{"title":"Bananagun","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBananagun is a band hailing from Melbourne, Australia. Founded by Nicholas Van Bakel, the group has quickly gained recognition for their unique blend of psychedelic rock and world music influences. With catchy melodies and infectious rhythms, Bananagun's music transports listeners to a vibrant sonic landscape.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eInspired by a diverse range of artists such as Traffik Island, Nice Biscuit, Sunfruits, and The Frowning Clouds among others, Bananagun brings their own distinct sound to the table. Their energetic live performances have garnered them a dedicated fan base and have solidified their reputation as an exciting emerging act in the music scene.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWith influences ranging from classic psych-rock acts like ORB and Frankie and the Witch Fingers to more contemporary bands like The Lazy Eyes and PAINT, Bananagun creates a sound that is both nostalgic yet fresh. Their fusion of genres appeals to fans across different musical tastes.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"the-true-story-of-bananagun","title":"The True Story of Bananagun","description":"\u003cp\u003eHailing from Melbourne, but with a sound stretching from 60s and 70s afrobeat and exotica to Fela Kuti-esque repetition, the proto-garage rhythmic fury of The Monks and the grooves of Os Mutantes, there’s an enticing lost world exoticism to the music of Bananagun. It’s the sort of stuff that could’ve come from a dusty record crate of hidden gems; yet as the punchy, colourfully vibrant pair of singles \u003ci\u003eDo Yeah\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eOut of Reach\u003c\/i\u003e have proven over the past 12 months, the band are no revivalists. On debut album \u003ci\u003eThe True Story of Bananagun\u003c\/i\u003e, they make a giant leap forward with their outward-looking blend of global tropicalia.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe True Story of Bananagun\u003c\/i\u003e marks Bananagun’s first full foray into writing and recording as a complete band, having originally germinated in the bedroom ideas and demos of guitarist, vocalist and flautist Nick van Bakel. The multi-instrumentalist grew up on skate videos, absorbing the hip-hop beats that soundtracked them -taking on touchstones like Self Core label founder Mr. Dibbs and other early 90’s turntablists. That love of the groove underpins Bananagun - even if the rhythms now traverse far beyond those fledgling influences. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTracks like\u003ci\u003e The Master\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003ePeople Talk Too Much\u003c\/i\u003e bounce around atop hybrid percussion that fuses West African high life with Brazilian tropicalia; the likes of \u003ci\u003eShe Now \u003c\/i\u003ehark to abmore westernised early rhythm ‘n’ blues beat, remoulded and refreshed in the group’s own inimitable summery style.\u003ci\u003e Freak Machine\u003c\/i\u003e is perhaps the closest to those early 90’s beats, but even then the group add layers and layers of bright guitars, harmonic flower -pop vocals and other sounds to transmute the source material to an entirely new plain. Elsewhere there’s a 90 second track called \u003ci\u003eBird Up!\u003c\/i\u003e that cut and pastes kookaburra and parrot calls as an homage to the wildlife surrounding van Bakel’s home 80 kilometres from Melbourne. Oh, and there are hooks galore too–try and stop yourself from humming along to \u003ci\u003eOut of Reach’s \u003c\/i\u003eswooping vocal melody.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Full Time Hobby","offers":[{"title":"Yellow | LP","offer_id":50415168422219,"sku":"1107151","price":22.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"Black | LP","offer_id":50415163310411,"sku":"1092804","price":17.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Clear | LP","offer_id":50415165505867,"sku":"1092805","price":21.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"Gold | LP","offer_id":50415169241419,"sku":"1097947","price":21.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50415167242571,"sku":"1092806","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/8050465e-ab3b-481c-bffe-f75d79245a81_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726688039"},{"product_id":"why-is-the-colour-of-the-sky","title":"Why is the Colour of the Sky?","description":"\u003cp\u003eTo say that the intervening 4 years since the arrival of their debut album had been tumultuous for Melbourne\/Naarm’s Bananagun would be an understatement. Released during the height of lockdown in the summer of 2020, the group were forcibly\u003ci\u003e “scattered” \u003c\/i\u003efollowing the release of \u003ci\u003eThe True Story of Bananagun\u003c\/i\u003e. Australia’s ultra-strict lockdown rules - declaring it illegal to travel beyond a 5km radius - made it nigh on impossible for the band to get together at all, with the only rehearsals requiring them to sneak past military checkpoints undetected.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCoinciding with this too was a great period of personal change for the band’s guitarist\/vocalist\/flautist, and songwriter Nick van Bakel.\u003ci\u003e“ \"I had a myriad of mountains to be crossed which was pretty challenging” he explains. “so I just cocooned into lots of spiritual side quests and soul seeking.\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003eBand members were travelling etc so it was ages before we got through the stop-start stop-start phase and regained some band momentum…”\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis climate of  upheaval does not go unheard on the band’s long-awaited follow-up, \u003ci\u003e‘Why is the colour of the Sky?’\u003c\/i\u003e. While it’s by no means a pessimistic work - far from it - it’s an album that departs from the ultra-slick bursts of sunshine-pop and afrobeat that defined ‘\u003ci\u003eTrue Story\u003c\/i\u003e…\u003ci\u003e ‘\u003c\/i\u003e, and muddies the waters with a heavy blend of incendiary jazz and freak-beat experimentation. It’s Bananagun alright, but braver, bolder and more mysterious than ever…\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith the only conscious musical dictum being that percussion and groove was brought \u003ci\u003e“to the fore”\u003c\/i\u003e - and, boy, is this album groovy - the band decamped to a Button Pusher studio Preston, Melbourne with equipment \u003ci\u003e“on par with any 60's studio”\u003c\/i\u003e, tracking with minimal takes - ‘warts’ n’ all’ -  battling through the temperaments of analogue mixing equipment late into the night under the assertion that these more traditional methods provided \u003ci\u003e“the most, organic pure way to record”\u003c\/i\u003e. Also imperative was to manipulate the social conditions in which the takes were performed and nail the ‘vibe’ during recording: “It was all \u003ci\u003e“attitude towards life and esoteric stuff, natural law, how energy transfers, sounds, chemistry between people”\u003c\/i\u003e, explains van Bakel, \u003ci\u003e“trying to foster an environment together where we can make some magic, capture the phenomena of energy and soundwaves interacting with each other in the room. And that was definitely what we wanted it to sound like - pro human”\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn many ways,\u003ci\u003e “pro-human”\u003c\/i\u003e captures the radical quintessence that \u003ci\u003eWhy Is the Colour of the Sky? \u003c\/i\u003eis fulsomely jazz-shuffling towards. For a record that recognises, in it’s every breath and sinew  the humbling, restorative and life-affirming power of collective creative endeavour - it’s also a work that resists an ever more technologically-driven and isolating world that can feel ever more dehumanising in its quests for ‘perfection’. A theme directly addressed in  ‘Children of the Man’ with it’s “Robo-sapien” lyric, it’s a thread that runs across the entire record:\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e“I feel like a lot of human nature and tradition is worth preserving because we've probably evolved to be this way.”\u003c\/i\u003e, van Bakel notes, “\u003ci\u003e[Why is the Colour…] is all just about not losing your head and being over stimulated by the ‘goggle box’; the need for spirituality and nature; the need to be able to communicate and share ideas and adapt in a rapidly changing world without being judged and profiled. The preservation of human needs, so we don't all get homogenised and isolated and poisoned to stupidity and obedience. \u003c\/i\u003e“ \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd what better way is there to feel human than by laying down a dynamite groove, or nine?\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Full Time Hobby","offers":[{"title":"Red LP","offer_id":50531207545163,"sku":"2218847","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50531207348555,"sku":"2218846","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/WHY2_3bcdb54f_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1728098712"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/collections\/test_e90b0f17_thumbnail_4096_975e4876-dbda-4053-b573-c4ece13be808.jpg?v=1726687973","url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/de\/collections\/bananagun.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}