www.springolo.com/artists/thekgb.html
When I listen to that stuff, I want to go out and see a band and drink beer and fuck a girl and have fun. The disparate elements of their sonic complexion suggest everything from Sublime-meets-The Beatles, the groove of Booker T. The band's full-length debut invites listeners to smile, dance and indulge their God-given love of the hook almighty. Singer-guitarist-keyboardist Toby and bassist-singer Moses quickly formed a musical bond. Says the former: "I found out Moses was playing bass and I was teaching myself guitar. We started jamming Elvis songs, The Stones, whatever had three chords. Somehow we got into discordant space rock -- David Bowie lyrics with kind of an Elastica vibe. The son of a noted choral singer, Tom was then going steady with Toby's ex-girlfriend. He, Toby and Moses got to talking at a Halloween party at a house with a drum kit in the garage. Tom displayed his chops for his future bandmates, who were sufficiently impressed to recruit him on the spot. Toby remarks of the band's early efforts: "It was a very innocent high school thing. A unique musical identity eluded them, however, until the following year, when Toby and Moses took a school trip to England. They spent their first nights there perusing the rock-steady/reggae record racks in Brixton, drinking at the pub and growing close to classmate Ben. Turns out Ben blows a mean trumpet (as well as playing organ and singing). Rechristened, Moses, Toby, Tom and Ben recruited Johnny Genius for his six-string prowess. A music student at the School Of The Arts High School in San Francisco, traveling oboist in the Bay Area Wind Symphony and diehard Aerosmith fan, Genius colored their songs and allowed Toby to pawn off those tough guitar parts and devote his energies to fronting the band. That year -- 11^th grade -- the kids got busy in the East Bay all-ages scene. Donning full rock-steady regalia, they set their peers to jamming at Berkeley Square (now defunct), Ashkanaz and the hallowed 924 Gilman St. Success in these venues led to a purported trip to Japan, apparently sponsored by a package tour showcasing young American rock and pop acts. We had an amazing time, even destroyed some hotel rooms. That's also where we developed a very serious sushi fetish. We were playing one night and she jumped onstage, grabbed a mic and just started shrieking. They were devouring music: The Police, Led Zeppelin, Squeeze, Stax. Urbano schooled them in the work of James Brown and the classic Motown artists, significantly augmenting their understanding of grooveology. Toby says of the experience: "Michael taught the horns to listen to the vocals and the bass to listen to the kick drum -- all the little shit you naturally pick up from playing in bands for ten years. We learned more in three months with Michael than we had the entire time we'd been a band. We started listening to more soul music and straight-up rock and realized we could apply all that to our sound, which was great because playing reggae-influenced stuff had just gotten old. We went back to our hotel and spent hours tossing beer bottles and glasses and pillows and CDs the labels had given us out our 19^th-story window. But then we heard a knock at the door, so we threw all our clothes off and got into our beds to pretend we were sleeping. This time, they churned out a bunch of much more economical and light-hearted songs. DreamWorks Records principal Michael Ostin loved what he heard and signed the band. Says Toby: "This was a perfect situation and an ideal time to put college on hold. We were so fried after two weeks of mixing that we somehow got it into out heads that the El Dorado was the enemy. Above all, they're anxious to flood the airwaves with the kind of summer songs that have not been heard for a long, long time.
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