Soul SirkUS is a band that initially featured singer

Jeff Scott Soto Jeff Scott Soto (born November 4, 1965) is an American rock singer of Puerto Rican descent. He is best known for being the vocalist on Yngwie Malmsteen's first two albums, and (briefly) the lead vocalist for Journey in 2006–2007. Soto also ...

, guitarist

Neal Schon Neal ( Neil) is a given masculine name and surname of Gaelic and Irish origin. The name is an Anglicisation of the Irish Niall which is of disputed derivation. The Irish name may be derived from words meaning "cloud", "passionate", "victory", "hon ...

, bassist Marco Mendoza, and drummer

Deen Castronovo Deen J. Castronovo (born August 17, 1964) is an American drummer and singer, best known for being a member of classic rock band Journey and hard rock acts Bad English and Hardline. He currently plays drums and shares lead vocals for the bands Jo ...

, later replaced by

Virgil Donati Virgil Donati (born 22 October 1958) is an Australian drummer, composer and producer. He holds the drum sticks in the traditional style and is also proficient at the keyboard. Donati formed Planet X with Derek Sherinian and was the band's princ ...

History

After the failed Planet Us project with

Sammy Hagar Samuel Roy Hagar (born October 13, 1947), also known as the Red Rocker, is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He rose to prominence in the early 1970s with the hard rock band Montrose and subsequently launched a successful solo car ...

did not produce an album, Neal Schon was determined to see the material he had written come to life. According to Schon, "I was angry because we had plans and I had done a lot of pre-work. I wrote a lot of songs, about 30 or more, and I had just done a lot of work and put a lot of energy into it. ... A few days later I cooled off and I just re-grouped and got to my senses and I put the pieces of the puzzle back together again with some different guys."Neal Schon '05 intervie
discusses birth of Soul SirkUS
(See the Planet Us article for further history leading to the formation of Soul SirkUS). Schon had heard of the reputation of Soto, mainly due to coverage on the AOR-focused websit
MelodicRock.com
Jeff Scott Soto '05 intervie

/ref> which detailed his history with the band

Talisman A talisman is any object ascribed with religious or magical powers intended to protect, heal, or harm individuals for whom they are made. Talismans are often portable objects carried on someone in a variety of ways, but can also be installed perm ...

. At the 2004 annual

NAMM Show The NAMM Show is an annual event in the United States that is organized by the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM), who describe it as "the industry’s largest stage, uniting the global music, sound and entertainment technology commun ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, Schon met up with Soto and tested the waters with a jam session: "Jeff brought his drummer and his bass player down and we sort of sketched out a little set, even though we didn’t have time to rehearse. We did some

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

and Journey songs and we did some Stevie Wonder and some blues. We played a little 45-minute set and the people pretty much went off; they loved it. Immediately, I knew we had some chemistry and that it would work." While in Los Angeles, Schon also attended a showcase featuring Mendoza (known for his work with

Whitesnake Whitesnake are an English hard rock band formed in London in 1978. The group was originally put together as the backing band for singer David Coverdale, who had recently left Deep Purple. Though the band quickly developed into their own en ...

) and was impressed with his ability. Inviting Soto, Mendoza and Journey's drummer Castronovo to join him, the new band began rehearsing and eventually recorded 11 songs for their debut album, ''World Play''. Although all the foundation tracks on the album were originally written for Planet Us, only one completed song from that band was used for Soul SirkUS' debut. That song was "Peephole", originally entitled "Peeping Through a Hole" on the Planet Us version. The rest of the album was developed by Soto who took Schon's lengthy instrumental tracks and "chopped them down" into songs which he added his vocals to.SoulSirkUS interview wit
Schon & Soto from Feb. 2005
/ref> In early 2005, with a completed album ready (albeit only available online through th
Soul SirkUS
website) the band was forced to postpone their first tour when Castronovo fell ill due to extreme exhaustion. Soon after, Castronovo bowed out of Soul Sirkus based on his doctor's recommendation Melodicrock.com 200
Interview with Deen Castronovo
/ref> and was replaced by Australian drummer

. Schon decided to take advantage of Donati's unique style and remixed the ''World Play'' album with Donati's drum tracks while adding five new songs. The updated lineup then embarked on a short but well-received tour of the U.S. and Europe. The remixed ''World Play'' album was re-released with new artwork on the European-based Frontiers Records label. A live concert performed at the famed Fillmore theatre in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

was recorded for a potential

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

that has yet to be released by the band and may not be.Schon interview
discussing future of Soul Sirkus
/ref> Since the end of the 2005 tour, the band has not reconvened due to the members' various other commitments. In the summer of 2006, Soto was selected as the "temporary" lead vocalist for

Journey Journey or journeying may refer to: * Travel, the movement of people between distant geographical locations ** Day's journey, a measurement of distance ** Road trip, a long-distance journey on the road Animals * Journey (horse), a thoroughbred ra ...

replacing

Steve Augeri Steve Augeri (born January 30, 1959) is an American rock singer best known for his work as the lead singer of Journey from 1998 to 2006. He was also affiliated with Tall Stories and Tyketto. In 2014, he formed the band Ünderwörld. Personal ...

. Historically, Neal Schon and Deen Castronovo have also played together in

Bad English Bad English was an American/British glam metal supergroup formed in 1987. It reunited Journey keyboardist Jonathan Cain with singer John Waite and bassist Ricky Phillips, his former bandmates in the Babys, along with Journey guitarist Neal S ...

Hardline In politics, hardline (or hard-line) is an adjective describing a stance on an issue that is inflexible and not subject to compromise. A hardliner is a person holding such views. The stance is usually far from the centrist view. People, policies, ...

, and Paul Rodgers' backing band. Castronovo also played on Schon's song "Smoke of the Revolution" from the ''Late Nite'' album. In 2019, Schon, Castronovo and Mendoza toured together in Neal Schon's Journey Through Time.

Discography

* ''World Play'' (3 editions: 1. black sleeve: original (with Deen), 2. green sleeve: American edition of remaster, 3. yellow sleeve: 3a. European edition of remaster ncl bonus DVD 3b. Japanese edition of remaster ncl bonus track

History

Discography

Notes

External links