Souls of We
Encyclopedia
Souls of We is an American hard rock supergroup
from Los Angeles
, California
, formed in 2007. The lineup consists of London LeGrand
(vocals), George Lynch
(guitar) and Johny Chow (bass). Since 2009, Jordan Mancino has been the band's drummer, replacing Yael.
London LeGrand had previously sent audition tapes for George Lynch's post-Dokken
band Lynch Mob
. Though unsuccessful, they both began working together years later in the band Microdot. LeGrand soon joined Brides of Destruction
in 2002, effectively ending Microdot. When Brides of Destruction went on hiatus in 2006, Lynch and LeGrand put together a new band called Band of Flakes with Jason Slater, of Snake River Conspiracy
, and Scot Coogan
, formerly of Brides of Destruction. The band proved to be unsuccessful, however, Lynch and LeGrand continued, forming Souls of We with bassist Johny Chow, of Fireball Ministry
, Systematic and Cavalera Conspiracy
, as well as drummer Yael, formerly of Tom Morello
and Alex Skolnick
, in 2007.
Souls of We released their debut album, Let the Truth Be Known
, in 2008 before making their live debut in March 2009. They started writing and recording their second album in February 2010.
was previously a member of Dokken
from the late 70's to late 80's. Following the breakup of the band in 1989, Lynch formed Lynch Mob
with former Dokken band mate Mick Brown. When Lynch Mob were auditioning for singers, London LeGrand
send in an audition tape. However, the band never contacted LeGrand.
Lynch eventually met LeGrand while he was working as a hair stylist in Los Angeles where Lynch gave him a demo tape of new songs. Lynch went on to form a project known as Stonehouse before forming Microdot with LeGrand. It was at this time that LeGrand joined Brides of Destruction
, formed by Nikki Sixx
and Tracii Guns
, in 2002.
When Guns put Brides of Destruction on hiatus in 2006, LeGrand formed Rockstars on Mars as well as Band of Flakes with Lynch, Jason Slater of Snake River Conspiracy
and former Brides of Destruction band mate Scot Coogan
. Though the band was unsuccessful, Lynch and LeGrand continued to write and record, bringing in bassist Johny Chow of Fireball Ministry
and Systematic as well as former Tom Morello
and Alex Skolnick
drummer Yael, forming Souls of We, from one of their song's lyrics, in 2007.
Morgan Rose
, Frédéric Leclercq
, Andrew Freeman
, Patrick Johansson, Bobby Jarzombek
and Mike Hansen.
Let the Truth Be Known was first released independently through Under the Deadtree Records on May 27, 2008. It was limited to a thousand copies and featured album artwork with blues
musician Robert Johnson on the cover. After signing with Shrapnel Records
, the album was re-released, under the moniker of George Lynch's Souls of We, with an additional song on November 4 the same year. LeGrand described the album as "Mother Love Bone
in the year 2008" while Greg Prato of allmusic stated that "[t]here are quite a few headbanging highlights" and that "fans would buy [Lynch's] latest album for the six-string shredwork alone."
The band were offered a supporting slot on the Black Label Society
and Sevendust
tour, that took place in March 2009, but turned it down due to financial reasons. They made their live debut on May 23, 2009 at The Knitting Factory in Hollywood, California
with Jordan Mancino, of As I Lay Dying
, replacing Yael on drums. The band scheduled more tour dates, primarily in California, while they released a music video for the song "Skeleton Key".
page, in February 2010, that he and LeGrand had "commenced the songwriting sessions" for the band's second album and were to enter the studio the same month. He also stated the Souls of We were to begin touring on March 5.
Former members
Supergroup (music)
In the late 1960s, the term supergroup was coined to describe "a rock music group whose performers are already famous from having performed individually or in other groups"....
from Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, formed in 2007. The lineup consists of London LeGrand
London LeGrand
London LeGrand is an American musician, lyricist, and vocalist best known for his time with hard rock supergroup Brides Of Destruction with Nikki Sixx of Mötley Crüe and Tracii Guns of L.A. Guns. After the group went on hiatus he formed another band with George Lynch of Dokken and Lynch Mob fame...
(vocals), George Lynch
George Lynch (musician)
George Lynch is a hard rock/heavy metal guitarist best known as a member of the band Dokken, his own bands Lynch Mob and Souls of We.-Pre Dokken:...
(guitar) and Johny Chow (bass). Since 2009, Jordan Mancino has been the band's drummer, replacing Yael.
London LeGrand had previously sent audition tapes for George Lynch's post-Dokken
Dokken
Dokken is an American heavy metal and hard rock band formed in 1978. They split up in 1989 but reformed four years later. The group accumulated numerous charting singles and has sold more than 10 million albums worldwide...
band Lynch Mob
Lynch Mob (band)
Lynch Mob is an American band featuring former Dokken guitarist George Lynch, who has been the band's only permanent member. The rest of the original band which featured Oni Logan, Anthony Esposito and Mick Brown have come and gone, and in some cases, come back.-1989 Formation:Lynch Mob was formed...
. Though unsuccessful, they both began working together years later in the band Microdot. LeGrand soon joined Brides of Destruction
Brides of Destruction
Brides of Destruction were an American hard rock supergroup from Los Angeles, California, formed in 2002. The band's last lineup consisted of singer London LeGrand , Tracii Guns and Scot Coogan...
in 2002, effectively ending Microdot. When Brides of Destruction went on hiatus in 2006, Lynch and LeGrand put together a new band called Band of Flakes with Jason Slater, of Snake River Conspiracy
Snake River Conspiracy
-Former members:*Martina Axén *Bobby Hewitt *Neil Taylor *Eric Hendrikx *Fab Fernandez *Tobey Torres *Mitch Doran...
, and Scot Coogan
Scot Coogan
Scot Coogan is an American session musician and touring drummer.-Career:Coogan has worked with groups such as Violets Demise, Ednaswap, Parade of Losers, Annetenna, Sinéad O'Connor, Peter Yorn, Vanilla Ice, and Otep...
, formerly of Brides of Destruction. The band proved to be unsuccessful, however, Lynch and LeGrand continued, forming Souls of We with bassist Johny Chow, of Fireball Ministry
Fireball Ministry
Fireball Ministry is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California formed in 1999.- Biography :Conceived in Cincinnati in the late '90s by James A. Rota II and Emily Burton, the band moved to New York City before settling in Los Angeles. In 2000 they performed at the two-day "November...
, Systematic and Cavalera Conspiracy
Cavalera Conspiracy
Cavalera Conspiracy is a Brazilian heavy metal band founded by brothers Max and Igor Cavalera , along with American guitarist and bassist Marc Rizzo and Johny Chow. The band originally formed in 2007 as Inflikted but changed its name for legal reasons...
, as well as drummer Yael, formerly of Tom Morello
Tom Morello
Thomas Baptiste "Tom" Morello is a Grammy Award-winning American guitarist best known for his tenure with the bands Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave, his acoustic solo act The Nightwatchman, and his newest group, Street Sweeper Social Club...
and Alex Skolnick
Alex Skolnick
Alexander Nathan Skolnick is an American jazz and metal guitarist. He was a member of the San Francisco Bay Area thrash metal band Testament from 1983 until his departure in 1993...
, in 2007.
Souls of We released their debut album, Let the Truth Be Known
Let the Truth Be Known
-Re-release:-Personnel:Souls of We*London LeGrand – vocals*George Lynch – guitar*Johny Chow – bass*Ya'el – drumsAdditional personnel*Andrew Freeman – additional vocals*Jeff Pilson – additional bass...
, in 2008 before making their live debut in March 2009. They started writing and recording their second album in February 2010.
Formation (1989–2007)
Guitarist George LynchGeorge Lynch (musician)
George Lynch is a hard rock/heavy metal guitarist best known as a member of the band Dokken, his own bands Lynch Mob and Souls of We.-Pre Dokken:...
was previously a member of Dokken
Dokken
Dokken is an American heavy metal and hard rock band formed in 1978. They split up in 1989 but reformed four years later. The group accumulated numerous charting singles and has sold more than 10 million albums worldwide...
from the late 70's to late 80's. Following the breakup of the band in 1989, Lynch formed Lynch Mob
Lynch Mob (band)
Lynch Mob is an American band featuring former Dokken guitarist George Lynch, who has been the band's only permanent member. The rest of the original band which featured Oni Logan, Anthony Esposito and Mick Brown have come and gone, and in some cases, come back.-1989 Formation:Lynch Mob was formed...
with former Dokken band mate Mick Brown. When Lynch Mob were auditioning for singers, London LeGrand
London LeGrand
London LeGrand is an American musician, lyricist, and vocalist best known for his time with hard rock supergroup Brides Of Destruction with Nikki Sixx of Mötley Crüe and Tracii Guns of L.A. Guns. After the group went on hiatus he formed another band with George Lynch of Dokken and Lynch Mob fame...
send in an audition tape. However, the band never contacted LeGrand.
Lynch eventually met LeGrand while he was working as a hair stylist in Los Angeles where Lynch gave him a demo tape of new songs. Lynch went on to form a project known as Stonehouse before forming Microdot with LeGrand. It was at this time that LeGrand joined Brides of Destruction
Brides of Destruction
Brides of Destruction were an American hard rock supergroup from Los Angeles, California, formed in 2002. The band's last lineup consisted of singer London LeGrand , Tracii Guns and Scot Coogan...
, formed by Nikki Sixx
Nikki Sixx
Nikki Sixx is an American musician, songwriter, author, fashion designer, radio host, and photographer, best known as the co-founder and bassist of the band Mötley Crüe. Prior to forming Mötley Crüe, Sixx was a member of Sister before going on to form London with his Sister band mate Lizzie Grey...
and Tracii Guns
Tracii Guns
Tracii Guns is an American guitarist best known as the founder of glam metal group L.A. Guns as well as the supergroups Brides of Destruction and Contraband. He was also involved in the formation of the first lineup of Guns N' Roses but eventually left the group and was replaced by guitarist...
, in 2002.
When Guns put Brides of Destruction on hiatus in 2006, LeGrand formed Rockstars on Mars as well as Band of Flakes with Lynch, Jason Slater of Snake River Conspiracy
Snake River Conspiracy
-Former members:*Martina Axén *Bobby Hewitt *Neil Taylor *Eric Hendrikx *Fab Fernandez *Tobey Torres *Mitch Doran...
and former Brides of Destruction band mate Scot Coogan
Scot Coogan
Scot Coogan is an American session musician and touring drummer.-Career:Coogan has worked with groups such as Violets Demise, Ednaswap, Parade of Losers, Annetenna, Sinéad O'Connor, Peter Yorn, Vanilla Ice, and Otep...
. Though the band was unsuccessful, Lynch and LeGrand continued to write and record, bringing in bassist Johny Chow of Fireball Ministry
Fireball Ministry
Fireball Ministry is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California formed in 1999.- Biography :Conceived in Cincinnati in the late '90s by James A. Rota II and Emily Burton, the band moved to New York City before settling in Los Angeles. In 2000 they performed at the two-day "November...
and Systematic as well as former Tom Morello
Tom Morello
Thomas Baptiste "Tom" Morello is a Grammy Award-winning American guitarist best known for his tenure with the bands Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave, his acoustic solo act The Nightwatchman, and his newest group, Street Sweeper Social Club...
and Alex Skolnick
Alex Skolnick
Alexander Nathan Skolnick is an American jazz and metal guitarist. He was a member of the San Francisco Bay Area thrash metal band Testament from 1983 until his departure in 1993...
drummer Yael, forming Souls of We, from one of their song's lyrics, in 2007.
Let the Truth Be Known (2007–2009)
The band recorded their album at various studios and was produced by both Lynch and LeGrand and mixed by Mudrock. The album featured material from previous projects Stonehouse, Microdot and Band of Flakes as well as contributions by Jeff PilsonJeff Pilson
Jeff Pilson is an American bass guitarist, best known for his stint in the heavy metal band Dokken...
Morgan Rose
Morgan Rose
Morgan Jay Rose is an American drummer, record producer and founding member of the Atlanta-based alternative metal band Sevendust. He is also responsible for much of the background "screaming" vocals.-Career:...
, Frédéric Leclercq
Frédéric Leclercq
Frédéric Leclercq is the bassist and backing vocalist for power metal band DragonForce and the guitarist/vocalist in his own band, Maladaptive. He is a session musician for various other bands, including George Lynch's Souls of We...
, Andrew Freeman
Andrew Freeman (musician)
Andrew Freeman is a vocalist and guitarist who has played for a number of bands. Most notably for the punk rock group, The Offspring, and for hard rock guitarist George Lynch's Lynch Mob.- The Offspring :...
, Patrick Johansson, Bobby Jarzombek
Bobby Jarzombek
Bobby "Wire" Jarzombek is a heavy metal/progressive metal drummer and best known for his work with Halford, Sebastian Bach and Riot. He has also recorded and toured with Fates Warning, Arch / Matheos, Iced Earth, Rob Rock, Spastic Ink, and Juggernaut, among others.-Biography:Bobby Jarzombek was...
and Mike Hansen.
Let the Truth Be Known was first released independently through Under the Deadtree Records on May 27, 2008. It was limited to a thousand copies and featured album artwork with blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
musician Robert Johnson on the cover. After signing with Shrapnel Records
Shrapnel Records
Shrapnel Records is a guitar-oriented record label started in 1980 by record producer Mike Varney. Guitarist Marty Friedman , one of the label's most successful artists, first appeared on the album Unsung Guitar Heroes II in 1980 with the band Vixen. Vixen would later change their name to Hawaii...
, the album was re-released, under the moniker of George Lynch's Souls of We, with an additional song on November 4 the same year. LeGrand described the album as "Mother Love Bone
Mother Love Bone
Mother Love Bone was an American rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington in 1988. The band was active from 1988 to 1990. Frontman Andrew Wood's personality and compositions helped to catapult the group to the top of the burgeoning late 1980s/early 1990s Seattle music scene...
in the year 2008" while Greg Prato of allmusic stated that "[t]here are quite a few headbanging highlights" and that "fans would buy [Lynch's] latest album for the six-string shredwork alone."
The band were offered a supporting slot on the Black Label Society
Black Label Society
Black Label Society is a heavy metal band formed by Zakk Wylde, with nine studio albums, one live album, two compilation albums, one EP, and three video albums released since formation of the band.-Formation and Sonic Brew :...
and Sevendust
Sevendust
Sevendust is an American heavy metal band from Atlanta, Georgia. Formed in 1994 by bassist Vince Hornsby, drummer Morgan Rose and guitarist John Connolly. After their first demo, lead vocalist Lajon Witherspoon and guitarist Clint Lowery joined the group...
tour, that took place in March 2009, but turned it down due to financial reasons. They made their live debut on May 23, 2009 at The Knitting Factory in Hollywood, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
with Jordan Mancino, of As I Lay Dying
As I Lay Dying (band)
As I Lay Dying is an American metalcore band from San Diego, California. Founded in 2000 by Tim Lambesis and having completed their first Line-up in 2001, the band consists of vocalist Tim Lambesis, drummer Jordan Mancino, lead guitarist Nick Hipa, rhythm guitarist Phil Sgrosso, and bassist Josh...
, replacing Yael on drums. The band scheduled more tour dates, primarily in California, while they released a music video for the song "Skeleton Key".
New album (2010–present)
Lynch announced on his TwitterTwitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
page, in February 2010, that he and LeGrand had "commenced the songwriting sessions" for the band's second album and were to enter the studio the same month. He also stated the Souls of We were to begin touring on March 5.
Band members
- London LeGrandLondon LeGrandLondon LeGrand is an American musician, lyricist, and vocalist best known for his time with hard rock supergroup Brides Of Destruction with Nikki Sixx of Mötley Crüe and Tracii Guns of L.A. Guns. After the group went on hiatus he formed another band with George Lynch of Dokken and Lynch Mob fame...
– vocals - George LynchGeorge Lynch (musician)George Lynch is a hard rock/heavy metal guitarist best known as a member of the band Dokken, his own bands Lynch Mob and Souls of We.-Pre Dokken:...
– guitar - Johny Chow – bass
- Jordan Mancino – drums, percussion
Former members
- Yael – drums, percussion