Underdog is a band from Boston playing Supersonic alternative rock, formed in 2014 by Scott Ferguson (Guitar, Bass & Vocals) and Bryn Carlson (Lead Guitar, Drums, Bass & Vocals), and have been joined onstage by Aram Heller (Bass) and Harry MacKenzie (Drums). Bryn and Scott share the songwriting duties, and have spent the past few of years writing and recording their first album, Ether Dome, which was released on September 18, 2020, on Sonic Vibration Records. Scott and Bryn have known each other since the early 1980s, when Bryn moved to Boston from the Washington DC area. We have played together in several Boston bands over the years including The Hackmasters in the 80s, and fin-de-siècle in the 90s, and in other groups such as Secret Word, The Trodds, The Dark Cellars, World of Distortion, The Time Beings, and The Vatican Sex Kittens from the late 70s through the 00s.
Underdog has been the No. 1 charting alternative band in Boston on Reverbnation for over a year and a half, reaching No. 2 on the National and No. 3 on the Global charts. We have been getting airplay on WMBR in Cambridge, and been receiving regular airplay on Radio TFSC in Germany for several years. We have been featured on the Limbo Radio Show, on Rock Rage Radio, and the Limbocast podcast in Canada, and interviewed on The Flipside music blog. Our songs have recently been added to playlists on Orange Hat Radio and SUSY Radio in England, Eagles Nest Radio in Arizona, and Banks Radio Australia. We have also been featured on a dozen recent Spotify playlists.
Where are you based?
Boston, Massachusetts
How long have you been making music?
36 years playing in bands
What genre would you consider your music to be?
Supersonic Alternative Rock
What inspired you to pursue a career in music?
We all started playing music at a very young age, so it’s always been part of our lives. When we hit our teens we were naturally drawn into playing in bands, and we’ve been fortunate enough to find each other and be able to make some records over the years with the various bands we have been in. Music has always been a primary goal for all of us, and we expect to continue making music for many years to come.
What are your biggest musical influences?
So many artists have helped shape our music, but some of them are The Beatles, Veruca Salt, Mission of Burma, Cream, Jimi Hendrix, Nirvana and Led Zepplin, but the garage punk rock of the 60s and 70s has played a big part in helping define our sound as well.
Are you signed to a label or are you an independent artist?
We are an independent artist, using our own label, Sonic Vibrations to release our music for now.
What have been the biggest challenges in your music career?
In recent years, pandemic aside, getting live gigs seems to becoming one of the biggest one, as even in a city like Boston, which has always had an excellent live music scene, more and more clubs have been closing, without as many new ones establishing themselves to fill the need for bands looking to play live shows.
How many songs or albums have you released to date?
In addition to the “Ether Dome” album, we have released “Regeneration”, an advance track from our next album, on Bandcamp and SoundCloud.
Can you tell us a few things about your latest release?
“Ether Dome”has been getting some great reviews, in addition to all the airplay and playlists, and we have just made a Limited Edition CD, to give our fans a chance to have a physical copy of record. We spent a lot of time working on it, learning ProTools along the way, and are very happy with the final product. The songs are autobiographical, but hopefully share some universal feelings and emotions that everyone can relate to.
Any plans for new music or upcoming projects we should know about?
We are fortunate that the quarantine has not slowed down our productivity. as we are currently using our home studios to continue working on songs for our follow up album, “Trans Global Amnesia”, which we hope to be releasing in the Fall of 2021.
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