- Cevin Soling
-
Cevin Soling 
Background information Birth name Cevin Daniel Soling Born August 5
New York City, New York, U.S.Genres alternative rock Occupations producer, musician and writer Instruments Vocals, guitar Years active 1992-Present Labels Xemu Records Associated acts The Neanderthal Spongecake
The Love Kills TheoryCevin Soling (pronounced "KEV-in SO-ling") (born August 5) is an American writer, filmmaker, philosopher, musician, music producer, and artist. He is known for his Rumpleville book series, his bands The Neanderthal Spongecake and The Love Kills Theory,[1] his film work including A Hole in the Head, Boris the Dog, and his writings and essays. In 2009 he appeared on The Colbert Report to talk about his documentary The War on Kids.[2] In 2011 he released a documentary about the Ik people of northern Uganda titled Ikland.[3] He is president of Spectacle Films and Xemu Records, and is a member of Mensa.[4]
Contents
Biography
Cevin Soling was born in New York Hospital in New York City, and grew up in Scarsdale, NY.[5] His father, Chester Soling, was an architect and real estate developer who founded The Soling Program at Syracuse University.[6] His mother, Carole Soling, was an ESL teacher. He has two older sisters.
He attended The University of Michigan, as well as Union College, and ended up majoring in English.[5] He is currently in graduate school at Harvard University where he is studying philosophy and English.
Film career
Cevin wrote and directed the short animated film Boris the Dog, which aired on MTV in 1998 and later on the BBC. It won the "Premio Nuovo" award at the Williamsburg Brooklyn Film Festival. It aired as part of MTVs Cartoon Sushi and on the BBC His short films Captain Stickman and Destruction were selected for the 2006 Chicago Indiefest. The Bill Johnson Show, an animated series written and created by Soling, was featured in Spike and Mike's Sick and Twisted Animation Festival, as well as in the Shout Factory's Caught in the Act video compilations.
He was also executive producer for the 1998 independent feature film Relax...It's Just Sex, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was shown on HBO and Showtime.[4]
In 1998, he produced the documentary A Hole in the Head on the history of trepanation. It was broadcast on The Discovery Channel and The Learning Channel. It won the Best Documentary Award at the Atlantic City Film Festival and the Brooklyn International Film Festival. In 2008, the documentary found new life with a screening on April 30, at New York City's Anthology Film Archives, plus the rights of the movie reverted back to Cevin, and he made the movie available through mail order.[7]
- The War on the War on Drugs (2005)
Cevin was writer, director, and producer of the film The War on the War on Drugs which won the award for best experimental feature film at the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival in 2005, as well as the High Times Stoney award for best documentary. It also won the “Clear Creek” Honorable Mention Award at the Winslow International Film Festival. The film was acquired for worldwide DVD distribution by The Disinformation Company.[8]
- The War on Kids (2009)
In Spring 2009, Cevin's documentary The War on Kids won "best educational documentary" for the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival.[4] While the movie had a week-long run at New York City's Quad Cinema, Cevin was invited to appear on the Colbert Report in which Cevin explained how schools have been transformed into what are "effectively prisons".[2] The film also screened at universities such as Harvard, and has been reviewed in The New York Times, Variety, and The Huffington Post. The documentary was also featured on The Dr. Nancy Show on MSNBC and Soling was a guest on radio shows such as The Lionel Show on Air America, The Joe Reynolds Show on WOR, and the Leonard Lopate Show on WNYC.[9]
- Ikland (2011)
Ikland[3] is a 2011 documentary about a journey into northern Uganda and visit with the notorious Ik people. It was produced by Soling, and directed by Soling and David Hilbert.[10] The Ik were famously described as sadistic monsters by anthropologist Colin Turnbull in his 1972 ethnographic book The Mountain People. Ikland examines Turnball's description within the context of the Iks' lives and circumstances, and reveals the Ik in a more human way.[3] The documentary was the Winner of the "Indie Spec Best Content in a Documentary" award at the 2011 Boston International Film Festival,[10] and was positively reviewed by Discover Magazine[3] and Lonely Planet.[11]
Spectacle Films
Soling runs the New York City-based Spectacle Films, Inc.
Music career
In 1994, Cevin worked with Robert Church to produce Church's Smile Zone album.[1]
The Neanderthal Spongecake (1998-2001)
In 1998, his band The Neanderthal Spongecake released their debut album, The Side Effects of Napalm. Soling and keyboardist Bill Brandau produced the album along with backing from Buffalo, NY-based band Scary Chicken.[1][4]
The songs "This Thing" and the acoustic cover of "Metal Health" with Quiet Riot vocalist Kevin Dubrow both received extensive airplay on college and commercial radio in the United States. The song "Tastes Like Chicken" has been played on the Dr. Demento show, and the song "Buffalo" was featured in the closing credits of the A&E series Confessions of a Matchmaker.[4]
In addition to tours, the band had a large following in their hometown of New York City, while the Village Voice listed the group as one of the top five bands performing in 1999's CMJ music conference.
The band broke up in 2001 with the departure of then bassist Mark Tomase and drummer Martin Trum. Additional songs credited to The Neanderthal Spongecake after 2001 are solo recordings by Soling.
When Pigs Fly (2002)
In 2002, Cevin served as executive producer of the album When Pigs Fly: Songs You Never Thought You'd Hear, which is a collection of popular songs recorded by artists unlikely to record them. After his earlier success convincing Kevin DuBrow of Quiet Riot to record a mellow version of the song "Metal Health" with him, he got the idea for the project and began recruiting musicians to participate. Some of the songs on the album include a version of Unforgettable by Ani DiFranco and Jackie Chan, which he co-produced with DiFranco, Blondie's "Call Me" by Alex Chilton and his band The Box Tops, and a cover of Shock The Monkey by Don Ho which Cevin also produced.[5]
The Love Kills Theory (2007-present)
Cevin is lead singer and songwriter of the band The Love Kills Theory. Their album Happy Suicide, Jim! was released in January 2007. It charted on CMJ’s top 200 and was played in rotation on over 70 commercial radio stations.
Print media
His poetry earned him the title "Pharaoh of Fluff" at the 2009 Fluff Celebration in Somerville, MA.[12] He has also written a series of ten illustrated books under the heading of The Rumpleville Chronicles. The first three titles, The Jolly Elf, The Disciples of Trotsky, and The Bomb that Followed Me Home were released in the winter of 2008 through Monk Media. He is currently working on a graduate degree at Harvard University where he is studying philosophy and English and has worked as a TA.[4]
Personal life
Outside of entertainment, Soling has written programming code and was published in the computer journal On Three.[4]
Soling travels quite a bit. He has visited Borneo, Sumatra, and spent time with the headhunting Iban people in 1991. Soling lives with his cat Dr. Claw; he adopted the tuxedo cat in 1989.
References
- ^ a b c "Artists: The Neanderthal Spongecake". Xemu Records. http://www.xemu.com/artists.html. Retrieved 2010-07-03.
- ^ a b "Cevin D. Soling". The Colbert Report. 2009-11-30. http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/256926/november-30-2009/cevin-soling. Retrieved 2010-07-03.
- ^ a b c d Mooney, Chris (June 6, 2011). "Ikland - A New Film By Cevin Soling and David Hilbert". Discover Magazine. http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection/2011/06/06/ikland-a-new-film-by-cevin-soling-david-hilbert/. Retrieved 2011-07-11.
- ^ a b c d e f g "The War on Kids". Homeschooling in Sweden. November 2009. http://sites.google.com/site/homeschoolinginsweden/usa-home-education/the-war-on-kids. Retrieved 2010-07-03.
- ^ a b c "Cevin Soling of Love Kills Theory". Song Facts. 9/2007. http://www.songfacts.com/int/2007/09/cevin-soling.html. Retrieved 2010-07-03.
- ^ "The Soling Program". Syracuse University. http://soling.syr.edu/. Retrieved 2010-07-03.
- ^ "Trepanning the Light Fantastic: Cevin Soling gives you A Hole In The Head". HyperNews. February 21, 2008. http://www.hypernews.org/HyperNews/get/entertainments/music/468.html. Retrieved 2010-07-03.
- ^ "IMDB Entry". Internet Movie Database. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0813085. Retrieved 2010-07-03.
- ^ Catsoulis, Jeanette (November 18, 2009). "What Ails Public Schools? Better Ask, What Doesn't?". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/18/movies/18kids.html. Retrieved 2010-07-03.
- ^ a b "Ikland Movie Home". Ikland Movie. http://iklandmovie.com/. Retrieved 2011-07-11.
- ^ Mutic, Anja (May 1, 2011). "Journey the Ikland". Lonely Planet. http://www.lonelyplanet.com/travelblogs/35/113288/Journey+to+Ikland?destId=355692. Retrieved 2011-07-11.
- ^ "What the Fluff? A Tribute to Union Square Invention 2009". Union Square Main Streets. 2009. http://www.unionsquaremain.org/committees/Special%20Events/flufffest09.html. Retrieved 2010-07-03.
External links
Categories:- Living people
- American documentary filmmakers
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