Loyal Friends,
benzos has decided to go on an indefinite hiatus with no plans for any performances or recordings in the near future. This was not an easy decision by the band members, mainly due to all the supporters out there who have been emailing us to come play their city or town. We apologize to those great people. Since the band formed as a trio in late 2002 and went through many incarnations, member changes, sound alterations and the years, months, weeks, days and hours being taking our show to a venue nearest you, Christian, Brian, Eiko & Steve extend their appreciation for your support, in any way you’ve shown it. Buying or downloading our albums, attending our shows, saying hi after a performance or the many emails and comments left for us. It has kept us going and meant everything to this band. Thank you endlessly for that.
Here is some news on what each of the members has embarked on that we’d like to share with you:
Christian has been busy with both his new band, With Lions, and transitioning over to the producer’s chair. With Lions, a duo featuring Anthony "Woody" Ranere, of Lake Trout is currently recording their debut in both Jersey City and Baltimore, which marks a huge leap in sound for the two. With Lions influences range from Nine Inch Nails, Chemical Brothers, John Murphy (composer of "28 Days/Weeks Later) mixed with an orchestral background. You can find out more about them here at
http://www.myspace.com/withlionsmusic. In the production end of things, he is currently producing the album of New Jersey’s, Ohshin, (with a few completed songs at
http://www.myspace.com/ohshin ) where you’ll also be able to hear him on bass, synths and harmonies. He has been splitting his time between his home studio in Jersey City and Baltimore’s Wrightway Studios (where "Branches" was recorded) as a member of their production/composition/licensing team with many more production projects coming up with bands such as Pittsburgh’s Shade, among others. Check back at the With Lions page for future updates.
Brian has spent his time focusing on his family, as well as a new project with Steve and other collaborators. Focusing mainly on instrumental, improvisational composition, they are currently rehearsing new material. He also has a solo project being developed that will be produced by himself and Christian, which will focus more on the singer/songwriter sound, not unlike Wilco and Iron & Wine. Stay tuned for more on both of these projects at his , which can be found in our "Top Friends" and linked to his name in the "Band Members" section on our MySpace page.
Eiko has continued to work on his longtime, labor of love, Elco Deck (
http://www.myspace.com/elcodeck). This features him as the sole multi-instrumentalist and writer. Elco Deck’s sound is in the hip-hop, acoustic-folk realm. Along with that, he is a member of collective, BoomClique, which features Steve, as well. Now living in the Catskill Mountains of upstate New York, he’s been writing and recording material daily. Check his myspace page for more updates, music and videos.
Steve has returned his focus to his solo career as the Drum n’ Bass/Jazz/Hip-Hop extraordinaire, Cru Jonez (
http://www.myspace.com/crujonezbeats). Recently releasing his self-produced debut, "The Dynamic" and performing all over NYC. That, along with his many production efforts and other collaborations named above. You can keep updated with his doings on his myspace page.
Thanks again for your support of benzos. We hope to see you, hear from you, and have our new projects be added by you so we can keep in touch for the future. We will always maintain the benzos page so that we can continue to communicate with you, our friend and supporter.
THX!
