Tomato 11 a/k/a Chris Harfenist - Vocals/Drums The Reverend B. ILL a/k/a Bill Fowler - Lead Guitar Doo Doo Brown a/k/a Chris Huetz - Bass Hollywood Scotty Choc a/k/a Scott Heydt - Rhythm Guitar

"The Sound Of Urchin are the second greatest band in rock today." --Dean Ween, Ween. "Once we've been somewhere, we go somewhere else." --Tomato 11, The Sound Of Urchin

"WE'RE #2--WE TRY HARDER" To listen to Tomato 11 recount the tale of New York City/New Hope, PA's The Sound Of Urchin is to know that his entire life has been spent in preparation for the role of the band's lead singer and drummer. "My focus at first was just to be in a band and to play the drums," Tomato recalls. "I'd go on auditions and I'd get into every band I tried out for." Dozens of tours with dozens of bands from 1991-1998 found Chris tiring at the prospect of permanently providing the backbone for the musical visions of others. In 1995, he began writing what would become The Sound Of Urchin's sing-a-long stories. Almost immediately, these vignettes struck him more significant than anything he'd played or written before and he began recording them on a four-track. Ultimately, he realized these songs were the beginning of his own band: a band in which he could write his own songs, play them the way he wanted, and still play the drums. Go figure.

WAX ON, WAX OFF At the tender age of 8 Chris was introduced to the sensei who would guide his early steps along the path to Urchin. Drum and percussion master Gary Chester saw something in Chris that far surpassed any of his much older and experienced students. Chester imparted lessons of drumming and life (two forces that would soon become indistinguishable for Chris).

"He became my Mr. Miyagi. For 10 years I took lessons from him," says Tomato 11, pausing to muse on the physical and spiritual discipline his mentor imparted along with his musical teachings, "And mowed his lawn."

High school came with the de rigeur living room band rehearsals, equipment moved from room to room, lawn to lawn, garage to garage...all in search of optimal acoustics (and minimal neighbor/police intervention). Along the way, Chris taught himself to play guitar, with the aid of instruments left at his place by bandmates and a Clash songbook. Sadly, Chester died on Tomato's eighteenth birthday. But not without leaving him something he could turn into a career. It wasn't the lawnmowing.

GETTING IT GOING With the addition of lead guitar god Bill Fowler (late of False Front and honorary member of Ween), Chris Huetz on bass and Scott Heydt on rhythm guitar, Harfenist formed the band he'd conceived of during his four-tracks forays. Early Sound Of Urchin recordings were bootlegged and tape-traded (remember tape-trading?) up and down the Eastern Seaboard (allegedly causing, at one point, the mass conversion of a Pennsylvania summercamp), prompting the band to take it to the people. The Sound Of Urchin began playing wherever they could play the longest and have the most fun. The Urchin mantra was born: "Spread the word. Every night is a different show."

As the word continued to spread and the Urchin live draw continued to grow, geography threw the band a lucky break: Fellow New Hope, PA resident Dean Ween (yes, the same Dean Ween of Ween) came into possession of bootleg Urchin recordings. He expressed his approval to his friend the Reverend B. ILL (the Bill Fowler mentioned above, for those who skipped the a/k/a's), as well as to the A&R rep who had originally signed Ween to Elektra and since moved on to RCA. Before long, The Sound Of Urchin was showcasing for RCA, eventually signing to the label in December 1999.

IN THE STUDIO From the neighbor who hesitated to call the cops to the club owner who indulged the lengthiest of live sets, the Urchin philosophy has always been a simple one: Work with those who want to work with you. The band's first RCA EP, The Sound Of Urchin (or as others namecheck it, The Orange EP) recorded in 1999, was their first time with producers - Dean Ween and Chris Shaw (Ween's White Pepper) - and it had proved fun.

When the band readied to record their first full-length for RCA, they made a wishlist of producers who might share their experimental take on music and sound. "We wanted someone to get the sense of humor, and to get the integrity of it all," remembers Tomato 11. A perfect match was made when Keith Cleversley (Flaming Lips, Hum, Incredible Moses Leroy)) heard the Urchin demos. "I was getting a bit weary of bands taking themselves too seriously." says Keith. "The Sound Of Urchin was teeming with such positive energy that I had no choice but to find out more."

Cleversley postponed all other plans and The Sound Of Urchin left for his Chicago studio, aptly named The Playground, where together they decided to take a somewhat unorthodox approach to the recording. Tomato wanted to "build the world out of each song" so instead of following the norm and laying down all the drum tracks at once, they recorded each song in it's entirety… one at a time... using all 48 tracks. If a song was hardcore, like "The Millipede/Who'll Stop The Beggar" they took it all the way to thrash. If it was a happy, upbeat song, like "Scary Skull Eyes" they went for the bounce. If it was the dreamy "Zen Magic Marker", they incorporated a warm flow of reggae.

With the smoke machine on and the disco ball spinning (faster during the more rockin' tracks), the studio became a science classroom and the album you have came together into fourteen glorious rock'n'roll songs tinged with hardcore, reggae, and punk. The end result is The Sound Of Urchin's love-fest, You Are the Best which muses on life with humor and fun and just fucking love, which you can't possibly miss when you hear a song like "Rock 'N' Roll Jubilee". "The result was some of the most amazing times of my life, new lifelong friends, and a record that's all about fun, positive energy, and the ROCK!" remembers Cleversley.

"Ultimately I want people to feel good," explains Tomato 11. "People forget about the roll these days. They say, 'you guys rock', but the roll's the part that moves you. We want our music to take people on a rollercoaster ride."

The Urchin lovecup runneth over with extra tracks from You Are The Best and became their second EP, The Jack & Diane EP and it's got goodies like, you guessed it, "Jack and Diane Part 2" with all it's backbeat and the post-punk madness of "In Between".

SPREADING THE WORD "People come to our live shows and they don't know what to expect next, and we like that," says Harfenist. Maybe that's because The Sound of Urchin doesn't play to an audience, they play with them, so naturally every show will be different when your vibing off a crowd instead of playing by numbers. Their fun live show could be a reason why they've toured with such an eclectic group of artists: TRL bands like SR-71 and Lit, cult band comics like Ween and Tenacious D., indie rock legend Mike Watt, beloved jam band Mississippi All Stars, ska-punk from The Urge and heavy metal guitar great Slash.

Besides, each Urchin is an amazing musician who isn't too DIY to show it. Take, for example, The Reverend B. Ill - a first class shredder-mountain man - who takes cues from Kirk Hammett and Jerry Garcia. The prettiest yet most complex melodies just seem to flow out of him. Watch him perform and see if you can refute it.

So that's the story of The Sound Of Urchin... or at least the first chapter. And yes, you probably still want to know: What is The Sound Of Urchin? Maybe that's a good question to ask them. Or maybe it's just the sound of everything going on around them. Including you.

For press inquiries, contact Amy Lombardi at Call Girl PR at 773-278-0123 or callgirlpr@earthlink.net. A whole other world of Urchin is going on at www.soundofurchin.com…check it out.