Our Artist of the Week #17, The Remedies, is an alternative rock outfit from Chicago, Illinois comprised of guitarist and lead vocalist, Marco Obaya, bass player and backing vocalist, Jake Schnoebelen, and drummer and percussionist, Angelo Santoyo. Jake and Marco were childhood friends, while Marco and Angelo were acquaintances in high school. Marco and Angelo’s first musical encounter came in early 2014 when Marco was offered a position playing bass in The Damosellas, a punk rock band fronted by a mutual friend of theirs. He took the gig and the two quickly bonded over grunge music, coffee and cigarettes.

Marco’s stint in the band was short as he left in August of the same year to focus on If Looks Could Kill, a metal band in which he played guitar. In his time away from The Damosellas he also began to work on a solo project, which would become the first Remedies’ album, ‘Duplicitous’. The record was released on musical forums such as BandCamp and SoundCloud in August of 2015. Shortly before the release of Duplicitous, Marco rejoined The Damosellas. Reacquainted, Marco decided to get Angelo involved with Duplicitous and had him record drums for the album’s closing track, ‘Let it Go’. This would be the first time the two would appear on the same song under the Remedies banner. Marco attempted to assimilate a band using Angelo and Damosellas rhythm guitarist, Tyler Palermo, but this never came to fruition as it caused tension among the group, the other members questioning where Marco’s priorities lie. Marco was also still heavily involved with If Looks Could Kill, which only aggravated the matter, ultimately leading to Marco and The Damosellas once again parting ways.

There was a lull in the relationship between Marco and Angelo for almost a year. The two kept very busy in their own individual musical endeavors, Marco with ILCK, Angelo with The Damosellas and both would hit very rough patches. Following a small series of personal issues, If Looks Could Kill’s front man, Christian Schmidt, decided to leave music to further his education. Meanwhile, in The Damosellas camp, the relationship between Angelo and singer/lead guitarist, Ian Dierks, became very strained over personal and creative differences. In early July of 2016 the two got into an argument which led to Angelo punching a fridge out of anger. The outburst caused three breaks and two dislocations in the drummers hand and required surgery, effectively putting him out of commission until the fall.

In their time apart Marco was heavily immersed in several musical projects both in performance and technical roles, riding out the final few ILCK shows, producing the group’s first and only record, and producing for outlandish punk rockers, Zoned Out. This unique group was formed by frontman and lead guitarist Jake Schnoebelen, with Jake’s friend Adam on bass and a multitude of drummers throughout the band’s brief history. When Jake felt the group was ready to hit the studio, he reached out to Marco to do the job. It was through this recording session that Marco would take serious note of Jake’s enthusiasm, capabilities as a song writer and performer, and overall passion for music. Their friendship was revitalized as the two had grown closer than ever.

Shortly after recording had wrapped, Zoned Out broke up. Jake would have brief stints in various other projects, but was unable to find a suitable fit. Marco and Angelo found themselves once again on speaking terms. Marco inquired to Angelo to record drums for a follow up EP to ‘Duplicitous’, but Angelo still had about a month left before he was cleared to play drums. The two made plans to get together once recovery was complete. The first few practices were rocky, but they eventually found their groove and immediately began writing together. As the songs began to pile up it was decided that Angelo was in and that the second Remedies record was in the works. About midway through the process Marco invited Jake to a practice to audition for a role on bass. A relative newcomer to music, he literally picked up bass so that he could join the band. Despite him being new to his instrument, he refused to be intimidated and impressed both Marco and Angelo and was asked to join the band the next week. For the next year the trio rigorously wrote, recorded, and self-produced the second Remedies’ full-length album, ‘Repertoire’ which is set for release later this year.