Echo Lake Acoustics is a musical celebration between three good friends who have found inspiration and musical chemistry. Each hailing from histories of numerous genres, the team has found common ground with a shared love for instrumental music done primarily with acoustic instruments. The collaboration comes from each direction where an idea is hatched and then built upon.
BRIAN IRWIN
Brian is the great disciplinarian of the ELA project. Acting both as engineer/producer and multi-instrumentalist, Brian is the proverbial "Man Friday" without whom this project would not be possible. Brian, like each ember of ELA boasts his own long history of songwriting and producing. More about Brian here: http://www.myspace.com/brianirwin
BERNARD YIN
Bernard's history within the So Cal music is extensive. He finds the ELA project an inspiration because of the genres explored as well as the chemistry of the team; united by creativity in the studio and a good hang. He comments "Were ELA to try and do the conventional band thing, we'd be sunk. It's way better to hang in a living room and concoct these fun vignettes. The ideas flow painlessly and Semyon and Brian are a joy to work with." Film and TV music has always been a passion of Bernard's and his first recording back in the 80s on a Fostex X-15 was an homage to Mauriat's Love is Blue. There's a reward out for that precious cassette master. Since then, years of excursions into college world beat party bands, punk, noise, surf and even formal wedding and square gigs have made his past too colorful for words. UCSD parties and local gigs opening for Fishbone and even Steel Pulse proved excellent distractions to what would still be a successful 4 year degree; accepting a diploma right behind Milo of the Descendants. It's just fun to mention. We all know that it doesn;t mean squat. San Diego highlights after that point were gigs with Devo, The Pandoras, The Circle Jerks, Thelonious Monster. It all made for a good ride in America's Finest City. Yeah, way back!
Samba Hell's performance as the only unsigned band at the 2nd year Lollapalooza in Irvine was oddly also their last. This was after leaving San Diego andmoving to LA. Quick to keep busy, Spindle (Interscope) and also Permanent Green Light (Island) began a healthy string of major label flirtations. A cassette handed to Nigel Harrison (Blondie) got the Interscope ball rolling. Where are you Nigel? You were a cool cat. Permanent Green Light was Michael Quercio's post Three O:Clock project and proved a blast because Bernard was a big Three O:Clock fan. At one point around this time, two different AR reps were looking at two different bands of Bernard's from the same label. It was worth the laugh. Both reps were fired so who cares. Subsequently, Bernard was guitar-noise-maker touring in support of Smashing Pumpkins, Swervedriver, Sugar (Bob Mould) and others as a member of the enigmatic Medicine (Def American).
Lucie Gamelon (Polygram) explored lo-fi 90s alternative girl pop and found itself on the Lillith Fair tour. Bernard learned to appreciate the Indigo Girls and the craft services were top notch! The project also explored musical theater and truly paved its own path. A buzz-heavy moment was sparked around this time when Bernard fell in with local heroes from Extra Fancy and the Geraldine Fibbers in what would be a brief but fiery run under the monniker The Glitter Panthers. A major LA Weekly story was pulled when Brian leapt of stage mid show and disappeared for a few months two nights before the feature was to go live. Yes kids, this can happen to anybody and he wasn't even on drugs! One Bernard's fondest memories was returning from a San Francisco Glitter Panthers show with Mink Stole and having a heck of fun road stop at the Casa De Choo Choo. Anyone who has toured the west coast should know what I am talking about. When you grow up with a Neil Young songbook, you always wind up with Mink Stole right? Photos are out there somewhere of Bernard playing a legendary lucite flying V that allegedly once belonged to Redd Kross a real memorable Glitter Panthers Sunset Junction show. "B" would later tour the US and Europe consistently as a member of El Vez's band and the legendary Fuzztones but we weren't supposed to tell you that! These gigs were rife with fun moments from opening for Little Richard in Gijon, Spain to hanging out in Barcelona with Lydia Lunch. Two people who should always be mentioned in the same sentence.
Instrumental music remained a passion as power trio Brazil 2001 mutated into the MiGs while concurrently a stint with SubBionic (Extasy Records) fell to lead singer and label meltdowns. It was another notch in the old lipstick case of funded and floundered but not without benefits including bonding with Jimmy Paxson (Alanis Morisette, Stevie Nicks) and Jamie Danesh (Ima robot). They helped Bernard sustain his power surf passion with the 2nd incarnation of the MiGs who were giving a lot of 4th wave surf bands a run for their money despite their less-than-trad overtones. It didn't hurt that Bernard actually surfs and this kept the critics at bay. I'm kidding I'm kidding! Fishing buddy Dusty Watson whose legacy spans from Lita Ford, Agent Orange, Dick Dale and Slacktone once exclaimed at a Slacktone + The MiGs show "The gauntlet's been thrown!". That was a good time for sure.The Brazil 2001 and MiGs machines generated copious instrumentals which helped spark the licensing side of Bernard's creativity which endures to this day. Far more esoteric ventures were woven through this time frame with glam/goth heroes Sex With Lurch and the brashest of the brash Pansy Division whose post Lookout legacy endures. Sex With Lurch made it a few times to Hawaii for some truly insane shows and Pansy Division gave Bernard punk rock cred that he forgot he craved. Spawned from this experience was an enjoyable set of shows and recordings with Kelly Mantle whos top notch gender blender talent and vision is to be admired. Weaving through all of this was The Animators who were basically too good for success. That's just as bad as any other band or label meltdowns. Lots of cool cats.
Currently you'll find Bernard performing live with Astra Heights who also flirted with an album released on Universal Republic and produced by David Kahne. It was apparent early on that the ever-stable Amy Winehouse was the focus of the label's promo juice and Astra Heights, along with other bands, were left to revel on the backburner while the ever-savvy major label machine reveled in the benefits of a scandal=sales diva (RIP Amy and no offense). Discussing the Atlantic Salmon paintings in Doug Morris' office clearly earned the band no points and having a manager whose other client was in trouble with the law was a formula that proved iffy. Despite this, Astra had a wonderfully successful tour as support for She Wants Revenge and subsequent indie releases garnered the band some licenses of its own.
As of early 2012, the ELA project as well as a new high intensity surf project with Jordan Tarlow is providing Bernard with the instro labs he craves. Astra Heights is also off to a nice start with a new studio set up and pending mixes for release and licensing from Immediate Music. If you are still in the mood for punishment, email us and we'll send you the list of B's list of licenses. He recommends instead that you enjoy ELA's music. That's what this is all about anyway.
SEMYON KOBIALKA
Since his earliest memories as a child sleeping under the piano as his parents rehearsed Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess”, music has been Semyon’s constant companion and guide through life. The son of two prominent classical musicians, Semyon began playing piano and violin at the age of three. Although Semyon managed to forcefully quit both instruments, his parents introduced him to the cello at the age of 9, and it has been his voice ever since. Semyon was blessed to be able to study with some of the most distinguished cello instructors in the world - the late “Grande Dame of the Cello”, Margaret Rowell, her protégé Irene Sharp, and master cellist Bernard Greenhouse of the Beaux Arts Trio. Semyon enjoyed a long string of success in competitions, including the Irving M. Klein International String Competition, the Grace Vamos Cello Competition, Pepsi Cola Concerto Competition, The General Motors & SEVENTEEN Magazine National Concerto Competition, The California Youth Symphony Young Artist Competition, and many more. A recipient of the Emmet Dolan Scholarship for music at Columbia University, Semyon also performed with the University Orchestra as the winner of the Columbia Concerto Competition in his Freshman year.
After years of studying the classical canon for cello, Semyon began experimenting with improvisation in high school by learning how to play bass guitar in jazz band. The spontaneity of improvisational music introduced new ways of playing music to Semyon and began a quest for musical “freedom” that he has pursued ever since. If music can heal, make you laugh, cry or dance, Semyon has always been interested in understanding the mystery behind how and why humans interact with music.
Propelled by this desire to understand music in a variety of forms and functions, Semyon continued to explore different genres of music and worked to prove that the versatility of the cello allowed the instrument to blend into just about any ensemble. He has had great success playing the cello in bands from a wide variety of musical genres ranging from rock, pop, R&B, jazz, funk, salsa, etc., constantly seeking new approaches to utilizing the cello. After bringing his college band, “Smokin’ With Einstein” from New York to San Francisco, Semyon continued to perform with several groups in the Bay Area including “Spanish Johnny’s Opera” and local favorite, “The Fingers”. Performances with these groups opened up opportunities to play at some of the best venues in New York and California, such as the Legendary Fillmore West, The Bitter End, The West End, The Viper Room, The Bottom of the Hill, The Great American Music Hall, Slims, and the longtime Bay Area institution in Mill Valley, The Sweetwater. Over the years, The Fingers performed shows with a variety of well known artists such as Train, Sugar Ray, Stroke 9, Matt Nathanson, Ben Folds, Aimee Mann, Phantom Planet and Big Star.
Through the years of working with musicians outside of the classical music world, Semyon began developing a way of strumming and plucking the cello in order to communicate his musical ideas to musicians unaccustomed to reading musical notation. This technique blossomed into an unusual method of utilizing the cello as a cross between a guitar and a bass – by strumming and plucking chords on the cello, Semyon is able to provide an instrumental base that he can sing over. This ability to sing and play songs with the cello as the central instrument has allowed Semyon to perform his original material as a solo singer-songwriter.
Semyon showcased this new technique on his debut solo album, “Wabi Sabi”, in 2007 released by Duckhole Records. He has performed in various venues ranging from bars and clubs to concert halls and theaters to rave reviews. His second album, “The Miracle Mile”, was released in 2009 with new songs and larger arrangements surrounding the cello as the centerpiece of the compositions. These two solo albums are the newest addition to Semyon's long list of recordings which includes albums with Jerry Garcia, David Grisman, Edgar Meyer, Michael Feinstein, Stroke 9, The Lovers, The Astra Heights, and many other fantastic artists. Semyon has also collaborated with the Latino Theater Company in their award winning production, "Solitude", wherein he performed a live score for the play as one of the characters in the play. Semyon's compositions and performances have been licensed on CSI, Everwood, The Gilmore Girls, Notes from the Underbelly, and Extreme Makeover. He is currently working on another record, this time a collaboration with his father centered around music from the Civil War era, and is thrilled to be part of the creative engine that is ELA. More about Semyon here: www.celloboy7.com.
