Artist description **The Aurelians: “Superb songwriting”—Marc Allan, Star/News** "Compare to Elvis Costello and the Attractions at their best: Welch’s voice is an amazing instrument.” Nuvo Newsweekly. Vocal-based indie rock mixed with elements of Ska, Russian folk, Bulgarian folk, Reggae, Latin. Has been compared to Elvis and the Attractions, Beck, Radiohead and others.

Music Style Indie Rock

Musical Influences a noise in the street, Charles Ives, Brendon Behan's addled liver, Henry Miller, James Joyce, Tom Waits, The Pogues, Elvis Costello, The Who, buskers everywhere, a bottle of Night Train chased with a Colt 45 tortuga

Similar Artists Flaming Lips, Built To Spill,Tom Waits, Shane McGowan's rotting teeth, Henry Miller, James Joyce, music for the sake of music, Radiohead, XTC, The Who, Elvis Costello, Henry Cowell, Pete Towhshend

Artist History Welch formed Johnny Socko-- http://www.johnnysocko.com --with Steve Mascari, Mike Wiltrout and Dylan Wyssing. first performed on halloween night dressed as grandmothers dressed as KISS-- pill box hats and all. Welch quit to form the aurelians after the release of Socko's "Oh, I Do Hope It's Roast Beef!" (Bib). Steve Mascari left Socko to join the circus, but eventually left that to join the aurelians on bass. Adam White plays drums. Brett Cantrell joined the aurelians on guitar to begin work on the second disc tentatively titled "all hail the godless pagans".

Group Members Adam White- drums; Scott Westervelt- Tropical fish mandala, bass, sagital crest; Brett Cantrell- guitars, vocals, Jeremy Bentham's head; Joe Welch; vocals, guitars, wood box, victorola, hoola hoop, jelly.

Instruments Wooden box, organ, heavy boot, marimbas, victrola, 100 gallon oil tank, toy accordian, Vocals, Guitars, Bass, Drums, Hurdy Gurdy

Albums Plastitopia (Feb 1998), Guillotine (2001), The Quare Fellow Soundtrack (2001)

Press Reviews NUVO article (5/9/2001) http://www.nuvo.net/music/051001_music_a.html"Joe Welch gets off the road and on with songwriting" By Mark D. Allen STAFF WRITER, The Indianapolis Star: In 1990, Welch and bassist Steve Mascari started the group Johnny Socko because they met and liked singer Mike Wiltrout. "Trout was hilarious and he could sing," Welch remembers, "and we thought ‘We have to form a band with him.'" Now, Welch and Mascari have a new band, Joe Welch and the Aurelians, with drummer Adam White. The common thread running through both bands is Welch's superb songwriting. You can hear it on Plastitopia, the debut CD from Joe Welch and the Aurelians, and in concert Friday at the Patio, when the band appears on a triple bill with United State Three and Everest. Welch wrote raved-up pop-ska songs for Socko. With the Aurelians-the name comes from a Nobocov story-he concentrates more on melody, writing some of the smarter, sweeter tunes you're likely to come across. The disc rocks, just not as manically as Socko's work. Neighbor inspires songProbably the best example is Can You Explain This One to Me Roland?, a song inspired by Welch's 76-year old neighbor. "He was into the Bible and he was open-minded enough to discuss it from an objective standpoint rather than convert me to some religion," Welch says. "We were taking about something happening in my life-I can't remember what it was-and he said, ‘This is going to happen to you one day and you're going to call me up. It might be 20 years from now.'" "I'm thinking, ‘20 years from now?' He says, ‘You're going to call me up and say, ‘Can you explain this one to me, Roland.' ‘That just stuck.'" Johnny Socko fans also will recognize Madame Blavatsky, which appeared on the second Socko disc, Oh, I DO Hope It's Roast Beef. In this incarnation, it's somewhat less bouncy than the original recording, but it's also closer to what Welch had intended. "My main goal," Welch says, "is to be able to write and record and play-in that order." Road takes its tollAnd that's why Welch isn't in Socko anymore, Socko is one of Indianapolis' more successful bands, developing its reputation with a raucous stage show and music to match. That required constant touring. Life on the road-and away from his wife and two sons-started to take its toll on Welch after five and a half years. "I love playing, I loved being on the road, but I felt I had to write for Socko all the time instead of just writing," he says."I just decided that I needed to get into a position where I'm doing exactly what I want in the most effective way I can. I was tired and sick all the time and I had to get off the road to get well. Once I started doing that, I started writing a bunch of songs." And not only rock songs. Welch also fronts an eight-piece swing band called Jumpin' Jive, which combines classic cover songs with new tunes that he writes. "I know I swore off bands," Welch says, laughing, "but I couldn't resist." The Aurelians, a scheduled performer at next weekend's Earth Day Indiana Festival, are preparing an album that raises recycling to an artform. By integrating a 1922 Victrola phonograph into guitar-based song structures, singer-songwriter Joe Welch says he's been able to put a new spin on his brand of modern rock. "The only problems we've run into making this record have been tied to my drive to work outside musical and lyrical convention," said Welch, who's given a working title of Guillotine to the band's second album. "This is a direction that definitely takes it outside." Welch isn't sampling or looping snippets of early-century 78 RPM recordings. He's "playing" them. "It's more like part of the arrangement," explained Welch, who captured the Victrola's sounds on a four-track -- a device often used for making out-of-studio demo recordings. The Aurelians experimented with live horns and strings performing parts inspired by vintage classical and big band recordings, but Welch said he was dissatisfied with the results. "Because the method we're using to record the Victrola is decidedly lo-fi, the quality of the sound is different from the original instruments," Welch said. A late-May release is planned for Guillotine, which follows the Aurelians' 1998 debut Plastitopia. The group's current lineup includes Welch, drummer Adam White and new guitarist Brett Cantrell. "Brett is very energetic and inventive," said Welch, an ex-(and founding) member of area ska franchise Johnny Socko. "Plus he has the right amount of 'sloppy' for just the right feel." In addition to fronting the Aurelians, Welch is vocalist-guitarist for neo-swing act Jumpin' Jive -- a side project always in high demand. (by DAVID LINDQUIST for The Indianapolis NEWS)

Additional Info Video: Grief Spells Rum and Bananas on a stick

Location Indianapolis, Indiana - USA

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