Artist Info

 

We Are Scientists

    Genre : Rock

    Performances :

    Website :
    http://wearescientists.com/


  

About This Act :



We Are Scientists: Meet the Band

BEGINNINGS
W.A.S. is a band with two original, famous members: Keith Austin Murray ('Keith') and Christopher Ian Cain ('Christopher I. Cain'). The two met at university in Southern California, where it's fair to say that they both majored in 'Babes.' Although that wasn't technically a focus available at their university, one could definitely assert that had it been possible to do so, both Keith and Chris would have graduated with honors in 'Babes.' Not that there was anything 'honorable' about the way the two went about their 'course work', as it were. No, they left a trail of scorched social earth everywhere they went,
everywhere their 'studies' took them. Such was their tendency to end relationships on a sour note that by junior year they were reduced to poaching students from a high school ten minutes down the road - no one
at their university would even consider a romantic entanglement with Keith, much less with Chris.
Shortly after graduation, in the autumn of 1999, in a desperate shot at reinvention, Chris and Keith formed a band. The rest, as they say, happened after that.

2011: STRADDLING THE LINE
For the 2010 release Barbara, W.A.S. recruited Andy Burrows (former hitter-man for Razorlight) to drum. Andy moved to New York for the summer of 2009 and began work with Chris on that crucial rhythm section trick: playing at the same time. Keith, meanwhile, decamped to Athens, Georgia, to gain inspiration from the lack of New York accents, and some songs began to take shape. They recorded that fall in London, Los Angeles, & NYC. This geographical diversity could be seen as a metaphor for how disparate the three musicians are as people. Chris likes chicken, Andy likes lamb, while Keith is a vegetarian. All three appreciate beer, but sometimes, when drinking together at a pub, they order different brands. (That is rare, though.)

It is a happy accident, then, that Murray, Cain, and Burrows were able to mesh their musical inclinations to such a compelling end on the songs of Barbara, a record that sees them return to the stripped-down production sensibilities of W.A.S.'s gold-selling debut, "With Love & Squalor," while continuing to hone the melodic knack that has made them popular with fans and men who work for months at sea. The band toured "Barbara" throughout 2010, taking the act to music-loving towns like Cleveland and Cincinnati, and will spend 2011 selectively poaching destinations that eluded them in 2010 (Bangkok, St. Petersburg, Leamington Spa), while writing and recording their 4th Long Player (tentatively titled "Lipsdick").

F.A.Q.
• How many albums has W.A.S. put out so far? Three: Barbara (2010), Brain Thrust Mastery (2008), and With Love & Squalor (2005).
• Does the band play live shows? W.A.S. has toured everywhere you would assume they have, plus Malaysia. In the early years they supported R.E.M., Kings of Leon, Arctic Monkeys, & The Pixies, as well as a few bands who are now less famous than W.A.S., making it pointless to list them. And festivals? From Glastonbury to Coachella, Reading & Leeds to Summersonic, Lowlands to Benicassim, W.A.S. have played festivals, yes (this summer they'll add Isle of Wight and Rockness to the list).
• What's the highest a W.A.S. single has charted? Because they've never had a top 10 single (After Hours peaked at #11), the band think that's a stupid, if frequently asked, question.
• Playing in a band is one of those incredibly desirable careers that barely count as "work" - do the band do anything that could be considered remotely taxing? Besides working out with weights, Keith & Chris have dabbled in television. In the fall of 2009, MTV-UK aired a series of shorts called "Steve Wants His Money" written by and starring the bi-talented duo. And this summer they're scheduled to shoot the pilot for a new MTV series. Andy, meanwhile, writes and records songs as a solo artist, and occasionally lends his drum smashing skill to projects like the soundtrack for this spring's Russell Brand funny-movie "Arthur."


For more info on W.A.S., go to www.Google.com, and search 'we are scientists'. Click on the first result to be taken directly to our website.

***NOTE: This primer becomes a sticker! Just cut off the very edges, then stick it to something using tape.