Bunnies, I am delightfully dabbling in ‘music journalism,’ if you will, which is, in a sense, finding a way to assign ‘words’ to ‘music.’ It’s challenging, for serious. But hurrah for paid writing gigs! I hope to keep this up.
So with no further doo doo, Bekah Brunstetter Inc. Proudly Presents: Music Journalism, by Bekah Brunstetter.
Oh, this is a Bio for The Nerd Parade ; They look like this:
The Nerd Parade
In the beginning, there was Music. This Music tended to happen when people closed their eyes and softly absorbed the sounds happening around them: under their feet, emerging from trees: the rhythms released by nature. As it goes with People of great Passion, people with dreams of sharing the goings on in their private minds with the world: these people felt compelled to reveal their musical musings with others. Form groups. Pair off. Take the music outside of Themselves – and place it into the hands of others. It was their way of making love to each other.
But as more and more people began to Make Music, so many variants of sounds emerged that music: once an intangible thing that happened only in ones head and in ones heart: became a thing that could be touched, felt, discussed and categorized. Music itself began to form villages within itself: each boasting a different type of sound, a different path towards perfection. The walls between these villages rose stiff and high.
So As People of Passion tend to do, they started to break rules: scale walls, scrapping their knees, bending their fingernails, but eager nonetheless to bridge the wide gaps between different types of sound. After all, life is full and wonderful: but feeling compelled to choose between two wonderful things is perhaps one of the worst things about being alive. Why should we have to ask ourselves: do I want music that feels like the happiest party Ever Thrown, or music that feels like butter? Music that feels that love? Like youth? Like this music I once loved, or like the music I love now? Why choose?
Emerging from this train of thought is The Nerd Parade, a fearless band of pioneers, unafraid to blur the lines of time-honored musical segregation. Nerd Parade says I don’t want to choose. I want everything at once. Everything is too wonderful, and I refuse to choose.
When a Person loves a thing – or is inclined to listen closely to the sounds happening around them – they tend to seek out like-minded folk. Nerd Parade formed in a place called Georgia, and inside of this place, a place called Atlanta, where music has Always Happened. The germ grew steadily in the mind of Randy Garcia, a young man whose uncanny taste in blending and clever beats led him to the founding of Nophi Records – and later, to the creation Nerd Parade. As People tend to Do, Garcia merged gifts and dreams with his long-time friend, Rich Wilson, who then joined Garcia’s delicate recipe of sound on live bass. The pair of like-minded friends were joined by Abby Wren – a good ol’ girl with Choir roots – whose rich, soulful voice delightfully juxtaposed with Garcia’s cunning melodies. With the addition of John Jacobus – an ex-metal patriot – on guitar – and Buddy Butram – a well trained drummer – the group was complete.
The general name-taking, mind-blowing and a general sense of delightful unpredictability began with a coveted contract with Headphone Treats Records – and the release of their first album – A Delicate Bashing – dubbed by Murmur Magazine as ‘effortless to listen to.’ The feel of this record is comparable to a buffet of wonderful, diverse things – and the permission to eat forever, and never get fat. It’s a spread of 14 musical treats – dabbling in happy Brit Pop (Kitten) one moment and the funk meets country the next (Kenny Rogers Tune). Their varied tastes and backgrounds as musicians make for a fine array of pop, electronica, jazz and soul – and the ability to painlessly master all. The songs themselves talk tales of the mundane and the wonderous, colored with cultural references – infectious and smart.
The beautiful success of this first record catapulted the young group on a Rite of Passage, of sorts: a whirlwind tour across the US, early 2007: 21 shows in 28 days. Illogical, impossible, and fantastic, this tour took The Nerd Parade from Tennessee, to Missouri, to Pennsylvania, to the Windy City, to New York, and back again. Blowing minds at venues like Pete’s Candy Store in Williamsburg and sharing the stage with bands like Retard-o-bot and The Flashbulb – the downright determination and joy of this journey only further cemented the Nerd Parade’s bond to their bold stylistic choices, and to each other.
With plans for a new EP and the launch of another US tour – one thing is for sure – The Nerd Parade is a force to be reckoned with. They remind us – and themselves – to keep our ears and hearts open – because in the beginning, there was music – And it had no name. It belonged to everyone.