User:Mtotallywired/sandbox

pow wow! is an American indie rock band based in New York City, that formed in Basking Ridge, NJ in early 2006. The group is led by brothers Eddie Nazareno (vocals and guitar) & Jeff Nazareno (keyboard and vocals) and was joined by John-Paul Anthony (bass and vocals) and Amanda Burdon (vocals and lead guitar) in 2009 and by Sal Garro (drums, percussion and vocals) at the end of 2012. After two years of casually penning and recording material at home and playing a handful of shows, pow wow! independently recorded and released their first EP "6" (later renamed, "You are my friend, my Foe") in late 2008 and three singles in early 2009; 23 19, So Weird, and Tigerlily. These releases, along with a seemingly unending run of live performances throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn, landed them critical acclaim from both local and international DIY underground as well as mainstream press outlets including a coveted spot on the L Magazine's, highly buzzed about annual 8 Bands You Need to Hear roster in 2009. Journalists, bloggers and fans alike all had their own various interpretations on how to describe pow wow!'s releases, which would vary stylistically, but most drew comparisons between their lo-fi pop recordings and those made by The Velvet Underground & The Modern Lovers, along with the fuzzy and gritty textures of more modern indie rock bands, like The Strokes and The Walkmen. Having played over 100 shows in 2009 alone, pow wow! would go on hiatus from January 2010 and returned to the live circuit with new material and new band members in January 2011. They would begin recording their first full length album, titled Don't Stop To Look later that year, beginning at The Buddy Project, in Astoria, Queens and finishing at Sabella Studios in Roslyn, NY in the Fall of 2012, with the help of co-producer/engineer David Silverstein.

History
Teenbeat Records owner Mark Robinson had been impressed by a solo track that James Baluyut contributed to a 2000 EP Drawn and Quartered issued by Versus, an influential indie rock band in which Baluyut played 2nd guitar. Robinson asked Baluyut to record an album's worth of material for release on Teenbeat, which Baluyut did under the name +/-. Although the first +/- album was essentially a Baluyut solo affair, he had formed a touring and recording band in mid 2001 before the album was released, with Versus drummer Patrick Ramos assuming guitar, keyboard and co-lead vocal duties, Chris Deaner on drums, and Margaret McCartney (formerly of Tuscadero) on bass. McCartney left in 2002 and the other members did not seek a permanent replacement. Since then the band has usually employed Tony Zanella of True Love Always as a tour bassist. Deaner was Kelly Clarkson's tour drummer from early 2007 to spring of 2008, during which time Karl Lundin (Deaner's partner in Loudest Boom Bah Yea) stood in for Deaner while he was on tour with Clarkson.

The group left Teenbeat in mid-2006 to sign to Absolutely Kosher, although Teenbeat did issue a long-delayed split EP with Bloodthirsty Butchers and a retrospective DVD of video clips in 2007. Subsequent to signing with Asolutely Kosher the band's recordings received distribution in central Europe through BB*Island, and the band has since toured Germany and its surrounding nations three times. After the release of Xs on Your Eyes in 2008 the group did not tour the US to any great extent, but concentrated their touring efforts on Asia and continental Europe. In late 2009 the band released the Japan-only EP Thrown into the Fire, and also announced that they had provided the soundtrack for the multiplayer online game Code of Everand, which Chris Deaner had worked on as a lead programmer.

Members

 * James Baluyut (vocals, guitar, keyboard, producer)
 * Patrick Ramos (vocals, guitar, keyboard, drums)
 * Chris Deaner (drums, sampler, banjo, clarinet, vibraphone, video production)

Albums

 * Self-Titled Long-Playing Debut Album (2002 · Teenbeat Records)
 * You Are Here (2003 · Teenbeat Records)
 * Let's Build a Fire (2006 · Absolutely Kosher Records)
 * Xs on Your Eyes (2008 · Absolutely Kosher Records)
 * Pulled Punches (2010 · Teenbeat Records)

EPs

 * Split single with Whysall Lane (2002 · DIW Magazine)
 * Holding Patterns (2003 · Teenbeat Records)
 * As Seen On Television (2004 · & Records)
 * bloodthirsty butchers vs +/- {PLUS/MINUS} (2005 · Triad)
 * Thrown into the Fire (2009 · & Records)

Videos

 * Self Titled Debut Digital Video Disc (2007 · Teenbeat Records)

Soundtrack recordings

 * Wicker Park Soundtrack One track, "All I Do"
 * Code of Everand MMOG Background music.