Maldroid

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Maldroid
Origin Flag of the United States Oakland, California, USA
Years active 2005–present
Label(s) Fuzz
Website Official website
Members
Ryan Divine - vocals
Johnny Genius Murphy - guitar, vocals
A.J. Riot - keyboard, vocals
Jerry "Prince J" Last - keyboards
Todd "Tiffany" Brown - guitar
Mike O'Millions - drums, vocals
Sean"The Talented Mr." Shippley - bass

Maldroid is a British Invasion-style rock band based in Oakland, California.

Contents

[edit] History

Lead singer Ryan Divine, born and raised in Santa Cruz, founded Maldroid in March 2006, hand-picking local musicians had worked with from now defunct local bands Solemite and "The K.G.B." (not to be confused with the Finnish group KGB). The band made its first EP later that year produced by guitarist Johnny Genius, the other core member. Their first video, "He Said, She Said," is a combination of simulated live performance, background subway scenes from the BART rail system, and graphic-novel style cartoons hand-animated over the course of several months by Divine.

The single became popular on local San Francisco modern rock station Live 105, after which the video went on to win Youtube's first-ever music contest, "The Youtube Underground." That earned them an appearance on Good Morning America and interest from various record labels.

On February 14, 2007, a 5,000-word cover story was published in a local alternative-weekly newspaper chronicling the group's roots, evolution, and rapid rise to become perhaps the first ever indie rock group launched solely on music videos. [1] Unlike OK Go, who was already signed to a major label by the time it was boosted to mainstream popularity through its viral music videos, Maldroid experienced music video fame before it had released a single song for sale or played a single live show.

It was announced at the 2007 South By Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas that Maldroid was signed to a recording contract with the upstart San Francisco record label Fuzz Artists, Inc.

Maldroid opened at the Live 105 "Not so silent night" concert, on December 7, 2007, after winning a local band contest. The concert included similar, but more famously known bands Paramore, Spoon, Jimmy Eat World, Angels and Airwaves, and Modest Mouse.

Maldroid played Every Thursday Night In August and September at the Stork Club in Oakland, California

Former Smash Mouth/ Cake/Bourgeois Tagg/ Cracker drummer Michael Urbano has been filling in on various gigs for the band.

Reto Peter(Green Day, The Network, Modest Mouse) entered the studio to engineer and co-produce several songs for upcoming full length due out APRIL 2008.

Maldroid will embark on their first nation wide tour(april 15th-may 30th) with Oakland's own Phenomenauts and former Fueled By Ramen artist The A.K.A.S.

[edit] Musical style and influences

Maldroid styles itself after British Invasion bands from the 60s and "Second British Invasion" bands of the 80s. They play straightforward, singable pop music with clear vocals, a strong beat, conventional arrangements (bass, keys, guitar, singers), and clever wordplay. It is clearly influenced by early music by The Beatles, although the music is harder edged, more personal, yet less experimental than late 'Beatles. The band also has New Wave and Indie Rock overtones, and pays homage to Devo, The Hives, Daft Punk, Beck, and Iggy Pop.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

[edit] Singles

[edit] Trivia

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • Maldroid's first three videos are all animations created by lead singer Ryan Divine using commonly available Macintosh software, essentially at no cost. Their EP was produced at a cost of $50, which the band claims was spent mostly on food and alcohol, at a studio where two band members work.
  • The video "He Said She Said" was inspired by Take On Me, a popular 1985 song and video by the Norwegian band a-ha. The live portion was surreptitiously filmed on borrowed cameras in abandoned warehouses.
  • The "Heck No" video is animated on a Lite Brite art toy. In You Can Have It All a video, Ryan Divine takes apart a bluescreen jigsaw puzzle, which is played backwards. (He is also a jigsaw champion).
  • Lead Guitarist Johnny Genius attended San Francisco School of the Arts, is currently attending culinary academy and is in two other bands.
  • Bass Player Sean Shippley and Synth Player Prince J were also members of PopSmear Records band "Soundboy".
  • The production team of Divine Genius (Ryan Divine and Johnny Genius) first met Sean and Jerry during the production of the Soundboy record "Private Party". They produced several hits on the record including "Cold Blooded" and "Never My Love".
  • Bass Player Sean Shippley is a distant cousin of Duran Duran Lead Singer Simon Lebon.
  • Lead Singer Ryan Divine appears as a wet suit wearing guitar player in the video for "Papercut Skin" by Epitaph Records Recording artist The Matches.
  • Johnny Genius appears briefly in the movie "Road Trip" with his then band The K.G.B.
  • Keyboardist Prince J is a cousin of Heroes star Masi Oka (who plays Hiro Nakamura). Prince J is mistaken for him fairly often due to their striking resemblance.
  • Former Man Show Host and current stand up comedian Doug Stanhope has begun to use Maldroid songs as his entrance music during his gigs.
  • Ryan and Mike first met in their youth doing extra work on the set of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turles The Movie. They can be clearly seen during the underground youth club sequences.
  • Lead guitar player Todd Tiffany Brown is actually a relative of the legendary Tiffany Jeweler's family.
  • Ryan Divine has a tattoo of a star surrounding his left nipple.
  • A Thor fan since birth, Todd Tiffany has a tattoo of the Marvel Superhero on his right calf.
  • Sean and Jerry were kicked out of Soundboy via telephone while appearing on Good Morning America in New York City.
  • "Heck No" was the official theme song of the 2007 University of Chicago Scavenger Hunt

[edit] External links