Booking: Matt Mentele
Event Resources Presents, Inc Click to E-Mail Matt
(College Inquiries)
Influences
Stevie Wonder
Radiohead
Medeski Martin & Wood
Marvin Gaye
Beck
Soul Coughing
The Urge
David Gray
Portishead
Led Zeppelin
Weezer
Gnarls Barkley
Rage Against the Machine
Jurassic 5
Van Morrison
Rod Fleeman and Interstring
Calexico
The Roots
Otis Redding
Dave Matthews Band
Outkast
Joy Division
Bob Marley
Ben Folds Five
The Fugees
Gotan Project
Jamiroquai
Jaga Jazzist
Muse
Henry Rollins
Happy Mondays
Ray Charles
Bonobo
Jude
Amon Tobin
Faithless
Feist
John Butler Trio
Minus the Bear
The Mars Volta
TV on the Radio
"Antennas Up bring something new to the table while not straying too far from the roots of house music. This combination makes the band both interesting and inventive, a duality many bands in the same genre cannot hold on to." - Dino Lull - Metro Spirit
"I for one wanted to bust out some Galaga after hearing their track “5P4C35H1P.” Their nerdy backgrounds really come through on this song that constantly beckons listeners to “ride my spaceship” through a suave synthesized voice....Their single “Don’t Wait Up” can be summed up in two words: freakin’ awesome." - Amy Dittmeier - HEAVE Media
"Fun album full of funky-groovy vocals and instrumentals. A modern 70s album." - WRUV 90.1 - Burlington, VT
"Antennas Up's self-titled debut is a gem" - Jeffery Sisk - Philly Daily News
"...there’s something inherently likeable about a band that forgoes being cool in favor of being themselves." - Trevan McGee - InkKC
"Antennas Up introduces a thrilling sound on their self-titled debut that combines Yaz-era power pop, hook-filled synth, and skittery guitar with urgent vocals....[it] sounds like the result of cross-pollinating the lyrical prowess and hottt moves of Flight of the Conchords with the pop-electronica of CSS. It's fun, unselfconscious, and hedonistic. " - Pete Dulin - Present Magazine
"Good lyrics combined with birth-of-rock-and-roll rhythms reel you in, and before you know it you're in deep....Altogether Antennas Up is a very solid album, blending numerous ideas and influences. Definitely worth checking out, no matter your musical orientation." - Eric Savage - Innocent Words
"“Antennas Up,” as heard on their new self-titled album, may be one of the most unique, talented, and fun bands to hail from the Kansas City area in a long time. And it’s about time." - Paul Backus - Enoch Magazine
Powerful, groovy, risk-taking Kansas City, Kansas music
phenomenon, Antennas Up, is channeling the fever of
Saturday nights of the 70s with contemporary electronic
sampling and fist-pumping pop. On their debut self-titled
album, releasing April 14th, 2009 on the band’s own
independent label, Plastic Artifice, Antennas Up will grab you
from the inside and provide a soundtrack unique and strong
enough to inspire.
Self-proclaimed nerd and bassist of Antennas Up, Kyle Akers,
had a heavy influence on the songwriting of the album. With a
knack for video games, fixing computers, and chasing girls out
of his league, Akers took his nerdy frustrations to the studio,
while globetrotter and guitarist, Bo McCall, brought his
adventure-seeking attitude. McCall, a professional exchange
student, spent years soaking up the music of other cultures and
annoying his roommates with late night practicing. Suffice to
say, native Zimbabwe roots music is not his forte. While they all
had an equal amount of input in the creation and final version of
the album, the beer brewing, “100 percent awesome” and
modest percussionist of the group, The Ryantist, acted as the
conduit during production with his hands on the buttons. His
passion for snapping photos and switching up stage lighting led
the group to agree that the soundboard was the best place for
this tactile-obsessive musician.
The self-titled album, mastered by Bob Power (Tribe Called
Quest, The Roots, Common, Citizen Cope) and mixed by Allen
Farmelo (Yerba Buena, Department of Good and Evil), marks
the first release from Antennas Up, but the band has been
recording music together since 2002. After countless failed
attempts at getting girls with their geeky demeanor, Antennas
Up decided to make rock stardom a serious endeavor in 2006
when they started touring nationally with artists like Ha Ha
Tonka and Downtown Harvest.
After juggling a number of lead singers, vocalist Lonnie Coleman
joined Akers, McCall and The Ryantist in 2007 to record the
self-titled debut. Although Coleman added power and soul to
the album, he decided on another route and left Antennas Up.
As though it was a sign, the band decided to keep the original
line up as it was, and Akers took over as lead singer.
The guys of Antennas Up are all about exploring different
directions with their music and having a good time with those
new paths they come across. While they still sometimes sit
behind their instruments and computers, attempting to
mathematically calculate the best way to get to the core of a
girl’s heart, their music allows them an independent outlet to be
slightly jaded towards the female race (they’ve learned apathy
equals sex appeal). That said, no math can contend with the
pure love and firm commitment Antennas Up has to making
music that forces us to move our minds and bodies until we all
pass out with an overwhelming sense of feel-good sound and a
taste of life worth participating in.
Hey guys! Let me know when you're playing around KC again, I'd love to come back up there to see ya & partake in some superb cabernet parties! You guys are so much fun! Love ya!
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