MARK COMER BACK IN THE STUDIO
(for a great cause!)

How do you create a rock album with players from all around the world separated by oceans and time zones?
 
Answer:
With abandon!
 
The forthcoming album, due to drop in April, is the first recording effort by Mark Comer’s band of Synergy All-Stars who are located in various locations around Asia.
 
After 3 years as a touring music force, the band is nearing completion of their first music CD featuring many of the favorites from their live shows in a semi-live format. This involves the combination of live and studio tracks created both in the US and in Asia, and brought together in one studio for finish work.
 
“This CD was a natural product of all the hard work done by this band  … really gifted musicians in their own right,” said Mark Comer, band front-man and producer. “We share so many common bonds with people around the world, and it really is true that music … specifically, rock and roll … is one of the greatest bonds there is.”
 
Mark and the Synergy All-Star Band have performed for audiences of 300 in rock clubs and to crowds of over 3,000 in convention halls, playing such rock standards as Purple Haze, Pretty Woman, and Smoke on the Water. “It would shock a lot of people in the United States to know that people throughout the world know every word to the biggest songs in rock today,” said Comer.  ‘These people know Pearl Jam, AC/DC and Zeppelin, and practically bring the house down on playing Wild Thing and Enter Sandman! It’s crazy! It’s awesome! You’d honestly have to see it to believe it!”
 
The band consists of Comer on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Alief on drums (and band leader in Indonesia), Totok and Lucky are lead guitars. Erwis on bass guitar, and Pungky on lead and background vocals. Although band members are accomplished musically, they also hold regular jobs and have families, etc. AND THEY ROCK!
 
All of the music that make up this album are covers of rock standards, and all of them have a unique flare that can only come through the widely diverse backgrounds of the players. “You will recognize every song,” said Comer, “But you will also have a new experience because there is nothing that sounds exactly the same from the versions you know. Everything has a strain running through it that makes you realize you’re hearing something special. Something cool!”
 
What else makes this music collection special is the reason it was put together in the first place. “This album was more than fun to watch come together,” said Stewart Anstead, director of 5 Star Legacy Foundation, a non-profit children’s charity that Comer began in 2008. “It has been all about giving back by helping children who live in poverty,” he added.
 
The CD will be for sale online as well as at each venue where Comer will be speaking on his tour and will also be for sale where the band will be performing. This is the start of how the reach of music can have an impact helping children with these needs within the reach of the Foundation. The cost of the production is supported by private donors and all proceeds are going to children in 5 Star Legacy Foundation projects.
 
For example, some proceeds will be going to assist a building project at Mambul Illum Orphanage in Surabaya, Indonesia. As Surabaya is also one of the band’s show venues, the money raised in sales there will serve to help that area.
 
The band is gearing up for another series of concerts this May to support Comer’s speaking tour and Foundation work. This year’s tour of Indonesia includes performances in Surabaya and in Makassar.
 
Come back soon for further tour information and CD and .mp3 online availability.