Steampunk and futurism mesh together with mime and music to create a breathtakingly imaginative act. Hydraulics hiss and motors hum as three robots begin to snap into mechanical movement. Their instruments ring and the automatons begin to belt out in three part harmony. The robots of Steam Powered Giraffe are like nothing you've ever seen. The malfunctioning joke-spewing metal men play a collection of original Vaudeville inspired tunes fused with modern flare and executed in a super-sleek, one-of-a-kind performance. More than just a band, Steam Powered Giraffe is an experience that must be seen and heard by the entire family. Band mate Christopher "Bunny" Bennett known as Rabbit took the time to discuss the band's latest album "Mark III" and the future plans that are over the horizon!
1. Introduce yourself, tell me what you do in Steam Powered Giraffe.
Bunny: Hello good to be here, my name is Bunny Bennett and I play Rabbit the Robot in the band Steam Powered Giraffe. I do harmonies, main melodies, play some instruments, I do it all, manage some social media, an owner of the company, that's fun too so I have my fingers in a lot of pies.
2. Can I get a backstory on the band/band biography? Why are there 5 members of the group but only 3 of the 5 are featured?
Bunny: Well we started as a mime troop with some improv training with a lot of theater backgrounds, and we started busking in Balboa Park San Diego just acoustic, I mean the band is literally just a group of antic robots, sort of a malfunction play of catchy tunes, so as that expanded onto the live shows over the years; we brought in a drummer, brought in some backing musicians that's why there's actually 6, 7, 8 members of the group that make it possible. Obviously the 3 robots the people in makeup draw most of the attention in the marketing, but the human's in the group are dressed in jumpsuits they're themed to be sort of the technicians so even though they are behind us they still play the important role, of getting into that spirit of the whole make believe sort of thing ya know?
3. Why the name, Steam Powered Giraffe, what does a Giraffe have to do with your music and concept ideal?
Bunny: Well in the beginning it was sort of a joke as the band was even forming. It was suppose to be an ASININE name for a band, so we kind of liked it then fell in love with it. It's so memorable and when it came in time of what to label it and what it was, we thought having something so ridiculous would be so awesome so we wrote a backstory to go with it, that talked about this scientist who made this giant steam powered giraffe and a bunch of singing robots, sort of like a Willy Wonka type of character, it's all about being off beat it's sort of science with a touch of magic. It's just strange and we like that.
4. You guys wanted to dress up for your photo shoots, live performances, and music videos why did you want to take this approach as opposed to a regular t-shirt and jeans appearance?
Bunny: Well being most of our members have theater backgrounds we kind of are actors playing the role of a band, we are a band, there are harmonies, guitar licks, added layer, theatrical material, we're entertainers primarily and we dress up in costume with the voices, which we're all really good at and just got it all to work in, so hopefully it pays off. It's been looking like something people hadn't really seen before.
5. Who was the one to come up with this whole concept idea for the attire, make up, and overall ordeal?
Bunny: Well we started in 2008, my ideal twin brother and I and friends met in a mime class, and had done paint faced mime charity's and children's camps. So we wanted to take those statue robot men you see out in the park, who talk back at you and it became really funny and unique for us. So it became something we enjoyed doing and it became modern, a lot of people are afraid of mimes/clowns but as soon as you dress up as a robot like we do, the people are more accepting of it. Plus being a normal band just seemed boring for us.
6. How come you guys chose to be a DIY type of band as opposed to one being signed with a record label or do you hope to get signed eventually?
Bunny: We've been looking for the man with a cigar with a bag of a dollar sign on it for many years. Don't think it's going to happen, the music industry is not in a great place, but honestly our act is new and fresh and it's hard to market us. We're hoping to draw in a following and exploring modern sounds but don't think anyone would know what to do with us. But hopefully someday Disney will know what to do with us and give us a call one day to play Tomorrowland! it's great to be in creative control which could be a bad thing, but we came from a family who had some training and experienced and it's great to be in control and the money goes all ways and we get by.
7. What bands have influenced your band and its sound?
Bunny: We're suckers for the classics The Beatles, Queen, Electric Light Orchestra, The Band, but we have a white plate and love classic rock. But we also love modern music like Michael Jackson, Bee Gees or Lady Gaga we like all kinds of music and that works for a band of a story of robots who's dabbled in all genres like we have done.
8. What lyrical theme do you guys use in your music? What message do you want to send?
Bunny: Mostly machine metaphors but we're running out of ideas. But I think there are a lot of messages in there, definitely with our fan base we've developed this uniqueness and strangeness because the band is filled with quirky people. So does anyone need to be ashamed of being a bit beyond the norm?
9. Who or what is MK III?
Bunny: MK III is Mark III the name of our new album that comes from a name of machines the next thing for us. It's got some cool stuff on it and it's been a pleasurable experience for us to create.
10. Is there any story or concept behind the MK III title?
Bunny: We didn't have a name for it for the longest time, just calling it "Album Three" playing around with it, having a numeric thing to it, because our first album was called "Album One" then "The Two Cent Show" so we wanted something with three in it, coming up with names like tripod, third time's a charm, everything just didn't sound good. So one day while we were watching Iron Man he had all these armors calling them Mark 27, then thought of Mark 3 "hey that makes sense" it's corny but sleek as well.
11. Who produced MK III and what was it like working with them?
Bunny: We're all self-produced the recording in a dead space with comforters suspended from the ceiling for our studio space. We've gotten the hang of doing it ourselves, and the studio is costly. So I don't think the average listener will be able to hear it, and we've gotten really good at mastering so they will all be surprised it was done with just one microphone than how bands record their stuff nowadays.
12. Who did the cover art for MK III and how much input did you have on it?
Bunny: I did the cover art, it's actually a staged photo that our husband and wife photographer team did together, who always shoot our shows and work on our promotional material, headshots, etc. It was all staged and centered around our new robot member Hatchsworth, he has this energy coming out of his chest, it's a big introduction and welcoming to him to the band and the album he was on it. So it was just hashing out the ideas and coming to an agreement but it's great when you have your own company.
13. What's your take on MK III as a whole?
Bunny: I do think this is a snap shot of where we are now. A year ago we picked up tumblr fame and it was overwhelming, there are songs that deal with that, and it deals with fandom's, and what the celebrities get themselves into, it all feels like it's going in one direction at times. But over the years it feels like this album, gets into those robot metaphors and the story is about what it means to be human and the differences of being a robot but I enjoy it.
14. What's your favorite song on the album right now?
Bunny: It's really hard to say because there all wonderful. We don't have a certain song writer all of us contribute and it's a meshing of all of the styles. " Mecto Amore" is the latest song we've released and the people's reactions towards it, have been great so we're hoping to do more poppy modern types of songs.
15. What plans do you have for the future?
Bunny: We're going forward, our YouTube is keeping people up to date and some video releases. The starting up a comic book with some backstory on a behind the scenes look of the robots. We're also already working on our next album and will be a concept piece like "The Wall" it's a space opera mixed with theatrical rock is all I can say about it.
16. What should labels/zines/promoters know about your band? Why should they be interested in it?
Bunny: There is no one else out there like us. So as the years go by the geeks and nerds are taking over and that comic book line-up of movies, people can take in that culture and a band of robots isn't any different it brings that classic entertainers like KISS. Hopefully it all comes together bringing classical entertainment and technology spreading our wings of mixing Vegas with rock music.17. Where can we listen to your band and where can we buy your stuff?
Bunny: We're all over Amazon, iTunes, and have a website, http://www.steampoweredgiraffe.com/
18. Anything else you'd like to say to the fans?
Bunny: Thanks for supporting us, and enjoy the new album, and hope you can check us out on tour and see you all at the shows!
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