Press > UNDER THE SUN IS SIGNED TO PROGROCK RECORDS

31 Jul 2011

Rancho Santa Margarita, CA – 30 August 2004 – Under The Sun exploded onto the scene in 2000 with their debut release from Magna Carta that was produced by the band and mixed by Terry Brown of Rush fame. The recording has garnered strong reviews overall and was hailed as Record Of The Year in Holland and has received a 4.5 out of 5 rating from Amazon.com. Unsolicited commentary from Amazon buyers include: “Few freshmen releases are this accomplished”. “Under The Sun (UTS) is one of recorded music’s best kept secret gems”. “What a great disc!!! Excellent production, astounding musicianship, great songwriting…” Leading music publications agreed: “Under The Sun” stand divided in an intersection of past and modern influences; they manage to create a contemporary appeal. It’s great imaginary music…” Exclaim! Magazine, Canada. “Believe what you read, Under The Sun takes listeners on a compelling journey… A monumental release.” Progession Magazine. “…a masterpiece of a CD.” Highwire Daze Magazine. Now Under the Sun is signed with ProgRock Records and will release a live album entitled “Schematism ~ Onstage With Under The Sun” culled from their 2001 NEARfest performance with a long-overdue, well-underway new studio album coming shortly thereafter. “I know that Under the Sun was a big influence on Shawn to start PRR, and I’ve always enjoyed their music, so it was a nice surprise for me when he broke the news.” Said Jerry George, A&R Director for ProgRock Records. Shawn Gordon, President of ProgRock Records had this to say “I’ve been a fan of Under the Sun since they released their debut album in 2000. In mid-2002 I became friends with singer/songwriter/guitarist Chris Shryack and although he never said anything like ‘go out and start a record label’, it was a direct result of conversations we had that inspired me to start ProgRock Records, so I couldn’t be more thrilled to have Chris and his band part of our family”. Chris Shryack comments: “Signing with ProgRock Records and releasing the definitive live representation of the band as it was back in 2001 is the catalyst & precursor for re-presenting our new music to former and, hopefully, new fans alike. We’re well aware that the people who are or were fans of Under The Sun may hear the news of us signing to ProgRock and exclaim, “They’re still around???” And it’s a valid point. We’ve remained busy, but for all intents and purposes there’s been little noticeable activity with the group outside of recording and some gigs last year in Los Angeles. Over the past couple of years we’re also very pleased to have established a working partnership with automotive giant K&N Engineering in which we’re providing them original audio spots for their upcoming advertising campaign. The first incarnation of the group ended on a high note with our final show at the Troubadour in L.A. on August 1st 2001 (in which we opened for Spock's Beard). Shortly thereafter our relationship with Magna Carta ended. We’d completed a full cycle and things got very quiet. Roughly a year passed with little musical activity, though Kurt and I remained in touch, as we’ve always done. Between 2002 and 2003 we composed, recorded and performed as UTS with an old friend of ours, an excellent drummer named Jim Hardiman. We kept busy, and had some great times together but eventually it became apparent that transition was in the wind yet again…. Now in 2005 we’re working again with Paul Shkut and so far everything has been great, so we’ll see how things go… What is certain is that the three of us have decided to continue and reformulate the musical vision of UTS by finishing the follow-up studio effort as a trio; Brad Aaron is attached as co-producer and mixer so things are looking up yet again…Ever since we became free agents we’ve been keeping an eye out to establish a new partnership with a forward-thinking label… Enter Progrock Records: One night, during the aforementioned year of down time, I got a call from one Shawn Gordon, who introduced himself as a musician and fan of UTS, and we had talked for awhile regarding the state of the music scene in general. We’ve subsequently kept in contact over the past couple of years and had been threatening one another periodically about getting together for a few beers. It took awhile, but we finally did – Kurt and I drove out to meet Shawn & his family one sunny afternoon and had a great time chatting it up and listening to tunes. We were discussing his label (ProgRock) and the fact he’d really done quite well with the label thus far, releasing quality CD’s by excellent musicians, and setting up a far-reaching distribution system. I mean, two years prior, when we met over the phone, he was only considering the notion of starting a label. He did a lot of hard work relatively quickly, really put his money where his mouth is... Kurt and I were very impressed. So it only made sense to approach Shawn with the idea of releasing this performance while (finally!) finishing our follow-up studio effort... He liked the idea, and we all felt the live disc was a perfect vehicle to definitively end the first chapter of UTS once and for all, really put the past behind us, reconnect with our fans and set the stage for the new studio release. We made the deal for the live CD over the table with a handshake.” ProgRock Records will be releasing the new disc “Schematism ~ Onstage With Under The Sun” with a new studio album to follow sometime by the end of the year. The new, keyboard-less studio album picks up where the first left off sonically and conceptually and features richly overdubbed vocals, energetic, intricate bass & drum work and Chris building huge layers and textures of sound using just his acoustic and electric guitars. The songs run the gamut from shorter, more immediate tracks to lengthy “epics”. This material is going to make even more people sit up and take notice. Under The Sun has resurfaced.