Soulcrate resumes 'where we left off' in reunion at That Sounds Decent festival
Soulcrate, a Sioux Falls-based rap band that decided to “go out with a bang” then “slowly fade away” in 2018, announced its reunion May 2.
Their first post-reunion concert is now planned for That Sounds Decent festival on Aug. 26 at 8th Street and Railroad Center, when Soulcrate will be one of the headliners.
“It’s been five years since Soulcrate played its last show at this festival, and we just decided it is a good time to come back and try it again and see how it feels and have a little bit of a reunion,” said one of the artists Wes Eisenhauer.
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How did Soulcrate get back together?
Last time the band played together was at the same That Sounds Decent festival the artists themselves started years prior. Eisenhauer said they have been organizing the festival as a showcase of the Midwest talents.
“We just try to provide a cool experience for our community,” said Eisenhauer. “Show people, 'Hi, there are some really talented artists, musicians, just culture in South Dakota.'”
He explained the event is run through sponsorships and crowdfunding in the interest of Sioux Falls art community and public. This year, he continued, they were struggling with the headliner for the event, and they came up with the idea of Soulcrate headlining it.
“It just made sense to everybody, so one of us brought it up, and then we all talked about it and agreed to it,” said Eisenhauer.
'Those are all sacrifices that we are willing to make'
He further noted they already received positive feedback from their audience on social media, and people sending messages to say to say they were planning to attend by driving in from other states to the band's first concert after its reunion.
“I got hit up by a number of people who were going to say, 'Hey, I am traveling from Chicago to come to this, or I am driving up from Omaha,'” he said. “It’s an honor to have people that are interested or that would be willing to travel to come see us again.”
Earlier, Soulcrate said they called it quits after 16 years of hustling and making music at that time in their 30s with growing families, because the musicians chose to focus on their up-and-coming “side hustles” that started because of Soulcrate.
“Almost all of our businesses kind of spooned out of Soulcrate and this music project,” said Eisenhauer.
The Eisenhauers own photography businesses, and Corey Gerlach and his wife Mary Campbell co-own the Breaks Coffee Roasting Co. After the reunion, their families would not intervene with their music, said Eisenhauer.
“It will take a little time away from other things, but those are all sacrifices that we are willing to make for our creative pursuits,” he said.
He further explained growing families and side businesses were just one of the set of reasons why Soulcrate decided to disband.
“That’s one of the reasons, it’s not as black and white as that I suppose, I mean it would be one part of it,” said Eisenhauer.
Picking up where the group left off
Overall, he noted, it was more about coming to a point of after learning about music entrepreneurship, the band members started to be preoccupied with other things and they did not have a clear plan of what to do next.
It was when they decided to leave on their own terms instead of letting both the band and their other pursuits suffer fading away. He said they all continued to make music as they promised.
“We decided to go out with a bang,” said Eisenhauer.
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Soulcrate plans to continue to work in the same music style and play their all-time favorites they have composed over their more than 1.5-decade career.
“Mostly, that will be just the old stuff, the things that people are familiar with,” said Eisenhauer
They had already started rehearsing prior to announcing their return, he added, to make sure it felt right. Eisenhauer noted everything seemed to just click again, and he was assured they were starting where they left off, if not better.
“We’ve made sure that we were going to come back and resume just where we left off, if not better,” he said. “I’m really happy to say that it felt amazing.”
This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Sioux Falls rap band Soulcrate announces August reunion concert
