The Gadjits

The Gadjits were a ska and rock and roll band from Kansas City, Missouri. Their sound was influenced by The Clash, The Who, AC/DC, Elvis Costello, The Stooges, and The Rolling Stones.

History

Early years

Brandon, Zach, and Adam Phillips come from an artistic family, their father was a jazz musician and their mother an art teacher. The brothers played music together from a young age. Originally they covered songs by the band AC/DC, but later they began incorporating elements of punk, ska, reggae and swing into their sound, soon beginning to write their own material as well. The group was formed in 1991 when 14-year-old Brandon led his younger brothers Zach and Adam into a seedy bar in Kansas City to play their first gig to the small crowd of locals.

Da Gravy On Yo Grits

The Gadjits' debut LP, Da Gravy on Yo' Grits, was issued on their own JoCo Ska label, and its local success won the group opening slots for bands including the Skatalites, Rancid (band) and Let's Go Bowling; in time, they added keyboardist Heidi Blobaum to their ranks, replacing her a year later with Hillary Allen when Blobaum departed to attend college.

At Ease

Released in 1998 on Epitaph Records after attracting the attention of Tim Armstrong of Rancid (band). The Gadjits appeared on the Vans Warped Tour later that summer.

Wish We Never Met

Released in 1999 on Hellcat Records.

Today Is My Day

Released in 2002 on Thick Records. Featuring Brandon Phillips (vocals, guitar); Zach Phillips (vocals, bass); Mike Alexander (guitar); Hilary Allen (Fender Rhodes piano, Hammond B-3 organ); Adam Phillips (drums).

In 1977, England's musical landscape was being shaped by The Clash, Elvis Costello, and The Who. In the U.S., AC/DC was breaking and Kiss was the number one band; the underground was being led by The Stooges and Johnny Thunders. At the same time, in a well-manicured suburb of Kansas City called Leawood, The GadjitsÕ main singer and songwriter Brandon Phillips was born. Fourteen years later Brandon would lead his younger brothers, Adam (9) and Zach (11) into a seedy bar in Kansas City to play The Gadjits' first gig to a handful of barflies and Harley riders. From that moment on, The Gadjits would spend the next ten years in a van gigging the punk rock circuit, instead of attending classes at Blue Valley North High School. The band's truant officer, so to speak, would be Rancid's Tim Armstrong, who signed the band to his Epitaph/Hellcat label during The Gadjits' teen years. The band's sound, embraced and directed by Armstrong, was made up of a hybrid of rock steady and punk that fit loosely into ska's 3rd Wave, which was in full swing at the time. As the young Gadjit brothers exposed themselves to the rich history of rumor, glory, and romance of life on the road, they developed into a smart and savvy rock and roll band. A band so true to the life that they had made for themselves, they would risk it all and no longer play the blue beats that once perked the kids' ears. Instead they would write and perform a perfect blend of American roots, blues, and rock and roll. The change in musical direction was so severe that Hellcat passed on the band's new sound, leaving the band in limbo for over a year. It wasnÕt until February 2001 that THICK Records' mainstay and frontman of the Blue Meanies, Billy Spunke, became so enamored with the band during a short tour with The Gadjits that he brought them aboard the eclectic THICK Records. Now one year later, THICK Records proudly releases 'Today Is My Day,' a record written, recorded, and mixed by the band in their Leawood house. Joined by Mike Alexander (Revolvers) on second guitar and Ehren Starks on keys, The Gadjits open the garage door to a new sound that captures the true essence of rock and roll's classics. It's not the sound of today's rock resurgence, i.e. The Strokes and The White Stripes, but a revival following their own instincts instead of the current trends; proving once again that the kids truly are alright.

The Architects

In June 2004 The Gadjits ceased to exist as a band and a new band, The Architects, was formed. Brandon announced the news on the Gadjits e-mail list as follows:

The full story goes like this. Keyboard man Ehren Starks left The Gadjits to embark on a life of academia and normal behavior ... he called me the first Monday night after we got home from a tour with the Stereo. We went to Chili's and he dropped the bomb there over an "awesome blossom". That same night i called everyone else over and told them what was up. There was an awful silence which was finally broken when i asked if anyone else felt like hanging it up, given the new bit of bad news. None of us wanted to leave the game ... even with this new bruise upon us. So we began the awful task of rehearsals without a fifth member and we stayed that course until one evening when the great Adrianne Verhoven sat down behind the decks and made the thing whole again. Her band, the Anniversary had called it quits after a long haul as one of Lawrence, KS. best loved exports to the world. The new five-piece band was not just a return to a sense of completeness, but an opportunity to begin anew from somewhere between our pasts and our future. We christened this new band Architects.

Adrianne Verhoven shortly thereafter also left the band, but with great respect and affection for this amazing group of talented musicians.

Discography

Full-length albums

• Da Gravy On Yo Grits (JoCo Ska, 1997)
• At Ease (Hellcat Records, 1999)
• Wish We Never Met (Hellcat Records, 2001)
• Today Is My Day (Thick Records, 2002)
• Our Time To..." (RCA Records, 2003)- RCA dropped the band, and this album was never released.

Singles, EPs and split releases

• Yes I Are (VMS Records, 2001)
• Someday Driver (Thick Records, 2001)

Compilation appearances

• 'Gangster Girl' and 'Sassy' on the 'Skank For Brains - Saturday Matinee' compilation (Beach Records)
• 'Beautiful Girl' on the 'Give 'Em The Boot' compilation (Hellcat Records, 1997)
• 'Bad Gadjit' on the 'Give 'Em The Boot Vol. II' compilation (Hellcat Records, 1999)
• 'One Stones Throw (From A Riot)' on the 'Give 'Em The Boot Vol. III' compilation (Hellcat Records, 2002)

External links

Interviews

• Aversion.com Interview: September 20, 1999