DEVAS biography


Chuck Van Haecke drums	Gianni Chiarello guitars	Andri Leonardo vocals / keyboards	Eric MacPherson bass

It’s only fitting that Los Angeles, the City of the Angels, be home to Progressive/Alternative Rock group Devas, whose name means Angels or Deities in Sanskrit. Deva (devas plural) comes from deiwos, originally an adjective meaning "shining".

Devas was founded in Boston by singer Andri Leonardo while a student at Berklee College of Music as a small endeavor with no aim other than to record projects at school. Eventually, Devas grew to include keyboardist Emir Isilay, guitarist Gianni Chiarello, bassist Dave Lindman, and drummer Kaoru Suzuki. The group made a mark on the Boston music scene and released a self titled EP in 2001 followed by its debut album, True Illusions, in 2003. Sadly, the band broke up some time after with each member embarking on his solo career.

Leonardo and Isilay, undeterred by a trifling setback, relocated to Los Angeles and recruited bassist Eric MacPherson, drummer Chuck VanHaecke, and re-united with guitarist Gianni Chiarello and created the new iteration of Devas. With this new lineup in place, Devas is ready to take the next step with the re-release of True Illusions followed by the release of their sophomore album Metamorphosis, due February 2nd, 2013.

Devas takes its Progressive cue from such influential groups as Queen, Yes, Genesis, Dream Theater and Spock’s Beard while combining it with the sounds of other genres such as jazz, radio pop, and alternative rock. They’ve been nicknamed “Dream Theater Light” by their fans thanks to their accessible and unpretentious Prog style.

Lyrically, they’re also more down to Earth than their Prog brethren. “We sing about everyday situations,” says Leonardo, “like coping with life and one's problems and obstacles, overcoming them and finding new ways to fulfill our lives with happiness and success. We write and perform songs to digest our own experiences, but also to give hope and a good time to our fans and listeners.”

Signed to their own lable Doodeen Rekords, Devas is looking to tour Europe in 2013/14 with their new album Metamorphosis, including countries like the UK, Germany, Switzerland, France and Italy. But they are also looking for wider distribution of their records into Asia and South America. "We love California" says drummer Chuck van Haecke, "and that's where we want to have our base. But we also love to travel and see places. So it'd be great to play anywhere in the world, where people like our music."

For now they are finishing writing the new record "[..] which will have a bit of a harder edge to it." says Eric MacPhearson (bass). "We also worked on a video clip for one of the songs," adds singer Andri Leonardo, "and we are excited to see what our fans will say!"

Keyboardist Emir Isilay: "We definitely grew in the past few years and have a more defined sound, I think." And that's exactly what Devas wants to put out there: They are transforming and morphing into something new with and through Metamorphosis. Gianni Chiarello: "We can't wait to go back out there and rock our audience with the new songs!"

After 9 years Emir Isilay quit the band during the recording process, due to other musical endeavors and thus lack of time playing with the band. Finishing the new CD is what Devas is focusing and working on right now. The video and the record will be released through Doodeen Rekords on February 2nd, 2013.

Musicians Devas played with during the past 10 years:

Emir Isilay - keyboards

Joe Babiak - drums

German Schauss - guitar

Yoshimi Aizawa - back-up vocals

Joshua Minyard - drums / guitar

Kai Kurosawa - bass

Eliot Lorango - bass

Jeff Kalmbach - guitar

Ko Kansa - drums

John-Paul McLean - bass

Alice Ayvazian - back-upvocals

Pepe Clark - drums

Luca Maurizi - guitar

Devrim Eldelekli - guitar