PRESS RELEASE/BIO
Seeing KISS on TV in the mid ‘70s is what gave Erol Sora the rock n roll bug. It wasn’t long after he bought his first acoustic guitar for $15 dollars and his enthusiasm for the instrument hasn’t wavered since. He spent his formative years growing up in Montreal, practicing hours each day and writing songs while others indulged in hockey. He cites guitarists such as Ritchie Blackmore, Michael Schenker and John Sykes as early influences. After doing the usual “high school band” stint, Erol decided to take the plunge and head to LA in the mid ‘80s.
There he participated in various recording projects involving members of Quiet Riot, Survivor, etc… and managed to get a song of his released in Norway by the heavy metal band MISSLEAD. Eventually he hooked up with the hard rock outfit Siberia. Though Siberia made a strong impression throughout the southern California area and received label interest, management problems and the classic “musical differences” eventually ended the group.
Somewhat disillusioned with the LA scene by the early ‘90s, Erol then set his sights on London, England, having been heavily influenced by all things “British” especially in terms of music and sense of humor. Before heading to London, he did find time as a “last minute thing” to play live with Canadian R&B group Pro-Soul on their nationwide debut TV appearance in Vancouver.
Arriving in London by the mid ‘90s, he spent some time in a blues based covers band and was in the process of recording some solo material, when he met ex Uriah Heep/Lucifer’s Friend singer John Lawton. Having been a long time fan, Erol jumped at the chance to join the John Lawton Band as a guitarist/songwriter. To this date the band have released 4 CDs and 2 live DVDs.
The John Lawton Band has taken Erol on many journeys over the years playing shows throughout England, Belgium, Germany, Holland, Italy, Lithuania, Norway and Slovenia. Towards the end of 2004, the band decided to take a break from live activities.
As a result, Erol put together his own band SORA, took up lead vocal duties himself and recorded the album “Demented Honour” which was released by MTM Music in 2006. SORA’s debut album received rave reviews globally and earned them a position in Melodicrock.com's Top 10 New Artists of that year. It encompassed Erol’s love of “in your face” hard rock music, with a couple of blues, pop, and AOR elements thrown in for good measure.
SORA have now completed work on their 2nd album “Desire And Truth”.
Says Erol, “My aim was to recapture the spirit and sound of great bands like MSG, Whitesnake, Rainbow, UFO, Thin Lizzy from the late ‘70s/early ‘80s era. I'd describe “Desire & Truth” as a very heavy, guitar oriented album, yet still melodic in terms of vocals and songwriting. It’s taken a long time to complete but I simply didn't want to rush this 2nd release and honestly couldn’t be happier with the results.”
Adds Erol “It’s been a great experience recording the 2 SORA CDs having the freedom to write everything and perform all vocals myself.
I love singing and wanted these albums to be based around the songs first and foremost, yet also appeal to fans of guitar oriented hard rock. I’m really looking forward to playing these new songs live.” Desire and Truth is released on Marquee/Avalon in Japan on Jan 20th and on Avenue of Allies Feb 26th throughout Europe.
Erol now divides his time between England and North America.
OFFICIAL WEBSITE: (CLICK BELOW)
