Draft:Frogbelly and Symphony

Frogbelly and Symphony is an international rock band formed in 2012 and is a project by composer and music producer Thomas Lebioda (vocals, bass guitar), Liz Hanley (vocals, violin, keys), Ben Trott (guitar) and Ray Rizzo (vocals, drums).

At the time of its formation, the members were based in Sheffield UK and Brooklyn NY bringing together a variety of musical experiences and influences. Frogbelly and Symphony developed a genre defying music style, infused with folk, progressive and psychedelic rock, urban poetry, pop melodies and experimental segues.

History
Frogbelly and Symphony was formed when Thomas Lebioda, Liz Hanley, Ben Trott and Ray Rizzo got together in Brooklyn NY in 2012 to record with producer/engineer Martin Bisi. The recording session was followed by their first live appearance at the 'Small Beast' concert series at The Delancey on NYC's Lower East Side.

Prior to the recording Lebioda had sent Bisi early demos of songs and sketches of compositions, which subsequently lead Bisi to invite the band to record an EP with him at BC Studio.

The recording session, later sometimes described as the band's 'Big Bang' was so prolific that it set much of the musical foundations for their debut EP The EYE (2013), as well as their following full length album 'Blue Bright Ow Sleep' (2015). Initially coming from an experimental post-punk and noise approach the band gradually incorporated various forms of musical approaches, ranging from traditional folk to progressive and psychedelic art-rock. Gary Hill from Music Street Journal describes in his review "There is kind of a dreamy, psychedelic rock vibe here. We also get some classic progressive rock in the mix. It’s energetic, melodic and quite strong."

Despite the band members' geographical distance residing in the UK and the US, Frogbelly and Symphony played over 300 concerts to date, mostly on independently organised tours across the US, continental Europe, the UK and Ireland.

Their experimental attitude and not least the continuous challenge of organizing an international project independently lead to many artistic collaborations as well as fluctuating temporary band members. Most notably, Finnish/German filmmaker and photographer Juha Hansen has spent many months on the road with the band, producing numerous music videos , audio-visual live recordings, photos and other footage.

Cleveland OH based experimental duo '9-volt Haunted House' and 'Frogbelly and Symphony' released a concept EP 'Can I Dress Like You' (2015) in which the respective groups each remixed, re-imagined and re-recorded two of the other band's compositions.

The single and music video 'Benjamin Went Fishing' was released in early 2020 to spearhead the release of their forthcoming next record, tours and other release activities. Those endeavours were halted by the onset of the pandemic. Vent Magazine has described the band as always defying expectations, always welcoming, and they always exude offbeat personality.

The band has since been on hiatus.

Band members

 * Liz Hanley - vocals, violin, keys
 * Thomas Lebioda - vocals, bass guitar
 * Ben Trott - guitar, backing vocals
 * Ray Rizzo - vocals, drumsFrogbellyandsymphony live.png

Additional and temporary band members:


 * Ally Fraser - drums, vocals
 * Pat Agresta - drums
 * Philipp Schewe - drums, keyboards
 * Doro Bohr - guitar
 * David Marshall - guitar
 * Ian Hutchinson - guitar
 * Ben Holzman - keys

Albums

 * The EYE - EP (2013)
 * Blue Bright Ow Sleep (2015)
 * Can I Dress Like You? - EP (2015)

Singles

 * Benjamin Went Fishing (2020)