Afro-punk Yearbook

If you didn't happen to catch the flashing posts all over the AP website, Afro-punk just completed its first ever U.S. music tour- bringing the Afro-punk music festival usually reserved for New Yorkers, to 20 cities across the U.S. and Canada. Thanks to our performing headliner, Saul Williams, who brought his high energy rock swag to every night's performance, and to the countless of other Afro-punk bands that joined us throughout New York to Los Angeles, the tour experience was one many people will never forget.

Throughout the tour, different Afro-punk bands that represented their city came out and jammed along with the tour experience, however, there were only four bands and a teeny-tiny production team that made the entire journey across the U.S. and Canada to play at almost every show. Traveling on the trip along with Saul Williams and his band, were beat machine mad scientist- CX Kidtronik and Tchaka Diallo from Krak Attack, a band of wild boys from Houston, TX, who almost lit the tour bus on fire- The American Fangs, a funky hippie trio from Brooklyn- Earl Greyhound, and a team of Afro-punk workers who traveled from tour bus, to planes, to cars, to crossing boarders-- just to get good stinkin' music across the U.S.

Follow these guys on their journey through the Afro-punk city-by-city tour diaries along with videos that will soon be posted on www.afropunk.com to see what beautiful and "not-so-beautiful" adventures they got into while meeting the Afro-punk community across the states.

-WS

Afro-punk U.S. tour headliner Saul Williams and his band mates, Kwame, Davin, and CX who is featured with Krak Attack:

NAME: Saul Williams
STAGE NAME: Niggy Tardust
OCCUPATION: Rocking out every night and turning into his alter ego, Niggy Tardust
CURRENT RESIDENCY: Paris

NAME: Kwame Brandt-Pierce
STAGE NAME: DaRk MaGuS, MoJo LaZarUs,
AGE: GROWN
BAND: 3beanstew, keyboardist for Saul Williams
HOMETOWN: BKNY
OCCUPATION: Musician

5 AFRO-PUNK QUESTIONS

-What was the best part of the tour? The times on the bus and The BOTS!

-What was the worst part of the tour? The toilet on the bus.

-Favorite city to tour? New Orleans

-What is Afro-punk to you? The logical cultural result of American cross-pollination

-Favorite album? 3beanstew:The untold chronicles of TiN MaN CHarLiE

NAME: Davin Givhan
STAGE NAME: Rawdog Johnson
AGE: 29
BAND: Saul Williams' guitarist
HOMETOWN: Long Beach
OCCUPATION: Welder

-What was the best part of the tour? Hanging out with Whitney Summer Boyd and eating at Subway.

-What was the worst part of the tour? Hanging out alone and eating at Subway.

-Favorite city to tour? I like all of them.

-What is Afro-punk to you? Cool people playing cool music.

-Favorite album? Afro-Punk's Greatest Hits

The explosive and sometimes explicit duo, Krak Attack

NAME: Chris
STAGE NAME: CX KiDTRONiK
AGE: Musicians don't age themselves
BAND: Krak Attack

-What was the best part of the tour? jumping off tables and speakers every night

-What was the worst part of the tour? landing after jumping and waking up in pain

-Favorite city to tour? new orleans

-What is Afro-punk to you? CX KiDTRONiK / KRAK ATTACK

-Favorite album? License To Ill -Beastie Boys

NAME: Tchaka Diallo
STAGE NAME: Diallo
AGE: 29
BAND: CX Kidtronik & Diallo
HOMETOWN: Atlanta
OCCUPATION: Artist

-What was the best part of the tour? The best part of the tour was being able to meet all of the great people in the Afro-Punk community in each city.

-What was the worst part of the tour? The worst part of the tour was not being able to stay at least one extra day in each city on the tour.

-Favorite city to tour? My favorite city on this tour was Vancouver. The crowds energy was infectious. The sheer look of the city is unique.

-What is Afro-punk to you? Afro-Punk is a movement where being yourself is the only requirement for entry. Afro-Punk is a multi-cultural experience that encompasses the energy of the beginnings of Rock N Roll, Punk, Grunge and Hip Hop.

-Favorite album? It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back

The bad boys from Houston, TX, most noted for trying to light almost anything on fire as well as peeing in public, Gabe, Jerry, Kyle, Micah, and Kenyon

NAME: Gabriel Cavazos
STAGE NAME: Gus
AGE:28
BAND: American Fangs
HOMETOWN: Houston TX
OCCUPATION: Giant

-What was the best part of the tour? meeting new people. getting lost in America. rocking America

-What was the worst part of the tour? missing friends and fam

-Favorite city to tour? atl, chitown, LA

-What is Afro-punk to you? It's bridging the gaps and slashing the stereotypes of the norms of the rock world in this case...

-Favorite album? American Fangs EP.

NAME: Kenyon
AGE: 28
BAND: American Fangs / americanfangs.com / myspace.com/americanfangs / facebook.com/americanfangs
OCCUPATION: human artist

-What is Afro-punk to you? A chance to grow. A chance to play my music. A chance to travel and create and explore and taste the fruits. Wear cowboy boots. Sweaters and hats and throw black cats. Rats rats rats. Love me love me loving you. Love me do.

-Favorite album? For me there's no such thing. I take nibbles of them all.

NAME: Jerry Nettles
STAGE NAME: Jeff
AGE:23
BAND:American Fangs
HOMETOWN:Houston Tx
OCCUPATION:Producer/Musician

-What was the best part of the tour? Budweiser Sponsorship

-What was the worst part of the tour? The drives were freakin dumb!

-Favorite city to tour? LA/Hollywood

-What is Afro-punk to you? A rad community in a nutshell.

-Favorite album? Right now... Young Modern Station - Silverchair

NAME: Kyle
STAGE NAME: Kyle Fangs
AGE: 24
BAND: American Fangs
HOMETOWN: Boling, TX
OCCUPATION: part time musician

-What was the best part of the tour? The best part of the tour was the family that we created while being on the road.

-What was the worst part of the tour? The long 14 and 20 hour drives.

-Favorite city to tour? Seattle

-What is Afro-punk to you? Afro-punk to me is being yourself. Not caring about what people think.

-Favorite album? Jr Ewing - Ride Paranoia

NAME: Micah
STAGE NAME: Mitch
AGE:27
BAND: American Fangs
HOMETOWN: Georgetown, TX
OCCUPATION: drummer

-What was the best part of the tour? Rockin every nite

-What was the worst part of the tour? The drives!!!

-Favorite city to tour? Toronto & LA

-What is Afro-punk to you? Freedom of expression

-Favorite album? "Worship and Tribute" - Glassjaw

NAME: Justin Majors
STAGE NAME: Wolf
AGE: 27
BAND: Tour Mgr. for American Fangs
HOMETOWN: Houston, TX
OCCUPATION: Tour Mgr/Poker Pro

-What was the best part of the tour? Seeing all of the beautiful cities.

-What was the worst part of the tour? Some of the longer drives. i.e. New Orleans to Boulder

-Favorite city to tour? Thats a hard question. while i loved Minneapolis' venue, New Orleans has and always be one of my favorite cities in the world.

-What is Afro-punk to you? A great community of people that I would have never met if it were not for Matthew Morgan. They have now become an extended family to me! I look forward to keeping in contact with every one i have met on this great journey via the Afro-punk online community!

-Favorite album? Pantera 101 Proof and/or Clarity from Jimmy Eat World. I have also been listening to White Drugs by the Bronx a lot lately.

Brooklyn trio, Earl Greyhound

NAME: Matt Whyte
AGE: 31
BAND: Earl Greyhound
HOMETOWN: Greenwich, CT
OCCUPATION: musician

-What was the best part of the tour? Orlando

-What was the worst part of the tour? The drive from Portland to Seattle

-Favorite city to tour? New Orleans

-What is Afro-punk to you? A big support of what we're doing

-Favorite album? Bill Evans and Jim Hall / Undercurrent

NAME: Ricc Sheridan
STAGE NAME: Ricc
AGE: I am a drummer so I am timeless, ageless
BAND: Earl Greyhound
HOMETOWN: North Carolina
OCCUPATION: Drummer, Percussionist, Painter, Composer

-What was the best part of the tour? Tonight because I don't know what's gonna happen

-What was the worst part of the tour? Tonight because it's over

-Favorite city to tour? Portland, quite magical, inspiring emission of energy

-What is Afro-punk to you? All nations, cultures and races coming together, in love and celebrating life, music, freedom of expression

-Favorite album? Mahavishnu Orchestra - Vision of the Emerald Beyond

NAME: Kamara
BAND: Earl Greyhound
HOMETOWN: NY
OCCUPATION: singer and bassist for Earl Greyhound
Most noted: For being the only female performer on the tour

Afro-punk production, the folks hired to document the cool kids

NAME: Brendon
STAGE NAME: original man
AGE:34
BAND: yo mama
HOMETOWN: Springfield, NJ
OCCUPATION: producer, director for the Afro-punk 2009 tour

-What was the best part of the tour? creating the look of a movement

-Favorite city to tour? Chicago // New Orleans

-What is Afro-punk to you? Freedom with a dash of teen spirit

-Favorite album? right now bet. fangs and niggy I have not heard all of Earl Greyhound... those Houston bout it bout it boys are dope to death

NAME: Dave
STAGE NAME: COBRA!
AGE: 33
BAND: One-Man
HOMETOWN: South Hempstead, NY
OCCUPATION: Camera guy documenting the Afro-punk tour

-What was the best part of the tour? Busting out the Canon 7D, bitches!

-What was the worst part of the tour? Losing my buddy's P2 cards, realizing CX broke the HVX camera cradle a day later (which in turn, allowed the best part of the tour to happen), watching my audio transmitter get dropped multiple times, getting sick and dealing with an un-coachable member of the team who didn't want to be a part of it

-Favorite city to tour? Any city that had TACOS

-What is Afro-punk to you? It's a place where I can see and hear brothas playing shit I wanna see and hear

-Favorite album? Every Nine Inch Nails Halo

NAME: Keith White
STAGE NAME: Keith kickaNIGGA
AGE: 20
BAND: none
HOMETOWN: BROOKLYN!!!!
OCCUPATION: skateboarder/merch guy

-What was the best part of the tour? When i found my moms camera, and smoking herb with the cool peoples of the cities.

-Favorite city to tour? ALL OF CALIFORNIA (yes i know its a state)

-What is Afro-punk to you? Being out of the box and rocking out with the coolest people you can ever meet.

-Favorite album? The Ultimate Escape by Tsunami Bomb

NAME: Whitney Summer Boyd
STAGE NAME: Summer
AGE: 23
HOMETOWN: Atlanta, GA
OCCUPATION: Photographer, Blogger for Afro-punk 2009 tour

-What was the best part of the tour? Meeting all the other bad asses around the U.S.

-What was the worst part of the tour? Working so much that I didn't get a chance to party more at night.

-Favorite city to tour? New Orleans, the crowd was A.mazing.

-What is Afro-punk to you? Each individual defines how Afro-punk relates to their lifestyle, that's the beauty of it, but to me, Afro-punk delivers a platform for creativity to blossom where there is usually concrete.