Since they officially began as a band in 2002, it seems that there hasn't been a time that they haven't been out on the road. With a new album, an abundance of press coverage, and some invaluable opportunities to play with other esteemed artists of the moment, they are finally starting to reap the benefits of all this hard work.

Touring in particular, has remained the life line to the aspiring stars. Fans are welcomed to Soular's Official website with a Bob Dylan quote, which expresses the same philosophy the boys have adopted about touring: "A lot of people can't stand touring, but to me, it's like breathing..."

They've even crossed the pond to the U.K. to delight a more "posh" circle of fans. Recently we had our own personal encounter with the band's leading man, Marsh, to dig a little deeper into the seemingly dramatic consensual cognitive that is Soular.

In your opinion, what has been the biggest sacrifice you have had to make because of the amount of touring you've been doing?

The hardest thing has been trying to feel some sense of normalcy. When we come home for a few days, it's hard to get into a "normal" routine, which is why this interview is happening at 1:00 a.m. instead of 1:00 p.m. There's also never enough time in a day. That's true for anything you do, though.

You've recently opened for some popular musicians like The Fray and Liz Phair. Do you feel like this has improved a following for you?

Anytime you're able to play a bigger show for a huge room, it helps. I think really though, the best thing for our career is selling rock music every night we play to whoever cares to listen. The smaller shows can sometimes even be better than the hyped shows. A good night is a good night, though.

Soular seems to have a great fan base in the UK. Can you determine a certain characteristic of your music that makes it especially appealing in the UK?

It probably has something to do with the fact that most of the bands we tend to connect with musically, although certainly not all of them, are UK bands. There was a sound and style of music that has come out of the UK, from The Beatles and Zeppelin, to U2—that is the reason that we are playing music today. That is probably the best explanation. We're not trying to put out music that that appeals to a certain group of people or anything, we just write and record what feels natural and you can't help but have some of your influences inside you.

Where did you come up with the band's name?

The name comes from a set of science fiction books by C.S. Lewis, who referred to the language that people spoke as Old Solar, we dropped the "old" and added a "U". The rest is history. We're fans of Lewis.

C.S. Lewis was an author whose writing focused on matters of the spirit. If he were still alive, he would probably be a fan of theirs, too. Soular's latest album, Love Crash Heal, is centered on the emotions and experiences that make people innately human. However, as anyone with a soul knows, life is not always all rainbows and sunshine. Love Crash Heal delves into a personal arena that is, at times, a little somber.

Although your songs are not entirely pessimistic, they are very emotionally charged. This makes one wonder, what is the typical mood among the band members when you're together?

Random would be the best adjective. Believe it or not, we're kind of crazy to be around at times. You never know who's in what character mode. Maybe we're perfect for our A.D.D. generation. Maybe laughter and obscure movie references are our therapy to help with some of our pessimism. I would call us hopeful realists, though.

Ok, so despite a little melodrama in their songs, these guys sound pretty normal, as far as our definition of touring bands go. It's probably safe to say that anytime a group of young guys gets on a bus and drives around the country, there's going to be a lot of craziness going on. On the other hand, describing them as "normal" may be jumping the gun a bit. After all, in addition to the amount of attention they have in concert arenas, their music has become a favorite of a few TV show producers. CSI, and MTV's The Real World and Road Rules have all been benefiting from the dramatic emotions that Soular's songs so effortlessly evoke.

MTV has aired your music on their shows The Real World and Road Rules. Have you seen either of those shows, and what was your first reaction?

I have seen a couple of the episodes we have been on and it was kind of surreal hearing your song played and a game being played to it, or a "dramatic" Real World moment happening and you're the soundtrack. We're very glad that they have been so willing to use so much of our music.

{mosgoogle right}Have your recent successes made it hard to stay grounded?

Not really, there are times when it can be a bit surreal to have this as your job, but at the end of the day to be successful takes lots of hard work and that is what keeps you grounded. Our aspirations are high and we're not settling for mediocrity or a flash career. We want to be the hardest-working band we know, and when we meet someone who works harder, we want to work even harder to get better at what we're doing.

With that kind of attitude, an even brighter future seems likely for the band. They've only released one album thus far, but we can promise that this won't be the last you hear from them. During this interview their touring had come to a momentary pause, but knowing them it won't be a long one. The band is driven by an eagerness to please their fans from the view of a live stage.

Playing to your fans live seems to be very important to you. Has there ever been any talk of one day releasing a live album?

Yes, there has been. Whether this year or the next, we would love to put out a live record. We have a few live tracks mixed, but would love to do a whole record raw and completely live. For us, the live show is everything and we'd love to have some of that energy captured on a record. A lot of our new record was tracked with everyone playing together and not super isolated. Lots of tape bleed and room sound. That was really important to us.

You have mentioned that your songs are simply a collaboration of what sounds good to each band member, but are there certain musicians who have really influenced you?

Everything is truly a sum of its parts. We're part Beatles, Zeppelin, Bowie, Floyd with a dash of Queen, sprinkle of Buckley, and a portion of Remy Zero.

What is the band looking forward to the most right now?

I think we're happy to keep touring right now. We have a lot more songs in us, too, the well isn't anywhere near dry, so we look forward to writing a lot more songs this year and figuring out when to record. We'll make the time to do that too.

Is it possible to describe your fans in three words?

I would say exquisite, genuine, and humorous.

You (Marsh) and Jared Ashcraft (the bassist) are said to be longtime friends. When did the two of you actually meet, and did you initially aspire to be recognized for your musical talents as you are today?

Jared and I met about eleven years ago, and were good friends, and had both been involved in music at different capacities. He and I were actually on a bill the same night in different bands playing different instruments than we do in our band. I was playing bass and he was playing guitar for another band. We had lots of musical influences in common, but more than that we had a love and respect for great songwriters and great records.

We started the band to aspire and grow into making great music. I think we definitely set out to do just what we're doing now, but we're not finished yet and dreams are big.

We certainly hope so! Soular's Love Crash Heal is available for purchase now. Also, you can get the entire buzz on the band at http://www.myspace.com/soular or http://www.soular.us/.

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