Siva
Mosaic of Sleepers
© 2003 Siva (807439000720)
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Rock that has a Smashing Pumpkins/Appleseed Cast sound to them--sonic, spacy, and just non-stop rocking. Like screamo without the screaming, Siva seem more apologetic and desirous of being alone, to escape the world, than hateful.
tracks
- 1 Marcus Garvey
- 2 Pollock
- 3 Groovebox
- 4 Honesty Lacks
- 5 Lost City Found
- 6 Marooned
- 7 Cradle
- 8 Ego's Last Trip
- 9 Pilot
- 10 Train Song
- 11 Eye Gifts
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Siva is...
Bass & Vocals: Gregg Sosa
Guitars: Sergio Wong and Danny Ruiz
Drums: Mike Morales
Website: www.sivaep.com
Live photos at www.chorizoapproved.com/photos/siva.htm and www.thenitmustbetrue.com/siva.html
The Siva Bio
From the local dives of El Paso, Texas to bigger-name stages around the country, Siva's presence is well revered given their rigorous tour schedule. Emerging from the ashes of an eclectic musical past, this band was born feeding on song, sound and veracity.
Siva is pluming energy, geysers of intensity casting long, distinct shadows that touch and change all that surrounds it. The band formed as a conscious deviation from the resurgence of nut-tugging garage bands and flaccid, radio-friendly pop punk. Classifying Siva as a post-rock five-piece would be like understating magma as "pretty". It is movement requiring no destination, propelled by an eruption of vocals and the quakes of a marriage between drum and bass. Siva is atmospheric guitars and sprawling, epic songscapes.
Siva's music is the acidic stench of regret. It is the chaos and confusion brought on by a border economy hanging on the edge of the Asarco smokestack. It's the sting of a lover's name that you can't get off your mind at 3 a.m. And it is the purity of this strain that distinguishes their sound.
Flash back to the late Spring of 2000 when Sergio Wong and Danny Ruiz approached one Joey Cazares (who later co-produced and co-engineered "Mosaic of Sleepers") with a tape in hand of some songs they had written in hope of acquiring one of El Paso's more wild and creative drummers on the scene. Joey, being the free spirit that he is, accepted the invitation to play with Wong and Ruiz, two guys who lurked in the shadows of the scene attending shows for years going unnoticed by the regulars. Joey, who was the spastic backbeat for Egon at the time, invited Vanessa Monsisvais, his old bassist from the band Sailor Song, to come along and jam with Wong and Ruiz.
After the initial rehearsal, Cazares opted not to continue while Monsisvais stayed on, inspired by the amazing talent boiling over in these virtually unknown musicians on the local scene. Vanessa's presence had a profound effect on Sergio and Danny, musically speaking. Both Wong and Ruiz were clearly brilliant, intuitive songwriters but it was Vanessa who subtly influenced them to play something other than power chords. This opened up a whole new world for Wong and Ruiz, who quickly assembled a multitude of intricate riffs. The trio kept fine-tuning their sound, all the while trying out drummer after drummer with stark disappointment.
Early in the morning of September 26, 2000 Mike Morales, an El Paso scene veteran who played in bands like VBF and Chinese Love Beads, jumped up from his slumber with the notion of starting a rock band. He immediately rang Vanessa, a mere acquaintance at the time, who told him to him to call her back when she knew what time it was. Determined, Morales called right back and the two discussed the project. With some hesitation, Monsisvais suggested that Morales should try jamming with Wong, Ruiz and herself. Mike then asked her to hum one of their songs over the phone and that was all it took for him, a practice was arranged at Monsisvais' home.
Wong was unable to attend that first jam with Morales, but the chemistry was undeniable, and Monsisvais and Ruiz looked at each other in telepathic affirmation that their search for a drummer had ended. Another rehearsal was set with Sergio on hand, and it was a done deal. The quartet started arranging songs in a deliberate fashion because they knew the final piece of the puzzle was finding a vocalist who added texture to an already rich sound. The music was drawn from a wide range of inspirational bands like Radiohead, Led Zeppelin, Built to Spill, and Acid Bath. Finding a band name took two months. Siva was the name finally agreed upon because it was concise and reflected two things: the symbolism of the Hindu goddess and their mutual love for the Smashing Pumpkins (go figure). And unbeknownst to everyone a romance had been sparked between Monsisvais and Morales. By January of 2001, the couple was married, but that's another story unto itself. Let's move along...
After a rumor spread that Vanessa Monsisvais of Sailor Song had a new secret project with punk rock veteran Mike Morales, Gregg Sosa (Sosa and Morales had found themselves playing in some bands together over the years) invited Siva to play its first show with his formidable power trio Universal Recovered on December 6, 2000. The band played sans vocals and received a solid nod of approval from the locals. Sosa's eye was doubly hooked by Siva's performance. He felt the band's sound could benefit from his wealth of vocal ideas their music sparked but was hesitant about approaching the band because he thought the band's main objective was to be instrumental. Ironically, the band had thought about approaching Sosa to fill the vocal void but reneged on their intent because of his commitments to Universal Recovered and his other bass-driven project Belknap. So, the inevitable was postponed for almost a whole year while the group played instrumentally within the region, trying out several vocalists along the way to no avail.
It was at this time Sosa and Morales had found themselves playing together once again in two side projects (what band sluts!), a grouping with Mark Deutrom of former Melvins fame (Mark was the Melvins bass player during their Atlantic years) and their own high energy rock outfit The Push. During a rehearsal break at their practice space (the dubious Wildhares tavern by permission of owner Rich Wright) with the Mark D 3, Sosa and Morales found themselves side by side at the bar having some beers, talking some trash. There was a pause in the conversation and Mike heard Gregg sing along to a Billie Holiday. And that was all it took. Universal Recovered had split-up (guitarist Ralph Jasso eventually did a brief stint playing bass the Mars Volta), and Belknap had dissolved when Matt Miller joined Sparta a month prior. The timing was right and Sosa found himself at Siva practice the following week.
Initial response to Siva with Gregg at the mic was mixed because so many ears had grown accustomed to the band as an instrumental outfit. They pressed on, winning hearts the old-fashioned way¾one person at a time, show after show. By the spring of 2002, the band embarked on its first U.S. tour. By summer, the band played the charitable first ever MUJER festival featuring headliners Ozomatli and Sparta. In September, Siva opened for The Pattern and Hot Hot Heat. After the show Jim Ward and Silas Carter of ReStart Records approached the band about doing a record. The deal was set, and the band booked a three-month tour.
"Mosaic of Sleepers" was recorded in several tedious segments during late November and December of 2002. The band embarked on a lengthy tour in February of 2003, and after returning in April Vanessa Monsisvais decided to step down from the bass duties. The choice was clear. Rather than replace Monsisvais, Siva opted to remain a four-piece with Gregg doubling up on bass and vocals. Siva evolves...
In their three years Siva has shared the stage with the likes of Sparta, ...Trail of Dead, Ozomatli, The Mercury Program, Canyon, Icarus Line, Bluebird, The Pattern, Hot Hot Heat, De facto, Q And Not U, Loudermilk, 1945, Count The Stars, The Apers, Groovie Ghoulies and The Firebird Band, to name a few. Siva's highly anticipated debut full-length "Mosaic Of Sleepers" is out now on Restart Records (www.restartrecords.com). Keep your eyes and your ears open...