Ara Babajian | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Birth name | Kenneth Ara Babajian |
Also known as | Ara Babajian, Ara Crack |
Born | July 9, 1972 51) | (age
Origin | Hollywood, California, United States |
Genres | Ska, Punk, Reggae, Soft rock, Punk metal |
Occupation(s) | Musician, Songwriter |
Instrument(s) | Drums |
Years active | 1987–present |
Labels | Hellcat Records, Fat Wreck Chords, Alternative Tentacles, Moon Ska Records |
Website | The Slackers, Leftöver Crack |
Ara Babajian (born July 9, 1972) is an American drummer who has been a member of such bands as Leftöver Crack and The Slackers. [1]
Ara is of Armenian descent and is named after Ara, an Armenian king. [2]
Together with Dunia Best, Jay Nugent and Alec Baillie he started the third wave ska band Agent 99 in the early nineties. In 1998, they released the compilation album Little Pieces (1993–1995).
In April 2000, Babajian joined Baillie to play drums in Leftöver Crack under the pseudonym "Ara Crack" until 2002. In early 2003, Ara joined The Slackers. In 2005, he rejoined Leftover Crack, though he is no longer an active member. He is also a former member of The World/Inferno Friendship Society.
Ara Babajian has played in a number of other bands, including King Django, Ruder Than You, The Trick Babys, Skandalous All Stars (a ska supergroup featuring several members of the Slackers), and Sic & Mad.
He is an endorser of Pro-Mark Drumsticks [3]
He was also the original drummer of the Star Fucking Hipsters.
During the 80's, Ara also played drums in the funky-style band Das Booty with Brian Pitts on bass, Matthew Moreno on Horns (for a short time), Michael Cardenas on guitar and James Boyce on vocals. Demos of this band were to later circulate on YouTube mistakenly as lost Red Hot Chili Peppers recordings. It was eventually cleared up and credit has been given to Das Booty.
The Slackers are an American ska band, formed in Manhattan, New York in 1991. The band's sound is a mix of ska, rocksteady, reggae, dub, soul, garage rock, and jazz. The Slackers' notability is credited to their prolific career, tours of North and South America, Europe, and elsewhere, and signing to notable punk label Hellcat Records.
Choking Victim was an American punk band formed in New York City, which lasted from 1992 to 1998. They played a mix of hardcore punk and ska. Following the breakup of the band, which occurred the same day as the recording of their only studio album No Gods, No Managers, members went on to form Leftöver Crack and INDK, among others.
Carl Frederick Kendall Palmer is an English drummer best known as a founding member of the supergroups Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Asia. He has toured with his own bands since 2001, including Palmer, the Carl Palmer Band, and currently, Carl Palmer's ELP Legacy. He previously was a touring drummer for The Crazy World of Arthur Brown and a founding member of Atomic Rooster.
Leftöver Crack is an American punk rock band formed in 1998, following the breakup of Choking Victim. The band is currently signed to Tankcrimes for CD releases, and Alternative Tentacles for vinyl releases. Leftöver Crack spans several different music genres including hardcore punk, ska, and crust punk. They write mostly political lyrics of a radical leftist nature, opposing religion, capitalism, and authority. Members of Leftöver Crack reside in the C-Squat on 155 Avenue C in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Natives of New York City, band members have a well-documented history of back-and-forth conflict with the NYPD which precedes the band's formation. The name "Leftöver Crack" is explained by Stza as being "an oxymoron", based on the idea that crack cocaine addicts are known for vigorous use and are unlikely to have any "leftover" crack.
Mark Scott Travis is an American metal musician, best known as the drummer for the English heavy metal band Judas Priest, the Irish rock band Thin Lizzy and the supergroup Elegant Weapons. He was also a longtime member of the American heavy metal band Racer X during their initial run and then reformation up until their 2009 breakup.
Scott Sturgeon, also known as Stza Crack or simply Stza, is an American musician and artist who has fronted several ska-punk bands in the New York City area, the best-known being Choking Victim and Leftöver Crack. The stage name Stza is a tribute to the Wu-Tang Clan, members of which would take their stage names from the Supreme Alphabet of the Five-Percent Nation, such as GZA and RZA - Stza's name would therefore be Self Truth ZigZagZig Allah.
Blas Elias is an American musician and drummer of the glam metal band Slaughter. He also drums for the Las Vegas production of Blue Man Group. Elias has toured with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra since 2017, and has been a rotating cast member of the Las Vegas production show Raiding the Rock Vault. In 2019 he returned to Slaughter as a full-time drummer.
David Mello is an American musician known primarily for his work as drummer for the hardcore ska punk band Operation Ivy.
Victor "Vic" Ruggiero, is a musician, songwriter and producer from New York City who has played in reggae, blues, ska and rocksteady bands since the early 1990s, including The Slackers, Stubborn All-Stars, SKAndalous All Stars, Crazy Baldhead and The Silencers. He has also performed with punk rock band Rancid, both live and in the studio. He has released four solo acoustic albums and continues to tour and record worldwide. Ruggiero is known primarily as a singer and organist, although he also plays piano, bass, banjo, cigar box guitar, guitar, harmonica and percussion.
Alec Baillie was an American bassist. He played in the bands Choking Victim, Agent 99, and Leftöver Crack.
Mediocre Generica is the debut studio album by the American punk band Leftöver Crack. It was released on September 11, 2001 and includes much sociopolitical commentary, including anti-police sentiment, anti-racism and anti-homophobia. The album was originally intended to be titled Shoot the Kids at School, which Hellcat Records objected to. As Stza said in an interview, "They wanted mediocre generic artwork and they wanted a mediocre generic title, so I called it Mediocre Generica and I guarantee you the irony was lost on Epitaph". This has been cited as one of the main reasons that Leftöver Crack made the move to the much smaller label Alternative Tentacles. The album was coincidentally released on the same day as the September 11 terrorist attacks, and during the introduction on the band's next release, Fuck World Trade, this album is referred to as "the tower-toppling Mediocre Generica".
Deadline is a split album released in 2007 on Alternative Tentacles Records and Fat Wreck Chords. The album features 15 songs from the 2 bands, Leftöver Crack and Citizen Fish. Each band covers two songs. Citizen Fish covers "Money" by Choking Victim, and "Clear Channel " by Leftöver Crack. Leftöver Crack covers "Supermarket Song" by Citizen Fish, and "Reasons for Existence" by The Subhumans.
Gil Sharone is an American drummer and member of the rock bands Stolen Babies, Team Sleep, and formerly The Dillinger Escape Plan and Marilyn Manson. He was also a fill in for the punk rock band +44. His twin brother is Rani Sharone, also of Stolen Babies.
Star Fucking Hipsters is an American punk rock band from New York City who have released albums on Fat Wreck Chords and Alternative Tentacles records. They have been called a "punk supergroup" and feature members from numerous notable bands including Leftöver Crack, Ensign, and The Ergs!
Until We're Dead is the debut studio album by ska-punk/anarcho-punk band Star Fucking Hipsters. It was released in 2008 on Fat Wreck Chords.
The Great Rocksteady Swindle is the twelfth studio album from New York City ska band The Slackers. It was released on April 20, 2010, on Hellcat Records.
Luke Anthony "Jocko" Johnson is an English rock musician, drummer and songwriter. He is most commonly known as 'Jocko'. Johnson began his music career in the late 1990s drumming for a spree of small local West Midlands- punk and metal bands. In early 2003 Johnson was approached by California punk band Amen to join the ranks. After his departure from Amen in 2005, Johnson formed Beat Union as drummer and songwriter with Dave Warsop, Dean Ashton and Mark Andrews. Johnson joined the Welsh alternative metal band Lostprophets in 2009 until their disbanding in 2013. Johnson has also been involved in other musical projects, including working alongside Producer John Feldmann and has performed session work for a variety of bands, including The Wonder Stuff and Foxy Shazam.
The SKAndalous All-Stars are an American ska band, composed of members of The Slackers, the Skatalites, Mephiskapheles, the Stubborn All-Stars, Agent 99, Ruder Than You, Sic & Mad, The Excalibur, Cocktaillica, The Hurtin' Buckaroos, Living Colour, Perfect Thyroid, the Cycle Sluts from Hell, and The Klezmatics, and is led by Slackers frontman Vic Ruggiero. Considered one of the first ska supergroups, the Skandalous All Stars built their reputation on ska and reggae stylized versions of popular rock and pop tunes. Their first two albums—Hit Me, released in 1997, and Punk Steady, released the following year—included dance-inspiring interpretations of songs by the Sex Pistols, The Clash, Blondie, Patti Smith, the Ramones, Kiss, Nirvana, Radiohead, Stevie Wonder, and White Zombie. With their third album, The Age of Insects, released in 1999, the group began focusing on the original songs of keyboardist and vocalist Ruggiero.
Ezra Kire is an American musician with the punk band Morning Glory, and is an ex-member of punk bands Leftöver Crack, Choking Victim and InDK. He currently resides in New York City.
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