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Concrete unifies various elements in order to solidify into a single, potent force. Apply this same theory to the world of music; Hailing from the birthplace of bikinis in the winter time, San Diego California, say aloha to The Concrete Project. The Concrete Crew utilizes the main ingredient of Hip Hop, blends sounds extracted from various genres, and serves a delicious dish to entice the ears. Finding these ingredients may seem simple, but it’s not as easy as tossing items into a shopping cart.

Circa 2003, having just come to San Diego via Santa Rita Guam, Shaun “Bro” Borja (Guitar) was working in the mailroom of a mortgage company and met Caleb “MCI” Cruz (Vocals) who was holding down a mundane cubicle position in the office upstairs. It wasn’t until years later Caleb found that Shaun could play a wicked rock influenced guitar. In 2004, Eddie Barnachea (Bass) accidently connected with Cody Branin (Drums) while they were both applying for jobs. Eddie witnessed Cody tapping his feet and hands in the application room and simply asked, “Hey bro, are you a drummer”. Though Cody was already drumming for a rock band, he went ahead and gave Eddie his contact information. Through mutual friends Eddie, Cody, and Caleb (along with 3 other musicians) would form Hip Hop fusion band, Audio Antics, which would last for 2 years before ultimately disbanding in 2006. Jen “Mango” Manglicmot (Keys/Vocals), while working as an elementary school teacher, was finding time to hone her skills as a solo pianist/singer. Jen has been an acquaintance of Eddie since their adolescent years as B-Boys/B-Girls in the early 1990’s. Caleb was introduced to Tory “Killabars” Thomas (Vocals) in 2006 in the oddest of ways. This was around the same time Tory finished a 4 year, 9 month, 21 day service with the U.S. Navy to start his label Hit Mobb Ent. Just moving into his new upstairs apartment, Caleb was hanging out on the balcony when a voice from the neighbor below asked, “Hey, are you MCI”. With Tory being about 23 feet taller and 632 inches wider than the small framed Filipino man, Caleb feared his health was in jeopardy and was hesitant to answer. After about 5 minutes of them both staring at each other, Caleb answered “Yeah” and Tory replied with “Man, I heard your band’s stuff. It’s tight!” Caleb was relieved and later told Tory he was lucky because he knew karate and could’ve broken Tory’s forehead bone in 5 different places. Since that day, Tory freestyling was a staple landmark spewing out of Caleb’s apartment. As individualistic as these stories come off, they all served as a catalyst of what would become The Concrete Project.

[fast forward to 2007] Caleb, Eddie, and Cody were stagnant due to their band’s break up in late 2006, Tory was adjusting to life as a civilian after years of serving his country, Jen was focused on molding the future of America, And Shaun was…well…Shaun was being all handsome with his rugged good looks and rock hard islander abs. With their burning desire to paint sound, but no pallet for creation, it took one phone call to spawn a chain reaction of phone calls. In turn, those calls scheduled the first jam session of what would be The Concrete Project: Tory, Caleb, Jen, Eddie, Shaun, and Cody. Their first practice sessions were more like testing arenas to find equilibrium amongst their styles. However, they eventually discovered a creative median that catered to all their strong points. Having spent most of 2007 shaping their sound in the rehearsal studio, The Concrete Project first hit the stage in late 2007. Thanks to a strong word of mouth following, The Concrete Project has already packed brand name San Diego venues by the likes of Canes, Winstons, and Humphrey’s by the Bay-just to name a few. Proving that they could rip the stage and please a crowd fully, The Concrete Project took a break from live performances in March 2008 to do what every band should do; record an album. With fans eagerly waiting, their debut record was released in August 2008.