...