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Albums3
Songs28
AboutVocals/Guitar: Art Barrios
Bass/Vocals: Justo Gonzalez
Guitar: Jason Camacho
Drums: Gabe Camacho
The story of Audio Karate begins like that of most bands: suburban town, no all-age rock clubs, and four kids seeking an outlet for their punk enthusiasm. Rosemead, California is hardly the kind of town that cranks out punk bands, but in the summer of 1995 Rosemead would breed its first notable band and become home to the new sound of West Coast pop punk. Stealing older siblings' equipment, Gabriel Camacho and Justo Gonzalez began jamming together, influenced by the likes of NOFX, Screeching Weasel, Descendents, and Lagwagon. Later that year they would invite Junior High school classmate Art Barrios to play guitar with them. After the typical spell of personnel and name changes, Audio Karate finalized their image in the spring of 1998 by bringing in Gabriel's cousin Jason to join the band and fill in their sound with a second guitar.
Audio Karate's first real gig was at the Santa Fe Springs Swap Meet Talent Show. While coming in second place to a Selena impersonator might bring most punk bands down, the AK boys ventured on and kept writing songs and honing their craft as pop-punk engineers. As their careers began to flourish, Art ran into Ataris lead singer Kris Roe and handed him a demo at one of their shows. Known for bringing bands Antifreeze and Useless I.D. to the Kung Fu roster, Kris has received enough demos at shows to start a library with. However he took notice of the AK demo and sent it to Kung Fu Records owner and Vandals bassist Joe Escalante. A month later Art had a message on his answering machine from Joe saying he got the demo from Kris and wanted to meet with them right away. They met with Joe and Vandals guitarist Warren Fitzgerald, who would produce two more songs for their demo.
Kung Fu Records signed Audio Karate in the fall of 2001 and will now put the full force of their extensive worldwide distribution behind "Space Camp," the band's exceptional full- length debut. Produced by Trever Keith of FACE to FACE, Space Camp will make punkers and critics alike rethink their definition of the "West Coast sound." Blending the hyperactive riffs of "Hoss"-era Lagwagon with the vocal and lyrical styles of The Get Up Kids and the emotional toil of The Ataris, Audio Karate is set to become the new name in pop-punk that will make the girls swoon and the guys pumped at punk shows all over the world.
The second outing for California's Audio Karate 'Lady Melody' sees the band raise the bar considerably! Produced by Descendents/All drummer (and production mastermind) Bill Stevenson, "Lady Melody" is a bold step out of the land of typical 4/4 pop-punk into the challenging and rarely treaded territory of daring rhythms and new-style guitar riffs.
Avoiding the standard repetition of three or four chords, and replacing them with aggressive, complex and relentless melodies and tones, whisking you away into what should be the chorus, but is likely something else.
This new form of punk rock is a far cry from the overplayed, generic so-called "punk" polluting the airwaves today. Fans are getting younger and smarter by the day, and they're desperately seeking something new. Any jaded fan of music will find it easy to get behind this band and their no-B.S. attitude.
They may not sport the mohawks and studded jackets, but the mentality and pure punk/DIY ethos is there.
Bass/Vocals: Justo Gonzalez
Guitar: Jason Camacho
Drums: Gabe Camacho
The story of Audio Karate begins like that of most bands: suburban town, no all-age rock clubs, and four kids seeking an outlet for their punk enthusiasm. Rosemead, California is hardly the kind of town that cranks out punk bands, but in the summer of 1995 Rosemead would breed its first notable band and become home to the new sound of West Coast pop punk. Stealing older siblings' equipment, Gabriel Camacho and Justo Gonzalez began jamming together, influenced by the likes of NOFX, Screeching Weasel, Descendents, and Lagwagon. Later that year they would invite Junior High school classmate Art Barrios to play guitar with them. After the typical spell of personnel and name changes, Audio Karate finalized their image in the spring of 1998 by bringing in Gabriel's cousin Jason to join the band and fill in their sound with a second guitar.
Audio Karate's first real gig was at the Santa Fe Springs Swap Meet Talent Show. While coming in second place to a Selena impersonator might bring most punk bands down, the AK boys ventured on and kept writing songs and honing their craft as pop-punk engineers. As their careers began to flourish, Art ran into Ataris lead singer Kris Roe and handed him a demo at one of their shows. Known for bringing bands Antifreeze and Useless I.D. to the Kung Fu roster, Kris has received enough demos at shows to start a library with. However he took notice of the AK demo and sent it to Kung Fu Records owner and Vandals bassist Joe Escalante. A month later Art had a message on his answering machine from Joe saying he got the demo from Kris and wanted to meet with them right away. They met with Joe and Vandals guitarist Warren Fitzgerald, who would produce two more songs for their demo.
Kung Fu Records signed Audio Karate in the fall of 2001 and will now put the full force of their extensive worldwide distribution behind "Space Camp," the band's exceptional full- length debut. Produced by Trever Keith of FACE to FACE, Space Camp will make punkers and critics alike rethink their definition of the "West Coast sound." Blending the hyperactive riffs of "Hoss"-era Lagwagon with the vocal and lyrical styles of The Get Up Kids and the emotional toil of The Ataris, Audio Karate is set to become the new name in pop-punk that will make the girls swoon and the guys pumped at punk shows all over the world.
The second outing for California's Audio Karate 'Lady Melody' sees the band raise the bar considerably! Produced by Descendents/All drummer (and production mastermind) Bill Stevenson, "Lady Melody" is a bold step out of the land of typical 4/4 pop-punk into the challenging and rarely treaded territory of daring rhythms and new-style guitar riffs.
Avoiding the standard repetition of three or four chords, and replacing them with aggressive, complex and relentless melodies and tones, whisking you away into what should be the chorus, but is likely something else.
This new form of punk rock is a far cry from the overplayed, generic so-called "punk" polluting the airwaves today. Fans are getting younger and smarter by the day, and they're desperately seeking something new. Any jaded fan of music will find it easy to get behind this band and their no-B.S. attitude.
They may not sport the mohawks and studded jackets, but the mentality and pure punk/DIY ethos is there.
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