
SAN FRANCISCO (www.soulsirkus.com) - Soul SirkUS is a group of legendary talents born out of the ashes of Planet US, a band originally featuring guitarist Neal Schon and drummer Deen Castronovo of
Journey along with
Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony of Van Halen.
When Hagar and Anthony left the band to return to their roles in Van Halen, Schon and Castronovo joined forces with former Yngwie Malmsteen and Talisman singer Jeff Scott Soto (who also provided lead vocals for the feature character in the movie "
Rock Star") and bassist
Marco Mendoza (Ted Nugent, Whitesnake) to create Soul SirkUS which picks up where Planet US left off.
Thanks to the Internet, word about the band spread like wildfire when fans all over the world discovered six sound clips available on the band's website. Since then, sound clips of the entire album have been posted and the fan base is growing daily.
WORLD PLAY was recorded at
Journey keyboardist Jonathan Cain's home studio (Wild Horse Studios) in San Francisco, CA in only two days. Cain engineered the project and Schon and Soto sat at the producer's helm.
Soul SirkUS came together in January 2004 when Schon and Soto met and jammed together at the Winter NAMM Convention in Los Angeles. Schon had also caught
Mendoza performing at a showcase that weekend, which in turn sparked an idea to create "one of the coolest bands anyone's heard of in a long time," according to Schon. Once Castronovo and
Mendoza were on board, Schon and Soto quickly got to work, collaborating on a number of songs, the results of which can be heard on their debut album.
Neal Schon recently commented on the vibe of the band: "The new stuff is cool, melodic and has plenty of edge. We are very much looking forward to getting it out and playing live. I definitely feel we have the goods. It is sounding very cool to say the least. It's raw, in-your-face rock... the way rock should be."