User:Logan W. Gardner/sandbox

Eclectic Republic are an independent American Hip Hop fusion band formed in early 2016 by lead vocalists and emcees aHs Bin Shujaa and Brian Howelton in Portland, Oregon, as a collaboration of Art of Fact Entertainment and Defiant Roots Entertainment. After getting together through various means of networking, aHs and Brian (stage name Proffess) brought on Michael Figueroa (DJ Figgs) to run turntables and backing tracks for live events, as well as Edwin Oliver (GotBeatz) who laid down keys and produced some of the tracks himself. Simon Madewell and Logan Gardner later joined as a pair, adding lead guitar and acoustic drums to liven up the prerecorded back tracks and helped to create a band presentation while on stage. From 2016 on to 2017, the group could be caught at venues across the greater PDX area, as well as the heart of the city itself, performing alongside high profile acts and artists under the hip hop genre without a real name to speak of.

Many times the group would gather at local coffee shops and residencies to discuss proceedings and opportunities, eventually coming to the conclusion that a female vocalist was needed to complete the outfit. Michelle Marie, an aspiring independent pop artist from the neighboring city of Beaverton, was added to the line up. with her, she brought backing acoustic guitar, bass guitar, backing vocals and lead vocals on tracks she had written and produced herself. The band adopted its official name Eclectic Republic in the summer of 2017 which emphasized the diversity of the musical backgrounds each member had.