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Definition: Wesafari contributes an endless number of useful, meaningful, and beautiful creations to the world supporting arts, environmentalism, and self-knowledge. Some creations have depth and intention and some are just fun, but all aural and visual works Wesafari chooses to release to the public are considered worthwhile by the band. Wesafari’s chief goal is to become self-sustaining while contributing to the overall well-being of all life forms. Take care of yourself. Take care of your planet. Bios: -Wesafari Wesafari is a music project. Its members fluctuate periodically, but it is an ongoing outlet of music-centered media. So far, the only major public release is a full length CD titled, Alaska. A 5 song EP, Moss Green, was self-released July 29, 2007 online, and is available on CD at shows. A new full length is scheduled for release in late 2010. But Wesafari started long before Alaska was released. It has been developing for over a decade now. Rick Wright began Wesafari as a musical concept in 1999 in Boston, MA. His intention was to create an avenue for his most experimental pop music. In his bedroom, he recorded demo after demo on a 4-track deck, but before recording studio versions of them, he was overwhelmed by more and more songs. And with band members coming and going, it would be five years before Wesafari would become a publicly visible project. While in Boston, he met Casey Alexander and Wolf Carr. They all began playing together in a group called Kid Tested , which, despite multitudes of shows and recordings, never finished a CD or garnered any significant fan base. In 2001, Rick and Wolf moved to Los Angeles, where they began playing small shows as Wesafari, using songs from Rick’s early demos as well as some of Wolf’s own material. These were very small shows which ultimately inspired Rick and Wolf to find more members. When Rick moved back to Pittsburgh in 2002, he and his brother, Andy Wright, (formerly of seminal punk bands Anti-Flag and the Dread, amongst countless others) put their talents together to start new Wesafari recordings. Using Andy’s gear from his own professional recording studios, they began to fashion skeletons of songs that would later form the track list of the official Wesafari debut LP, Alaska. Rick and Andy then moved to Seattle in 2004 to join Wolf and former Kid Tested mate, Casey, to finally form a stable band. Casey started a record label, OpAmp Records, to release Alaska, and played guitar and keyboards in the band. Wolf explored the bass to great success, and with Andy’s unique drum style, Wesafari became one of the most powerful and original bands in Seattle. Alaska was released in February 2005 to national acclaim, getting attention from radio stations and publications across the country. The band did a short tour down the west coast, playing dates with Silver Sun Pickups and the Pale Pacific. Wesafari has also played with acts like Mogwai, Grizzly Bear, and Deerhunter. With new songs in the works, Wesafari decided to release a companion EP to augment Alaska. What they didn’t know was how that small decision could change the face of the band forever. Recordings commenced for the EP in winter of 2005 at Moss Green, where many basic tracks for Alaska had also been recorded. Ryan Schick (former member of Kid Tested) and Levi Fuller (long time ally of Wesafari and every other band in existence) helped the band through the project, but as overdubbing began, the focus of the project began to slip away. There’s no good explanation for what happened in the year that followed, but the boys lost their steam for the project, yet found it impossible to let go. Andy eventually decided to move back home to Pittsburgh, and Wesafari ground to a halt. The band’s members have always been fueled by music, though, and made up their minds to finish the EP and push forward to new material. The EP is titled Moss Green. Free downloads of the whole thing are available on the Media page. Wesafari has changed form a few times in the intervening years, but as the dust has settled there are now five members in the line up: Baine Craft on drums, Erin Rubin on keys and vocals, Trina Mills on vocals and percussion, Casey Alexander on bass and guitar, and Rick Wright.
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Rick Rick is the creator of Wesafari. He has played music all his life in a long list of bands including Pittsburgh punk heroes, the Reagan Squad and Anti-Flag. Rick has played Rhodes and guitar sporatically in Wesafari, but he has always written all of the songs. Rick also spends his time managing Wesafari, producing recordings for other artists, composing music for films, and slinging coffee.
treatment-Andy Wright Wolf has lived in Sea-town for most of his life. The son of a revolutionary vocal coach and a carpenter/teacher, Wolf grew up singing and playing guitar, eventually to become a vocal/songwriting coach himself. His bass playing is an inimitable blend of deep dub lines and ambient/electronic inspired rhythms. Additionally, Wolf’s voice in background vocal parts is a unique and colorful signature for Wesafari. On new songs, Wolf has branched out to some keyboards and guitar parts as well. In 2006, Wolf and Casey began a music project called I Am The Internet, a synth-based band producing a style of music they call “Party Jams.” Sadly for the band, Wolf moved to Portland in 2008, where he has found a new measure of happiness. He has started a new band called Hott Brown, from whom the members of Wesafari anxiously await great things. He remains a lifelong member of the band, and still sings and plays on recordings.
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Casey is the practical, centered piece of Wesafari, though you’d never know it to see him jerking on stage. Like the others, he grew up making music, developing an impeccable ear and memory for song lyrics, harmonic progressions, and riffs. His attachment to video games and their music leaves an indelible mark on his guitar and keyboard contributions to Wesafari. He began with the band mostly playing guitar, but has moved to the bass in the abscence of Wolf. An engaging and eccentric showman, his performances are not to be missed. Casey also maintains a solo project under the name Troubleshooting, through which he has written songs listed as favorites among many fellow fans of Wesafari. And in 2006, Wolf and Casey began a music project called I Am The Internet, a synth-based band producing a style of music they call “Party Jams.” Their performances (exclusively at house parties) have created some of the biggest spectacles and most riotous parties of the 21st century. Recently, Casey has become a high school math teacher at New Start High School, to which he devotes much of his time and energy. Still, he remains steadfastly committed to Wesafari.
-Erin Erin is a northwest native. She initially brought a totally new feel and perspective to the music through keyboard and string playing. Having studied classical music on piano since her early youth and trained for years with a jazz/blues mentor, she effortlessly translates and transcribes the (somewhat exhaustive) ideas of Rick and his band mates. Her voice and Rhodes ideas are crystalline in quality, adding a subtle dimension totally new to the songs. Erin also plays in The Exploding High Fives, in which she utilizes the same keyboard talents and patient interpreting that she draws on in Wesafari. Contact: WUVT
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Through Lines Blog It's time to revisit Wesafari for the following reasons: 1. It's always time to revisit Wesafari. 2. It's been nearly 1.75 years since the release of this amazing record Alaska. 3. They are not yet a global phenomenon and should be. Records like this one do not fall off trees. Unfortunately, they also do not fly off record store shelves (mostly because you can't find it on the East Coast, to my knowledge). Entirely self-produced and distributed, Wesafari is relatively unknown in their own hometown of Seattle. Finger
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