BANZAI: December 2008

Cows. Also, Kablooie, Jan/Feb.

BUT

Some dude told us we sounded like Radiohead. ALSO, we're like 3x better since I last posted.

AWESOME!

History

Banzai originally existed under the name, "Defibrillator" when they formed around April 2004 with Lucian B. and Julian B. H. on drums and bass respectively (both now in Fiasco and Runtime Error). Lucian quit in early 2005 and was replaced by Jonathan (also in Fiasco), and a couple months after, Julian quit and was replaced by Max. The band didn't meet over the following summer, but after the fall semester began, they went back on track with their new members. With this new line-up Defibrillator began build their following. At their first Knitting Factory gig in March 2006, Defibrillator announced an official name change to Banzai (name credit goes to Jonathan) because of countless spelling issues with the former name.

At the beginning of 2007, Banzai tied for first at a Battle of the Bands at the Knitting Factory with Blondes Pass Out. Later in early summer, Banzai completed their first EP, Please Enjoy, and it is now on sale. On March 8th, 2008, Banzai won first again at the Knitting Factory battle.

Banzai's first full-length album, KABLOOIE (Here Comes the Fun) will be out in September of this year.

Songwriting

While the songs we write now are often quite complex, we weren't always writing that way. In fact, it was a very gradual process. Back in the good ol' days, our songs were quite basic, with nothing really out of the ordinary. This was likely due to our limited tastes in music. But as we continued to grow, so did our influences. We found ourselves to be in a state of constant musical exploration, and that exploration is (and continues to be) reflected through the music we create now.
The songs we write are hardly ever fully written before they are introduced to us. In most cases, one of us has a riff, or two that may work together, and we all help build a song from there. This can take anywhere from a half hour to six months, and can be very frustrating at times. (But hey, what's good art without sacrifice?) Once we've finished a tune, we may add lyrics, if we feel it could use them. Since none of us are singers, polishing vocal parts may take a good while. It's because of that, that we often play tunes we have in the works at our shows. Overall, we have no definite way of creating music, since our music has no definite way of creating us as a band. High risk, high return. (I think?)

"Woah guys, r those ur influences?!!1"

Rage Against the Machine, Mr. Bungle, Miles Davis, Your Exotic PRINCE, Dan Deacon, Herbie Hancock, Parliament, George Clinton, Funkadelic, Primus, Slayer, Bauhaus, Christian Death, Gnarls Barkley, Boredoms, Electric Wizard, Fantômas, Tomahawk, Mike Patton, Faith No More, Thelonious Monk, Bob Dylan, Stooges (Iggy Pop), MC5, The Corrao Q, No One and the Somebodies, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Black Sabbath (and Ozzy's early solo career), Skip James, Bonde Do Role, Pentagram, Asheru, Lil Wayne (mainly off of C3), Tay Zonday, xoc, Scars on Broadway, The Dirty Projectors, Old Table, Brian Eno, Sleep, Kyuss, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nirvana, Blue Mitchell, System of a Down, NIN, Primal Scream, King Crimson, Aesop Rock, Dr. Dre, Gang Starr, Pete Rock & CL Smooth, Oscar Peterson, Art Tatum, Eric Dolphy, Del Tha Funkee Homosapien, Deltron, Ice Cube, Mars, NWA, Public Enemy, DJ Kool, Cypress Hill, Sister Helen, Tool, Foot Village, Weather Report, Mahavishnu Orchestra, ELO, Goi Yamamoto, Sam Cooke, Zamfir, Jaco Pastorius, Hot Snakes, WESLEY WILLIS, Cab Calloway, Shooby Taylor, Fela Kuti, Godspeed You Black Emperor!, Babaa Mal, Earth, Lucky Dragons, Dillinger Escape Plan, Meshuggah, Bob Marley, Into the Moat, Burning Spear, Koola Lobitos, Ali Farka Touré, Skatalites (any 1st wave ska), Deltron, Derek & The Dominos, Elvis, The Doors, Donovan, Gil Evans, Claude Thornhill, Doobie Brothers, Josh Weidman, Ice-T, Ruins, Fushitsusha, Starscream, War, A Day In Black & White, Red Krayola, Schumann, Schubert, Schöenberg, Justice, Daniel Johnston, Vijaya Anand, Trevor Dunn's Trio Convulsant, "The Sensational Guitars of Dan and Dale" (Sun Ra Blues Project), Various 50s/60s TV composers, Soundtrack to Vampiros Lesbos (Sexadelic Dance Party), Clancy Bros, Saul Williams, Dropkick Murphys, Edgard Varèse, Elliott Smith, The Specials, Rancid, Bothy Band, Bud Powell, Bukka White, The Byrds, A Place to Bury Strangers, The Yardbirds, Buzzcocks, Cannonball Adderley, Spiritualized, Ilhan Mimaroglu, Chase, Charlie Christian, Charlie Patton, Chuck Berry, Weezer, Minor Threat, Aiden & Ani, Black Flag, Big Black, Fletcher Henderson, Shellac, Rapeman, Slint, Jesus Lizard, Butthole Surfers, Buena Vista Social Club, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Embrace, Todd Rundgren, Rites of Spring, Bad Brains, Lightning Bolt, Merzbow, (some) New Order, David Bowie, Ornette Coleman, Ween, Robert Johnson, Can, A Tribe Called Quest, Devo, Faust, Captain Beefheart, Frank Zappa (and the Mothers of Invention), Yes, Kaospilot, Does it Offend You, Yeah?, Jimi Hendrix, Neutral Milk Hotel, Dead Kennedys, Desmond Dekker, Charles Mingus, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, John Williams, Isley Brothers, Temptations, Love, Fugazi, Sonic Youth, Flaming Lips, Hot Snakes, Lovage, Fishbone, Radiohead, Circle Jerks, Clash, Cream, Crass, CCR, CSN, Neil Young, Johnny Cash, Beethoven, Bach, Pelican, Peeping Tom, Shrimp Boat, Curtis Mayfield, Earth Wind and Fire, The Fall, NoMeansNo, Haiku D'Etat (Aceyalone), Buddy Guy, Freestyle Fellowship, The Birthday Party, XTC, Blue Cheer, KRS-One (Boogie Down Productions) , Sublime, Camper Van Beethoven, The Damned, Dead Boys, Gorillaz, Delinquent Habits, X, DNA, Lounge Lizards, James Chance, James Brown, Descendents (early), Adolescents, Allman Brothers, Archaeopteryx, Aretha Franklin, Max Roach, Art Blakey, Dick Dale, Medeski Martin & Wood, Dinosaur Jr, Alice In Chains, various early gospel music, Agent Orange, Afrika Bambaataa, Mogwai, Tortoise, Talk Talk, Don Caballero, Operation Ivy, Television, Immortal Technique, the Evens, Marc Ribot, Phish (some), Throbbing Gristle, Thin Lizzy, Tom Waits, Nick Cave, Pixies, Violent Femmes, Velvet Underground, Wire, The Who, B-52&s, B.B. King, Jawbox, Babes in Toyland, The Band, Beach Boys, Beck, Biggie, Benny Goodman, Bessie Smith, Big Boys, Bikini Kill, Bill Evans, Billy Holiday, Blackalicious, Busdriver, Dead Prez, Jurassic 5, Blood Sweat and Tears, Bo Diddley, Bob Dorough, Bobby "Blue" Bland, Be Your Own Pet, Misfits, Rolling Stones, Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Rick James, John Zorn, Pere Ubu, Hella, Minutemen, Ramones, Gym Class Heroes, Bark Psychosis, Living Colour, Motorhead, Sparklehorse, Pavement, Matisyahu, Return to Forever, Average White Band, Beastie Boys, Pharcyde (early), Fugees (early), Django Reinhardt, X-Ray Spex, Wes Montgomery, Shrimp Boat, the Prodigy, D.O.A., Dave Appolon, Dazzling Killmen, Secret Chiefs 3, Sunn 0))), Boris, At The Drive In, Gentle Giant, Mars Volta, TV On The Radio, Orthrelm, Dismemberment Plan, Les Savy Fav, Chick Corea, Faraquet, Sonny Rollins, Of Montreal, Neutral Milk Hotel, The Zounds, Chocolate U.S.A., Olivia Tremor Control, Omar Rodriguez Lopez, A Perfect Circle, Gogol Bordello, Beirut, Botch, Mr. Oizo, New Pornographers, El-P, Thursday (EARLY), Grinderman, Jeff Mangum, Phantasmatrash, Biartz, Nusrat Fateh Ali-Khan, RJD2, Portishead, !!!, The (International) Noise Conspiracy, Celia Cruz, Willie Colòn, Ahmad Jamal, OOIOO, Orthrelm, Deerhoof, Y.A.C.H.T., Jeff Buckley, Opeth, Battles, Verdi, Mozart, Greig, Beethoven, Messaien, Holst, Rimsky-Korsakov, Amon Düül, Bach, Brahms, Wagner, Webern, Steve Reich, Respighi, Béla Fleck & The Flecktones, Shostakovich, Gershwin, Copland, Bheki Mseleku, Clifford Brown, Ted Nugent, Venetian Snares, Squarepusher, Amon Tobin, Yppah, Abstract Artimus, cLOUDDEAD, Hank Williams, Boards of Canada, Various No Wave, Keren Ann, Sufjan Stevens, John Jacob Niles, Neko Case, Esquivel, Spike Jones, Early Disney Soundtracks, Yonder Mountain String Band, Smart Went Crazy, Egghunt, Pailhead, Emerson Lake & Palmer, Jellyfish, Club Foot Orchestra, Ennio Morricone, Henry Mancini, The Polyphonic Spree, Architecture in Helsinki, Joni Mitchell, Health, The Go! Team, Japanther, Mr. Scruff, Porcupine Tree, Gogol Bordello, Blind Idiot God, Le Rug, Blast Off!, Godflesh, Idiot Flesh, Modest Mouse, Thunderbirds Are Now!, Strauss, Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy, Bonde Do Role, Company Flow, Parts & Labor, Mr. Lif, Patti Smith, Aphex Twin, Poco, Pärt, Buddy Durham, Explosions In The Sky, Jason Falkner, Jonny Greenwood, Converge, Mills Brothers, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, High Places, Shrek, No Age, Louis Jordan, Liars, King Tubby, Outkast, Penderecki, Goodie Mob, Crystal Castles, Animal Collective, Isis, Aerogramme, Portugal. The Man, Julius C., That one Fergie song that isn't god-awful, Keren Ann, Big L, Camille, This Heat, Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, Rachmaninov, Bartok, Satie, Shöenberg, Mahler, Stravinsky, Xenakis, Janacek, Carmine Coppola, Orff, Hindemith, Sandy Bull, Ratatat, Tim Buckley, John Prine, Tangerine Dream, Goom, Klaus Schulze, Vampire Weekend, M.I.A., John Carter, Hardrock Gunter, Al Sherron & The Blue Sky Rangers, Brainiac, Ravel, Fiasco, The Mighty Handful, KID:NAP:KIN, Consumer Feedback, Runtime Error, Air Waves, Bethune Street Players, Chubby Behemoth, Debussy, Berlioz, Sibelius, Stephen Malkmus, Akrobatik, Sugarsmack, Föetus, Lee, Play, Mouse On Mars, Deerhunter, Bernard Hermann, Henry Mancini, Dashiell Driscoll (Audiobytes For Autobots), Animal, Woody Herman, King Pleasure, Kultur Shock, Dmitri From Paris (some), K. Page & Sleepwalkers Parade, El Chombo, Aa (Big A Little a), Blind Willie McTell, Shooting Spires, Simian, Autechre, DeVotchKa, Contrarions, Cool & Unusual Punishment, Radiates, Starscream, The Ink Spots, Calamus, Jet Lag, Snuffalufagus, Ghosts & Vodka, George Shearing, Joao Gilberto, Phish (some), Daler Mehndi...

Pretty much, anything we can get our hands on.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

MOO!

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"Woah guys, r those ur influences?!!1"