20 Year Ride By Kelley Simms
20 illinoisentertainer. com february 2018
C
hicago rockers Soil have had a dedicated local following for the last two decades. Formed in 1997, the band— vocalist Ryan McCombs, bassist Tim King, guitarist Adam Zadel, ex-guitarist Shaun Glass( ex-Broken Hope, Dirge Within) and drummer Tom Schofield— rode a decent wave of success, gaining mainstream attention with singles“ Halo” and“ Unreal” from the 2001 album Scars. However, things began to unravel in 2004 when McCombs left the band to spend more quality time with his family. Burnedout with the business side of things McCombs thought he was done until he got the call nine months later to join prominent Texas alternative metal band Drowning Pool, which he then fronted for six years.“ I was married, and I had two boys at home, and I felt like it was time for me to call it a day and go home to them,” McCombs said.“ I needed to get away from certain personalities within the band. I had my bags packed and truck loaded at one point before we even got our big break because I couldn ' t stand being associated with certain ways within the band.”
McCombs eventually reunited with the band for the Scars 10th anniversary UK tour in 2011. Now celebrating its 20th anniversary, Soil released Scream: The Essentials last Fall via AFM Records. The compilation album features early-era tracks, alternate acoustic versions, and a new cover of the R & B staple“ Gimme Some Lovin '" which originally made its film debut in the cult classic The Blues Brothers in 1980.“ We all grew up with The Blues Brothers being one of our favorite movies,” McCombs said.“ We’ re a Chicago band; you can’ t get much more Chicago than the Blues Brothers.”“ Though I ' m the one Soil member that ' s not from here myself, that city and area, and the rock / metal fans that call it home, gave this band life back in the late’ 90s,” McCombs declared.“ That connection alone makes it beyond special.”
The band ' s last studio album was 2013’ s Whole, and given the state of the music biz these days McCombs isn’ t sure what the band’ s options are for recording a new album.“ The industry is a broken, decayed, moldy, disease-riddled shell of what it was when we first were welcomed into it,” McCombs said.“ I don ' t really know what options are available these days for any band that isn ' t one of the heavy hitters that made a name for themselves 20 years ago. An employer pays its employees to produce a widget. If no one buys the widget, the employer can ' t employ the employee for long, right? A band’ s widget is its songs. $ 9.00 monthly membership to one of those streaming sites doesn ' t split too favorably between its catalog of bands and their labels.”
Since Soil reactivated in 2011, their expectations are now to enjoy the moment, something they forgot to do the first time around.“ Just to enjoy it, whatever it is,” McCombs said.“ I don ' t know what life has in store for us. Three years ago I walked off stage from a sold-out crowd in Nottingham, England, flew home and had a stroke in my sleep that first night in my own bed. None of us are guaranteed tomorrow. I want to embrace each show people allow us to do. Each hand I get to shake and say thanks as many times as I can because I owe a lot of them.”
Doing anything for 20 years isn’ t easy, but celebrating 20 years as a band must feel pretty amazing. Soil is optimistic about recapturing the excitement it achieved early in its career.“ We ' ve come a long way during these years,” McCombs concluded.“ We’ ve changed a lot, as people. It ' s been a gift to do this, [ for ] this long. It’ s a gift given to us from every person that gave us the time of day. It ' s been a hell of a ride.”