Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
"Think of Pirates R Us as the hypothetical music shop Tom Waits and Capt. Jack Sparrow's love child would shop at for all of his folksy instruments." - The California Aggie
"Pirates are sort of like Tom Waits mixed with DeVotchKa and a more-mellow Golgol Bordello sitting too long on a pirate boat far off in the sea." - Tucson Scene
"I keep running into people who live in Bellingham who havenÕt seen these guys. HereÕs the thing: ThatÕs unacceptable. If you live here, if you are a friend of someone who lives here, if you are passing through town and reading this, you need to see these guys live. You need to watch them chant songs about hijacking the airwaves and doing battle with the nightmarish Squid King. You must dance a jig to ÒThe Ballad of Captain Crunch.Ó You must do these things, for they will change your life." - What's Up! Magazine
"They have an accordion player though, so don't say I didn't warn you. ...Let's just hope Pirates R Us meant this as a joke." - Arizona Daily Wildcat
"Entertaining along the same lines as the mullet, Pirates R Us is a fun time for you and your friends." - What's Up! Magazine - Various
Discography
EP - Songs of Modern Piracy
The EP can be downloaded at http://www.pirates-r-us.com
More tracks can be heard at the band's myspace page:
http://www.myspace.com/piratesrus
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
Pirates R Us hails from the port town of Bellingham, Washington. Stylistically, Pirates R Us plays traditional chantey style pirate music! In addition to singing songs about old pirate themes like drinking and sailing, Pirates R Us is also into modern nerdy technological piracy, covering topics like file trading, pirate radio, ect.
The year and a half old Pirates R Us has earned a reputation throughout the northwest for their high-energy, irreverent performances. Consisting of an accordion, stand up bass, fiddle, and two guitars, their lively all acoustic performances get crowds riled up in any setting. They are appreciated by young and old, sober minors and drunken rowdy bar patrons, pirates and landlubbers.
The band started as a joke. It's founding members were guitarist David Stray Ney and accordionist Ivan Owen. The two were very into the idea of starting a pirate band that would play traditional chantey style music. Ivan being a role-playing nerd who enjoyed dressing up in costumes, and David being a technology nerd who was interested in hacking, phone phreaking, and other forms of technological troublemaking created something truly unique, the likes of which the world had never seen. Adding David Zhang to the lineup on Urhu made the band infinitely more bizarre. They started getting attention playing drunken house parties, and it became quickly apparent that this band was more than just a joke. Guitarist Wes Davis and Tuba/Trombonist Danny Vogel were added to the fold thus strengthening the sound. This linup can be heard on the band's first official release "Songs of Modern Piracy". The lineup then changed with the departure of Vogel and Zhang, and the inclusion of Robert "Goldtooth" Ray on upright bass, and Kat the Unsinkable on fiddle. This lineup has been going strong since February 06'. Following their success on college radio, they went on a 3 week west coast tour. They are currently in the beginning stages of recording a full length LP.
Pirates R Us' influences include: Traditional Chanteys, Tom Waits, Ween, Beethoven, Bach, John Williams, Les Claypool, Parliament/Funkadelic, Violent Femmes, Eurythmics, Abbie Hoffman, John Draper, Jason Webley, and others.
Pirates R Us:
-Broke the top 100 CMJ Radio Charts
-Received airplay on Dr. DementoÕs legendary, internationally syndicated radio program
-Named 2005 ÒBest New BandÓ and ÒBest ÔWeirdÕ BandÓ by WhatÕs Up! Magazine (http://www.whatsup-magazine.com)
-Named "Best Band in Bellingham" 2006 by the Cascadia Weekly (http://www.cascadiaweekly.com)
-Represented by Pirate Promotions; receiving airplay on 300 college radio stations in the US and Canada (http://www.piratepirate.com)
-Shared a stage with diverse acts ranging from Jason Webley to Skerik's Syncopated Taint Septet to Zac Hendrix (DJ for Del the Funky Homosapien)
-Played the 2006 Folklife Festival in Seattle
For more information about Pirates R Us, check out:
www.pirates-r-us.com
www.myspace.com/piratesrus
Links
