The Bangos- Rising Band & Musicians

Edition Forty-Four- Week Forty-Four:

Written by: Mercedes Barreto

What is the motivation behind each show and performance? Why and how so?

“We love to remain faithful to the original arrangements and instrumentation of these fantastic songs and give the audience a great show.”

Where did you get your start as a band? What is the meaning of your union as professional musicians?

“Our manager initially connected us, but many of us knew each other from other bands and gigs around Long Island and New York City. There is a lot of mutual respect and admiration here, and we love playing together!”

What are three inspirational quotes that describe your style?

“I am not sure that there are quotes that can describe our style, so to speak, but three quotes that resonate with us would be:

“Music makes us want to live. You don’t know how many times people have told me that they’d been down… but then a special song caught their ear, and that helped give them renewed strength. That’s the power that Music has” – Mary J. Blige

“Anything that I ever do is from the heart and authentic.” – Belinda Carlisle

“My hope is there will come a day when no girl ever has the issue of walking into a guitar store, and the guy behind the counter looks at you strangely and says: “So, what kind of strings does your boyfriend use?” That’s when you can say: “I don’t know about him, but I use light tops and heavy bottoms!” – Vicki Petterson “

If you could describe a highlighted release, which musical release would you select to share with your audience, and why that song?

“As a tribute band, this is a slightly different question for us. We do hope that we might inspire people to listen to this Music if it has been a while since it has been! It isn’t easy to pick a single song, and everyone has a different favorite. We love the “Beauty and the Beat” album by the Go-Gos and the “Different Light” album by the Bangles. They are great places to start if you’re revisiting either band.”

Is there a meaning behind each song or a recurring theme?

“There are themes to connect across all of the songs. It is hard to say the intent since we didn’t write them, but the songs are relatable to us, and that helps us connect to them as performers. The Bangles have a lot of songs about relationships. We cover some fantastic Belinda Carlisle solo pieces that are about the excitement of falling in love. A lot of older Go-Go’s songs like “This Town” and “We Got the Beat” seem to be about their experience being an all-female band in L.A.”

Where can we find your Music, and why should we? What makes you iconic?

“We are exclusively a live band, and a schedule of our upcoming shows can be found on our website, Bangosnyc.com  “

Anything to add here?

“We are having a blast playing this Music, and it would mean the world if you would come out to see us! We perform across the Tri-State area and hopefully beyond soon!”

Questions For The Photographer-

What is the highlight of this photoshoot in terms of their ultimate performance within the node?

“The highlight may have been meeting the ladies backstage and doing some posed shots with them on the famous couch in front of the graffiti wall at the famed club Daryl’s House owned by nonother than Daryl Hall from Hall and Oates.” 

Do you recommend them to other venues, hands down, for the future?

“I HIGHLY recommend the band to other venues. They look great, sound great, and are very animated performers; I would love to work with them again.”