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Toots & Kin / Blog

The Long Awaited Gypsy Show

Ahoy mates! We are so exited for this Friday's show, Gypsy Night at Connie's Ric Rac Shack on 9th St in the Italian Market! ZGP! hits the stage at 9pm. We'll be playing along side The Late Saints and This Way To The Egress, two awesome gypsy bands. Cwerz of Port Richmond (in our neck of the woods) will be sponsoring the food for the evening with fresh kielbasa and pierogies! There will also be vodka specials! You can purchase presale tickets here for $8, tickets at the door will be $10 on the night of. http://m.bpt.me/event/1358520 This show really means a lot to us, in that for the first time since we began this project in 2013, we finally feel that our lineup is exactly where it needs to be. We couldn't be more excited that Elana Rajah is back in the band - and for the first time ever - her sister, Shana Isadora, will be joining us as well. Elana and Shana have added so much to the music and the energy of the band. We can't wait to unveil some of the new songs we've created with them. We are also very excited to unveil our antique 1960's pump organ! Yes, you heard right - we're bringing an organ with us. We got it from our friend, Mickey White, who has a business in Port Richmond called "Anything and Everything." When Mickey offered to sell us the organ at a discount, we initially said no. "Where will we fit another organ?" We thought. So we went home. Theennnn... It started eating at us. We couldn't stop thinking about it. It turns out, we always have room for another organ. So sure enough, we went back and got it. With no car, we tied it to a dolly and wheeled it from one side of Port Richmond to the other on foot. Boy, were we a sight to see crossing Aramingo Avenue. It's been a strange transition to see what we initially didn't think twice about, becoming such a pivotal part of our band. Mickey White became a catalyst for ZGP! when he sold us that organ. For that, we will always appreciate him and show him support by staying loyal customers and sending as many friends his way as possible. Like his business name says, he has anything and everything. He basically owns the holy grail of thrift stores. We highly recommend checking out his warehouse store on Ontario & Belgrade. Tell him Zap sent ya. Majority of the songs we will be playing friday night off our first album that we are currently recording, The Port Richmond Parables. Recording this album ourselves has been a long and tedious process, and we're barely halfway done - though it might be exhausting - we love every second of it. We've spent more hours than we can count in our studio/basement. Writing, recording, laughing, fighting... through all of it, we've grown as musicians and as people, but most importantly, we've grown into a family. We're so excited to introduce our new songs, instruments and family members with you this weekend. It's been a long awaited show, and now that it's almost here, we're fucking stoked. A little about our friends: Treading a path between the lyrical nuances of the Italian Cantautori and the frenetic rhythms a la Manu Chao and Gogol Bordello, explosive Gypsy Rock trio THE LATE SAINTS will get your juices flowing with infectious original songs, dreamy ballads and ludicrous pop covers, re-appropriated and “Italianized.” Front man Jacopo De Nicola's inspired kazoo lines define the distinctive band sound. www.thelatesaints.com Accordion fronted, THIS WAY TO THE EGRESS cascades onto the stage in a breathtaking explosion of sound and color that’s equal parts unruly vaudeville, ebullient world beat band and three ring circus. Confetti snowstorms, tuba farts, Balinese chanting, fire wielding evangelists and puppets sweep across the stage creating a jubilant, anything-goes atmosphere powered by a relentless propulsive beat and generating enough energy to light up a small city. www.thiswaytotheegress.com Peace and Love The ZGP! family

Music Is The Purest Form of Journalism

Music Is The Purest Form of Journalism

We at ZGP! are blown away by the tremendous success we have had thus far in such a short period of time. We'd like to thank everyone who has supported us, and for the positive feedback you've given. We played some killer shows, rocked out at John Faye's birthday, made new friends and united with old ones. It's been a beautiful whirlwind of chaos and disorder all wrapped up into a big ball of circus jazz.

We're currently recording our demo, and getting close to releasing a few new songs that will soon be available for streaming on our reverbnation page. We're excited to share our new work with you, but first we feel that some of these songs may need an introduction.

Going back to the roots, ZGP! wants to expand, educate and entertain. Do you know why the mainstream radio chooses to play songs that have no substance or depth? Because music is power. It's the purest form of journalism. Our songs can't be tampered, nor can the hearts and minds behind them. If mainstream radio played songs about political or moral issues, people might actually start paying attention to who's really pulling the strings and why. Heck, they might even take to the streets and DO something to make a change. Instead, they play music that is derogatory towards women, promotes an irresponsible lifestyle, or just simply makes no sense at all. And we all know where that has lead a large chunk of our generation.

The mainstream radio won't play our songs because they would make people think - and that scares them. Because we aren't in it for money, they can't buy our silence and they can't wrap their itty bitty, wealth driven brains around that. We CAN make a difference, they just don't want you to know it. We see through the bullshit and would like to help you to do the same. And that's why we are here. To expand, educate and entertain.

Among the new demos being released, "Industry of the Earth" and "Monsanto" will address said political and moral issues. From the rising prices of natural resources and destruction caused by industrial society to the war we are fighting with the food industry's genetically modified organisms, we will tell the people in charge that we are pissed off, and we won't stand for it. One song at a time.

In other arenas, a few of our more light hearted songs such as "The Chantey Song" and "Into The Ocean" are on the way as well. We're particularly excited for the unveiling of "The Pirate Song." It's lyrics were written in the 1600's, and it was sang by pirate crews out at sea. The song is far too old to have been recorded, so truthfully we have no clue what the original really sounded like - so we got creative - and I think we'd make those pirates proud.

We might add that we are very interested in adding a horn section. Specifically, tuba, trombone, and trumpet. Or a slide trumpet if we were lucky enough to come by one. If you or anyone you know may be interested in auditioning, message us here on reverbnation or contact Caleigh Rose on Facebook.

Thank you for reading, and stay tuned for more.

ZGP!

Current events with ZGP!

Ahoy mateys!

First, we have to give a huge thank you to The Legendary Dobbs and the crowd that rocked out with us this past Wednesday eve. It was a fuckin blast and we couldn't have been happier with the evening. Hands down, sickest part of the set was when Stan D Man hopped in on our encore song with the trombone. Hell yeah!!! Everyone danced, and we had some other really talented artists in the house such as John & Brittany, The Angry Ninjas and Paul Kurrey! Albert of The Great SOCIO even made an appearance on stage with Edwin to give John Faye his birthday pizza!!! We had SO much fun and we can't wait to do it again!!! We love Dobbs!!

Saturday night, we played the Boneyard in Atlantic City for a hurricane Sandy relief! It was definitely good times. ZGP will soon be getting played on a radio show called Uncharted Kaos on neueregelradio.com. There will be an interview with the band as well, but we are still working out the details.

We got to share the stage with some awesome acts, and Stevo even *literally shared the stage with an acoustic duo when he grabbed his djembe from the car and joined them in a jam.

Ill Rendition KILLED IT! If you haven't heard their music, you suck. Go over to their reverb page like now. They'll be touring soon, and rumor has it they will be playing the electric factory when they get back!

The next show is on December 7th at The Grand Fromage and we hope all the new friends we made in AC will come out And support us!

In the meantime, video footage from Dobbs is coming to youtube anytime now, and photos from the Boneyard should be along soon.

Thank you to everyone who has supported is so far! We are amazed at the feedback we've gotten this early on in the game! We love you all!!!

ZGP!

ZGP! At The El Bar

Hello all you music lovers out there! So as most of you know, Zap Goes Pop! had our first official gig with the full band this past Saturday at The El Bar in Fishtown. We had a great turn out, and we'd like to thank everyone who came out to support us!

A very special thank you goes out to Bosom Band who asked us to join in on this momentous evening. They put on a killer show, comedy routines included! And have you seen Monica's outfits? They're stunning! If you haven't heard Bosom Band, you're doing your ears an injustice. Go to their reverbnation page. Right now.

That's Gotta Be Taken brought some bad ass funk to the table and had the entire bar dancing til they dropped. Those bass lines were sick.

Lets not forget Mr. Unloved! He tied the show together by playing the house piano in between sets. Nothing like a little bit of piano jazz to set the mood!

All in all, it was a night that all of Zap Goes Pop! members won't soon forget and we were grateful for such an awesome first show! We hope to see everyone in AC on November 23rd at The Boneyard!

ZGP!