Banyan | |
|---|---|
 Banyan in 2009 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Genres | Art rock, alternative rock |
Banyan is an art rock/alternative rock band with heavy jazz and funk influence based in Los Angeles, California. [1] [2]
Banyan | |
|---|---|
| Banyan in 2009 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Genres | Art rock, alternative rock |
Banyan is an art rock/alternative rock band with heavy jazz and funk influence based in Los Angeles, California. [1] [2]
The leader and co-founder is Stephen Perkins, [3] who first played drums for Jane's Addiction (1986–1991, plus later regroupings), and then for Porno for Pyros. He co-founded the group with Emit Bloch. The core members of the band are Nels Cline on guitar, Willie Waldman on trumpet and Mike Watt (Minutemen) on bass. Watt also sings on some Banyan songs. Both Watt and Cline generally play only West Coast dates and at various times the band has had Rob Wasserman and Daniel Shulman who played with Garbage on bass and Clint Wagner on guitar fill in when they are unavailable. Saxophone players Steve Mackay and Herman Green, guitar player Calvin Newborn, Dave Aron on clarinet, and bass player J. D. Westmoreland have also joined the band during select live shows.
Los Angeles artist Norton Wisdom paints on a wet-erase board while the band plays, and the imagery he creates interprets the music much in the same way that lyrics might. [3] To see the band in more than one performance, you will see some images that recur and some that are new, since the songs are compositions whose structure remains the same while there is also a large amount of improvisation, in the jazz tradition. [3]
The first EP featured Money Mark as keyboardist labeled as the Freeway Keyboardist. The first album was engineered by the Dust Brothers at their studio and produced by Turin and Perkins.
Notable guest appearances on the second album Anytime at All include Flea, [4] John Frusciante [4] (both from the Red Hot Chili Peppers), Martyn LeNoble (Perkins' former bandmate from Porno for Pyros), Rob Wasserman [4] and Buckethead. It was produced by Dave Aron (Producer/Engineer/Mixer of Snoopdogg, Sublime and moe.) and Willie Waldman as the Blunt Brothers.
For their third album Live At Perkins' Palace (named after the fact that it was recorded at Perkins' home studio, not after the live performance venue of the same name), the band reduced itself to a four-piece unit of Perkins, Watt, Cline, and Waldman. [4]
Steve Kimock sat in with Banyan during their August 26, 2007 performance at the Riverview Music Festival in Chicago.
In liner notes and personal conversations, members of the band cite Igor Stravinsky and Miles Davis as influences.
Jane's Addiction is an American rock band from Los Angeles, formed in 1985. The band consists of vocalist Perry Farrell, guitarist Dave Navarro, drummer Stephen Perkins and bassist Eric Avery. Jane's Addiction was one of the first bands from the early 1990s alternative rock movement to gain both mainstream media attention and commercial success in the United States.
Michael David Watt is an American bassist, vocalist and songwriter. He co-founded and played bass guitar for the rock bands Minutemen (1980–1985), Dos (1985–present), and Firehose (1986–1994). He began a solo career with the 1994 album Ball-Hog or Tugboat?, he has since released three additional solo albums, most recently in 2010 with Hyphenated-man. He is also the frontman for the supergroup Big Walnuts Yonder (2008–present), a member of the art rock group Banyan (1997–present) and is involved with several other musical projects. From 2003 until 2013, he was the bass guitarist for The Stooges.
Porno for Pyros is an American alternative rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1992, following the first break-up of Jane's Addiction. The band currently consists of Jane's Addiction members, Perry Farrell (vocals) and Stephen Perkins (drums), alongside Peter DiStefano (guitar) and Mike Watt (bass). Founding bass guitarist Martyn LeNoble was a member of the band between 1992 and 1995, and was initially committed to the band's reunion between 2022 and 2023.
Nels Courtney Cline is an American guitarist and composer. He has been a guitarist for the band Wilco since 2004.
Good God's Urge is the second studio album by American alternative rock band Porno for Pyros. It was released in 1996 on Warner Bros. It was the band's first album to feature bass guitarist Mike Watt, who assisted the band in finishing the album after Martyn LeNoble left before all his bass tracks had been completed. There were three singles released from the album.
Stephen Andrew Perkins is an American musician and songwriter. A drummer and percussionist, he currently plays with Jane's Addiction, Porno for Pyros and Hellride.
Hellride is an American music group formed in the 1990s by guitarist Peter DiStefano, bassist Mike Watt, and drummer Stephen Perkins. Hellride is a side project to the musicians' other full-time bands.
Ball-Hog or Tugboat? is the 1995 debut solo album by American musician Mike Watt, previously known for his work as the bass guitarist and songwriter for the punk rock groups Minutemen and fIREHOSE.
The Secondman's Middle Stand was Mike Watt's third solo album and the first full-length recording that he had made under his own name since the release of Contemplating The Engine Room in 1997.
The Black Gang was a rock music trio formed in 1997 by American musician Mike Watt to record and tour behind his second solo album, Contemplating The Engine Room. Of all of the "project" Watt has formed since the disbanding of Firehose in 1994, The Black Gang has gone through the most permutations of any of Watt's backing groups.
The Crew Of The Flying Saucer was former The Minutemen/Firehose bassist Mike Watt's second touring band, formed to continue touring behind his first solo album, 1995's Ball-Hog or Tugboat?. The band consisted of, along with Watt on bass and vocals, guitarist Nels Cline and two drummers, Vince Meghrouni and Michael Preussner. Meghrouni also doubled on saxophone. All three had played on various cuts on Ball-Hog....
David Edmund Turin, known as Emit Bloch, is an American songwriter and musician.
Joel Nathan Cummins is an American musician, and founding member/keyboardist for progressive rock band Umphrey's McGee.
Martyn LeNoble is a Dutch bassist and a founding member of the alternative rock band Porno for Pyros.
Banyan is the debut album from Banyan. The record is dedicated to Marc Perkins. "They are compared to a deeply rooted Banyan tree which is ever increasing its hold on earth."
Anytime at All is the second album by American rock band Banyan, founded by Stephen Perkins of Jane's Addiction and Porno for Pyros fame, and David Turin. The record features nearly two dozens players, half of which are well-known. Like their first album, this one is dedicated to Perkins' deceased brother, Marc. The album is more upbeat and organic-sounding than the band's previous work and the songs are much more varied.
Live at Perkins' Palace is the third record of Banyan, founded by Stephen Perkins. On this disc, Stephen decided to take the legion of musicians from Anytime At All and cut it down strictly to a quartet. Once again dedicated to Marc Perkins.
Behind The Player: Stephen Perkins is an interactive music video of Jane's Addiction drummer, Stephen Perkins
Minutemen were an American punk rock band formed in San Pedro, California, in 1980. Composed of guitarist/vocalist D. Boon, bassist/vocalist Mike Watt, and drummer George Hurley, Minutemen recorded four albums and eight EPs before Boon's death in an automobile accident in 1985; the band broke up shortly thereafter. They were noted in the California punk community for a philosophy of "jamming econo"—a sense of thriftiness reflected in their touring and short, tight songs, and for their eclectic style, drawing on hardcore punk, funk, jazz, and other sources.
Big Walnuts Yonder is an American indie rock supergroup formed in 2008. The band consists of bassist/vocalist Mike Watt from Minutemen, guitarist Nels Cline from Wilco, drummer Greg Saunier from Deerhoof, and guitarist/vocalist Nick Reinhart from Tera Melos. Big Walnuts Yonder's self-titled debut album was released on May 5, 2017 via Sargent House.
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