Serafin Sanchez – Sax
Andy Guerrero -guitarist & lead vocalist
Joe Farone – trumpet
Christian Bouck – drums
Dan Byron – bass, guitar & vocals
You know that infectious feeling that comes over you when you hear a good funk song, where the sides of you mouth curl upward and your booty starts to move in directions that are out of your control? You could be in the worst mood in DTC traffic, your boss just took credit for your work (again!), and you’re new deodorant has given you a rash. But a blend of James Brown, The Roots, and some old school Parliament could turn that all around.
Well, if you’ve been around town much, you may have heard of funk masters, Bop Skizzum, that have flashed the stages of local venues the Gothic and Soiled Dove. If you’ve caught any of there shows, and were to close your eyes during their performance, you would never guess these guys are in there are in their early twenties and have been together less than a year with their current line up.
Andy Guerrero, guitarist and lead vocalist, actually started Bop Skizzum three years ago. But the revolving door of band members finally stopped over the past year with the addition of Serafin Sanchez on Sax, and Joe Farone on Trumpet, while Christian Bouck on drums, and Dan Byron on bass, guitar and vocals have been with Andy for the past two years. Since then, they’ve continued to hone their sound and collaborative orchestration, tapping into their musical skills that transcend from the stage to their schooling.
Serafin, who’s mom had a part in getting him introduced to the band, started his musical career at age five with his piano lessons and is now a music performance major and business major at CU Boulder. Mrs. Sanchez actually met Andy and Christian at a charity event, and it just so happened they were looking for a sax player, “She still tells everyone she’s my agent,” Serafin jokingly admits. It was when he was the ripe old age of eleven that he got hooked to the sax, “I started playing in sixth grade,” trading in his tinkling habits for the horn, “but I think every musician should learn how to play piano. It really helps with composing and is something I still use when I’m putting songs together.”
In addition to business classes, Serafin’s college curriculum includes music theory, music history, and year-end recitals. So it’s not all rock and roll for him or the other guys, including CU Boulder classmates Christian and Joe. Andy, who handles most of the management and booking of the band, is a music management major at UCD, “the rest of us are learning the [music] business as we go,” Seraphin explains.
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Their current EP, Reverberating Funk includes previous cast members that have since left the band, so it doesn’t really reflect their current sound with the guys they have now, which according to Seraphin, “is more mature and a lot more tight. Andy’s written some new songs, plus we have our new bass player Dan and Joe on trumpet.” They plan to release a new CD in the Fall, along with a DVD that will feature a compilation of live performances, rehearsal out takes, and interviews with the guys. They hope to use these tools of the trade to get some label attention, and as a PR piece to enter music related contests such as The Music Awards from Coke-Cola (www.newmusicaward.com), and Jim Beam’s Rock Band Search, which was won by another Colorado band, Yo! Flaco, in 2000, “but we have to all turn 21 first. So we’ll have to wait until next year.”
For now, you can pick up the young lad’s EP and a music video, “Funkify Your Mind,” at their shows. To check out their gig schedule visit, www.bopskizzum.com, and get a look at the guys and their personal preferences, and their favorite members of N’Sync.
-Kim Owens, kim@kaffeinebuzz.com
