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Hard-hitting seminal rapcore quintet Bionic Jivewas
founded in Phoenix, Ariz., in 1996. The grouphas
recorded and touredextensively,
weatheringtheusual music-biz pitfalls and
personnel changesto emerge by spring 2008 with a
harder soundandits strongest lineup to date—
vocalistsAsayanda“Ako” Mack and Mark “Emerg
McVay”Moore, guitarist Michael McGregor,bassist
RichardGartner and drummer George Robbins.
McGregor and Elyea founded the band in early1996
by recruiting Gartner and Robbins, vocalistDerrick
Burrows and multi-instrumentalist
ChrisElsnor“TG1”. This o ...read more
Hard-hitting seminal rapcore quintet Bionic Jivewas
founded in Phoenix, Ariz., in 1996. The grouphas
recorded and touredextensively,
weatheringtheusual music-biz pitfalls and
personnel changesto emerge by spring 2008 with a
harder soundandits strongest lineup to date—
vocalistsAsayanda“Ako” Mack and Mark “Emerg
McVay”Moore, guitarist Michael McGregor,bassist
RichardGartner and drummer George Robbins.
McGregor and Elyea founded the band in early1996
by recruiting Gartner and Robbins, vocalistDerrick
Burrows and multi-instrumentalist
ChrisElsnor“TG1”. This original “funk metal”
incarnationof Bionic Jive gigged heavily on the
Phoenix-areascene before disbanding shortly after
the 1999release ofindependent debut disc "The Six-
BillionDollar Band".
A second Bionic Jive lineup soon coalesced in2000
around Elyea, Gartner and Elsnor (who hadmoved
to drums), with theaddition of vocalistsMackand
McVay. This lineup caught the attentionof Jimmy
Iovine, chairman ofInterscope/Geffen/A&MRecords
(U2, Sheryl Crow,Eminem, Gwen Stefani)and
famous recordproducer (U2, Tom Petty & The
Heartbreakers,DireStraits, Patti Smith). Iovine
signed Bionic Jiveto Interscope; major-label
debutArmageddonThrough Your Speaker
wasreleased in October2001.
The band subsequently hit the road, including
shortouting with Kottenmouth Kings and several
weeksin 2001 supporting D12.Bionic Jive
landedaprestigious spot in 2002 on Eminem’s
nationwideAnger Management Tour, and the group
organizedself-financed national club tours in 2002
and2003.
Single “Ricochet” from Armageddon Through
YourSpeaker appeared in commercials for hit 2002
filmThe Transporter, althoughthe song did not
appearinthe film itself. Bionic Jive music was also
heard inmovie hits Resident Evil (2002) and The
ItalianJob(2003). Also during this period, the
bandachievedsome airplay, shot music videos for
ATYS songs“Pump” and “I ShotLucifer,” and had
music featuredin video games Postal2 and ATV
2004.
Success notwithstanding, however, Bionic Jive
wasweakened by internal struggles and
externalpressures, and Elyea andElsnor left the
band in2003.Little happened in the ensuing
period,although Armageddon Unrealeased—a
collection ofearlydemos, remixes and material that
didn’t makeit ontoATYS—saw limited release in
2004.
While rumors of the group’s demise
circulated,Bionic Jive struggled to replace Elyea
and Elsnor.Gartner contacted originalguitarist
McGregorandoriginal drummer Robbins in 2004
aboutmaterial for a new Bionic Jive album,
originallyintending towrite with them but to actually
performwith adifferent lineup. The writing team’s
renewedchemistry and strong material,however,
resulted inMcGregor and Robbins officially
rejoiningGartner,Mack and McCay in yet another
Bionic Jivelineup.
On its own website, Bionic Jive reassured fans
in2005 that the group was indeed alive and well
andannounced that workwas under way on
anewalbum. Recording at former guitarist
Elyea’sMinds Eye Digital Recording Studio in
Scottsdale,Ariz.,the group achieved a
muchheavier/focusedrapcore sound than any
previousincarnation of the band. The resulting
disc,PassionOver Politics, was released in 2008.
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