bio

S.O.M.A. (Sounds Of Mental Anguish) was born around 1999, out of a garage-metal band by members John Adkins (guitar), Blake Bailey (vocals), and J Harding (bass); wanting to explore other areas of rock music. They had no luck at the time finding a drummer to do what they thought was necessary, so they used a drum machine to get the project started. The project consisted of topics about teenage angst, depression, and the dark corners of the human mind. With only a small amount of material, the band played party after party, and a couple of shows at a park in their local town of Ashland City, TN.

A buzz was started around the small town and the band went through several musicians until they finally came across Willie Buhler (guitar) and Chris Forte (drums) of a local southern rock band. Intrigued by the band's home recordings, they were interested in playing a heavier, more open style of rock and joining the band. After writing a little bit of new material and tightening up the old with the new members, S.O.M.A. set off to play a few venues around the Nashville area in the summer of 2002. When the summer passed that year, the band took some time off to work on collaborating new ideas into the band's formula.

Shortly after S.O.M.A. got back together, they added Justin Hilliard (keyboards, programming) into the band. Armed with a set list of new material, fully focused and tighter than they had ever been, they were ready to take on any challenge. The band played shows in the middle TN area throughout 2004, and towards the end of that year Justin was called to serve in Iraq for one year. The band decided to hold the position open for him until he got back and go ahead and start recording the material without him. S.O.M.A.'s self-produced, beautiful and chaotic album "Out of the Ashes" came out in the spring of 2005.

Every one of the band members have a somewhat different taste in music, as their influences range from: metal, hardcore, industrial, rap, punk, jazz,alternative, experimental, and classic rock. The main goal in this band is to write creative and diverse music that is true to themselves and influence anyone who is to listen. The band would like to see themselves on the road around the world sharing with everyone what they love the most, music and the ability to create. S.O.M.A. is a musical mixture of emotions, eclectic methods, and raw talent that must be experienced.