Soul inSanity named Unique Artist of the Year

Fans proved to be insane for Soul inSanity, a band with four UCF students, which recently won the Unique Artist of the Year award at the DeLand Music Festival.

The band won this award with its unique blend of jazz, funk and rock. Soul inSanity describes their music as "funk rockestra": funk with a mixture of rock and orchestra.

The members of Soul inSanity are UCF students Jacques St-Laurent, the wind player; Calvin Hawley, the trombone player; Luke Diaz, the bass guitarist; Casey Cromer, the trumpet player; and three other members: Matt Tonner, the lead singer and keyboard and banjo player; Craig Henderson, lead guitarist; and Justin Braun, the percussionist.

Tonner said the band is different and is glad people have noticed.

"Our sound is interesting because of the way I try to use all of the instruments. Most of what I write is character pieces," Tonner said. "I try to get into the mentality of telling a story. Usually the music will come first and then what the character is trying to say."

The band has been playing together for about two years.

"We are just a group of friends who share a common interest in music and share a passion for it," said St-Laurent, a junior digital media major.

The band currently plays mostly in the Central Florida area, but hopes to eventually play across the state.

"We are always looking for opportunities to expand our fan base and for new opportunities to perform, especially at UCF," Braun said. "We are all grateful for everyone who listens to us at UCF."

Soul inSanity played their hearts out to thousands of music fans attending the festival, which was produced by Songwriters Showcases of America.

The purpose of the event is "to celebrate the creativity in music in a festival environment by featuring local and regional acts in multiple stage locations throughout downtown Deland," said Phil Weidner, the SSA President.

Among the crowd was members of the band's sponsor,  NORML at UCF, and their relation to constitutional rights.

"We love the people in the organization, they support our music, and we support their cause," Braun said.

Along with their unique sound, Soul inSanity writes original lyrics.

"Matt composes all of our tunes and lyrics and we write tunes unlike anything else out there," Braun said.

One of the band's songs is, "We Got Hustle," which features Braun on an African hand drum.

"It is kind of a chant like style. Our vision was we are indigenous tribe of island dwellers making a space ship out of bamboo and you hear building as we build this spaceship," Braun said. "We got out into outer space and once we get there we are just floating around and having a party in space."

Another aspect of this band that is unique is that their music is only sold online.

"Our business model is called street performer protocol, where the more money we receive, the more music we make," Tonner said. "It is directly related to audience engagement and the next step is to use the funds to support a good cause in the community. I believe music can help save the world."

Once the band receives $1,000, it will release the entire EP online for free.

"This is to put the ownership of music back in the fans' hands," Braun said.

You can find Soul inSanity's music on their Facebook page and videos of the band at their official website www.soulinsanity.com.

With their unique sound, Soul inSanity seeks to do one thing with their music— to change the world.

"Music brings people together and we use that to make positive changes in the world," Tonner said.