Django Haskins
Encyclopedia
Djángo Haskins is a North American singer-songwriter
. He is named after legendary jazz musician Django Reinhardt
. Originally from Florida
, Django Haskins, now resides in the state of North Carolina
where he is currently the frontman of pop-noir musical group The Old Ceremony
. Though primarily identified as a guitarist and vocalist, Django also plays piano and violin.
. His family's love for music exposed him to the likes of Cole Porter
, The Beatles
, Bob Dylan
, Motown, Gershwin
, Thelonious Monk
, The Replacements and Elvis Costello
, familiarising him with pop music and its many forms. Django himself was involved in many middle/high school bands including The Music Butchers, Bloody Awful and The Robot Bunnies from Hell.
Django moved north to study literature at Yale
before relocating to Hangzhou
, China
, where he taught English and continued his musical adventure, playing songs he had written to audiences at the local pub who often could not understand a word of what he was playing, gaining him a larger insight to the finer points of song writing. "It takes away all opportunities for in-references, clever lyrics, etc." Django recalls, "and boils it down to melody, rhythm, feel, and sound".
, releasing his first album, Folding Stars, in 1998, and performing in a number of successful solo shows in various downtown New York institutions.
Django formed a band which went on to develop into The Regulars, with bassist and Texas enthusiast, Byron Isaacs, and drummer, Neil Nunziato, with whom, with the assistance of legendary producer Don Fleming (Sonic Youth
, Teenage Fanclub
, Pete Yorn
) and NYC producers Andrew Hollander
and Mike Daly
(Whiskeytown
), Django recorded his second album, Django and The Regulars' Laying Low and Inbetween, which achieved substantial critical acclaim and radio play, resulting in its being picked up by NYC indie label ModMusic Records for national distribution and use in several TV & film projects.
Django's third album, Over Easy Smoke Machine, a mix of both Django's solo work, as well as a fair few tracks featuring the Regulars, was recorded in NYC and produced by Andrew Hollander, with engineering by Robert Smith (David Bowie
, Ricki Lee Jones). Additional recording took place in Django's adopted hometown of Chapel Hill, NC, with the assistance of Robert Sledge
(Ben Folds Five
, International Orange) and Dan Bryk
on the mixing desk, and the album was released in 2003.
Django has embarked on tours taking him all over the globe, including locations in both the US and Europe, as well as his early visits to the far east. Django has had many notable touring partners, including Dan Bryk, Darren Jessee
(Ben Folds Five
, Hotel Lights
), Prabir Mehta
and Britt "Snuzz
" Uzzell.
Django is known to travel north to New York in the summertime, where he teaches guitar.
Django was an original member of Pete Galub's band, The Annuals, playing bass alongside Pete and drummer Chris Moore.
Django composed the theme music for The State of Things
on North Carolina Public Radio
.
Django currently plays with his pop-noir band, The Old Ceremony
, as well as continuing his successful solo shows.
(ex-bassist for Ben Folds Five
), Britt "Snuzz
" Uzzell (former member of Bus Stop
) and drummer Jason Fagg (under various alternative aliases). The band played over 100 shows across North America, consisting of songs written by each of the 3 song-writing members (Django, Robert and Britt) before and after the formation of the band. The band released one recording, a six track EP - Spoon Box - in 2004, which featured 2 Django compositions - Folding Stars opener "Hand to Mouth" and new song "Alone". The band parted company in early 2005 to pursue separate projects, though Britt and Robert continued to play together with drummer Eddie Walker in NC cover band Walrus until later that year. The band parted on good terms and are still in touch and it has been suggested that a CD compiled of their many live recordings may someday be released.
. Described as a "mini orchestra", The Old Ceremony has been known to consist of up to 12 members, including singer/song-writer Django on vocals and guitar, pianist James "The Kid" Wallace (of The Means), drummer Dan Hall (of Countdown Quartet), Mark "The Zookeeper" Simonsen (of Jackie O. Pillbox) on the vibes/organ, bassist Matt Brandau (of Sankofa and Remix Project), violinists Gabriele Pelli (of Europa Jazz) and Daniel Hart of (The Physics of Meaning
) and Josh Starmer on cello. Other members have included Jil Christensen on the accordion, Vamsi Tadepalli on sax, Will Caviness on trumpet, and Harmony Keeney on vocals.
The Old Ceremony released their first recording - a self-titled, 12 track album, featuring fan favourites including "American Romeo", "Ole" and "Blood and Oil" - in 2005. In October 2006, released a new album called Our One Mistake. Songs on this album include "Poison Pen", "Reservations" and "Bao Qian" (a song written almost entirely in Mandarin Chinese). Our One Mistake was released by NYC indie label sonaBLAST! Records
(headed by Gill Holland
).
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
. He is named after legendary jazz musician Django Reinhardt
Django Reinhardt
Django Reinhardt was a pioneering virtuoso jazz guitarist and composer who invented an entirely new style of jazz guitar technique that has since become a living musical tradition within French gypsy culture...
. Originally from Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, Django Haskins, now resides in the state of North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
where he is currently the frontman of pop-noir musical group The Old Ceremony
The Old Ceremony
The Old Ćeremony is a Chapel Hill, North Carolina pop-noir musical group fronted by Django Haskins. Formed in 2004, the group has released four full-length albums, Our One Mistake, on sonaBLAST! Records; and The Old Ceremony, Walk On Thin Air, and Tender Age on the Durham, NC label, Alyosha Records...
. Though primarily identified as a guitarist and vocalist, Django also plays piano and violin.
Early life and musical beginnings
Django was born in Gainesville, FloridaGainesville, Florida
Gainesville is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Alachua County, Florida, United States as well as the principal city of the Gainesville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area . The preliminary 2010 Census population count for Gainesville is 124,354. Gainesville is home to the sixth...
. His family's love for music exposed him to the likes of Cole Porter
Cole Porter
Cole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter. Born to a wealthy family in Indiana, he defied the wishes of his domineering grandfather and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn towards musical theatre...
, The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
, Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, Motown, Gershwin
George Gershwin
George Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known...
, Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Sphere Monk was an American jazz pianist and composer considered "one of the giants of American music". Monk had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including "Epistrophy", "'Round Midnight", "Blue Monk", "Straight, No Chaser"...
, The Replacements and Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...
, familiarising him with pop music and its many forms. Django himself was involved in many middle/high school bands including The Music Butchers, Bloody Awful and The Robot Bunnies from Hell.
Django moved north to study literature at Yale
YALE
RapidMiner, formerly YALE , is an environment for machine learning, data mining, text mining, predictive analytics, and business analytics. It is used for research, education, training, rapid prototyping, application development, and industrial applications...
before relocating to Hangzhou
Hangzhou
Hangzhou , formerly transliterated as Hangchow, is the capital and largest city of Zhejiang Province in Eastern China. Governed as a sub-provincial city, and as of 2010, its entire administrative division or prefecture had a registered population of 8.7 million people...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, where he taught English and continued his musical adventure, playing songs he had written to audiences at the local pub who often could not understand a word of what he was playing, gaining him a larger insight to the finer points of song writing. "It takes away all opportunities for in-references, clever lyrics, etc." Django recalls, "and boils it down to melody, rhythm, feel, and sound".
Django's solo career
In 1996, Django returned to America, setting up base in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, releasing his first album, Folding Stars, in 1998, and performing in a number of successful solo shows in various downtown New York institutions.
Django formed a band which went on to develop into The Regulars, with bassist and Texas enthusiast, Byron Isaacs, and drummer, Neil Nunziato, with whom, with the assistance of legendary producer Don Fleming (Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
, Teenage Fanclub
Teenage Fanclub
Teenage Fanclub are an alternative rock band from Bellshill, Scotland. The band is composed of Norman Blake , Raymond McGinley , Gerard Love and Francis MacDonald , with songwriting duties shared equally among Blake, McGinley and Love...
, Pete Yorn
Pete Yorn
Peter Joseph Yorn is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist who first gained international recognition after his debut record, Musicforthemorningafter, was released to critical acclaim in 2001.-Early history:Yorn's father is a dentist and his mother is a former concert pianist who worked as a...
) and NYC producers Andrew Hollander
Andrew Hollander
Andrew Hollander is an American composer, songwriter, producer, and pianist. Hollander first garnered attention in the film world for his work on the feature film Wrestling With Alligators, a Grand Jury Prize nominee at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival, and most recently for his score for Waitress...
and Mike Daly
Mike Daly
Mike Daly is an American producer / songwriter / multi-instrumentalist who grew up in Roselle Park, New Jersey, United States. Daly attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston, graduating in 1994. Soon after, he joined the band Swales and recorded one album, What's His Name? for Bar/None Records...
(Whiskeytown
Whiskeytown
Whiskeytown was an alternative country band formed in Raleigh, North Carolina in 1994. Fronted by Ryan Adams, other members included Caitlin Cary, Phil Wandscher, Eric "Skillet" Gilmore, and Mike Daly. They disbanded in 2000, with Adams leaving to pursue his solo career...
), Django recorded his second album, Django and The Regulars' Laying Low and Inbetween, which achieved substantial critical acclaim and radio play, resulting in its being picked up by NYC indie label ModMusic Records for national distribution and use in several TV & film projects.
Django's third album, Over Easy Smoke Machine, a mix of both Django's solo work, as well as a fair few tracks featuring the Regulars, was recorded in NYC and produced by Andrew Hollander, with engineering by Robert Smith (David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
, Ricki Lee Jones). Additional recording took place in Django's adopted hometown of Chapel Hill, NC, with the assistance of Robert Sledge
Robert Sledge
Robert Sledge is an American musician, best known for his work with Ben Folds Five.-Biography:Robert Sledge began playing bass guitar at the age of eleven. His brother was playing guitar at his house so he also learned how to play the guitar at the same time...
(Ben Folds Five
Ben Folds Five
Ben Folds Five is an alternative rock trio formed in 1993 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The group comprises Ben Folds , Robert Sledge , and Darren Jessee . The group achieved mainstream success in the alternative, indie and pop music scenes...
, International Orange) and Dan Bryk
Dan Bryk
Dan Waldemar Bryk is a Canadian-born singer-songwriter and recording artist. Originally from Toronto, Bryk is currently based in New York City...
on the mixing desk, and the album was released in 2003.
Django has embarked on tours taking him all over the globe, including locations in both the US and Europe, as well as his early visits to the far east. Django has had many notable touring partners, including Dan Bryk, Darren Jessee
Darren Jessee
Darren Jessee is an American musician and songwriter. He is perhaps best known as the drummer for the alternative rock group Ben Folds Five...
(Ben Folds Five
Ben Folds Five
Ben Folds Five is an alternative rock trio formed in 1993 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The group comprises Ben Folds , Robert Sledge , and Darren Jessee . The group achieved mainstream success in the alternative, indie and pop music scenes...
, Hotel Lights
Hotel Lights
Hotel Lights is an American indie rock band led by singer and multi-instrumentalist Darren Jessee, former drummer for Ben Folds Five.-History:...
), Prabir Mehta
Prabir and The Substitutes
Prabir and The Substitutes is a pop-rock band from Richmond, Virginia. The band has released multiple recordings while touring alongside Dr. Dog, The Silver Beats, The Parties, and The Old Ceremony. Although still an independent band, the Substitutes have received accolades from such national...
and Britt "Snuzz
Snuzz
Snuzz, is a musician from North Carolina and graduate of UNC-G. He played guitar and keyboards for Ben Folds on the tour of "Rockin' the Suburbs" and still writes and releases music under his name as well as playing in several other groups. Snuzz played in Bus Stop with Chuck Folds, Eddie Walker,...
" Uzzell.
Django is known to travel north to New York in the summertime, where he teaches guitar.
Django was an original member of Pete Galub's band, The Annuals, playing bass alongside Pete and drummer Chris Moore.
Django composed the theme music for The State of Things
The State of Things (radio show)
The State of Things is a radio talk show produced by North Carolina Public Radio. The show airs live at 12 noon Eastern time Monday through Friday, and is rebroadcast Monday through Thursday at 9 PM...
on North Carolina Public Radio
North Carolina Public Radio
North Carolina Public Radio is a public radio network based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and operated by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It broadcasts NPR, American Public Media, Public Radio International, and BBC programming in an "all-news-and-information" format...
.
Django currently plays with his pop-noir band, The Old Ceremony
The Old Ceremony
The Old Ćeremony is a Chapel Hill, North Carolina pop-noir musical group fronted by Django Haskins. Formed in 2004, the group has released four full-length albums, Our One Mistake, on sonaBLAST! Records; and The Old Ceremony, Walk On Thin Air, and Tender Age on the Durham, NC label, Alyosha Records...
, as well as continuing his successful solo shows.
International Orange
In 2003, Django formed International Orange alongside Robert SledgeRobert Sledge
Robert Sledge is an American musician, best known for his work with Ben Folds Five.-Biography:Robert Sledge began playing bass guitar at the age of eleven. His brother was playing guitar at his house so he also learned how to play the guitar at the same time...
(ex-bassist for Ben Folds Five
Ben Folds Five
Ben Folds Five is an alternative rock trio formed in 1993 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The group comprises Ben Folds , Robert Sledge , and Darren Jessee . The group achieved mainstream success in the alternative, indie and pop music scenes...
), Britt "Snuzz
Snuzz
Snuzz, is a musician from North Carolina and graduate of UNC-G. He played guitar and keyboards for Ben Folds on the tour of "Rockin' the Suburbs" and still writes and releases music under his name as well as playing in several other groups. Snuzz played in Bus Stop with Chuck Folds, Eddie Walker,...
" Uzzell (former member of Bus Stop
Bus Stop (band)
Bus Stop were a British dance act best known for their single "Kung Fu Fighting", which reached #8 in the UK Singles Chart in June 1998. The song sampled the original vocals by Carl Douglas, the original being a UK #1 hit in 1974, with added rap verses. The group then released three further...
) and drummer Jason Fagg (under various alternative aliases). The band played over 100 shows across North America, consisting of songs written by each of the 3 song-writing members (Django, Robert and Britt) before and after the formation of the band. The band released one recording, a six track EP - Spoon Box - in 2004, which featured 2 Django compositions - Folding Stars opener "Hand to Mouth" and new song "Alone". The band parted company in early 2005 to pursue separate projects, though Britt and Robert continued to play together with drummer Eddie Walker in NC cover band Walrus until later that year. The band parted on good terms and are still in touch and it has been suggested that a CD compiled of their many live recordings may someday be released.
The Old Ceremony
While he was still playing with International Orange, Django also founded pop-noir extravaganza, The Old CeremonyThe Old Ceremony
The Old Ćeremony is a Chapel Hill, North Carolina pop-noir musical group fronted by Django Haskins. Formed in 2004, the group has released four full-length albums, Our One Mistake, on sonaBLAST! Records; and The Old Ceremony, Walk On Thin Air, and Tender Age on the Durham, NC label, Alyosha Records...
. Described as a "mini orchestra", The Old Ceremony has been known to consist of up to 12 members, including singer/song-writer Django on vocals and guitar, pianist James "The Kid" Wallace (of The Means), drummer Dan Hall (of Countdown Quartet), Mark "The Zookeeper" Simonsen (of Jackie O. Pillbox) on the vibes/organ, bassist Matt Brandau (of Sankofa and Remix Project), violinists Gabriele Pelli (of Europa Jazz) and Daniel Hart of (The Physics of Meaning
The Physics of Meaning
The Physics of Meaning were an indie pop band from Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Its members included Daniel Hart and Alex Laraza, along with other live musicians and session members. Their self-titled album The Physics of Meaning was released on Bu Hanan Records in 2005. Hart is a classically...
) and Josh Starmer on cello. Other members have included Jil Christensen on the accordion, Vamsi Tadepalli on sax, Will Caviness on trumpet, and Harmony Keeney on vocals.
The Old Ceremony released their first recording - a self-titled, 12 track album, featuring fan favourites including "American Romeo", "Ole" and "Blood and Oil" - in 2005. In October 2006, released a new album called Our One Mistake. Songs on this album include "Poison Pen", "Reservations" and "Bao Qian" (a song written almost entirely in Mandarin Chinese). Our One Mistake was released by NYC indie label sonaBLAST! Records
SonaBLAST! Records
sonaBLAST! Records is a Louisville, KY-based independent record label founded by film producer Gill Holland in 2002. The label kicked off with Irish singer-songwriter Mark Geary, whose 2004 release Ghosts is nearing Gold status and received critical acclaim in Ireland and the USA.-Artist...
(headed by Gill Holland
Gill Holland
John Gill Holland, Jr. , better known as Gill Holland, is a Norwegian-American award winning film producer and co-developer of The Green Building in Louisville, Kentucky.-Background:...
).
Solo
- Folding Stars (1998)
- Over Easy Smoke Machine (2003)
The Old Ceremony
- The Old Ceremony (2005)
- Our One Mistake (2006)
- Walk On Thin Air (2009)
- Tender Age (2010)