The Steve Oakley Band (S.O.B.) is an American (though internationally flavored) indie rock band from New Jersey. Formed in 2010, the band consists of Philly born / Jersey bred Steve Oakley (vocals, guitar) Alaska born John Knorr (lead guitar, keyboards), British born Barbados raised Paul Puckerin (bass, mandolin, keyboards, bangey shaky things) and Libyan born (of Dutch descent) Mike Ligthart (drums, percussion). The band melds their unique and varied influences (alt country, punk, classic rock, prog and world music) into a coherent musical soundscape bolstered by intelligent lyrics and emotional story telling. The band is noted for their ability to cross all genres while retaining their signature sound. S.O.B. employs a rock and roll attitude with singer songwriter sensibilities adding equal parts power and poignancy.
History
In the waning days of 2010 Mike Ligthart began organizing songwriting / jam sessions with old friends Oakley and Knorr calling the project “Progtologists”. Buoyed by the initial experience Oakley began sending MP3’s of these sessions to Puckerin in the hopes of adding his incomparable bass skills to the sessions. Once in the fold, Puckerin began adding his world music flavor and multi instrumental skills to Knorr’s otherworldly Guitar skills and Ligthart’s amazing drumming. Almost instantly the quartet developed a collaborative chemistry and sound that immediately begged for a more ambitious scope to the project. In early April 2011 the band entered Milkboy Studio’s to begin tracking.