ENBAN
New York City, New York, United States
Music
Press
As I walked into Rubulad two weeks ago, the first bit of insanity to hit my senses was the dancing members of Enban and their electronic musical stylings. Dawned in white jump suits, it sounded like a slew of jack’d up Mark Mothersbaugh beats. These sound makers and percussionists are Brooklyn based with upcoming shows at The Annex on 6/9 and Goodbye Blue Monday on 6/27. Their lead singer also happens to be a log. Here’s a vid to wet your appetite, but expect more from these guys to come. - Quiet Color
Brooklyn’s Enban blends a series of layered synths, beats, and samples to create a sound that is at once playful, original, and hypnotic. Early German electronic and krautrock pioneers such as Kraftwerk, Neu!, and Can are Enban’s most obvious influences. However, the group is also inspired by the vibrant, progressive sounds of Tokyo’s underground music scene. Songs like “Garbage Car” and “Caterpillar Killer pt 1” recall the minimalist soundtracks of early Nintendo games, starting with a simple beat or baseline that soon expands into a multi-layered, melodic groove. “Symphony for 13 Squirrels” and “Botchie” reveal a more experimental and psychedelic side, without ever losing a sense of playfulness. The group’s love for Tokyo is never too far from the surface and, like the city, Enban is quirky, exciting, and more fun after dark. - The Smell of Pajamas
Discography
Demo (2009)
Photos
Bio
HISTORY: While immersed in Tokyo's underground music scene shooting a documentary film, Lewis Rapkin's appreciation and amazement with the innovative music culture inspired him to form ENBAN. Lewis had been playing music with Eric Mintz since 2005 in various groups, but it wasn't until 2008 when they were working together on this film in Tokyo that the creative vision for ENBAN came about and their musical collaboration took form. Currently the duo plays with visual and performance artist David Smoler.
CONCEPT: The massive amount of information, technologies and cultures that saturate the city of Tokyo was an impetus for their creativity. After working with band after band of artists in Tokyo that were so dedicated to innovation and bending/combining genres in ways that they had never seen before, ENBAN decided to bring this spirit back to Brooklyn in what would become a reverse mixup of music culture. As Japan is famous for importing Western cultures and modifying/innovating them, ENBAN seeks to take Tokyo's interpretation/innovation of Western culture and re-interpret it again in Brooklyn.
SOUNDS: It's about sampling various eras and genres, creating the visuals and music simultaneously, working cross-platform with projections, performance artists/dancers, electronic programming and natural percussion.
INFLUENCES: Filtering Tokyo's scattered information culture, ENBAN is influenced by Krautrock, children's TV theme songs, avant-guarde improvisation, Enya, Blaxploitation soundtracks, 80's new wave, Nintendo game music, classic American yodeling, 70's Japanese pop divas and so on and so forth. The influences and innovations are endless as ENBAN's music and art reflects the information culture that we live in.
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