Punk Rocker Jeremy Buck & The Bang
Hangin' With the High-energy Performer's Band
The Mohawk Man bangs out a punk and rock blend in Southern California.
He's punk. Punk with a bit of funk, in fact, but other than plunging a stick through a drumhead and tapping out a tune on a German WWII helmet placed on someone's head from the audience, he's not exactly Sex Pistols crazy.
He just looks that way.
With a Mohawk that makes him look like extreme skier Glen Plake with drum sticks, Jeremy Buck pounds his way to his fans' spiritual soul with a kind of soft-punk-meets-rock-beat music. And those fans love it.
"He's not just a good CD or studio musician," one mused prior to the release party of the one of the band's CD, Fool's Gold, at a club in Hollywood. "He's a great live performance artist. That's one of the things that sets him apart."
At those live concerts – Buck plays primarily in Los Angeles and in particular the South Bay's Hermosa Beach but tours in the Midwest and Japan and has opened for Blues Traveler – he comes out with a bang. Well, The Bang, actually, as that's the name of his band members. Jeremy Buck and the Bang really bangs out the rock.
Jeremy Buck and the Bang perform in Hollywood.
Part of the band's entertaining show includes audience participation.
Loyal fans love to see the show and hear the band perform.
Buck is a bit different than many other band leaders in that he plays not the guitar but keyboard and drums. And he hardly bangs those drums slowly. He doesn't so much play them as attack them. This is the flash point for his high-energy performances.
He leaves lead guitar up to Chris Hannah, who also sings, and the bass in the capable fingers of Joel Geist. It's a second talent for Geist, who also produces the excellent music videos seen on TV screens during Buck's performances, as well as on YouTube and the band's website. Ryan Krieger is on drums when Buck isn't on them himself.
Chris leads the beat on guitar.
Joel, long hair flopping like a flag in the wind, knocks it out on bass.
The band leader ALWAYS gets the most girls!
Playing mostly original songs – mixed in with a sensational version of Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" – Jeremy Buck and the Bang inspires with songs such as "Goin' to California" CD title track "Fools Gold," "Just One Night" which gets airtime on LA radio stations, and PubClub's favorite, the upbeat and energetic "Bang! Bang!"
The band's sound is somewhat reminiscent of the Stray Cats, though more intense, fast-paced and, for lack of a better description, deep-throated.
Attend a Buck concert and the first thing one will notice is the constant smiles on all the people listening to the band. Buck is a fierce performer, expending so much energy you almost expect him pass out when the set is finished. When he's not tearing it up on the drums, he's doing it on the keyboard, sweat building up on his forehead as if he's running in a track meet. And that's about the pace he plays.
His resemblance to the heavy-haired Plake – minus the multiple colors – is an apt comparison. For it's easy to imagine launching off the face of a hill for a ski run or attacking knee-deep powder while listening to the tunes of Buck and the Bang.
Buck's appearance also adds a bit of mystique to the sound. While he looks somewhat intimidating and difficult to approach, he's in fact an Indiana farm boy who has never lost the politeness of his Midwest upbringing. Apparently, he reserves the radical stuff for his instruments.
Or, in the words of band publicist Bill McCoy, "he's not as nuts as he looks."
No, he just plays that way.
Among the places you can catch the band are regular stops at the Lighthouse Cafe, Saint Rocke and The Studio in Hermosa Beach. CA. It also occasionally plays one of PubClub's favorite dive bars, the Kraken, in Solona Beach north of San Diego.
In addition to his full band, Buck also plays weekday solo gigs at places like Fenner's and Hennessey's in Hermosa Beach.
For the band's music, to buy CDs and to check their schedule, its website is: www.jeremybuck.com. |
