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BUTZ were raised in NYC and love NYC &
music, horns, bass machines and fat ass drums, Black Sabbath + Gary Numan,
Bonham meets John Coltrane, Eric B. & Rakim + Captain Beefheart + Lounge
Lizards, BUTZ also have a passion for subways, art, ties, Shaw Brothers
and kung fu pants.
BUTZ is comprised of these individuals... Brendan Burke, Jeffrey Morris
and Jesse Selengut.
BUTZ's roots are in vandalism. In a world of one's and zero's BUTZ is
0.7
BUTZ plays the moods...
| 1984 |
Pelham NY - Jeff jumps off Brendan’s parents’
roof during a kick-the-can game. They meet. |
| 1984-1987 |
Went to high school and played music together,
listened to Led Zeppelin, King Crimson, The Clash among others. |
| 1987 |
Jeff goes to Boston, drops out of Berklee
Music School after one year to play in "The Mr. Butch Show"
a band headed by a homeless man in Boston. |
| 1989 |
Brendan goes
to NYU for acting - leaves to play music. Jeff moves back to NY
- moves in with Brendan on 73rd Street, they work as little as possible. |
| 1989-1991 |
They spend their time drinking coffee and
listening to The
Fall, Miles Davis, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Zappa and Breadwinner. |
| 1991 |
The birth of
Krayon, the first Butz recording. It is made by plugging in a guitar
and Radio Shack mic into a tape deck. A hopeless endeavor of reckless
musical vandalism. Butz is born. |
| 1992-1994 |
Brendan and Jeff move to a gutted out supermarket
on Avenue C. With only a pair of extra large drumsticks and crappy
guitar for equipment, they forge a series of cassettes: Butz Context
I-VII, recorded at Context rehearsal studios. The music is comprised
of drums, guitar and vocals. During this time Butz hones their improvisational
racquetball tournament-level skills. |
| 1994 |
Acquired a rehearsal space in the basement
of a carpet store on the corner of Ludlow & Stanton, and an
8 track reel to reel. Brendan and Jeff learn every line of dialogue
in “Withnail & I”. They meet Jesse, a trumpet player
who was entrenched in graduating from NYU with a masters in jazz
composition. Things get out of hand. |
| 1995 |
Brendan and Jeff move to a Delancey Street
studio apartment. Start the "Butz Monk Experiment" where
they remove all the furniture, sleep on mats, graffiti the walls
/ appliances, watch Shaw Brothers kung fu movies, and live on rice,
Little Debbie Snack Cakes and pickles. They drift further into the
arena of the unwell. Butz plays first gig at the Red Room, a club
in Hell's Kitchen. The crowd goes nuts. |
| 1995-1997 |
Butz plays all sorts of gigs in a multitude
of shady venues - from the Knitting Factory to the street, from
Webster Hall to CBGB's. Almost always pleasing the audience if not
perplexing them. They continue recording at Ludlow St resulting
in a cassette called Kompilation. Jesse takes a year long sabbatical
from society in the woods of upstate New York to deprogram his mind. |
| 1998 |
Reunited in Williamsburg Brooklyn. Work
on “Transfarmer” a rock opera about the heroic journey
of a farm robot. Begin regular gig at the Knitting Factory. |
| 1999 |
Record soundtrack to a short film, "BUTZ
TV" replete with scenes of angels with handsaws, cash transactions
and human size drunk rabbit. |
| 2000 |
Brendan moves
to Sunset Park Brooklyn with wife. Their large loft = new Butz training
ground and full recording autonomy. |
| 2001 |
Jeff puts down
guitar, plays keyboards and sampler. Butz gets signed to Home Style
Cooking, a Brooklyn based label. |
| 2002 |
Completes ‘NYC’ album. Brendan
moves out from behind the drums to concentrate solely on vocals.
With the addition of Glen Mauser on alto sax and Jerome Morris (Jeff's
brother) on drums to the live line-up, Butz continues to mutate
and kick ass... |
| 2003
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Release ‘NYC’
in April followed by European tour. |
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