Echosend

Jonathan Mead, Keyboard player for Echosend, otherwise known as Swamo: began his musical journey in high school, as an assistant recording engineer at a small suburban studio. After two years of recording bands and experimenting with sounds he enrolled in a music theory class. At this point he began to play the piano and from there went on to college to major in music. During these years he played with just about every kind of band imaginable, from Big Bands, to Heavy Metal bands, Cover Bands and Bluegrass Bands. After school was finished he went on to tour around the country, mostly out west at various resorts and such. During these years he met many wonderful musicians and started to compose music for different groups. After several years on the road, he returned to Chicago to put in some time recording. At this time he was introduced to Steve Smith, and Kurt Puckhaber. They instantly hit it off musically and began the journey that would lead to Echosend. At first they concentrated on jazz and improvisation. This lead to several bands that played around Chicago and over seas. As the musical friendship developed the various influences and improvisational directions emerged. This would ultimately lead to the founding of Echosend. After several recordings and some success with the band “Mister Fister” the stage was set for the emergence of Echosend. It all started innocently enough, just jamming in a warehouse with a tape machine rolling. Eventually they did a couple impromptu shows and a cable t.v. show, they decided they had something special. This led to search for the perfect vocalist to complement the sound. The rest is Echosend history.