Click on an image for more information...
Band History Lead male vocalist, Dan Rola is a young singer/songwriter hailing from Santa Cruz, CA. Dan represents a mix of pop, rock and blues, influencing his musical life since he first started singing. Dan has played professionally with bands and as a solo artist since he was 19. A former music major, Dan studied music at Cabrillo College and Bethany College where his emphasis was Vocal Jazz Performance. He’s played and performed a wide range of music including rock, soul, pop, jazz, blues, and classical. Though he’s into a lot of different music, Dan would describe his style as pop. He performs regularly as a solo artist under the moniker, eleanor blue. He currently resides in Santa Cruz, and is having a great time with his current gig as the male vocalist for The Sound Effect. His biggest influences include the Beatles, Marvin Gaye, the Eagles, Motown, U2. "Good music is good music regardless of style or genre. The older I get, the more I appreciate a wider range of music and musical styles", says Rola. <TOP OF PAGE> Mike started his musical adventure in elementary school with piano and tuba. His love for low notes blossomed when he discovered the electric bass at age twelve thanks to a friend who left his bass rig at Mike’s house for safekeeping. Within a year Mike became the bassist for the swing band “The Sounds of the Decades” and the youngest member of AFM local 770. Mike played in jazz bands, church groups, garage and cover bands throughout his high school and college years. In addition to playing bass for The Sound Effect, Mike currently plays bass for The Mike Sloan Big Band, tuba in The Gottfried Reiche Brass Quintet, and is a substitute organist for Almaden Hills United Methodist Church. Mike’s regular day gig is as a software engineer. He lives in San Jose with his wife and daughter. <TOP OF PAGE>
The concept of The Sound Effect began coming to fruition when Scott and Dave, now the sax player and keyboardist for The Sound Effect, got together one evening in early 2004 and began discussing where they next wanted to go musically. These two musicians have played together with various Big Bands since the early 1990's, and had a common interest in starting a project that would span a wider variety of genres. While wanting the music to focus on the rock genre they had both grown up with, they both wanted to include a mix of the jazz that they had been performing with other groups This became the foundation of The Sound Effect. Scott and Dave examined the song styles and song lists of other popular bands throughout the US that featured a similar variety of musical genres. The result of this study was the initial song list on which The Sound Effect would concentrate.
Being a former CEO of a chip-design consulting company, Scott realized the importance of running the band like a business, and realized that attention to detail and organization would be one of the keys to success. He spent a month determining the initial 100 songs in the song list. Scott studied the songs most requested of other bands and DJs, and the initial song list represents the most requested musical variety available. Following that, three solid months were spent writing arrangements of the initial song list, with a focus on arranging to take advantage of the instrumentation and vocal color of the group. The recruitment process also occurred during this time to fill the remaining slots in the group. In order to accomplish the desired variety in the group and not recruit solely from their contacts in the jazz world, it was decided to advertise for and hold open auditions for vocalists and the remainder of the rhythm section. The auditions were held, and the results are the current embodiment of The Sound Effect, consisting of male and female vocalists, guitar, keyboard, bass, drums and sax.
The rhythm section consists of a keyboardist, bassist and drummer with jazz background roots, and a guitarist who came from a rock background. To this rhythm foundation, a jazz-oriented sax player is added, along with rock-oriented vocalists. The female and male lead singers, along with the vocal ability of the guitarist, have created a varied and talented ensemble that offers a richness and depth rarely experienced from a local live band.
"The experience of forming and implementing a band of any size is a formidable challenge. What is most rewarding, perhaps, is the energy and enjoyment the Band has during rehearsals and performances. The fact that we have no ego problems and enjoy each other’s company allows for a level of energy, excitement, and enjoyment in what we do that tends to be infectious for the crowds we play for."
-Scott Switzer, founder and saxophonist <TOP OF PAGE>
Melissa Hart , Vocals
Melissa began singing in her church at 5 years old and continued throughout high school. In 1999 she began performing with The Glenn Rose Jazz Solo Group in the Santa Cruz area. She also played around Santa Cruz with her own jazz solo act. Melissa later began writing hew own songs and continued performing locally with Clifford Kulfer, Danny Hall, and Ronnie Beck. In 2000 she toured with The Ace Allstars, which was comprised of Larry Hoppen, Dennis Amero, John Heithaus, Cornelius Bumpkis, Mike Reno, and others. In 2002 she began working on her original project, in which she wrote the lyrics and melodies and has recently completed her first original jazz fusion CD. Melissa is also rehearsing her original band to promote the release of her cd. She looks forward to performing for you at your function!! <TOP OF PAGE>
Dan Rola , Vocals
Scott Switzer, Saxophones
Scott Switzer was first introduced to the saxophone in 1972, immediately
after auditioning and landing a spot in The Junior High School Band Of
America. The only problem was that he auditioned on bass clarinet, but was asked
to lend his musical talent to the tenor saxophone section. With only 6 weeks
before the tour, Scott immersed himself in learning the saxophone and is in
recovery from this experience to this day.
Since moving to Northern California in the early 1980's, Scott has played
with the De Anza College and West Valley College Jazz Ensembles, The Santa
Clara University Jazz Ensemble, The Mike Sloan Big Band, The Joe Ferrari Big
Band, The Swing Solution, The Elby Coy Band, The Sultans of Swing, The Los
Altos Big Band, and, for a change of pace, the Blue & Red Circus Band and
Gustine City Band. In addition to his jazz and big band experience, Scott
also played a mean baritone saxophone with the funk band Goodfoot. Scott played for President Clinton's daughter, Chelsea, while she was attending Stanford University.
Scott has performed with local artists Dave Ellis, Wayne Wallace, John
Calloway and Danny Caron, and has also performed live on radio station
KFOG. When he's not holding a sax, he is a computer engineer, working with a computer
chip design software company. Scott is the founder and arranger for The
Sound Effect. <TOP OF PAGE>GE>
Dave Miller, Keyboard
Dave Miller, like most of us, has lived most of his life dreaming in black
and white. The only thing that has differentiated Dave from most of the rest
of us is that his dreams have been filled with images of white rectangles and
smaller black rectangles, separating the white rectangles in groups of three,
followed by groups of two. One day at the tender age of four Dave accompanied
his parents to the neighborhood music store, and, after examining his first
keyboard, a prodigy was in the making.
Being a local Silicon Valley boy, Dave continued his musical aspirations by
studying first at De Anza College, where Dr. Herb Patnoe took the
impressionable teenager under his wing, and later at San Jose State. During
his studies at San Jose State, he fell in love, and the desire to provide for
his wife and future family took priority over his desire to make it as a
musician. Dave exchanged his desire for black and white keys for sets of
black and white insulated wire and became an electrician as he raised a
family of three wonderful children with his wife.
With his children mostly grown (in fact two of them founded a popular ska band
that has toured throughout the West Coast), Dave continued his passion of playing
keyboard by joining The Swing Solution and later, The Mike Sloan Big Band.
Saxophonist Scott Switzer was a
member in both of these bands as well, so, over they years they learned that their desires and musical
passions were similar. Dave and Scott ended up with the vision of The Sound
Effect in 2004 and are pleased and proud to present the group to
the public. <TOP OF PAGE>
Tom Quade, Guitar & Vocals
Tom Quade's first exposure to music was through drums, which he took up
in grade school. Tom continued to play drums in the jazz band in junior high,
and he began playing guitar in the jazz band at his high school.
Tom has encountered some great musicians in his musical career,
including Colby (of The Heartbeats), Kinya Pollard, and Chris Cain, and members of Nitecry.
During his early years Tom also played as a drummer in the 19th
Street Band, performing at the Cupertino Cherry Blossom Festival and at Cinco
de Mayo Celebrations in downtown San Jose.
Although he took a musical break while busy rearing kids, Tom continued to
perform at Caeser Chavez Park, as well as at private parties. Before joining The
Sound Effect, Tom had recently been a guitarist with Bad Plaid and
Counterfeit. <TOP OF PAGE>
Mike Dile, Bass
Dave Powell, Drums
Dave Powell's parents knew that he was going to be a musical guy when he
started carrying a homemade set of drumsticks everywhere he went at a young
age. Although almost anything goes out here in California, this was seen as
somewhat unusual in Kentucky, where he was raised.
Dave's interest in the drums continued to such an extent that he ended up in
San Jose and majored in drums and percussion at San Jose State. During and
subsequent to his school years, Dave has played with many various rock and
jazz groups in the Silicon Valley area, most recently with The Mike Sloan Big
Band and the South Bay Big Band. Dave holds a Masters Degree in music from
San Jose State University. <TOP OF PAGE>