Last Friday, the KXDU radio station released its ninth Tiny Dorm Concert featuring Surprise Soup, a Denver-based band.
KXDU, DU’s student-led radio station, created these tiny dorm concerts to highlight local artists. The videos showcase various bands, performers and their music, ending with an interview with the bands. The small sets create a homey atmosphere where it feels like you get to know the performers you’ve seen on stage.
Surprise Soup’s interview answers brought me to the band’s house. It was here standing outside their door, that I heard them live for the first time.
Melodic guitar riffs and loud, fast drum hits rang from a small crack in their basement window. The music escaping the opening was definitely the band I’d heard on YouTube, but they sounded different.
That’s the point. It’s in the name — Surprise. Each gig brings out a new sound from the group. They pride themselves most in their ability to riff and jam off each other at the drop of a hat.
When Suprise Soup formed in Aug. 2023, they had experience in a vast range of genres, all having played in numerous bands prior to forming.
Sean Perman, vocalist and guitarist of the group, met bassist Marco Ramirez in the band Batterhead. The drive to practice was long, but it’s how the two found out they were into the same music.
“Sean was like, ‘Do you want to start that band,’ and I was like yeah I found a drummer,” Ramirez said.
Collin Brown, the drummer in question, met Ramirez through the band Seattle Kay.
The soundscape of Surprise Soup is influenced by numerous genres. Grounded in Midwest emo and influenced by math rock and shoegaze, these sounds contribute to the alternative rock feel of the band. However, their biggest influence comes from each other.
“I have always liked the Frank Zappa answer of, I have a general understanding of my instrument,” Brown said. “[Then] I kinda just go for it based on what they are doing.”
Riffing off one another is why fans will never see the same performance twice.
“A lot of things are improvised,” Perman said. “Our very first show we wrote an entire song on stage at the very end.”
The love members have for music along with the freedom they give each other to experiment is the biggest difference from performing for past bands.
“We’re all in this band because we enjoy music, no one’s doing it to be famous,” Perman said.
“This is rewarding all around,” Ramirez said. “I get to be myself, and I get to do it with my good friends.”
Although the group has only been together for a short period of time, they have already released the single, “Soup 1 (The Roxy)” on streaming platforms, played venues both within and outside of Colorado, and gained a strong fanbase within the DU community.
As for the future of Surprise Soup, members aim to finish recording songs, play more shows, write new music and biggest of all lift up the music and creative community in Denver.
