Epic Soundtracks
Indie Rock / Alternative
pic Soundtracks began his musical career young at the age of 12, founding what was to become the experimental rock group the Swell Maps along with his brother, Nikki Sudden. He would go on to play drums with many other groups throughout the years β the Jacobites, These Immortal Souls, Crime and the City Solution, and the Red Krayola, to name a few.
Each of these bands have/had their own sound, but itβs unlikely that many listeners ever suspected that the drummer behind the kit had a wealth of classic pop songwriting within him waiting to be heard. By the early Nineties, Epic made the move forward to release his own songwriting with a proper solo album, Rise Above. Rise Above was a shock of a modern-day classic that encapsulated everything about the music Epic loved β the great Brian Wilson, Laura Nyro, Carole King, and others β and took on its own refreshing life.
Other solo albums soon followed, each with its own personality and distinct flavor. This website will focus on these solo albums primarily, and hopefully expand in the coming months. To listen to each album is to journey through the stages of a great songwriter realizing his abilities. The raw pop perfection of Rise Above. Sleeping Star, which even in its quietest and darkest moments strikes chords that resonate long after. Change My Life, a broader, bolder album that juxtaposes dark moments of foreshadowing alongside uplifting insistence of hope.
Sadly, the listen is too often made bittersweet by the early death of Epic in late 1997 at the age of 37. We will never know what more he could have accomplished if he had lived. Epic left behind three proper solo records, one rarities-and-outtakes release, and one posthumously released album of alternate takes and previously unheard recordings. Another posthumous release is currently being organized by Nikki Sudden for release later in 2004. It is probably likely that Epic himself would have preferred his fans focus on the music rather than the tragedy that cut it short, and the power of that music to comfort, inspire, and endure.
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