I tend to write and play in a lot of different styles,from funk to folk,punk to polka,and a whole lotta in between.due to that,and the fact that I travel for a living,i'm in a lot of different bands.usually i'm the primary singer/songwriter in most of these projects,as well as some collaborative work .so, a brief explanation of some of the bands i'll be posting on here is in order.
"Surface To Air Missiles"(s2am)isa project that former "Fierce Nipple"bandmate John Bogiorno and I started a few years ago in N.Y. with Dan Glasser,Rob Serrafin and fellow"Sensitive Artist"bandmate Ian Brynn.
.it started for shits n giggles,but,before we knew it,we had a pile of songs,MOST of wich had merrit."s2am" is definately on the heavier side with a fiendishly sinister humour.i think of it as creeprock.its a really fun playground to explore odd time signatures and melodies with a freedom to go over the line with wierd song topics as we please.all the players in this band are exceptional multi instrumentalists who write and create furiously fast.whatever time we get to play together(and its never any good length)we produce a lot of music and theres no telling what direction it'll take each time.NOT SUITABLE FOR ALL TASTES!!if you like to be made to feel uncomfortable while listening to wierd music,we're the band for you!
"Toranzo"is far more mellow.mostly a venue for more singer/songwriter-ish type music.the format could range anywhere from just me with an acoustic,a duo with me and a violinist,to a full on electric band.the duo version is Melissa Holland,violin and I.the full band is usually,Melissa,violin,Joe Victor,guitar,bass,keys,vox.Jimmi Torri,drums,vox and me,vocals,guitar,mandolin.instrumentals are a new arena for me and working closely with violin has pushed me in that direction a lot lately.this band has a broader appeal to casual listeners and its easier to get gigs as a folky soloist,or duo,or singer/songwriter band.
"Stool Puzzle" A.K.A "Stool Puzzle presents,Hash Oil and Pizza or,Dick Tipsy and the Merkin Jerkers"falls somewhere in between the previous two bands. its still pretty new and still creating itself.i currently only have live recordings,we have yet to do any studio work.the line up is,Bryan Toranzo,,vocals,guitar,bazouki.Sick,vocals,violin,guitar,saz.Lena Weiland,guitar,whatever.Ian Mikkel,bass,whatever.Jake Cooper,drums.and Sam Tynker,percussion.for a while we had Niel Yamin on bass.Most of the band are accomplished drummers,particularly middle eastern(many are in other ethnic,gypsie bands)some of the songs have a middle eastern vibe with a lot of rythmic experimentation.Sick,is quite the singer,writer,performer frontman type,so the combination of the two singer/writers is nice.he tends to bring out the more playfull side of my writing and look foward to some serious collaboration with him and the band I the near future.we finally have this more permanent line up,and will have more time to play together,we will see what it turns into,very excited about the potential!!
  "Fierce Nipples" is our old punk band from back in the day."punk"doesnt really do descriptive justice,we were quite progressive,intricate and funny.we created our own sound and genre,winning titles like"best band defying description","demonicly playful" and a whole host of colorfly descriptive terms.the line up was Bryan Toranzo,vocals,Niel Halpin,guitar,Uncle JonTom,bass and John Bongiorno,drums.this past summer,2011,we got together for the first time in over15 years and recorded " A Vile Song(elixer song part two") and we sounded great and it was a lot of fun.i dont know how often we will be able to record again,if ever,but i'm hoping we can.during the years we were together,we put out a large body of work,most of the songs still hold water today.i will probably post a lot of the old recordings to keep them circulating,as well as anything new we have,or might record in the future.also,NOT SUITABLE FOR ALL TASTES!!if you like psychotic,schitzophrenic spaz jazz with heavy punk undertones revolving around food,sex,or animals,or,all three together,this is the band for you!
   "The Sensitive Artists" is a large collective,the line up(at least its last configuration) is ,Bryan Toranzo,vocals,guitar,mandolin.Ian Brynn,vocals,guitar,eukalele.Dave Wegener,vocals,guitar,bazouki.Melissa Holland,violin.Alex Koralov,bass,guitar,viola degamba,mandolin,etc.Johanna Dunn,bass,guitar,doumbek.Jimi Torri,drums,and a whole bunch of guest players like Julia Bemi,vocals,Jules,cello and so on.this project is fun becouse of the size of the band, and the fact that it usually has several strong singer/songwriters.Ian and Dave are great writers with great songs and voices.between the three of us we deliver a nice variaty of songs,styles and textures.not sure what recordings I have of us,they will all be live sound board mixes from shows because we never got to have studio time together(not yet anyway).theres no tellin what exact configuration this project will have next time we get together,i do know that most of us will all be in the same state(Texas)this spring and plan on throwing something together,will keep that posted.
 There will probably be a few other bands popping up on here from time to time like"Mosaic",or "Ear" or even"The Danger,Thrill Seeking,Gangland Posse troupe ensemble Group" all of these are just amalgamations of many of the previouse bands mixed together,and theres sure to be more...enjoy


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