The Aquabats
As of 2024, the Aquabats' members include saxophonist Jimmy the Robot, drummer Ricky Fitness, guitarists Eaglebones Falconhawk and Chainsaw, the Prince of Karate, trumpeter Cat Boy and keyboardist Gorney.This theme serves as subject for much of the band's music and as part of their theatrical stage shows, which typically feature various stunts and fight scenes with costumed villains and monsters.[1] With Jacobs assuming vocal duties, Larson on bass guitar and Terry on trumpet, the trio recruited several more musician friends from other local bands to piece together a full ensemble.With professionalism far from foremost concern, The Aquabats' earliest band line-ups changed with almost every concert, occasionally featuring as many as twelve to fourteen musicians at a time onstage, with the majority typically playing brass instruments.[8][9] As they gradually developed a steady following and began playing shows with more regularity, the band settled into a tighter and more manageable unit consisting of around eight to nine musicians, filled out by a horn section, two guitarists and a keyboardist.[9] Terry, a future apparel designer who was employed by the wetsuit manufacturing company Aleeda at the time, acquired a large amount of spare rubber and neoprene and fashioned together a set of helmets and rashguards for the band members.[5][8] The addition of customized vinyl belts, donated to the band by then-unknown artist Paul Frank, effectively completed the style The Aquabats would maintain for the rest of their career.[9][10] Jacobs' brothers Parker and Tyler, a cartoonist and graphic artist, respectively, were brought in to help develop the band's cartoon-influenced visual style, designing their logos and promotional material as well as playing characters in The Aquabats' stage shows and mythology.With the band now finding enough success to generate both an adequate income and media visibility, Jacobs — a former child actor with ties in the entertainment industry — began to conceive the idea of adapting The Aquabats' superhero mythology into a television series.[21] By the time The Aquabats began writing new material for their next studio album in 1998, the group had begun to feel pigeonholed by their public status as a "cheesy ska band" and consciously decided to start exploring more diverse musical styles rather than merely returning to a ska-based sound.With the total absence of The Aquabats' formerly marketable ska sound, Goldenvoice expressed mixed feelings over Floating Eye, reportedly telling the band that the album had no potential single material and would be difficult to promote.[6] In a 2005 interview, Larson retrospectively lamented upon Floating Eye's lack of a commercial sound, noting that while he and the band felt the material was strong, it "probably wasn't the record we should have put out at that time".[21][23] Following the huge financial losses Goldenvoice suffered from the inaugural Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in 1999, the company was eventually forced to cease operations, leaving the Aquabats without a record label.With a lack of label support leaving the band to finance themselves entirely out of pocket, The Aquabats indefinitely postponed all plans for future recording or extensive touring, limiting their activity primarily to sporadic shows in the southwest United States.With this more stable and compact line-up, The Aquabats returned to the studio to record original music for Evan Dorkin's Welcome to Eltingville, a 2002 animated television pilot which aired on Adult Swim but was ultimately not picked up as a series.The following year, the band would release their first DVD, Serious Awesomeness!, featuring a full live performance filmed in Pomona, California, and numerous clips spanning their entire career.[25] Despite this fortuitous turn of events, the group were still uncertain of their future following their semi-hiatus and radical shift in line-up; Jacobs later admitted that the band spent the recording sessions under the belief that it could possibly be their last album.Pollock was succeeded by former Death by Stereo member Ian Fowles (Eaglebones Falconhawk), though he would continue to contribute guitar tracks to The Aquabats' studio albums and perform with the band as a second guitarist for their southern California concerts and major festival shows.The series went on to become an award-winning international sensation, bringing a generous amount of media attention towards both Jacobs and The Aquabats, just enough to persuade Gabba's production company Wild Brain to help produce a new pilot again based on the band.[34] As the band resumed touring throughout the United States and Europe, fewer updates were reported on the album's progress until all plans were abruptly ceased in April 2009, when The Aquabats were dropped from Nitro Records due to "trying economic times and a struggling musical landscape", according to Jacobs.[56] In celebration of the 20th anniversary of 1997's The Fury of The Aquabats!, the band worked with veteran producer and engineer Cameron Webb on a complete remaster of the album which was independently released on vinyl and CD with bonus material on April 6, 2018.Television Soundtrack: Volume One was given a wide physical release on The Aquabats' self-operated label Gloopy Records, premiering at 165 on the Billboard 200 and number one on Top Heatseekers, the band's highest placement on each chart to date.During The Aquabats' career lull in the early 2000s, several of the band's key members departed from the line-up, eventually reducing the former octet down to a mere quintet of vocals, guitar, keyboards, bass, and drums.[6] Since the earliest days of the band, The Aquabats have earned a reputation for their theatrical live performances featuring a variety of comedic stunts and antics based around their superhero-themed persona.During the 1990s, when their concerts were at their most elaborately staged, a typical Aquabats performance would often include choreographed fight scenes with costumed villains, the use of numerous props, acrobatic stunts and varying degrees of pyrotechnics, ranging from small fireworks to The MC Bat Commander fire breathing.[88] These fights have ranged from short, improvised fistfights to fully choreographed stage combat utilizing breakable props, maneuvers such as flying kicks and back flips, and sometimes spreading out into the audience, with The Aquabats ultimately winning most—but not all—encounters.Both the band and their onstage characters regularly interact with the crowd, including initiating mass games of beach ball volleyball or spraying them with substances like Silly String and fire extinguishers.According to legend, Aquabania had been invaded by the villainous Space Monster "M", forcing the surviving inhabitants to flee into the ocean where they eventually washed ashore in California and were taken in by Professor Monty Corndog, a mad scientist who used "chemicals" to give them superpowers.[104][105] Parker Jacobs permanently reformed GOGO13 in 2001 and continues to tour with a rotating line-up of musicians which, among others, have included original Aquabats trumpeter Boyd Terry and guitarist Ben "The Brain" Bergeson.[105] From 1993 to 1995, Adam Deibert, Charles Gray, Corey Pollock and Pat "Patbat" McDonald were all members of the Huntington Beach ska band The Goodwin Club, recording only one full-length album before disbanding in April 1995, playing their final show opening for The Aquabats.
The Aquabats! Super Show!Anaheim, CaliforniaHuntington Beach, CaliforniaComedy rockpop-punkska punknew wavepower popThe Aquabats discographyHorchataTime BombFearlessThe MC Bat CommanderCrash McLarsonJimmy the RobotRicky FitnessEaglebones FalconhawkCatboyChainsaw The Prince of KarateChainsaw, the Prince of KarateCat Boysuperheroessynth-popother recordingsBillboard 200The Fury of The Aquabats!Hi-Five Soup!The HubDaytime Emmy AwardKickstarterYouTubeChristian JacobsChad LarsonBoyd TerryBrea, Californiaalternative rockhorn sectiondemo tapessuperherostage namechef's uniformsgrass skirtsfezzesbarbecueneoprenerashguardsPaul Frankstage namesParkercartoonistgraphic artistThe Return of The Aquabatscult followingNo DoubtSublimeReel Big FishTravis BarkerBlink-182GoldenvoiceTime Bomb Recordingsinstrumentalsragtimetango musicsousaphonesbanjosTop HeatseekersSuper Rad!KROQ-FMWarped TourCharles GrayCourtney PollockAdam DeibertJames Briggspop punkScott Raynorchild actorBuena Vista TelevisionBobcat GoldthwaitSaturday morning cartoonpigeonholedThe Aquabats vs. the Floating Eye of Death!synthesizertokusatsuFox Family ChannelDisneyRichard FalomirCoachella Valley Music and Arts Festivalalter egodistribution dealFearless RecordsMyths, Legends, and Other Amazing Adventures, Vol. 2Ricky FalomirEvan DorkinWelcome to EltingvilleAdult SwimSerious Awesomeness!Pomona, CaliforniaYo! Check Out This Ride!Nitro RecordsCharge!!The EpoxiesThe PhenomenautsThe OffspringAttack of the ShowFashion Zombies!Death by StereoIan FowlesScott SchultzYo Gabba Gabba!ViacomNick Jr. ChannelWild Brainviral advertisingSan Diego Comic-ConBamboozle LeftGroezrock2009 reunion tourSoundwaveRadio Down!press releaseHasbroDiscoveryDiscovery KidsBatmanDaytime EmmyHuffington Post