UBIQUITOUS SYNERGY SEEKERS
Ashley Boo-Schultz and Human Kebab
Where are they from?
Parkdale, Toronto, Canada
How have they been described?
Progressive Dance Folk/Campfire After Party
What do they want?
They want everyone to have a crush on life.
Without going into too much explanation… Ubiquitous Synergy Seeker, lovingly known by those daunted by big words as USS, are musical chameleons. Perhaps chameleon is not the correct term, but rather, the closest in proximity. USS appeal to the masses. If this were a John Hughes film we would be cueing up the snapshots of the brain, the athlete, the basket case, the beauty and the criminal all being equally galvanized by the soothing, yet particularly positive and impactful use of imagery such as ‘beats drop like cod fish stocks’, while pondering with wonderment the concept of ‘the birds singing Fur Elise to me’. Each of them would firmly believe that USS is speaking to them. They would notice people, not of their kind, surrounding them but they would feel that USS is the transmitter and they are the receiver.
The USS show harkens back to an old school, yet neo-vaudevillian atmosphere. Think Nirvana unplugged at a Science Centre Rave. Chuck D and Flavor Flav at a motivational seminar. Bob Marley in a Lab Coat: anything is possible. Their message is delivered melodically with contagious optimism by Ashley Boo-Schultz, creator of all things musical, while the hypeman / turntablist, Human Kebab, elicits dance floor pandemonium and wide scale audience singalongs. Whether dealing with rainy day rec room reverie, psycho-pharmaceutical protocol or the physics of emotional responsibility, Ash’s perceptions of existence are painted with randomness and divergence. Only Human Kebab’s Ferris Bueller esque disposition could bring such a left field visionary back to a place of accessibility. Here in lies the dualistic beauty of their partnership. Human makes it almost seem normal when the blender comes out on stage and Ash mixes himself up a smoothie mid song, so that he is fit, both mentally and physically, to guide everyone present into their mad scientist laboratory of self transcendence.
This brings us to Hollowpoint Sniper Hyperbole. While making some cash to repay his student loan on an oil pipeline in northern Alberta, Hypeman Human got a call from a friend. The friend, rather excitedly delivered the news that 102.1The Edge in Toronto, Ontario was playing a song (the aforementioned Hollowpoint Sniper Hyperbole) off of their self released EP, Welding the C:/. Human called Ash who was attending a college basketball game in Texas on an emotional pilgrimage. Now what? Neither of them had anticipated this momentous opportunity after their glorious night of bliss (a self financed EP release party at the Gladstone in the heart of Toronto’s Parkdale in July of ’07) and had gone their separate ways. Hmmm… interesting. Human asks his foreman for a couple of days off, Ash turns the caravan around and heads home. They shoot a video and drop by the station for an interview with ear to the ground dj, Barry Taylor (responsible for getting the song into rotation). Human returns to the tundra, Ash continues his pilgrimage and quickly they realize the runway has been paved and they have taken flight! Hollowpoint enters heavy rotation, out spinning the likes of Coldplay and Radiohead. The band headlines 102.1 The Edge’s Next Big Thing concert on May 30th to a record-setting frenzied crowd of over 2000 people and then kicks off the main stage on the station’s much coveted festival, Edgefest.
Labels clamor after them; radio across the country jumps on board the single. More and more people subscribe to their theory to “Expect the unexpected”. That’s the story of how science meets spirit. Bob Marley in a lab coat? Welcome to USS and the soundtrack of possibility.
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More information on USS:
http://www.myspace.com/ubiquitoussynergyseeker
