their shows have always sold out. Demos have been in high demand. Their breathtaking sound has naturally conjured a frenzy of love for them within their local scene. Their sound is one of a kind: A Drum and bass foundation that has evolved into a rock odyssey. Euphoric. experimental. And quite beautiful. The Stage is now set for Benzos to release their debut to the world.....
"Morning Stanzas" May 10, 2005 on Stinky Records. www.benzosmusic.com www.stinkyrecords.com
"They have a sound that's larger than the stage and different than their retro-rock New York brethren, and decidedly unclassifiable. If they are going to be the sound of 2005, then it might be a pretty sweet sounding year." – Columbia Spectator
"Under the expansive sound, populated by delay pedals and echo chambers -- pure Meddle-era Floyd -- the band lays a buzzing, energetic drum 'n' bass rhythm track, part human and part machine." - popmatters
"Side effects may include...Elation. Chills. Dancing. Welcome to the rocktronica world of Benzos." – Boston Metro
Benzos' debut album, Morning Stanzas, set for release May 10, 2004 on New York-based indie label Stinky Records (Singapore Sling, Low Flying Owls, Gram Rabbit), was recorded over a three-week period in November 2004, in New York City, with up-and-coming wunderkind producer Britt Myers. Myers' credits include acts such as The Thrills, Robbers On High Street, The Essex Green and Dressy Bessy, among others.
Benzos have naturally cultivated a devoted following, playing to consistently sold out houses at premiere venues, including with such venerable acts as Blonde Redhead, Phoenix, The Dears and Elefant. In addition, Benzos have garnered radio play on commercial rock stations such as 92.3 KRock New York and Q101 Chicago.
Benzos is the brainchild of five virtuoso musicians hailing from very different musical backgrounds, who were drawn together in their shared quest to create a unique, genre-bending musical soundscape, blending the ambience and rhythm of early underground dance and experimental electronic music with lush rock-based guitars and soaring vocals. The initial creative impetus for this five-piece, New York-based outfit was born in early 2003, in the minds of first cousins Christian Celaya (vox, guitar) and Michael Ortega (vox, guitar, synths, programming), in league with their longtime friend Brian Joyce (guitar, programming). The trio then recruited Celaya's erstwhile music conservatory colleagues Eiko Peck (bass) and Steve Bryant (drums) to execute their ambitious musical vision. Together, the five members of Benzos create a sound that is at once sinuously cerebral and transcendently emotional – and highly danceable, too.
Among the broad and diverse array of acts whom Benzos cite as influences are Doves, The Verve, Pink Floyd, Photek, Prefuse 73, Massive Attack, Squarepusher, Aphex Twin and even jazz greats Miles Davis, John Coltrane and John McLaughlin.
Echoing the disparate musical and personal odysseys of Benzos' individual members, each track on Morning Stanzas takes the listener on a densely-layered, powerful and often sublime emotional journey, aided by Myers' crystalline production and shepherded by the seamlessly braided vocal harmonies of Celaya and Ortega.
Growing up in a musical family on the outskirts of New York City, Celaya and Ortega started playing together in an indie rock band in their early teens. After breaking up their band to attend college, Celaya and Ortega ended up taking somewhat divergent musical paths. Ortega abandoned rock music altogether for the New York underground drum n' bass scene. Celaya, on the other hand, continued playing in rock bands. At the same time, however, Celaya was developing an interest in house music and rave culture. Sharing Celaya's deepening fascination with the house music scene was Brian Joyce, a New School jazz program graduate and brother of one of Celaya's band mates in a rock outfit in which Celaya was then playing. In the course of collaborating on house tracks and frequenting raves, Celaya and Joyce conceived of a musical project that would combine a DJ element of cross-fading pieces of music with more traditional rock musical forms, to create a more viscerally powerful rock experience.
With their initial round of demos in the can, Celaya, Joyce and Ortega embarked on the challenge of finding the ideal rhythm section to realize Benzos' complex musical vision. Enter Steve Bryant, a drum n' bass-obsessed jazz drummer who had attended music conservatory with Celaya, and Eiko Peck, another music conservatory classmate who had gone on to study jazz at the New School while playing in a drum n' bass-cum-jazz improv band with Bryant.
They dubbed their embryonic project "Benzos", perceiving in the name a fitting evocation of both the euphoria and urban paranoia that the band's music conjures.
Morning Stanzas will be released May 10, 2005 on Stinky Records.
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