MFR presents THE ARMS AKIMBO
THE ARMS AKIMBO
The Arms Akimbo was formally established in the spring of 2009. The beginnings, however, date to almost a decade beforehand when members, Nick and Ian Schaser and Chris Dillon played together throughout the Twin Cities, as The Serfs even though none of the boys would have been legally allowed in under normal circumstances. After the group disbanded in 2005, bassist and singer Nick moved to the UK, playing in London-based Brit pop band, Jack Maggs. After three years of living out of a backpack and crashing on couches, Nick returned to the US in 2009 and rejoined guitarist Chris and drummer Ian to form The Arms Akimbo.
Yet in their nascence, The Arms Akimbo are drawing both local and national attention. Their debut EP, "You Want To", released in November of 2009, is playing in regular rotation locally on 89.3 The Current and has been featured in national blogs such as Largehearted Boy and KEXP. With a full length release planned for the spring of 2010, The Arms Akimbo are primed to infuse the indie music scene with the vim and dynamism imbued both in their songs and their live performances. The band draws its influences from both the British indie scene of the past few decades as well as present-day American indie groups. Their sound oscillates from The Jam and Elvis Costello to The Strokes and The Libertines, with a handful of stops in-between. This sound, mixed with their mutual proclivity for Motown, gives The Arms Akimbo a melodic edginess that harkens back to a long musical tradition while, at the same time, strongly resonates with contemporary audiences.
WE ALL HAVE HOOKS FOR HANDS
Originally starting in a downtown Sioux Falls apartment as a simple project to create happy pop tunes, "Hold on, c'mon" was recorded first with minimal members without a name for the project. A six piece first set off for a short west coast tour screaming through the mountains in a green tin lizzy. After growing from the experience, a full-length album was put into production. A self-built/self-taught recording studio resulted in the addition of multiple amiable pals hailing from as far as Freeman, SD, home of the Mennonites.
BAMBI & THE TIN MAN
Beth came home from Olympia, WA and sung songs late into the night with Nicholas. She was Bambi, he became The Tin Man. And so it began. And it was good. Although born in the Twin Cities, Bambi left to live in Nebraska and Washington. She came back to visit friends and family on rare occasions—on one of which she reconnected with an old friend, The Tin Man. They spent 15 consecutive hours singing and recording what would become their songs as Bambi & The Tin Man on one warm summer night. And it was good.
