Jason Old - lead vocals and guitar
Stevie Janevski - guitars and backing vocals
Mikal Saleta guitars and backing vocals
Steve Burns - bass and backing vocals
Ben Wignall - drums and backing vocals
Having all grown up on pop radio from an early age the Square One members are shameless in their appreciation of pop music. “ There are so many influences ranging from the Knack, Rick Springfield, Def Leppard through to the glam rock of Kiss. Our sound isn’t so much retro but having grown up on a diet of radio from the 80s and 90s the taste is no doubt there. We like to think of it as modern rock with the classic big hooks and strong vocals. We love harmonies and luckily all the band members can sing okay. We’ve been compared to everyone from The Goo Goo Dolls, Bon Jovi, Taxiride and even Nelson for the melodies”.
Although still a very much new band Square One are pushing forward...with the biggest steps they can. The band opened for Hanson on their Australian tour and received a fantastic response from the crowd proving that this is one band that is definitely capable of crossing over from hard rock to modern power pop audiences. The buzz is good. With their own personal style, street smart songs that have proven to stay stuck in people’s heads - songs that can’t be denied for their own charismatic depth, quirkiness and big pop savvy melodies. The truth of the matter is Square One mix it up in a way that they find something in their bag of tricks for everyone.
Square One’s debut CD Supersonic was recorded at Palm Studios Melbourne and mastered by David Briggs of Little River Band fame. At this stage Supersonic is only available via http://www.squareonemusic.com for those outside of Japan.
http://www.myspace.com/squareone
Sound bytes available at both of the above
Def Leppard, Goo Goo Dolls, 9 Days, Taxiride, Invertigo, Vertical Horizon, BB Mak, Third Eye Blind, Bon Jovi
Cheap Trick, Rick Springfield, Def Leppard, Bon Jovi, Kiss, Beatles, The Eagles, Harem Scarem, the 80s, the 90s, and the now.
The main aim with Square One is to play music that we enjoy playing and I guess that’s melodic rock/powerpop/nu-breed style. All members within the band share pretty common influences such as Rick Springfield, Def Leppard, Nelson, Marvelous 3 and Butch Walker. We’re into catchy rock songs that are melodic with big harmonies!
Supporting Rick Springfield at the Palace in St. Kilda, Melbourne, Australia would be pretty awesome! I actually think Rick was pretty ahead of his time and in many ways paved the way for other artists playing that powerpop/nu-breed sound. It would be mega cool to see him play Australia and even better if Square One got the support! ha ha!
Getting a chance to support an arena band such as Bon Jovi or Def Leppard at Madison Square Garden New York City. It’s a dream gig! Most importantly you’d get the chance to play to a good crowd of people that you’d think are fans of melodic rock!
A common thing we’ve been getting in some of our reviews is that our album is like a ‘breath of fresh air’. That’s kinda cool as when we started the band i thought we’d be percieved as dated - not that this bothered me. I’m a big fan of the 70’s and 80’s and i like a lot of rock bands from that era so it’s kind of interesting how ‘melodic rock’ is starting to become cool again.
As i said earlier we play music we enjoy and we wear our influences on our sleeves. Whether it be something classic like Cheap Trick, KISS, Rick Springfield or something new like Butch Walker or Waltham - i love it. And to tell you the truth i don’t think Square One is too far off from bands out there at the moment like the Click 5 or Rooster that are having some good success.
We’re all about enjoying what we do!
