In its
8 years of existence, The Invincible Czars have done what
they liked.
Sometimes it caught on with
other people.
Sometimes it didn’t but it was
always ambitious. In early 2002, Josh Robins ran a
musician wanted ad in the Austin Chronicle for anyone
playing anything that was not a guitar
interested in making adventurous rock music.
Oh yeah, and you had to be able
to read music.
The phone didn’t exactly ring off the hook.
Rick Redman answered the ad in April
and wanted to play bass but it quickly became obvious that
he was meant to play trumpet (much to his chagrin).
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Bassist Tom Kimzey answered the ad in August.
By the end of the Texas summer (read Halloween) Manda Clair
Jost was on accordion/pump organ and Andre Belomir was drumming
(even though he didn’t read music – he was just really good).
The search for a name began.
Tom liked The ________ Czars and eventually they all agreed
on Invincible for the middle word. |
| This original line up didn’t last long keeping
personnel was a real challenge in these early years:
By Thanksgiving, Andre was gone. |
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The band played its first show in
December 2002 with Tom Bowman on drums at Ruta Maya’s new
location on South Congress.
Manda created the first logos the band used.
One was the red stickers that can still be spotted in some
Austin’s grossest bathrooms.
The Czars played their second show in February 2003 with
Corbin Flint on drums. This line up recorded its first demo
with Chico Jones in his house.
(PIC OF COIN EP)
(Pic of Chico)
By March, Tom Kimzey had left the group and in April the
power struggle between Josh and Manda had grown so tense
Rick finally gave Manda her walking papers. (thanks, Rick!) |
Adam Kahan joined the group in May 2003 and has
been present ever since.
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Shirley Johnson joined the band just in time
for Corbin to leave.
Shirley lasted one year to the month. |
That summer, Corbin’s life took a serious turn
and he was forced to return to his home in
North Texas.
Aaron Lack filled-in on drums and the Czars recorded their
appearance on KVRX’s Local Live in December 2003.
Unfortunately, no one told them that they’d also be video
taped for UT television and their casual Sunday night look was
broadcast over and over again. |
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Josh also moved into a house in
South Austin that became the band’s permanent practice
space. |
| Tom Bowman came back on drums in the spring
of 2004. |
T O M P I C T
U R E G O E S
H E R E
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The group opened for
Sleepytime
Gorilla Museum
in early 2004 at Emo’s – a big step forward for a band that was seen
as a novelty act on Red River.
The band played Pecan Street Festival in May 2004.
They also met Brian Kenney Fresno who became a MAJOR
influence very quickly.
At this time, Adam and Josh co-founded the Black Lodge of the
Immersion Composer’s Society after meeting Michael Mellender and
discussing the society with BKF.
With new friends in California, they booked a
summer tour to the west. |
| In July, the Czars parted ways with Shirley and
released a full length demo entitled “Tigris Pauxillus” with no
accordion or keyboard on it.
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| One week before leaving, keyboardist Bill
Petersen joined the group.
With about 3 days of rehearsal, he played his first show with
the band at Room 710 and hit the road with the group that weekend
for two weeks playing shows with Brian Kenney Fresno, E is for
Elephant and Warren Jackson Hearne.
Adam gave Bill the nickname “Willie Poland” at Burt’s Tiki
Lounge in Albuquerque
where he also destroyed the venue’s bathroom after our dinner at
Burrito al Instante. |
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The band wanted to print T-shirts and had Zach
Hall design their first logo since Manda’s attempts when the band
had just begun. |
| The tour was rough and Josh’s van died outside Reno.
The tour was completed in rental vehicles.
Tom didn’t do well on the road (see the Czars’ old tour
journal) and announced that he was playing his last show hours
before the final show in El
Paso |
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In September 2004, Josh and Bill had phone conversation
that resulted in the decision to arrange Tchaikovsky’s
Nutcracker Suite and perform it during the holidays.
Tommy Holton joined the band in October 2004 and the first
truly solid line up of The Invincible Czars came to be
(Adam, Bill, Josh, Rick and Tommy). Tommy learned the band’s
entire catalog plus all the Nutcracker material being
arranged little by little.
He played his first shows at the Triplecrown in San Marcos
and the Caucus Club (now the Mohawk) in Austin.
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| It became obvious that the Nutcracker project
required an additional player.
The band chose Muppletone’s Phil Davidson to play violin.
Phil didn’t join the band officially for three more years –
right before the group went in the studio to record the Nutcracker –
but he played with the band on special occasions in the meantime. |
P I C T U
R E O F
P H I L G O
E S H E R E |
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The Nutcracker was a huge undertaking that had Josh
arranging and re-arranging right up until the day the before
the first warm-up gig in
San Antonio.
They earned a new friend when they debuted selections
of their version of the Suite on John Aielli’s Eklektikos on
KUT FM in Austin.
Aielli played the live performance on his show daily
leading up to the first
Austin
show. The kids’
matinee performance threw the group into a whole new realm
of family friendliness.
When the late show with Golden Arm Trio sold out the
Church of the Friendly Ghost sold out, a new holiday
tradition was born.
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In April 2005, the new line-up played its first official
SxSW showcase in March 2005.
Then they played primary support for Josh’s favorite
band NoMeansNo in Austin and
Ft.
Worth.
They even stayed at Josh’s house!
Only a month later, the Czars opened for Melt Banana
at a nearly sold out Emo’s |
P I
C T U R E O
F JOSH & NO MEANS NO GOES HERE |
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The Czars re-recorded most of the material from “Tigris
Pauxillus” with Tommy on drums and released “Gods of
Convenience” in July 2005 with a show at the Hole in the
Wall. They
followed it up with a tour of the midwest in a new and
improved van that matched the new jumpsuits the group
started wearing.
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| JUMP SUITS
PICTURE HERE |
NEW VAN PICTURE HERE |
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Halloween 2005 saw the debut of Josh’s arrangements of
Mussorgsky’s “A Night on
Bald
Mountain” and Schubert’s “Erlkonig”.
Wicked Cricket Dance Theater hired the Czars to
provide music for their “Dance Along Nutcracker Suite” at
the Austin Boys and Girls club that December.
The group
also attempted to self-record their Nutcracker Suite but
only succeeded in creating an improved demo which actually
sold well.
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In 2006 the band played more shows than any previous year but
limited their tour dates to
Texas
and opened for a lot of touring bands including Estradasphere who
were surprised by the Czars’ quality – keyboardist Adam Stacey said
the Invincible Czars were the best band Estradasphere played with on
their entire national tour.
That Summer, the Czars took on a project that tested their patience
even more than the Nutcracker – they created a score the Russian
silent film “Aelita, Queen of Mars”.
Bill wrote the great majority of the music with Josh helping.
The score was set to a metronome to nail all the crazy tempo
changes. This was extremely
frustrating and this project marked the group’s first real all out
yelling session in practice.
Sarah Norris joined the band on vibraphone for performances at the
Alamo Drafthouse’s original location and later at the Lake Creek
theater. In August, Josh
engineered a recording of the entire soundtrack for the band’s
reference that has never been released.
Tommy recorded the drums to a 100% midi version of the score
and all other instruments were slowly added.
Josh mixed the whole thing and Rick set it to video but it
didn’t synchronize properly in one place.
The masters are still in Rick’s possession.
| ALEITA POSTER PICTURE HERE |
SARAH PICTURE HERE |
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Josh toured nationally with Golden Arm Trio for the
soundtrack to “A Scanner Darkly” that fall.
The Czars celebrated the holidays by playing Austin’s Holiday Stroll in
conjunction with Ballet Austin.
They have played the event every year since, becoming
a staple at what has become a highly attended annual
tradition in Austin.
They also debuted 4 new arrangements from the
Nutcracker ballet that are not part of the Suite.
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OHM STUDIO PICTURE GOES HERE
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Determined to release a recording of the Nutcracker Suite,
the band entered the Ohm Recording Facility right after the
new year while the music was still fresh in their minds from
the holidays.
Chico Jones engineered the initial analog tracks but a lot
of the overdubs were created by Josh using Rick’s gear which
had been in the band’s rehearsal space since the Aelita
project. They
recorded most of the original Suite in January.
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In April, the band toured to California
as primary support on the final leg Estradasphere’s second
tour for “Palace of Mirrors” and had a great time.
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VIDEO OF
JOSH WITH JASON
ESTRADASPHERE PICTUERS TOO |
| ADAM
IN FEZ HAT GOES HERE |
This was also
the trip where the band found their green fezi.
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That summer, the group returned to the studio and recorded
“Chocolate”, “Waltz of the Snowflakes”, “Mother Ginger” and
“Apotheosis” for the Nutcracker CD and then overdubbing
began.
Meanwhile, the idea to re-imagine Iron Maiden’s album
“Number of the Beast” had been kicked around in the
rehearsal room for some time and the guys started working on
it for a Halloween show with Blackholicus performing
Maiden’s “Powerslave”.
This marked the first time that Phil and Adam
contributed arrangements.
Leila Henley saw the band perform at the Scoot Inn in July
and approached them about playing.
After much hemming and hawing, the guys were shocked
when Leila came to their rehearsal in September and sight
read their whole set.
She played her first show with the band 24 hours
later at Emo’s Lounge on Sept 7, 2007 and was inducted into
the band in October.
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PICTURE OF
LEILA'S FIRST SHOW AND HER EYE GOE RIGHT HERE |
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With tracking complete, the band
returned to California as a five piece (without Rick or
Leila) that in October but, like most bands, found that the
slowing economy had taken a serious toll on show attendance.
They did get to share bills with ex-Estradasphere
saxophonist John Whooley and his band Mojow and the
Vibration Army.
Whooley joined the band on stage several nights playing “A
Glezele Vayn” by ear and burning in the solo sections.
Tommy even drummed with Mojow in Sacramento.
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With tracking complete, the band
returned to California as a five piece (without Rick or
Leila) that in October but, like most bands, found that the
slowing economy had taken a serious toll on show attendance.
They did get to share bills with ex-Estradasphere
saxophonist John Whooley and his band Mojow and the
Vibration Army.
Whooley joined the band on stage several nights playing “A
Glezele Vayn” by ear and burning in the solo sections.
Tommy even drummed with Mojow in Sacramento.
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| Upon their return, the group played
a packed Room 710 on Halloween night debuting their version
of “Number of the Beast” |
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That December, The Nutcracker Suite
was finally released with Kennon James’ excellent artwork
featuring characters from the ballet.
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the group played on Houston’s
KUHF and performed their Nutcracker Suite at the Wortham Center
in conjunction with Houston Ballet and have done it each
year since.
That year, they performed with Peter Stopschinski on keys
and Sam Arnold on bass.
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WHAT COVER SHOT GOES HERE |
2008 marked the beginning of a tumultuous time in the Czars’
history as a band and as individuals.
In February, Rick was forced out of the band rather
dramatically on the day of the group’s encore performance of
Number of the Beast.
In March, Tommy’s plans to return to college
threatened to strain his already jam packed schedule and it
was decided that he would leave the group as soon as a
replacement could be found.
In April, Josh’s life became a total soap opera when
his marriage fell apart and Adam lost his day job shortly
thereafter.
In spite of that, the band toured Texas with Faun Fables that spring.
They also recorded all undocumented material that
Tommy had played with the group over the years.
These tracks later became the band’s third CD
“Fortissimo”.
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Louie Landry joined the group and played his first show with
the band at Rudyard’s in July when Tommy couldn’t make the
show. |
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In August, Tommy played his final show and the Czars’
permanent drummer at Jovita’s complete with a slide show of
pics from his years with the band.
The Nutcracker Season was the most successful to date with
the addition of
Austin’s Trail of Lights.
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In February 2009, Louie, Adam and Josh provided the rhythm
section for a St. Stephen’s production of The Who’s “Tommy”.
In March, the whole band debuted their score for the German
silent film “Der Mude Tod” (“Destiny”) at
Houston’s Discovery Green.
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The day after, Bill had a massive
heart attack and everything went on hold for a couple of
weeks.
Fortunately, Bill survived but was unable to play SxSW.
The group’s planned CD release for Fortissimo in
April went ahead as planned at the Scoot Inn with Bill
playing keys but he wasn’t the same on stage for months.
To make matters worse, Bill lost his job 6 weeks
later.
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| Fortissimo CD Release Cover Shoot |
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In May, the Czars toured Texas
with
Sleepytime Gorilla Museum.
In June, Josh scored the short film “Taco! Taco” Taco!”
which was funded by HBO and the Czars recorded the
soundtrack.
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After years of talking about it, Josh arranged Tchaikovsky’s
“1812 Overture” and it debuted at the OKMozart! Classical
Music festival in Bartlesville, OK
complete with fireworks.
The band also performed a Christmas in June set of
Nutcracker material at the event.
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The Austin debut of 1812
followed with at
Wooldridge
Square Park
on a 105 degree Fourth of July.
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Louie began playing piano for Charlie Robison and he became
harder and harder to schedule.
In September, Chuck Fischer filled-in for Louie on at
the delayed Austin debut of “Destiny” at the Lake Creek
Alamo Drafthouse.
Tommy even came back for a show in
Denton.
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DESTINY PHOTO PICS GO HERE |
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(CENTEX MED CENTER pics from SLAPTOP)
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Pink Moon Entertainment began booking The Invincible Czars’
holiday and community events in November.
The Czars opened Discovery Green’s ice skating rink season
on Thanksgiving weekend with Snoopy Carrigan filling-in on
bass.
They also performed at the Central Texas
Medical
Center’s annual holiday event.
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Playing less and less in Austin, in 2010 the Czars spent the
first two months of the year creating a new soundtrack for
the American silent film “The Unknown” starring Lon Chaney
and Joan Crawford.
In February, they debuted the score live at the Alamo
Drafthouse West Oaks in Houston
and then sold out the Alamo Drafthouse Ritz in Austin the next night.
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UNKNOWN VIDEO FROM HOME PAGE |
SxSW Film selected the Czars’ “The Unknown” to be part of a
film/music crossover at SxSW 2010 and the band returned to
the Ritz stage for a matinee performance |
Louie’s touring schedule with Charlie became restrictive and
problematic and it was decided that his final show as permanent
drummer would be the group’s unofficial showcase during SxSW at the
Carousel Lounge with Dengue Fever.
In spite of all the drama in the last 2 years, the band continues to
move forward. 2010
holds more performances of “The Unknown” in
Texas, a return to Discovery Green and
OKMozart! And the debut of the Bee vs. Moth/Invincible Czars
orchestra performing Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition”.
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