Citizens of Contrary Knowledge profile picture

Citizens of Contrary Knowledge

"You're what you wish you are...

About Me

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Citizens Of Contrary Knowledge are a New York City band whose four members come from extremely varied backgrounds. But upon hearing them you get the impression they've known each other for a lifetime or more. Drummer, Blake Hepburn is a Harlem resident who grew up in White Plains, NY. Charming, dread-locked and a Pisces, Blake attended the Univ. of Pittsburgh, but received his Masters degree in Funk and Astrology from the Univ. of Life, School of Hard Knocks. He is a complex man who cites "The Excorcist" as his favorite movie, yet counts Jesus as one of his idols. Part Bruce Lee, part Jimi Hendrix, part John Bonham, Blake's drumming has graced the stage of countless artists including Atlantic Starr, Groove Collective and the Harlem Gospel Choir.Bassist, Mike Leslie has been a journeyman who has performed and recorded with Joan Osborne, Rufus Wainwright, and Rick Derringer, to name but a few. He honed his skills at the Berklee College of Music and the Univ. of Montana, but his most noteworthy training came from the Yellowsone County Correctional Facility, where his alter ego, "Lucky" was born. Any man who lists Zero Mostel, Ghengis Khan and his mother as his heros must surely be fitting of the term, "contrary."Guitarist, Mark Hermann, also a resident of Harlem, grew up in southern Connecticut, which may (or may not) explain his deep Southern blues influences. Mark left Syracuse University, where he was attending on a Modern Interpretive Dance scholarship, for a life on the road with rock legends, Joe Walsh and Foreigner. Years on the road armed Mark with some of the most insane stories this side of Hunter S. Thompson. Living for a while in the sunshine of L.A. as a songwriter, producer and session player, he produced numerous acts including "Five For Fighting." Influenced by the music of Jimi and Miles, the poetry of Rumi and the essays of Emerson, he found himself longing for the energy of playing rock 'n roll in New York and headed back East in search of like-minded Citizens.Frontman and singer, Chris Barczynski, known as "Breeze" while in the Witness Protection Program, was raised in every small Pennsylvania town with a steel plant and a Dairy Queen. He attended Franklin and Marshall College and the Univ. of Dayton, where he read far too much Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn and Albert Einstein to ever function in "normal" society. His travels with bands and as solo artist have found him sharing the stage with acts such as Green Day, Live, Fuel, Sugar Ray and Hootie, to name a few. He has appeared on Last Call with Carson Daly and was a semi-finalist on Star Search, but fronting a kick-ass rock and roll band is where he truly belongs.

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 6/4/2005
Band Website: cockrox.com
Band Members: CHRIS "BREEZE" BARCZYNSKI: Lead Vocals / Acoustic Guitar
MARK HERMANN: Guitar / Vocals
MIKE LESLIE: Bass / Vocals
BLAKE HEPBURN: Drums / Vocals

Influences: Zeppelin, STP, Prince, Hendrix, Beatles, Jeff Buckley, Radiohead,
The Who, U2, Black Crowes, King’s X, and a couple hundred other artists who forged rock ’n roll from deep blues, soul,
and the coolest grooves. It’s music that dares to say something
and demands that you cannot sit still when we hit the stage!
You have been marked on my profile map! Click to make your own visitor map.-------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------- Join our mailing list for the latest news

Sounds Like: A gleaming, cherry red '67 GTO coming straight at you pedal to the metal! Dangerous but beautiful. A new spoke on the grinding wheel of rock 'n roll. Like nothing you've ever heard with songs that sound like you've known them for a lifetime.
Record Label: Contrary Records
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

***HELP!!! Citizens CDs ARE DISAPPEARING!!!***

YES, FOLKS IT'S TRUE. It appears that recently some overzealous fans have been emptying the shelves of our debut CD, "YOU'RE WHAT YOU WISH YOU ARE" from our CD Baby store so fast that we're running ou...
Posted by Citizens of Contrary Knowledge on Sat, 25 Aug 2007 07:58:00 PST

***ROCK IS BACK!!!***

Fellow Contrary Citizens, Timberlake brought sexy back.... We bring Rock back....Every Monday in August beginning TONIGHT at Arlene's Grocery, 95 Stanton St., NYC's Lower East S...
Posted by Citizens of Contrary Knowledge on Mon, 06 Aug 2007 02:24:00 PST

***ROCK IS BACK!!!***

Fellow Contrary Citizens, Timberlake brought sexy back.... We bring Rock back....Every Monday in August at Arlene's Grocery, 95 Stanton St., NYC's Lower East Side. No Cover Char...
Posted by Citizens of Contrary Knowledge on Fri, 03 Aug 2007 02:42:00 PST

Citizens of Contrary Knowledge on Clear Channel

Citizens of Contrary Knowledge need your help to become featured on Clear Channel radio. Please click the link here: http://www.clearchannelmusic.com/cc-common/artist_submission /all.html and scroll do...
Posted by Citizens of Contrary Knowledge on Sat, 28 Jul 2007 11:11:00 PST

***BREAKING NEWS ON THE CITIZENS FRONT***

***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE***C.O.C.K. fans are crowing about the big news!We are very proud to announce that Chris "Breeze" Barczynski, the golden voice of C.O.C.K. will be featured on NBC's widely publ...
Posted by Citizens of Contrary Knowledge on Fri, 06 Jul 2007 08:09:00 PST

R.I.P. James Brown

On the morning after the insanity that is Christmas Day with a two-year old, I awoke and stumbled downstairs to make my coffee in an attempt to reach semi-consciousness, joining in that collective exh...
Posted by Citizens of Contrary Knowledge on Tue, 02 Jan 2007 06:49:00 PST

t-shirt slogan contest!

Hey C.O.C.K. friends, We have a game for all of you to play! We are looking for the cleverst slogans for our new t-shirts. Here are the rules you have to use the word C.O.C.K. in the phrase. The pers...
Posted by Citizens of Contrary Knowledge on Thu, 10 Aug 2006 10:14:00 PST

Greetings, we're new guys on MySpace

Citizens Of Contrary Knowledge just wanted to say "What's Up" to Myspace. We're out of NYC. We just came onboard here. We want to share our music and our vibe with the community. Check out the music. ...
Posted by Citizens of Contrary Knowledge on Sun, 28 Aug 2005 07:07:00 PST