gadjits silentbob "WISH WE NEVER MET" In our last episode we went over in great detail just what exactly Kansas City's The Gadjits are. To quickly refresh your memory let's recap. The Gadjits are: 1-foppish mod-kid songwriter. 1-fifteen year-old drummer who blends his Sly and Robbie with the anarchic savoir fare of Keith Moon. 1-of those rare bass players who writes, sings and plays with perfect balance of heart and head. 1-keyboard player whose presence both on record and stage is like that of Cyndi Lauper and Steve Nieve's love child. These four characters released "At Ease" last year to a resounding, "the ska market is flooded with lame bands so we have no time for you." The Gadjits are undeterred. In a desert rife with ska bands suffering or about to suffer a major sophomore slump, The Gadjits are a cool glass of lemonade. Rather than practice upon the popular inexperience with droning horn lines, goofy gimmicks or cock-rock buffooning, The Gadjits actually write songs. The fruits of their labor of the past months can be found on their latest Hellcat release, "Wish We Never Met," fourteen songs boiling with urgency. Thee churning garage-ska of 'Somebody's Wife' wrestles with (foppish mod) Brandon's headstrong lyrical plea to be heard. (Awesome bassist) Zach's nonsense-free anthems of tell it like it is teen angst, love and frustration are set to backgrounds of ten thousand seat sixties rock, (Bad Gadjit) mid-seventies scratchy reggae (Angel and a Devil), and this year's stomp that would make Elvis proud. Pointed songwriting honed to a razor's edge by ace face producers Victor Ruggerio (The Slackers) and Victor Rice (Scofflaws/NY Ska-Jazz Ensemble). The Gadjits do rock, but not by design. They rock from the heart on out. It's no surprise that many critics dismiss them as being to young and trendy with one hand while slipping the other down the pants of Match Box 20 while hoping to get their boobs autographed. "We didn't get into playing music to be jerked off and have people call us artists and act freaky and shit." Says Zach, "We do this because we live in a shitty suburb and this is exciting and a little dangerous." Danger? In Rock N' Roll? Be careful Gadjits, modern rock radio might bruise. "Not Ska enough for the ska-kids, too ska for the crusties is like the story of our lives. We feel good about being on the middle ground because appear to be living on it". Says Brandon. Over the last six years the Gadjits have not only stood their ground, they've expanded their borders, annexed some neighboring territories and somehow managed to gain fans, friends and allies. Through tours, records, reviews begging, borrowing and the sweat of their brows, The Gadjits have built a foundation and a frame on their little piece of the prairie. When it comes time for finishing work," they say, "I think we will opt for sheet-rock instead of plaster. "Why?" you ask. "Because plaster does not hold nails very well and when this house is done, we intend on hanging a lot of pictures." 000817 ... silentbob The Story of the Gadjits... The Phillips brothers started playing music together upon exiting the womb. At a time when most kids are screwing around in a sandbox, Brandon, Zach, and Adam picked up instruments and started pounding away in the family basement. Having an art teacher for a mother and a big band/jazz musician for a father allowed the needed laissez faire attitude for the brothers to make a hell of a lot of noise without being told to cut out the racket. However, if it wasn't for Brandon's crush on four older punk rock girls at his high school, the Gadjits may have never evolved from being anything more than a bad AC/DC cover band. Brandon's unrequited advance on these older girls sadly only paid off with exposure to a larger spectrum of music that in the end helped the brothers to develop their unique pop sound. It wasn't long until the Gadjits began to incorporate elements of punk, ska, reggae and swing into their music in order to impress other local temptresses. When asked to specifically name the Gadjits' musical influences, Brandon says, "we see ourselves as sea monkeys floating in a musical ocean, feeding on the plankton of other musicians." The Gadjits recorded their first full-length album Da Gravy On Yo' Grits and released it through their own label, JoCo Ska Records. With their first record in hand, the Gadjits were able to snag gigs outside of the usual backyard parties around their hometown of Kansas City, Missouri. Their reputation for selling out shows so impressed owners of one local club, the Daily Grind, that they began to book the Gadjits for every ska or punk band that played their club. The Gadjits' raw talent did not go unnoticed and they quickly made fans out of the larger national acts they opened for. Word of the Gadjits soon began to spread, and they found themselves opening for bands like Rancid, Lets_Go_Bowling, and the Skatalites. The Gadjits added keyboardist Heidi Blobaum to their line-up in order fill out their sound and the added bonus of having an outsider to pick on. Heidi left the band less than a year after joining to attend Boston University. The Gadjits then picked up their current keysmaster, Hillary Allen. Opening a show for their admitted idols, Rancid, was particularly memorable if not embarrassing. After their usual tight set, which included a screwed-up cover version of Operation_Ivy "Unity", Rancid front man Tim Armstrong requested a demo tape from the band. Not long after that, they became one of the first bands signed to Tim's new Hellcat label. Having president Armstrong personally oversee the recording of their Hellcat debut At Ease was quite a treat for the Gadjits. "We literally got to work with one of our biggest heroes in rock n' roll," says Zach. At Ease showcases the Gadjits' youthful energy and songwriting. The ability to lyrically capture the neurotic excitement and angst that defines what it's like to be a teenager, is completely genuine in the Gadjits' music (the average age of the band members is 17.) Jealous love songs like "Seat 6" and "Beautiful Girl" are guaranteed to take you back to the longing halls of classroom love, while "Tell Yourself" professes a mantra for battling against insecurity and jealousy. On At Ease the Gadjits capture a mood and feeling in a way that only these four musicians could. Through consistently good songwriting and strong live performances, the Gadjits have been able to build an impressive fan base to stand on at a very early age and stage in their career. This may be the first time that you've heard of the Gadjits but you can be certain that it won't be the last. 000817 ... silentbob "Beautiful Girl" She knew about politics and she knew about math she was more than he deserved and now she's trashed she could discuss philosophy or russian literature that is until the day he got ahold of her he drove into her brain that she could never be smart again it was 98 pounds or die he said i need you beautiful for me beautiful girl that day her parent cried the day thier daughter died she said mom and dad just do not understand she used to know number systems from reading Blaise Pascal she's making babies for him now healthy white babies for him now chorus she studied philosophy it really isn't fair he runs his father's business she folds his underwear she used to know number systems... 000817 what's it to you? who go blather from