Hey there Warheads! 2008 marks the 10 year anniversary of Andy Warstar & The Warstars. To commemorate the event, Studio 57 Records has made a handful of Andy Warstar & The Warstars mp3 albums available for $1.57 (and if you don't want to buy them, you can get them for free through www.thepiratebay.org) So take a look in My Musicblaster below (in the left hand column) and buy/support some DIY independent alternative music. Want to know more about Andy Warstar & The Warstars before getting the music? Then check out The Warstars Home Video below (crank the bass for this one), and give the story a glance...
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Warstars began as a concept punk group in Ashland, Oregon back in 1998. Mike Tysoe and Ryan Griffin thought up the name of the band after watching one of their favorite sci-fi flicks with a similar name. With a catchy, questionable name and a slick logo painted on the banner behind them, the Warstars quickly attracted a loyal audience. Initially, the Warstars concentrated their efforts on shocking and offending the crowd. After Marilyn Manson and Nirvana, however, the effort simply came off as a joke (or parody), which was, indeed, part of the band's initial image. Soon after, Mike and Ryan decided that sci-fi influenced stage names were in order. Mike became Andy Warstar and Ryan became Kreist Gryndor. Off-beat t-shirt designs were drawn up and quickly offered for sale. Check them out at the following link:
While the Warstars were poking fun at all the hardcore bands that they themselves listened to, the fascist climate surfacing in the United States provided an easy target to rant about as well. In the early days of Warstars, many fans came to shows expecting something more mainstream. Fans who were used to hearing so many bands sounding like each other were often confused by Andy and the Warstars. Some began asking "Is this music? Is this even a band?" The answer was "Yes", of course. Warstars is a band influenced by the likes of Marilyn Manson, The Butthole Surfers, Sonic Youth, Nirvana, Frank Sinatra, The Ramones, Cannibal Corpse, The Breeders, KMFDM, and many more. The blend of influences in the music was often chaotic and confounding, yet Warstars has always primarily been about having fun first, and raising conciousness second. Warstars had more of the feel of an art project as opposed to a political music group. Regardless of the artful onstage antics, Warstars plays music that is satirical, experimental, and punk-edged. Most of the Warstars songs covered multiple sub-genres of the Alternative, underground, DIY rock genre. The show below is a good example. This performance is from December 17th, 2005 featuring Andy Warstar and Captain James T. Warstar at The Vinyl Club in Ashland, Oregon. The first set is alternative folk rock, and the second, shorter set is punk/hard rock (which would have been as long as the first set if the venue hadn't double booked without telling the band):
Whether it's lo-fi or hi-fi stuff that you listen to, you can hear that Warstars has a good time playing the music. Even so, playing and producing indie DIY music isn't always wine and roses. Especially if you want to say anything of socio-political value, and reach the a mainstream audience who want to hear the message most. Selling out was never a dilemma, since the band's name and image was always a satirical parody designed just for Warheads. The gags and gimmicks that the band employed also existed to keep the mood light when the song lyrics got heavy. This is how the Andy Warstar and the Warstars music remained uncompromised. On a shoestring budget, Warstars often recorded shows and jam sessions on portable cassette recorders and "boomboxes". Hiring a sound guy was never an option. The sound guy was always either a band member, a friend volunteering, or a drunken "veteran" working at the venue. In keeping with the original punk ethos, Andy Warstar brought together many musicians with different influences, and varying skill levels. Often times, the tensions this caused between band mates was caught on tape, and even the lowest fidelity recordings were crackling with raw energy and power. As the line-up shifted year after year, Andy Warstar maintained the Warstars project the way Warhol manufactured his paintings: keep a constant influx of fresh talent to keep the art fresh. What keeps the Warstars music fresh after all the other punk bands have co-opted, sold out, or gone stale is Andy's belief that punk rock is a philosophy - not a lifestyle, not a particular sound or style of music, and definitely is not a fashion!
Between 2001 and 2005, Andy Warstar recorded, produced and engineering most of the Warstars studio work that's been released. Warstar then released these studio tracks on compilations such as Konquerology Vol. I and Johnny Got His Gun. These limited edition, burned releases featured the studio produced tracks, live cuts, sound bites, and were labeled by hand. Many of the Warstars studio tracks produced during that time (featured on Best Of The Warstars) are reminiscent of KMFDM crossed with Nine Inch Nails crossed with Bauhaus, Sex Pistols, Nirvan... and so on.In 2003, Andy Warstar requested that any new members of Warstars take on the last name of "Warstar", in homage to The Ramones.In 2005, Andy hired drummer Jason Williams (Thrasher Warstar), previously of The Fumes. Andy and Jason whipped up a new batch of songs that were previously unmatched in tightness and composition. A few of the songs available here at Myspace are from that period. Some of these songs were recorded with a single condenser microphone, and some were mastered from the videotape of the show. Reminiscent of the sound of bootleg recordings from the early punk years, the high energy of the songs comes through loud and clear. On the converse, the higher fidelity recordings evoked something closer to the sound of a band from the Epitaph label (Bad Religion, NOFX, etc.)In 2007, Andy Warstar undertook his first solo tour of Australia... His mission? To spread the word of Warstars. With Andy being involved in enviromental activism and ascribing to a Green Anarchist philosophy, his solo music took on a cast of something straight out of the 60's. Andy's latest album release, entitled "Blonde On Brunette" (as an homage to Bob Dylan) was recorded entirely down under and on the go as Andy traveled the Australlian countryside with his backpack and guitar. Purchase "Blonde On Brunette from My Musicblaster today, and support DIY music. Be sure to pick up some Warstars mp3s while you are at it. Hear for yourself the last great alternative rock band of the End Times......And may the Blork be with you...PS. Visit www.Andywarstar.com and download some music. And check out the following Warstars Myspace profiles: http://www.myspace.com/andywarstar http://www.myspace.com/andywarstarthewarstars http://www.myspace.com/kaptainslogbaud
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