Equiliberation: The Band Biography
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Equiliberation is a family band.
Elliott Ash and Ryan Ash grew up playing cover songs in their family's garage with their father and their uncle, Fred Schwab. After hearing Abnormally Normal or Normally Abnormal? by Fred's music-school bandStandard Deviation, they decided Fred's songs needed to be played live. So, they began petitioning him to take them on as his new rhythm section. It took them a number of years to convince him, but, eventually, they succeeded, and the trio began rehearsing in earnest during the summer of 2006.
Equiliberation evolves.
Fred, Elliott, and Ryan considered several names for their new band. Ultimately, they settled on Equilibrium. Feeling the name reflected their balance of musical styles, ages, and experience, they used it for the duration of their time as a regularly-performing band. However, shortly before entering the studio to begin work on their debut CD, they discovered their moniker was already being used by a German pagan metal band and at least two other musical ensembles in the United States. So, in the fall of 2007, they evolved into Equiliberation.
Equiliberation plays accessive rock.
Accessive rock is Equiliberation's term for the kind of music the band plays: accessible progressive rock. It is a mixture of rock, pop, jazz, funk, and blues too complex to be considered mainstream rock and too structured to be labeled progressive rock. It is a harmonious amalgam of the trio's wide-ranging musical influences, which include such diverse artists as The Beatles, The Who, Pink Floyd, Rush, Led Zeppelin, Frank Zappa, Queen, Yes, Living Colour, Foo Fighters, Faith No More, Radiohead, XTC, Steely Dan, Big Country, Jason & The Scorchers, Joe Satriani, The Cure, Everclear, Thomas Dolby, Simon & Garfunkel, Aimee Mann, Joan Armatrading, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Randy Newman, Gary Numan, Tom Waits, Neil Young, and CSNY. To experience Equiliberation is to experience accessive rock.
Fred Schwab
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Guitarist and lead vocalist for Equiliberation, Fred is also the band's primary songwriter. A graduate of Musicians Institute, he has played guitar and written music for more than twenty years. Despite his formal guitar training and years of playing experience, Fred considers himself a better songwriter than guitarist.
When not writing, playing, or listening to music, Fred teaches high school English, which might explain his interest in well-written song lyrics and his somewhat-twisted use of literary elements as song titles (e.g. "Oxymorons" and "Hyperbole").
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Ryan Ash
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Bassist, trumpeter, and backing vocalist Ryan Ash has been thumping the low-end strings and blowing his horn since middle school. He is currently studying neurology so that, one day, he will be able to pinpoint the effects of Equiliberation on the human brain.
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Elliott Ash
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Drummer and backing vocalist Elliott Ash has been pounding out polyrhythms since he enrolled in band in sixth grade. He is currently studying law and economics with an eye to measuring and quantifying the degree of peace and prosperity engendered by global Equiliberation.
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