Pimpbot
Encyclopedia
Pimpbot is a ska punk
band from Honolulu. Formed in 2001, the band is currently composed of Fernando "The Love Machine" Pacheco (lead vocals, trombone, tuba), Tom "Tommy Utah" Coleman (backing vocals, guitar), Rylan "Big Sexy" Yee (bass guitar, keyboard), and Eric "The Biz" Lagrimas (drums, recorder/flutophone, tenor sax), who are graduates of the University of Hawaii
and Berklee College of Music
. Since Fall 2009, the band has been joined by a horn section consisting of Ray "RayBot" Farias (tenor sax) and Nicolas "NZA" Ramos (trumpet/backing vocals). Past members include Joel Tokunaga (guitar), Shannon Ogura (bass), Alex Nagata (drums), Chris LaPan (backing vocals, drums), and Mike Lewis (bass).
Blending influences of reggae
, dance rock, hardcore punk
, and rocksteady
, the band is a local favorite, playing at many Honolulu venues. Pimpbot performed at the world famous Wave Waikiki at the closing celebration, headlined the grand opening of the stage at Kemo'o Farms, and played the Sunset on the Beach event at Waikiki Beach. The band has also toured on Maui, the Big Island, the U.S. mainland, and Canada
, including two appearances at the South by Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas. In their travels they have gained national and international acclaim and have shared the stage with Third Eye Blind
, Candlebox
, Reel Big Fish
, The Toasters
, Less Than Jake
, The Ataris
, Warsaw, General Public
featuring Dave Wakeling
, The Aquabats
, Save Ferris
, Buck-O-Nine
, Go Jimmy Go
, The Aggrolites
, The Skeletones, Skaladdin and the One Man Ska Band - Chris Murray.
Their third full-length album is currently in production.
Ska punk
Ska punk is a fusion music genre that combines ska and punk rock. It achieved its highest level of commercial success in the United States in the late 1990s. Ska-core is a subgenre of ska punk, blending ska with hardcore punk.The characteristics of ska punk vary, due to the fusion of contrasting...
band from Honolulu. Formed in 2001, the band is currently composed of Fernando "The Love Machine" Pacheco (lead vocals, trombone, tuba), Tom "Tommy Utah" Coleman (backing vocals, guitar), Rylan "Big Sexy" Yee (bass guitar, keyboard), and Eric "The Biz" Lagrimas (drums, recorder/flutophone, tenor sax), who are graduates of the University of Hawaii
University of Hawaii
The University of Hawaii System, formally the University of Hawaii and popularly known as UH, is a public, co-educational college and university system that confers associate, bachelor, master, and doctoral degrees through three university campuses, seven community college campuses, an employment...
and Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music, located in Boston, Massachusetts, is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known primarily as a school for jazz, rock and popular music, it also offers college-level courses in a wide range of contemporary and historic styles, including hip...
. Since Fall 2009, the band has been joined by a horn section consisting of Ray "RayBot" Farias (tenor sax) and Nicolas "NZA" Ramos (trumpet/backing vocals). Past members include Joel Tokunaga (guitar), Shannon Ogura (bass), Alex Nagata (drums), Chris LaPan (backing vocals, drums), and Mike Lewis (bass).
Blending influences of reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
, dance rock, hardcore punk
Hardcore punk
Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...
, and rocksteady
Rocksteady
Rocksteady is a music genre that originated in Jamaica around 1966. A successor to ska and a precursor to reggae, rocksteady was performed by Jamaican vocal harmony groups such as The Gaylads, The Maytals and The Paragons. The term rocksteady comes from a dance style that was mentioned in the Alton...
, the band is a local favorite, playing at many Honolulu venues. Pimpbot performed at the world famous Wave Waikiki at the closing celebration, headlined the grand opening of the stage at Kemo'o Farms, and played the Sunset on the Beach event at Waikiki Beach. The band has also toured on Maui, the Big Island, the U.S. mainland, and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, including two appearances at the South by Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas. In their travels they have gained national and international acclaim and have shared the stage with Third Eye Blind
Third Eye Blind
Third Eye Blind is an American alternative rock band formed in the early 1990s in San Francisco. The songwriting duo of Kevin Cadogan and Stephan Jenkins signed the band's first major label recording contract with Elektra records in 1996 resulting in two multi platinum albums. The band's lineup...
, Candlebox
Candlebox
Candlebox is an American alternative rock band from Seattle, Washington. Since their debut, the group has released four studio albums, which have achieved multi-platinum and gold certification, as well as numerous charting singles, a compilation, and a CD+DVD....
, Reel Big Fish
Reel Big Fish
Reel Big Fish is an American ska punk band from Huntington Beach, California, best known for the 1997 hit "Sell Out". The band gained mainstream recognition in the mid-to-late 1990s, during the third wave of ska with the release of the gold certified album Turn the Radio Off. Soon after, the band...
, The Toasters
The Toasters
The Toasters was one of the first American bands in the third wave of ska, and is one of the longest active third wave ska bands.They have released nine studio albums, most of them on Moon Ska Records. The Toasters experienced a small degree of commercial success in the late 1990s due to the...
, Less Than Jake
Less Than Jake
Less Than Jake is an American ska punk band from Gainesville, Florida. Originally formed in 1992 as a power pop trio, the band evolved into a hybrid of ska punk. Less Than Jake have also been cited as showing influences from a wide variety of genres including post-grunge, heavy metal, alternative...
, The Ataris
The Ataris
The Ataris are a rock band from Anderson, Indiana. They have released five studio albums, and their most recent E.P. was released on November 25, 2010 on the Gainesville, Florida based label, Paper + Plastick. It contained the brand new tracks "All Souls' Day" and "The Graveyard of The Atlantic"...
, Warsaw, General Public
General Public
General Public were a band formed by The Beat vocalists, Dave Wakeling and Ranking Roger, and which included former members of Dexy's Midnight Runners, The Specials and The Clash...
featuring Dave Wakeling
Dave Wakeling
Dave Wakeling is an English rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is most famous for singing and writing songs for the 1980s 2-Tone band The Beat and also General Public.-Career:...
, The Aquabats
The Aquabats
The Aquabats are an American rock band formed in 1994 in Orange County, California. They have released five full-length studio albums and have toured internationally. They are best known for their mythology, in which they claim to be superheroes on a quest to save the world from evil through music...
, Save Ferris
Save Ferris
Save Ferris was a ska punk band formed circa 1995 in Orange County, California. Their name is a reference to the 1986 film Ferris Bueller's Day Off.-History:...
, Buck-O-Nine
Buck-O-Nine
Buck-O-Nine is an American ska punk band which was formed in San Diego in 1991. The band has toured internationally and released several albums and e.p.'s, as well as appearing on compilations and film soundtracks. During the mid-to-late 1990s, they experienced mainstream success with the release...
, Go Jimmy Go
Go Jimmy Go
Go Jimmy Go is a ska, rocksteady, reggae and soul influenced band from Honolulu, Hawaii. Although chronologically, the band belongs to the third-wave, their mellow, slower tempo sound is reminiscent of the classic style of the original 1960s Jamaican first wave of ska.-History, 1996 to 2000:Go...
, The Aggrolites
The Aggrolites
The Aggrolites are a reggae and ska band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 2002.- Overview :The Aggrolites are an amalgamation of two previous Los Angeles reggae and ska bands, the Vessels and the Rhythm Doctors. They formed in 2002 as a live backing band for reggae icon Derrick Morgan, and...
, The Skeletones, Skaladdin and the One Man Ska Band - Chris Murray.
Their third full-length album is currently in production.
Tours
Past Tours- "East Coast Bender Tour"- February, 2011- 4 dates including Washington, DC and New York City. A planned show in Boston, MA had to be cancelled due to the unexpected closing of a venue.
- "Armed Forces EntertainmentArmed Forces EntertainmentArmed Forces Entertainment is the official United States Department of Defense agency for providing entertainment to U.S. military personnel overseas. Armed Forces Entertainment hosts over 1,200 shows around the world each year, reaching over 500,000 personnel at 355 military installations...
Asia/ Pacific Tour"- September 10 to 20, 2009- 8 dates including Anderson Air Force Base, Guam; Naval Base Guam; The Fuji Festival at Camp FujiCamp FujiCombined Arms Training Center Camp Fuji is an installation of the United States Marine Corps and the Japan Ground Self Defense Force. It is located near the town of Gotemba in the Shizuoka Prefecture of Japan, at the base of Mount Fuji...
, Japan; Camp Walker, South Korea; Daegu AFB, South Korea; Yongsan GarrisonYongsan GarrisonUnited States Army Garrison Yongsan is located in Seoul, South Korea and is home to the headquarters for the U.S. military presence in Korea, known as United States Forces Korea , as well as the headquarters for the Eighth United States Army and Installation Management Command Korea Region...
, South Korea; and two dates at the Camp Kinser Festival, Camp KinserCamp KinserCamp Kinser is a United States Marine Corps base in Okinawa, Japan. Another military installation is located south of Camp Kinser, but it belongs to the US Army.-External links:* *...
, Japan.
- "Muy Caliente Tour" - March 13 to 25, 2009- 5 Dates including Riverside, Hollywood, Las Vegas, and March 20 and 21 @ the 2009 South by Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas
- "Admit One" Canadian Tour- March, 2008- including shows in Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver
- "Rock from the Rock Tour" - Western US, Fall 2006 - 9 dates: Los Angeles, San Diego, Riverside, Reno, San Francisco, Portland, Tacoma, Seattle
- "Vertical Lobster Tour" - Southern California & Nevada, Fall 2004 - 7 dates including Boulder City's Outdoor Music Festival, The Skelo-Ween Show, and The Aloha Party @ Hoover's Live
- "Coconut Monkey Tour" - Southern California, Summer 2003 -5 dates including The Bluebeat Lounge @ the Knitting Factory, The Garage, and the Flippin Fiesta
Honorable Mentions
- Single "Careless Whisper" by PIMPBOT - 2006 Hawaii Music Awards Nominee for Best Single
- Single "Thanks For The Eggs" by PIMPBOT- 2008 Hawaii Music Awards Nominee for Best Single
- Album "Admit One" by PIMPBOT- 2009 Hawaii Music Awards Nominee for Best Ska Music Album
Discography
- "Demo Mucho Supremo" (2003, Self-Released)
- "Vertical Lobster" (2004, Self-Released)
- "Roots, Rock, Reggae: Hawaiian Islands" Compilation (2005, Hawaiian Express Records)
- "Send Ska!: Hawaii's Best of 2004" Compilation (2004, Gardenia Lane)
- "Careless Whisper" Single (2006, Self-Released)
- "Thanks for the Eggs" Single (2007, Pass Out Records)
- "One Life At A Time" Compilation (2007, Pass Out Records)
- "Songs On Egg Nog" Christmas Album (2007, Pass Out Records)
- "Admit One" (2008, Pass Out Records)