Jazz gone wrong... heavy, silly, lilting, serious, intricate, joyous... Standard Deviation plays eclectic rock for people who seek musical diversity.

15 MP3 Songs
ROCK: Modern Rock, ROCK: 70's Rock



Details:
âMost new bands record a demo, but you guys made The White Album....â
â Howard Karp, engineer/co-producer of Abnormally Normal or Normally Abnormal?

Fred Schwab and Frank Esquer formed Standard Deviation in 1994 when they were students at Musicians Institute in Hollywood, California. The two were playing guitars in a practice room when Fred began playing a rock chord progression he had written. Frank improvised a rock lead over the progression, but when Fred came to a break, Frank filled the silence with a goofy country lick. At that moment, Fred knew he had found a kindred musical spirit, and Standard Deviation was born.

Over the course of the year they attended MI together, Fred, Frank, and various rhythm sections performed as Standard Deviation numerous times. They were well received in two MI Battle of the Bands competitions, and they were selected to participate in the year-end graduation performance. After graduation, the two headed into the Musicians Institute studios with sound engineer/instructor Howard Karp and began laying down the tracks that comprise Abnormally Normal or Normally Abnormal?

Due to tight finances and Fredâs move back to his home in San Antonio, Texas, recording proceeded intermittently over a period of a year-and-a-half. However, in the summer of 1997, Abnormally Normal or Normally Abnormal? was finally complete. Both Fred and Frank were extremely pleased with the results.

Although the 1400 miles between Fredâs and Frankâs homes spelled the end of Standard Deviation as an active band, the musical achievement of Abnormally Normal or Normally Abnormal? remains. The CD opens with âThe Hillbilly Soliloquy,â the rock/fusion/country extravaganza that birthed Standard Deviation. It is followed by the straight-ahead rock tune âRescue,â the jazzy âPlease Donât Lay Me In Your Bed,â the poignant acoustic ballad âFirewalker,â the comic-relief drum solo âKool-Aid Man,â the hard-driving âSilent Falls The Night,â the Zappa-esque âDebris,â the piano ballad âAgainst The Grain,â the Korn-meets-fusion epic âEnemy,â the delicate guitar lullaby âPaulâs Song,â the humorous pop ditty âEverybodyâs Baby, the jazz-pop rumination âMore Than Nothing,â the Chicago blues rave-up âSheâs So Good,â the everything-including-the-Moroccan-marketplace pop rocker âEverything,â and the enigmatic closer, âNew Age Music For The Mentally Imbalanced.â While, on the surface, such musical diversity might seem jarring, the stylistic unity of Abnormally Normal or Normally Abnormal? renders each song a coherent part of the whole.

In the years since 1997, Fred has performed solo acoustic versions of many of the songs on Abnormally Normal or Normally Abnormal? In 2006, he formed a new band, Equilibrium, based in Austin, Texas, and the trioâs current repertoire includes the Standard Deviation songs âThe Hillbilly Soliloquy,â âRescue,â âFirewalker,â and âEverybodyâs Baby.â