Soulside, also spelled Soul Side, is an American

post-hardcore Post-hardcore is a punk rock music genre that maintains the aggression and intensity of hardcore punk but emphasizes a greater degree of creative expression. Like the term " post-punk", the term "post-hardcore" has been applied to a broad conste ...

band from the greater

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

area.

History

The original name of the band was Lunchmeat which was formed by high school students Bobby Sullivan, Chris Thomson,

Scott McCloud Scott McCloud (born Scott McLeod; June 10, 1960) is an American cartoonist and comics theorist. His non-fiction books about comics, ''Understanding Comics'' (1993), '' Reinventing Comics'' (2000), and '' Making Comics'' (2006), are made in comic ...

and Alexis Fleisig in 1985. Lunchmeat played their last show under that name on August 29 of the same year as the group went on hiatus while the members went to college. The next summer the band reunited under the name Soulside recording an album at Inner Ear with

Ian MacKaye Ian Thomas Garner MacKaye (; born April 16, 1962) is an American musician. Active since 1979, he is best known as the co-founder and owner of Dischord Records, a Washington, D.C.–based independent record label, and the frontman of hardcore pu ...

Don Zientara Don Zientara ( ) is an American record producer and musician. He owns and runs Inner Ear Studios in Arlington, Virginia, located just outside Washington D.C., and is most widely known for his production work with Fugazi, Minor Threat and variou ...

, and Eli Janney. The album was the second release on Sammich Records. At the end of the summer, the band again went on hiatus as the members returned to college except for Thomson who had decided not return to college and formed Ignition with Chris Bald. When the other three band members returned from college in summer 1987, they had all agreed to quit college and dedicate themselves to the band. They recruited high school friend

Johnny Temple John Ellis Temple (August 8, 1927 – January 9, 1994) was an American professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a second baseman from 1952 to 1964, most prominently as a member of the Cincinnati Reds, where ...

to replace Thomson on bass. In 1987, the band returned to Inner Ear studios with Ian MacKaye to record their second album, ''Trigger'', for

Dischord Records Dischord Records is a Washington, D.C.–based independent record label specializing in punk rock. The label is co-owned by Ian MacKaye and Jeff Nelson, who founded Dischord in 1980 to release '' Minor Disturbance'' by their band the Teen Id ...

. The band toured throughout the U.S. They disbanded in summer of 1989, after an extensive three-month European tour which included the recording of '' Hot Bodi-Gram''. The other members of the band were unhappy with Sullivan's topical and political lyrics while Sullivan was worried the group had become a "party band" during the long European tour. They played a few more shows after the European tour but broke up soon afterwards. Soulside was the only American band to play at one of the illegal punk shows held in

East Berlin East Berlin (; ) was the partially recognised capital city, capital of East Germany (GDR) from 1949 to 1990. From 1945, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet occupation sector of Berlin. The American, British, and French se ...

in the 1980s, shows put on in tolerant Lutheran churches against the wishes of the dictatorship and its security organs such as the

Stasi The Ministry for State Security (, ; abbreviated MfS), commonly known as the (, an abbreviation of ), was the Intelligence agency, state security service and secret police of East Germany from 1950 to 1990. It was one of the most repressive pol ...

. According to McCloud, the band could not bring guitars across

Checkpoint Charlie Checkpoint Charlie (or "Checkpoint C") was the Western Bloc, Western Bloc's name for the best-known Berlin Wall crossing point between East Berlin and West Berlin during the Cold War (1947–1991), becoming a symbol of the Cold War, representin ...

and were warned by people in attendance not to leave the venue until after they finished playing in case the Stasi were lying in wait. Following Soulside's demise, Scott McCloud, Johnny Temple, and Alexis Fleisig would join Eli Janney to form the

band

Girls Against Boys Girls Against Boys is a post-hardcore band which formed in Washington, D.C., and subsequently relocated to New York City shortly after their formation in 1989. The band released albums on the labels Adult Swim, Touch and Go Records, Geffen Rec ...

at the end of the 1980s. Janney had frequently been a part of Soulside's tours, doing the sound at their shows. Bobby Sullivan went on to form a band called Seven League Boots, who played a blend of reggae and punk. Afterwards he was involved with Rain Like the Sound of Trains, Sevens, and Spontaneous Earth. Following his time with Ignition, Chris Thomson would serve as the lead vocalist for Circus Lupus. In 2017, Soulside reunited to play one show in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

at Scott McCloud's fiftieth birthday on November 5 at the Lucerna Music Bar. In 2019, the band played several shows in Europe and recorded three songs which were released in August 2020 on Dischord Records via

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online music distribution platform founded in 2008 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with an office and record store in Oakland, California. Acquired by Epic ...

. A 7-inch vinyl single with two of the songs was also released.

Band members

* Alexis Fleisig (drums) *

(guitar) * Bobby Sullivan (vocals) *

(bass 1987–1989, 2017, 2019–2020) * Chris Thomson (bass 1985–1987)

Releases

* "Thanks" Split Single w/ Mission Impossible - Released under the "Lunchmeat" name (Sammich, 1985) Re-released with the title ''Getting Shit for Growing up Different'' * '' Less Deep Inside Keeps'' LP/CD (Sammich/ Dischord co-release, 1987) * ''Trigger'' LP (Dischord, 1988) * "Bass" b/w "103" 7 inch Single (Dischord, 1989) * ''Hot Bodi-Gram'' LP (Dischord, 1989) * ''Soon Come Happy'' CD (Dischord, 1990) (Note: a compilation of ''Trigger'', "Bass" single, and ''Hot Bodi-Gram''.) * "This Ship" b/w "Madeleine Said" 7 inch Single/digital EP (Dischord, 2020) (Note: Digital EP comes with a third song, "Survival") * ''A Brief Moment in the Sun'' LP (Dischord, 2022)

References

External links

Dischord Records
band mini-site {{Authority control Dischord Records artists American post-hardcore musical groups Musical groups established in 1985 Musical groups disestablished in 1989 1985 establishments in the United States Indie rock musical groups from Washington, D.C.