Kazai Rex
Los Angeles, California, United States | SELF
Music
Press
"Radio ready. Fun stuff."
"Eclectic, melodic indie rock/pop. Upbeat, with a classic old time pop influence. Very good vocal performances and musicianship. Solid harmonies, tight rhythms, and lots of energy... The songs are also very well crafted, with great arrangements and capable melodies." - Hello Music
Barely a year old, Kazai Rex is a quintessential college band -- fun-loving and always up for a jam. The students deliver funk-based rock with dueling lead vocals by bright-eyed sophomore Stacey Capoot and band founder Danny Langa, whose high school band, Another Man's Trash, won the VH1/School of Rock/Battle of the Bands contest in 2004. Kazai Rex plays frequently on campus and will be lending its spirit to today's Beat 'SC Pep Rally. (myspace.com/kazairex) - Los Angeles Times
Better hide all the energy drinks from this five-piece. Capoot could have been the Energizer Bunny's twin as she pranced, danced, and livened things up all night. It was amazing that these individuals could put so much energy into their performance and not crash into one another. - Music Connection
Sunny rock for a lot of friendly people to hang out with and a lot of friendly people blocking all the exits. - OC Weekly
Should be an interesting night downtown — Corinne Bailey Rae kicks off her tour with a show at Vibiana, formerly the Cathedral of Saint Vibiana. The singer-songwriter’s sold-out show will be the first of its kind at the venue. … At Spaceland, it’s LA Font, Kazai Rex and a side profect of Le Switch, Latin Meds. … Useless Keys and Regrets & Brunettes team up at the Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa. … And RJD2 [that's his video for "A Spaceship for Now," above] and Busdriver play the El Rey Theatre. … Also: Alicia Keys at the Staples Center; Paper Tongues at the Troubadour; Five for Fighting at the Wiltern; Jay Nash and Joey Ryan at Saint Rocke in Hermosa Beach; Signals at the Smell; Wake Up Lucid at the Silverlake Lounge; Citizen Savant at the Viper Room; and Wake Up Lucid at the Silverlake Lounge. - Buzz Bands
This fateful night we got to see our old friends Kazai Rex do what they do best: stir up a doo-woppy racket, with all the hip shaking and tambouring dancing you could ever (legally) ask for and it was a good time as always. So good that they almost made me forget how much equipment I broke, how many beers I spilled and all the crackheads I had to shoo away from our cars. - Do the Feedback (Music Blog)
Kazai Rex
The musicians: Stacey Capoot (class of ’09), Danny Langa (’08), Austin Bauer (’09), Dominick Duhamel (’09), John Higgins (’09)
The music: “Indie rock with pop rock and ’60s pop elements.”
Although Capoot, Langa and Duhamel write most of the songs, collaboration is also important.
“I’d say we’re pretty prolific when it comes to songwriting because we have so many people and so many different ways that the band writes,” says Langa. “So we seem to keep piling on songs before we can record them.”
The start: A few members met while jamming in a rehearsal room in a UCLA dorm, another was discovered in a dining hall and another two met at freshman orientation. Even before they had decided on a name, the group performed for the first time at a dorm’s talent show, which they won.
“We won a prize at the talent show and we bought a pile of CDs for our demo and UCLA shot glasses,” says Capoot.
Today: Performing at on-campus events like Spring Sing and fraternity and sorority benefits, they’ve also played at the House of Blues, the Knitting Factory, the Roxy and in Davis, San Jose and even a sex shop in San Diego.
“You should google the Rubber Rose. It’s a sex shop with an attached art gallery. So that was probably our most interesting venue,” says Capoot.
The future: Although the future may be up in the air, one thing is certain: They love what they do.
“We all really love to play. We love being in the band, and we love each other. We have decided that we don’t know what’s going to happen,” says Langa. “It’s just a whole bunch of fun, and we’re just going to keep going until we can’t.”
Fun fact: Each month, on their interactive Web site, Kazairex.com, a different member of the band posts a 10 to 14 song podcast that anyone can download and listen to for free. - Campus Circle
Kicking things off last night, Kazai Rex (that means, "Kazai the King," for all you dropouts) got their enthusiastic fanbase a-clappin' and a-dancin'. Their no-nonsense, sometimes gritty, sometimes poppy rock is unlike what you're usually liable to catch at Spaceland. A sleek-voiced lady handled most of the vocals, frequently relieved by a more gravelly-toned male counterpart. Booties were shaken. The guitar player was at one point so overpowered by the ghosts of rock and roll that he did that thing where he lied on his back and curled up his legs and shredded with abandon. And all of this was presented with an appealing lack of guile. These kids, it seems, love to rock. - The 704 (Music Blog)
Scrappy with a sharp sense of humor. Belting out anything from tambourine shaking indie pop anthems to gutsy, soul-laden jams, one thing is for certain: These guys (and gal) love to rock. - OC Weekly
On her first day as a volunteer for the Mattel Children’s Hospital at UCLA, Amanda Maddahi was immediately inspired and made a promise to herself that, if she could, she would help raise funds to help the children in the hospital.
Soon after, Maddahi, a fourth-year psychobiology student, found the annual Run/Walk at UCLA as an outlet to fulfill this promise and is now co-director of the event.
On Sunday, UCLA will hold its ninth annual Run/Walk to help the Child Life/Child Development program at Mattel; students and community members will complete a five-kilometer route throughout the campus.
The Child Life/Child Development program caters to the social needs of children who have chronic diseases by providing a toy room, entertainment and various activities for the children.
Both Maddahi and co-director of Run/Walk at UCLA Wilson Lin said they are expecting this year’s Run/Walk to be a great success.
“We expect to have a larger turnout of participants and bigger energy for people supporting our cause,” Lin said. “We definitely also want to raise as much as we can and educate others about the pediatric patients and the program.”
The event will be hosted by Michael Chiklis, an actor from the “Fantastic Four” movies and the television show “The Shield.” There will also be live musical entertainment from the Elevaters, Burning Tree Project, JP and the Ambassadors, and Kazai Rex. - Daily Bruin
Discography
Lester Bangs the Drum (EP, 2007)
"She's Already Gone" (Single, 2009)
Juggling Snakes (LP, 2010)
Untitled Full-length (Forthcoming, 2011)
Several songs from "Juggling Snakes" (including "Home Away From Home," "Trigger Button (Crazy Girl)," and "This is the House") have received regular airplay on FM radio stations in Los Angeles, Long Beach, San Diego, and Berkeley, including KXLU Los Angeles and KCTY Long Beach. "Home Away From Home" has been played on WRAS Atlanta and several radio stations in Europe.
Photos
Bio
Kazai Rex was founded in late 2005 by Danny Langa, Austin Bauer, and Dominick Duhamel in a small, windowless room on the ground floor of a UCLA dormitory high-rise. Stacey Capoot and John Higgins joined the group in early 2006 and the five quickly proved to be inseparable. Leaving their humble birthplace behind them, Kazai Rex has since become a fixture in the Los Angeles music scene: they’ve played shows in the city’s most celebrated independent venues, won over a slew of new fans with their passionate performances, received attention from a variety of local and national media, and have worked tirelessly to foster the sort of musical community that they believe is essential to the success of independent music in the twenty-first century.
Kazai Rex can be difficult to pin down musically—some are reminded of Spoon, some of Rilo Kiley; others hear notes of sixties psychedelia or retro boy-girl groups; certain fans have even referred to bands as diverse as Yo La Tengo, X, and the B-52s. Though the band prefers to avoid the pigeonholes of genre, there are nevertheless certain principles on which the group operates. They strive always to serve the song, putting the desires of individual members and fleeting music trends aside during their writing process. They take their music seriously but remember that having fun and being open-minded are equally important. They consider success to be something achieved not commercially but by making good music and finding ears that connect with it. They believe that a live show should be an energetic, organic extension of their written work and not simply its performance. They believe that if something’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right. They believe that if they love their music that others will too.
The last year has been especially good to Kazai Rex. Their steady live schedule has taken them through Spaceland, Silverlake Lounge, The Unknown Theater, Echo Curio, and Synchronicity Space and has landed them on bills with rising local acts LA Font, The Body Parts, Bikos, and Latin Meds. They receive regular radio play on KXLU Los Angeles and in early October were invited to play a full live set on air. Their song “Home Away From Home” was included on the Radioplay Rock Express and Radioplay Euro Express compilation albums in May 2010, and has been played on radio stations across the US as well as several in Europe. Kazai Rex has also been able to play shows and gain followings in both Long Beach and San Diego, thanks in part to radio support in those cities.
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