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Gregor Samsa (band)

 

 
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Gregor Samsa is a band from Virginia formed in 2000 and fronted by Champ Bennett. It takes its name from the main character of Franz Kafka
Franz Kafka

Franz Kafka was one of the major fiction writers of the 20th century. He was born to a middle-class German language-speaking Jewish family in Prague, Austria-Hungary, presently the Czech Republic....
's novella The Metamorphosis
The Metamorphosis

The Metamorphosis is a novella by Franz Kafka, first published in 1915. The story begins with a traveling salesman, Gregor Samsa, waking to find himself transformed into an insect ....
.

The band's sound, although rooted in the post-rock
Post-rock

Post-rock is a genre of alternative rock characterized by the use of musical instruments commonly associated with rock music, but using rhythms, harmony, melodies, timbre, and chord progressions that are not found in rock tradition....
 genre, differs from that of other bands in the genre in that it employs dual vocals by Bennett and Nikki King, a feature which relates them to the shoegazing
Shoegazing

Shoegazing is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged from the United Kingdom in the late 1980s. It lasted until the mid 1990s with a critical zenith reached in 1990 and 1991....
 and slowcore genres. Gregor Samsa has stated on its website that "the early history of the group has been lost in a wash of noise, strange beeps, and outright lies”.

Reviews of their album contained comparison to acts such as Brian Eno
Brian Eno

Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno , is an England musician, composer, record producer, music theory and singer, who, as a solo artist, is best known as the People known as the father or mother of something of ambient music....
 , Sigur Rós
Sigur Rós

Sigur R?s are an Icelandic post-rock band with melodic, Classical music and minimalist music elements. The band is known for its ethereal sound and lead singer J?n ??r Birgisson falsetto voice....
, Múm
Mum

Mum may refer to:* informal term for mother* m?m, an experimental Icelandic musical group* Bamoun or Mum, a sultanate of present-day Cameroon...
 , Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Godspeed You! Black Emperor

Godspeed You Black Emperor! is a Canada post-rock band formed in 1994 and based in Montreal, Quebec. One of the first musical acts to publish their albums through the Constellation Records label, they have since released three studio albums and one Extended play....
, and Low
Low (band)

Low is an United States indie rock group from Duluth, Minnesota, formed in 1993. As of 2008, the group is composed of Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker , both founding members, and Steve Garrington ....
  .

In support of its latest release, the band played twenty-one eastern US venues in March before then venturing a 23-date tour of the United Kingdom, France, Luxembourg, and Germany during April.






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Gregor Samsa is a band from Virginia formed in 2000 and fronted by Champ Bennett. It takes its name from the main character of Franz Kafka
Franz Kafka

Franz Kafka was one of the major fiction writers of the 20th century. He was born to a middle-class German language-speaking Jewish family in Prague, Austria-Hungary, presently the Czech Republic....
's novella The Metamorphosis
The Metamorphosis

The Metamorphosis is a novella by Franz Kafka, first published in 1915. The story begins with a traveling salesman, Gregor Samsa, waking to find himself transformed into an insect ....
.

The band's sound, although rooted in the post-rock
Post-rock

Post-rock is a genre of alternative rock characterized by the use of musical instruments commonly associated with rock music, but using rhythms, harmony, melodies, timbre, and chord progressions that are not found in rock tradition....
 genre, differs from that of other bands in the genre in that it employs dual vocals by Bennett and Nikki King, a feature which relates them to the shoegazing
Shoegazing

Shoegazing is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged from the United Kingdom in the late 1980s. It lasted until the mid 1990s with a critical zenith reached in 1990 and 1991....
 and slowcore genres. Gregor Samsa has stated on its website that "the early history of the group has been lost in a wash of noise, strange beeps, and outright lies”.

Reviews of their album contained comparison to acts such as Brian Eno
Brian Eno

Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno , is an England musician, composer, record producer, music theory and singer, who, as a solo artist, is best known as the People known as the father or mother of something of ambient music....
 , Sigur Rós
Sigur Rós

Sigur R?s are an Icelandic post-rock band with melodic, Classical music and minimalist music elements. The band is known for its ethereal sound and lead singer J?n ??r Birgisson falsetto voice....
, Múm
Mum

Mum may refer to:* informal term for mother* m?m, an experimental Icelandic musical group* Bamoun or Mum, a sultanate of present-day Cameroon...
 , Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Godspeed You! Black Emperor

Godspeed You Black Emperor! is a Canada post-rock band formed in 1994 and based in Montreal, Quebec. One of the first musical acts to publish their albums through the Constellation Records label, they have since released three studio albums and one Extended play....
, and Low
Low (band)

Low is an United States indie rock group from Duluth, Minnesota, formed in 1993. As of 2008, the group is composed of Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker , both founding members, and Steve Garrington ....
  .

In support of its latest release, the band played twenty-one eastern US venues in March before then venturing a 23-date tour of the United Kingdom, France, Luxembourg, and Germany during April. Historically, the band has chosen to tour and perform alongside a wide array bands and genres including Spokane, Kayo Dot
Kayo Dot

Kayo Dot is an American avant garde group that was formed in 2003 by Toby Driver. They released their debut album Choirs of the Eye on John Zorn's Tzadik Records label that year....
, Barzin
Barzin

Barzin is the name of a Canadian singer-songwriter known for his songs with an aspect melancholic and slow, who released two albums on his career, his music-style is similar to some bands as Mojave 3 and Mazzy Star....
, Part Chimp
Part Chimp

Part Chimp is a band from Camberwell in London that were formed by Tim Cedar, Jon Hamilton and Nick Prior in 2000. Current line-up is Tim , Jon , Iain Hinchliffe and Tracy Bellaries ....
, Calla
Calla (band)

Calla is an indie rock band formed in North Texas in 1997. The band has been based in Brooklyn, New York for most of its existence....
, Engine Down
Engine Down

Engine Down was a four-piece rock band from Richmond, Virginia, Virginia, active from 1996-2005. They were a part of the Washington, D.C. area post-hardcore/Emo movement, along with bands like The Dismemberment Plan, Q and Not U, and Faraquet....
, Isis
Isis (band)

Isis is a Los Angeles, California-based band, founded in Boston, Massachusetts in 1997. They have borrowed from and helped to evolve a sound pioneered by the likes of Neurosis and Godflesh, creating heavy music consisting of lengthy songs that focus on repetition and evolution of structure....
, Pelican
Pelican (band)

Pelican is a four-piece instrumental band from Chicago, Illinois who have since relocated to Los Angeles. The band is known for its dense combinations of different melodies and extended track lengths....
, Explosions in the Sky
Explosions in the Sky

Explosions in the Sky is an United States instrumental post-rock band from Texas. The band has garnered popularity beyond the post-rock scene for their cinematic, elaborately developed guitar work, narratively styled instrumentals, what they refer to as "cathartic mini-symphonies," and their enthusiastic and emotional live shows....
, Interpol
Interpol (band)

Interpol are an American band formed in 1997 in New York City.The band's line-up is Paul Banks , Daniel Kessler , Carlos Dengler and Sam Fogarino ....
, and many others.



The band completed their new album, "REST", in late 2007 and released it in April 2008. They are also posting new tracks to their page.

Current members

  • Champ Bennett - guitar
    Guitar

    The guitar is a musical instrument with ancient roots that is used in a wide variety of musical styles. It typically has six Strings , but Tenor guitar, Seven-string guitar, Eight-string guitar, Ten-string guitar, Eleven-string guitar, Twelve-string guitar, Thirteen-string guitar and doubleneck guitar string guitars also exist....
    , vocals
    Singing

    Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the human voice, which is often contrasted with regular speech. A person who sings is called a singer or vocalist....
    , piano
    Piano

    The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard instrument. Widely used in Western music for solo performance, ensemble use, chamber music, and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to musical composition and rehearsal....
  • Billy Bennett - drums, video
    Video

    Video is the technology of electronics Videography, recording, processing, storing, transmitting, and reconstructing a sequence of still images representing Scene in motion....
    , samples
    Sampling (music)

    In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an musical instrument or a different sound recording of a song....
  • Nikki King - Rhodes piano
    Rhodes piano

    A Rhodes piano is an electromechanical musical instrument, a brand of electric piano. Its distinctive sound has appeared in thousands of songs of all musical styles since it was first introduced in 1965....
    , keyboard
    Keyboard instrument

    A keyboard instrument is any musical instrument played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include various types of organ s as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic musical instrument....
    , vocals
  • Jeremiah Klinger - guitar, baritone guitar
    Baritone guitar

    The baritone guitar is a variation on the standard guitar, with a longer scale length that allows it to be tuned to a lower range. The Danelectro Company was the first to introduce the baritone guitar in the late 1950s....
    , clarinet, theremin
  • Cory Bise - bass guitar
    Bass guitar

    The electric bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a plectrum.The bass guitar is similar in appearance and construction to an electric guitar, but with a larger body, a longer neck and Scale length, and usually four strings tuned to the same pitches as those of the double bass, whic...
  • Mia Matsumiya - violin
    Violin

    The violin is a Bow string instrument with four strings usually tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest and highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which also includes the viola and cello....


Past Members and Contributors

  • Brandon Evans - guitar, keyboard, lap steel guitar
    Lap steel guitar

    The lap steel guitar is a type of steel guitar, from which other types developed.There are three main types of lap steel guitar:* Lap slide guitars, the first developed, which use a similar sound box to a Spanish guitar....
  • Jason LaFerrera - bass guitar
  • Earl Yevak - drums
  • Bobby Donne - bass guitar
  • Rick Alverson - guitar
  • Jason Wood
    Jason Wood (musician)

    Jason Wood is the current lead singer of Metalcore band, It Dies Today. He joined in early 2007 following the departure of joint founding member Nicholas Brooks....
     - bass guitar
  • Eric Yevak - guitar
  • Amber Blankenship - cello
    Cello

    The violoncello is a bowed string instrument. A person who plays a cello is called a cellist. The cello is used as a solo instrument, in chamber music, and as a member of the string section of an orchestra....
    , violin
  • Jon Sullivan
    Jon Sullivan

    Jonathan Harold "Jon" Sullivan is an Australian politician. He is an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives since 2007, representing the Division of Longman....
     - double bass
    Double bass

    The double bass or contrabass is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow string instrument used in the modern orchestra. It is a standard member of the string section of the orchestra and smaller string musical ensembles in European classical music....
  • Nick Wurz - bass guitar (sometimes played with a bow
    Bow (music)

    In music, a bow is moved across some part of a musical instrument, causing vibration which the instrument emits as sound. The vast majority of bows are used with string instruments, although some bows are used with musical saws and other bowed idiophones....
    )
  • Nathan Altice - guitar, keyboard
  • Tony Thaxton - drums
  • Toby Driver - clarinet and vibraphone


Discography


Albums

  • 55:12
    55:12

    55:12 is the first full-length studio album released in 2006 by Virginian post-rock band Gregor Samsa , on The Kora Records.The album was tracked at the Recorditorium in Richmond, engineered by Jason Laferrera, and produced by Gregor Samsa....
     (CDLP 2006)
  • Rest
    Rest (album)

    Rest, released April 1, 2008, is the second full-length album by Virginian post-rock band Gregor Samsa . The band posted the tracks online at Imeem before the album was released....
     (CDLP 2008)


EPs

  • Gregor Samsa
    Gregor Samsa (EP)

    Gregor Samsa was the debut EP released in 2002 by Virginian Post Rock band, Gregor Samsa ....
     (CDEP 2002)
  • 27:36
    27:36

    27:36 was the second EP released by Gregor Samsa in 2003, one year after their debut Gregor Samsa . It features three untitled tracks which were later named by the band for easy reference, though those names are unofficial....
     (CDEP 2003)
  • 27:36+2dot (LP 2004)


Splits

  • Split with The Silent Type (2001)
  • Split with Red Sparowes
    Red Sparowes

    Red Sparowes is a Los Angeles post-rock band comprising current and former members of Isis , Halifax Pier, Angel Hair and Pleasure Forever. Their sound is characteristic of soundscape-influenced experimental rock, with an otherwise uncommon extensive use of a pedal steel guitar....
     (2005)


External links