Justin Soileau

Justin Soileau is a Texas native and currently resides right here in Austin. His approach to songwriting and life has been called “earnest, kind, and deeply personal”. Although his music centers itself on stripped-down folk, his studio recordings reveal lush full-band arrangements that highlight his individual style. - KUTX Austin

On first listen the songs may sound simple, but as in many cases, the appearance of effortlessness is actually the product of well-planned and executed songwriting. Soileau combines his songwriting with insightful and relatable lyrics, making for very accessible songs. - Austinist

Feeding off the previous post of Alison May we’re keeping the folk alive. Justin Soileau another folky guy whose music is again, very impressive. Below we’ve posted his official video for ‘I’d Never Lie To You’ which showcases how talented Justin is. Folk solo’s… hell yeah. - The Daily Consciousness (Nova Scotia)

Feeding off the previous post of Alison May we’re keeping the folk alive. Justin Soileau another folky guy whose music is again, very impressive. Below we’ve posted his official video for ‘I’d Never Lie To You’ which showcases how talented Justin is. Folk solo’s… hell yeah. - The Daily Consciousness (Nova Scotia)

[Justin Soileau is] making great music.. - Long Beach Independent

Justin Soileau is one of OC’s best kept secrets...His music is timeless, his writing is honest, and he is well equipped with an arsenal of good songs that can easily produce the soundtrack to the next coming-of-age Michael Cera film. - Music In Press

...the kind of humorous and sweet music you share with your good friends to talk about sarcasm and love. - Music In Press

An honest and completely raw manifesto, each song has a way of getting through to the core of the audience with its playful guitar arrangements, simplistic lyrics and soothing vocals. The fact that Justin does not over exemplify intelligence through abstract lyrics and over-the-top guitar riffs is part of his appeal. We can listen to each verse with a smirk and think, “yes, I have been there too”. Soileau’s lyrics are nothing less than compelling and admirable. He is a simple, lighthearted guy with a story to share (which can be seen in his video for title track, “I’d Never Lie to You”). - Robots For Hire

The album’s soft sound reflects the Orange County lifestyle. The songs flow naturally from one to the other and offer soothing tones throughout the album as a whole... - Locale Magazine

[He is] showcasing a nice blend between '70s pop rock influences and a both reflective and understatedly energetic modern touch. - OC Weekly

It is easy to hear the influences of artists that Soileau is an admitted fan of: Iron & Wine, Sufjan Stephens, and Bright Eyes. The deceptively simple lyrics, softly voiced, and the great instrument arranging (trumpet! steel guitar!) definitely echo [these] other artists... - The Owl Mag

"“Loneliness and Wine”...encapsulates exactly what makes Soileau’s music such an engaging listen. Blending seemingly effortless hooks...with whipcord-smart lyricism which rivals Josh Ritter... " - Hear, Hear!

The track “Simple Song” includes some heavy lyrics about his state of mind when he checked into rehab, yet it’s also one of the more upbeat songs in his collection. “I’d Never Lie to You” is another standout, a song about growing up written while in high school. - The Orange County Register

There'??s a wise old saying that says that ??simple songs are the best??. Luckily Justin Soileauâ?'s offering is both simple and flawless -?? a winning combination. You can visit the Justin by heading to http://www.justinsoileau.com/ - thefourohfive.com

Justin Soileau
"A Simple Song"
www.justinsoileau.com

Texas-to-OC transplant Soileau has made the most of his move over the past few months, settling into musical life in the county with his debut EP, The Heat, as a calling card, playing at a variety of events and venues including the Orange County Music Awards, as well as putting out a free compilation of various unreleased efforts from the past few years. But his recently released demo, "A Simple Song"--which is just that, and that's not a criticism--is his first to be recorded in OC, a classic bedroom effort (as well as, as he describes it, "the Starbucks down the street" from his house.)


"A Simple Song" is another example of Soileau's aptitude at combining upbeat musical sentiments with often darker lyrics--not that it's a tale of flat-out despair, but when you consider the first verse is about a phone call helping rescue the narrator from a drunken binge and worse, a summer pop hit this isn't. But Soileau's love of piano-led pop/rock in a '70s, post-Beatles vein remains paramount, down to the peppy organ break. Given the chorus is all about how the titular object is the kind of thing that can pull someone out of a rut, it's a gentle, appropriate way of having one's cake and eating it, too.

As mentioned, it's a demo--the music is clearer than the words when it comes to recording quality--but the charm is all intact. Various performances are forthcoming around the county over the next couple of months, so keep an eye open for whatever comes next from Soileau as he keeps putting down roots in a new home.

"A Simple Song" can also be found on SoundCloud and YouTube. - Heard Mentality

Justin Soileau has been in OC for only a little while, but the Texas native brought something with him: The Heat, a six-song, solo debut EP recorded with the help of his former home-state band Fathers Against Parades. Due for a February rerelease on iTunes, the EP makes for a strong calling card, boasting a mix of upbeat arrangements—often centered on piano—and some darker sentiments. We caught up with Soileau as he looked ahead to his forthcoming OC Music Awards performance.

- OC Weekly

Justin Soileau is a talented artist currently living in Orange County, CA. His music reminds me of a mix between Josh Ritter and M. Ward, which is a pretty great blend of simplicity. His current EP, The Heat, is available via iTunes and although there are only six songs, each one has a great mix of pop and indie. Here is Justin’s performance of Oak Tree.

- Sounds That Matter .com

Celebrating its 10th anniversary, the OC Music Awards kicked off on January 4th with seven weeks of free showcases at different venues across the county. 35 local artists will compete for the titles of Best Live Band or Best Live Acoustic and a performance slot at the 2011 OC Music Awards, March 5 at the Grove of Anaheim. And, the voting is open now!

It would be an understatement to say that former Texan-now-Costa Mesa resident, Justin Soileau, is a sensitive singer-songwriter, albeit not sensitive in the trite, overused sense of the word. Soileau’s lyrically cynical, but melodically upbeat indie-folk acoustic examines the fragile state of humanity with delicate, if perhaps a tad bittersweet, guitar stums and punctuated piano chords.



Read more: [OC Music Awards Interview] Justin Soileau Shows Some Soul With Cynical Bittersweet Acoustic Melodies http://kroq.radio.com/2011/02/05/oc-music-awards-interview-justin-soileau-shows-some-soul-with-cynical-bittersweet-acoustic-melodies/#ixzz1Rq8IKXkk

...... - KROQ.com

By Sabrina Park
Published: February 23, 2011 Sitting at a small wooden table in the dim-lit Gypsy Den Café, Justin Soileau, 23, sips at his specific order of coffee (one cube of sugar and a hint of honey) and explains his efforts to re-enter the music scene.

Born and raised in Lumberton, Texas, Soileau’s passion for music was prompted at the young age of 13. His enthusiasm drove him to teach himself how to play the guitar, after which he began to write his own lyrics.

During Soileau’s sophomore year of high school, he was affiliated with an emo/punk band called Ask Andy. Soileau then went on to form the band Fathers Against Parades with his childhood friends: Adam Floyd, Dalton Different, Michael Peters and Robb Walker.

Following a depressive period, which included a struggle with drugs and alcohol, Soileau moved to Orange County a year ago to take part in a rehabilitation program in Newport Beach. He has been sober for nine months and currently works at the rehabilitation center where he watches over one of the sober living houses.

“I just make sure everyone’s doing what they should be doing and staying sober,” said Soileau. “It’s cool because I get to be a part of the clients’ recovery, but also it reminds me of where I’ve been, and it keeps me on my toes in regards to my own recovery.”

With a plethora of previously recorded songs and the ability to make connections with fellow upcoming artists in Orange County, Soileau decided to give his love for music a second chance.

Soileau’s genre is defined as indie/pop/rock but he says it is also sounds like folk music. Some of his musical influences include: Bright Eyes, Iron and Wine and Sufjan Stevens.

Although he does not come from a musical family, Soileau believes his music was heavily influenced by his Texan roots as he added, “My music would sound a lot different if I didn’t live in Texas 22 years of my life.”

Soileau is currently unsigned. However, he was able to gain exposure in the OC Music Awards, competing to be the best live acoustic artist in Orange County. He was one of the final five performers but did not win the competition. The event got Soileau featured in OC Weekly and on KROQ.com.

Soileau will release his debut EP, The Heat, on March 4, which will be available on iTunes and Amazon. He recorded the songs three years ago with Fathers Against Parades. The band sent The Heat to MTVU.com. It was picked as “Band of the Week” and featured on the TV show “The Freshman.”

Although Floyd, Peters, Different and Walker play the instruments on The Heat, it is Soileau’s vocals and lyrics on each track. They “added to the arrangement, but I wrote the songs,” he said.

“He’s always had a satirical look at everything when he writes. Sometimes you don’t know if he’s being sincere or not, but it totally works,” said former bandmate Michael Peters.

In writing his music, Soileau typically starts with one melody, then he will start humming that melody, after which he will sit down with his guitar and finish.

“I wait until it kind of flows out of me and then I do the work to finish it,” he said.

“Justin’s music is an intentional slap in the face to every circumstance, doctrine or person who would dare to tread upon his potential happiness,” said Adam Floyd, a close friend and former bandmate.

“In The Heat, his melancholy—at times outright hopeless lyrics—are contradicted by melodies so inviolently happy that the listener may accidentally forget that funerals are supposed to be sad, that lying is wrong and that Dr. Kevorkian was a murderer,” Floyd said.

Soileau is also enrolled as a Cal State Fullerton student through the open university system, where he is taking a course in evolutionary psychology. He hopes to be accepted as a full-time student in the fall to complete a degree in political science and double major in psychology.

Soileau hopes to keep focusing on his music within the next year.

“I’d like to just continue to play in the area—continue to meet people in the music scene around here. I guess just meet people and play more shows,” he said.

To stay updated on Soileau’s performances and song releases, be sure to visit Twitter.com/justinsoileau and ReverbNation.com/justinsoileau.

- The Daily Titan

Justin Soileau
www.myspace.com/justinsoileau

On his short debut solo EP following group work in Fathers Against Parades, recent Texas to OC transplant Justin Soileau kicks off with a song called "I'd Never Lie to You"-which, if it refers to the easy going and straightforward music that suggests a variety of '80s college rock approaches in a gentle blend, is a perfect statement of purpose.


While it's clearly as inspired by the past decade's indie rock in general, there's also a bit of Beatles-inspired poppiness, roots-rock revivalism, and a sense that Soileau could have been seen opening for someone like Jellyfish just before grunge hit it big. (Calling a song "Kevorkian" after the famed assisted-suicide doctor is a bit more recent of a reference in turn, though it's a little hard to imagine the titular character whistling a ditty like this while going on about his end-of-life business.) "The Man on the Screen" might be the standout, a slightly downbeat arrangement suiting the glum lyrical portrait-at least until the suddenly jaunty midsong break, of course. - OC Weekly

Easy, breezy tunes that feel soothing being brushed across your ear lobes is what Fathers against Parades create on their latest release The Heat. The 6-track EP is an introduction to the band’s calmly sonic mirages which can be described as a cross between the casual seafaring stride of Zox and the soft rock punctuations that Controlling the Famous have been noted for making. Though both Zox and Controlling the Famous are known for blending ska and rock, Fathers against Parades tip the scales in favor of folk rock, but still there is something about Fathers against Parades that is reminiscent of these fine ska-slanted bands which makes FAP’s music so attractive.

The band shows a country-folk bent in the briskly layered chord rings of “Crabaugh,” and the sparsely dotted notes coursing along the ballad “Tell me All Your Reasons” strewn a fly-away bedroom pop jetty making an assembly that gently rock you right into a dreamscape. The bobbling piano keys of “Kevorkian” played by lead singer Justin Soileau are beautifully assorted but then become violently twisted in the outro. Soileau’s vocals on “Gray” have meaningful inflections when he imparts “And you find out it isn’t cut and dry / It isn’t black or white / Just gray.” The slight wedges formed by the guitar chords of Soileau, Michael Peters, and Adam Floyd make for a good buffer along the melodic folds, and the flowy rhythmic pulses of drummer Dalton Different and bassist Robby Walker have a routine rate that makes the tune very comfortable to listen to like a pop tune without the tart-like confections. “The Man on The Screen” has a modern rock template that makes this the heaviest tune on the record, whereas “Daises and Bones” falls more on the folk rock side of the spectrum with cottony textured chords.

Fathers against Parades have the temper of a soft rock band with folk rock washers relatable to Midlake. Though FAP have three guitarists, you would not know that by listening to their songs because the guitars blend into the melodic fabric comfortably. All songs are written by Justin Soileau who does an excellent job of navigating the flow of the melodies and the punctuations and vocal inflections made along the course of the album. The band has appeared on the MTVU’s hit series “The Freshman” and presently they have several tracks posted on their myspace page. Hailing from Lumberton, Texas, Fathers against Parades have potential, and as long as they keep tapping into their creativity energies, their music will be able to carry them a long way. - Absolutepunk.net

SARA HEMMENWAY
UP STAFF WRITER

While some people use counseling,
exercise, team sports, or dancing
as therapeutic means to release energy,
Lumberton junior Justin Soileau
uses songwriting and singing.
“It feels so good to write and get
things off my chest,” Justin said. “It
keeps me sane, I guess. It’s my therapy,
my outlet.”

About a year ago, Justin formed
the band Fathers Against Parades (the
name meant to be a silly take-off from
ridiculous interest groups, he said)
along with four other Lumberton pals,
Dalton Different, Robb Walker,
Michael Peters, and Adam Floyd.
The band released its first six song
album “Fathers Against Parades
Presents: The Heat” on November 17,
2007, at their first live show.
Justin writes the lyrics and creates
the singing melodies, he said. He presents
the idea and then he and the rest
of the band work together to form the
beats and finish the song, he said.
“The other guys in the band work
hard and dedicate a lot of their time to
this band, whether it be through shows
or rehearsing for recording. They’re
real cooperative and I appreciate their
willingness to be apart of my music
and their ideas about the music really
add a lot to the sound of the songs.”
Justin’s “therapy” and the band’s
teamwork has got Fathers Against
Parades local and national recognition.
They have been featured on local
shows such as Big Dog 106.1’s “The
Homegrown Local Show” and
Channel 6 KFDM’s “Live at Five.”
On January 21, the band and its
first single “Gray” were featured
nationally as Band of the Week on
mtvU’s show “The Freshman.” MtvU
is a 24-hour MTV sub-channel geared
entirely toward college students and
features the newest bands emerging
from the college scene.
“One day we got bored and were
looking into different things I could
submit our music to, and there was a
battle of the bands competition on
there (mtvU’s website),” Justin said.
“A guy called from MTV and said
that we were chosen as the band of the
week. I was really excited when he
called. It was so cool.”
The show mentioned the band,
Lamar, and played “Gray” while slide showing
pictures of the Lumberton
group.

Although the band has not played
many live shows because of Justin’s
self-proclaimed introverted tendencies,
he said, he has not let his nerves
get the best of him. He and the band
would like to gain more live performance
experience and begin to play
shows beyond the boundaries of the
Golden Triangle.
The positive feedback he has
received on his Beatles/modern-Indie
inspired music hasn’t hurt reducing his
nerves.

“I feel like people do make a connection
somehow with the music, and
that’s a great feeling — a feeling that
keeps me writing.
“My favorite thing is when people
tell me they listen to it (the music) and
enjoy it,” Justin said. “It was a little
odd the first time someone mentioned
they had Fathers Against Parades on
their iPod. It’s always cool to know
people jam to our music throughout
their day.”

Justin acts as the lead singer and
also plays keyboards and guitar for
the band.

After only a couple piano and
guitar lessons back in middle school,
Justin quit in favor of teaching himself
without the stress of someone looking
over his shoulder and without shelling
out loads of cash per lesson. As far as
his vocals are concerned, he is completely
self-taught.

He started out matching his
vocals to the bands he loves such as
The Shins, Death Cab for Cutie, and
The Beatles — bands that have
inspired his music greatly.
Today, however, after the departure
of guitarist Adam Floyd, the band
is under temporary hiatus while they
search for a new guitarist.
The hiatus is not stopping Justin
from playing solo shows at local coffee
shops like the LogOn Cafe and the
Barking Dog until the position is
filled.

Justin is very excited, though, to
get the band back into the studio to
record again, he said.
“Recording is pretty stressful to
get the songs exactly how I want it, but
the thing I like the most about the
recording aspect is that when the
recording is finished, I can listen to it
and enjoy it. It’s very rewarding.”
He said he would like to come out
with an album a year.
“I’ve already begun writing and
‘demoing’ songs for the next record,”
he said.

Justin’s songs have no particular
message or agenda, he said. He writes
about whatever bothers him. He normally
tries to hide the message so as to
not shove a belief down his audiences’
throats, he said.

Justin says his favorite track on
“The Heat” is “The Man on the
Screen” because of its honest lyrics.
With the words “There’s a man on
the screen who talks of love and charity/
and in the same breath he’ll lose his
head to bigotry/I know about the
money that he pushes underneath the
desk/I hear all the hateful words he
screams across the TV set,” the song
definitely has the most direct message
on the album, Justin said.
“It’s a sto - The University Press