The Polkanauts

Artist Information

Biography

As with all wonderful, (or piss poor), ideas-this one starts in a bar. It happens to be in Wisconsin: Our fearless leader Paco has grown up with the polka. As did the parents and their parents before them. "It permeates everything we do, embrace it and make it our own! " "We'll mix in what we love making a mighty concoction!"
What do we love as much as Polka? .... Metal! death,black,grind,prog,speed,doom,drone,glam,hair,thrash,hardcore..whatever the incarnation! "Oh hell yeah! This is gonna to be great!! " The idea and logo are spawned long before the band actually is.
Flash forward a few years, Paco finds himself displaced to the Mile High City attends an Oktoberfest celebration and decides he needs a taste of home. Its time to build the monster! Got to start with the basics; he finds an accordion player. Florin has been playing since he was 8, in Romania non-the-less! He's game to try a little something different. Next up…how about a drummer? Wade stumbles into Paco at a Venom show. Turns out this ex-pat Texan has a little of the tradition from back home, loves the metal and is just drunk enough to want in! Now, some Bass is needed! The bowling team needs a replacement for the night…In steps James, let the”Carcass” discussions commence! James, from back east (NY), knows a thing or two about the Polka tradition himself but can’t imagine playing the stuff? Well it only takes once boys and girls and your hooked for life!!
The Polkanuats have now been spreading the polka gospel to the young and crusty and the metal/punk ethos to the Polka traditionalist for nearly 2 years. Averaging 40+ shows a year including the obligatory giant Oktoberfests, The standard issue German wedding parties as well as the seedy metal bars. Including stints opening for the likes of “Toxic Holocaust” , "SpeedWolf" and “Enemy Reign”. Never let it be said that the ‘nauts can’t throw down a circle pit when necessary…and isn’t it almost always necessary?! We've even toured in Europe & the UK to "bring the Noise"
At some point we decided that the Corpse paint didn't work with the orange NASA flight suits near as well as we hoped. But Orange is our color so hell yes we're always going to wear the gear!
Major Influences:
Frankie Yankovick , Napalm Death, Hanoi Rocks , Art Altenburg’s Concertina Bar & $240 worth of Pudding!

Instrumentation

Jeff Beaudoin
James
Wade
......Sammy
Randy

Discography

EP - Roosampler 2008
PolkaRites complilation -(2 tracks) 2008
New traditionalist-Polka compilation 2009
Polkanauts Live @ Budakan - 2009
Swillers - 2009
BolderBoulder Bootlegs 2011-Vol 8 (Vent-Hi-Way)

www.polkanauts.com

Official Website

http://www.polkanauts.com

Links

• Facebook
• MySpace
• Other EPK

Audio

• SuperNot
  Listen  
• Ventura HiWay
  Listen  
• Beer Barrel Polka
  Listen  

Video

Photo Gallery

Press

• Polkanauts @ UMS [+ Show ]
  

  Wandering south along Broadway toward the festival's main grounds, I happened upon one of the most e...Wandering south along Broadway toward the festival's main grounds, I happened upon one of the most enjoyable surprises of the four-day event. The Polkanauts' early afternoon set at Club 404 offered equal doses of kitsch and straightforward musicianship. The trio's set comprised an unadorned tribute to polka, a genre that's known better times in the pop culture psyche. But fads didn't phase the Polkanauts.
  Decked in orange jumpsuits festooned with patches bearing knockoff NASA logos, the trio proudly busted out a hybrid of traditional European polka structures and an in-your-face punk attitude worthy of the Pogues. The group's attitude alone was enough to pull the sounds out of the annals of western European lore and make it immediate and dynamic. The trio offered a foot-stomping version of "Just Because," apparently one of the genre's most successful entries into the pop charts.
  Still buzzing with the contagious effect of the Polkanauts' set, I made my way to ......A.H. Goldstein
  The Polkanauts at Club 404 ........Look at link above for entire article.

• Polkanauts -steal this track [+ Show ]
  

  It wouldn’t be Steal This Track if we didn’t take a sharp right turn into left field as we round t...
  It wouldn’t be Steal This Track if we didn’t take a sharp right turn into left field as we round the musical bases, and that’s just what we’ll do with this next tasty morsel. Denver’s own Polkanauts have been shocking both polka and rock fans around town for a couple years now, and they just keep getting tighter. Sure, there’s a novelty element to any band that lists both Napalm Death and Frankie Yankovic among its influences, but the musical acumen of guitarist Paco Vansistine, drummer Wade Clark, bassist James Van Fleet and accordionist Florin (yep, just Florin) is nothing to laugh at.
  
  Playing everything from the crusty old “Beer Barrel Polka” to a wicked cover of Slayer’s “South of Heaven,” the quartet takes no shortcuts in blending polka aesthetics with metal, pop and fist-in-the-air rock. For a tame-but-tantalizing introduction to the band’s perverse aesthetic, steal the Polkanauts’ mostly-instrumental cover of America’s “Ventura Highway.”
  
  Stream it:
  
  Steal it:
  Polkanauts | Ventura Highway (right click to save to your computer)
  
  http://blogs.denverpost.com/reverb/2010/05/18/steal-this-track-dyalekt-polkanauts-and-jonny-woodrose-the-broken-hearted-woodpeckers

• Polka meets Metal [+ Show ]
  

  And now for something completely different. Polka, space suits, death metal covers and plenty of ...And now for something completely different.
  
  Polka, space suits, death metal covers and plenty of beer, the Polkanauts have definitively carved out their niche in the Denver music scene.
  
  What started in a Wisconsin barroom as a hazy idea — a hip polka band with a hilarious name – has turned into a four-piece that regularly plays live in Colorado.
  
  “When someone came up with the name the Polkanauts, we all just laughed our a**es off the entire night,” said Paco, the band’s founder. “It was too good not to do.”
  
  Paco filled up the band’s lineup with a friend from his bowling league, a guy he met after a death metal show and an accordion player who answered an ad on the Internet. While Paco might be the only band member who grew up listening to polka music, the other band members quickly caught on.
  
  “Every time we are getting drunk and practicing, we are laughing and saying how perfect this is,” he said. “Let’s just keep playing polka.”
  
  Doing their own thing
  
  Saying Denver doesn’t have a big polka scene is a bit of an understatement. Except for a few other traditional polka bands like the similarly named Polkanuts, the music style is much more well known in the Midwest and in Europe than it his here on the Front Range.
  
  However, the Polkanauts’ hip take on the genre and the fact that they cover Black Sabbath, Slayer and America means that everyone from polka traditionalists to tattooed death metal fans might find something to enjoy.
  
  “People have been surprisingly receptive — they clap, they laugh and they’re drinking,” said Paco. “That’s what’s so great about polka — even if they think it’s ridiculous, they’re just laughing and having a good time.”
  
  

• The Mighty Polkanauts. [+ Show ]
  

  Here comes the mighty Polkanauts. Playing this Saturday, Jan. 10, at 8 p.m., these guys have to be s...Here comes the mighty Polkanauts. Playing this Saturday, Jan. 10, at 8 p.m., these guys have to be seen live to be believed – they are that dope.
  
  Heavy metal polka, yet still traditional enough to play all the old favorites (“Roll out the Barrel,” “Milwaukee Polka,” “In Heaven there is No Beer” and many more), they also cover Black Sabbath, Slayer, Tupac, Primus, Fleetwood Mac, and Enuff Z’ Nuff.
  
  Donning their blaze orange jumpsuits, they look like they are about to board the space shuttle; instead they embark upon a cross genre journey between Metal/ Rock/Pop and Polka. Spread the word.
  
  
  
  
  

• Polkanauts @ UMS [+ Show ]
  

  UMS 2010 Another great band I had the chance to see was the Polkanauts. Talk about a lot of fun. Thi...UMS 2010 Another great band I had the chance to see was the Polkanauts. Talk about a lot of fun. This year they made Slayer into Polka, and brought out an 8 foot mascot called Death. I couldn't believe how packed that place was and how many people were dancing. - Music A Mile High -Denver, CO

Setlist

Traditional :
Beer Barrel Polka
Too Fat " "
Lichenstiener " "
No beer in Heaven
Who stole the Kishka
Ice Cubes & Beer
Strip Polka
Clarinet " "
OK this could go on, (and has), for hours. You get the point. We have done 3.5 hours straight! Can you pick out the originals?

Non traditional:
South Of Heaven
The Wedge
Walk don't run
London Dungeon
Ventura Highway
Folsom Prison Blues
# of the Beast
Ending credits
Supernaut
God of Thunder
...many more...
We can do complete sets of either, however mixing em up makes for the best shows!! and the most dancing! Hey, we've played for 15000 we've played for 10, let's us know what you need!

Basic Requirements

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