Karate High School
Karate High School was an American rock band from San Francisco, California, fronted by multi-instrumentalist and producer Paul McGuire. On March 21, 2006 the band released their debut album, Arcade Rock. Karate High School's second album, The League Of Tomorrow, was released on September 4, 2007, which further honed the band's layered, keyboard-driven style of alternative rock. On November 11, 2008, Karate High School announced that they had signed to Eyeball Records, and would release a new record entitled Invaders on May 19, 2009. In early 2010 Paul McGuire announced that he was done producing music under the name Karate High School and has since chosen to go into other studies.
Karate High School (KHS) | |
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Background information | |
Origin | San Francisco, United States |
Genres | |
Years active | 2004–2010 |
Labels |
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Website | http://www.karatehighschool.com |
Past members | Paul McGuire Ray Bautista Ken Kasier Gabe Ausiello |
Style
Karate High School's style evolved over the last three records. Once described as an "aggressive blend of poppy punk, hyper post-hardcore, and eight-bit blips";[1] the band began as a spazzy, catchy, keyboard-driven rock act on their debut record, but grew and matured over the course of three records to a sound that crosses the genres of rock, punk, experimental, electronica, and power-pop. Their sound has often been referred to as synthcore. While 2007's The League Of Tomorrow effortlessly gear-shifted through poppy, upbeat melodies to heavy electronica-fused pop-punk, their 2009 album Invaders focused on all of the aforementioned elements and further evolved the band's sound. The band's sound has also been called nintendocore.[2]
Members
Karate High School was the songwriting project of Paul McGuire, and he wrote all the music and lyrics for the band. Ray Bautista joined the group as the touring keyboard player, and was the only member to be in the band since Arcade Rock. For recording purposes, Paul produced all three records and played all the instruments on The League Of Tomorrow. During the recording of Invaders, Geoff Garnett played guitar, Aaron McVeigh played drums, and Paul McGuire played keyboards, bass, and sang. In 2010, Paul McGuire announced that he was done producing music under the name KHS.
Former members and touring lineup
- Gabe Ausiello (original guitarist)
- Sean Martin (original drummer)
- Paul Kriz (original bassist)
- Danny Glaspy (drums)
- Ken Kaiser (bass)
- Tom Evans (bass)
- Dan Kingdon (bass)
- Nathan Vega (bass)
- Gideon Naude (bass)
- Aaron McVeigh - (drums)
- Geoff Garnett - (guitar)
- Ray Bautista - keyboards
- Paul McGuire - vocals, keyboards, guitar, bass, producer
Discography
- Arcade Rock (2006)
- The League of Tomorrow (2007)
- Invaders (2009)
References
- Karate High School at AllMusic
- Pertola, Petteri (28 May 2009). "Karate High School - Invaders". Rockfreaks.net. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
External links
- Karate High School's official website
- Paul McGuire's official site
- Karate High School on Facebook
- Invaders Review