Sota Pop

The Minnesota Music Note - Ep 54 - The Secret Behind Sota Pop's Packed Dance Floors w/ Jess and Buzz

3mo ago

Fun facts from the interview

• The name Sota Pop comes from "Minnesota" plus the pop music the band plays.
• Jess used to sing in Bad Kitty. A friend named Katie secretly set up Jess's audition at a karaoke night at a Legion.
• Jess hosted karaoke for a long time and calls singing a kind of therapy.
• Buzz is a stage name. Buzz started on snare drum in about fifth or sixth grade, after years of banging on pots and pans.
• The band's first gig was at the Minnesota Music Cafe, and it had an agent, Extreme Talent, almost from the start.
• Sota Pop played four or five casinos in its first year, including Jackpot Junction, where bands bring their own PA and sound tech.
• Journey's "Separate Ways" always gets a big reaction, and Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance with Somebody" fills the dance floor.
• The band runs backing tracks on almost every song, built in blocks it can move around to keep the set fresh.
• Buzz got into metal through Metallica's Master of Puppets, then Anthrax and Pantera, and now also likes lo-fi and trip hop.
• As a kid, Buzz asked a wedding band if Buzz could sit in, and played "Wipeout" with them.
• The band's inside joke: "We didn't do this cuz it's easy. We do it cuz we thought it would be easy."
• Recommended Brian, bassist of Gen X Jukebox, and a big Twin Cities booking agent as future guests.