UFOFU is a band that was formed by guitarist/songwriter Joe Butcher in NY around 1993. After putting dozens of ads in the Village Voice, Butcher finally found what he was looking for in bassist Brandon Curtis. The two searched for a drummer unsuccesfully, until Curtis suggest his 14 year old brother Ben, who lived in Dallas.
The 14 year old prodigy turned out to be the perfect drummer for the band, technically surpassing players three times his age with his ability to easily assimilate jazz, punk and complex odd time signatures.
The band moved to Dallas, so Ben could finish high school, and quickly garnered the attention of the Dallas press and local music scene. Within a year, the band was touring, opening for acts like Tripping Daisy, Local H, Smoking Popes, The Geraldine Fibbers and Spacehog.
Touring was hard and relentless, with the band basically living in a 1979 Chevy van, breaking down all over the country and even resorting to stealing gas just to get to the next gig.
UFOFU released a few vinyl one offs and finally released a full length CD in 1997 on The Medicine Label.
Bad choices, lack of communication, and differing opinions led to the demise of the band in 1998.
Ben Curtis went on to play drums in Tripping Daisy, helping them to shape the sound of their best, most critically acclaimed album "Jesus Hits Like The Atom Bomb" until the tragic death of guitarist Wes Berrgeren. Brandon joined Captain Audio with former Comet drummer Josh Garza.
Brandon, Ben and Josh finally joined forces and moved to NY to form The Secret Machines, with Ben switching to guitar and mastering it just as well as he did the drums.
Joe Butcher went on to play guitar with Ben Kweller, pedal steel with alt country group Pleasant Grove, and eventually joined Dallas' 25 peice supergroup The Polyphonic Spree, filling in the spaces with pedal steel, keyboards, percussion, samples and guitar. Butcher is currently working on a new project "The Winter Of Our Disco Intent."
The Secret Machines have two major label releases on Reprise records and have toured the world and opened for major acts like U2 and Oasis. More impressivley, they have attracted the attention of Michael Rother, half of famed German minimalist rock icons Neu!
The UFOFU tracks presented here are a little glimpse into the lineage of great music turned out by the underrated Dallas music scene, and I hope it gives you a little insight into the musical family tree that has produced some of the great bands you may be listening to today.
Enjoy.
The Curtis brothers are afraid of me. Especially Brandon. James, your picture blows my mind. Yesterday I listened to UFOFU in honor of this myspace. Today, I listen to When the Levee Breaks on honor of the rain outside.
Wow! So who created this then? Excellent idea and I love the Picture from the CD and the even saucier one from 'People to the Air'! Sorry I've already nicked your URL - was a bit surprised at the time that nobody else was using it!
Somebody made a UFOFU myspage page? Oh fabulous :) I really love this band's music, and now the formed Secret Machines! This is a great CD from UFOFU btw...
