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Music: Bo Diddley, Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, The Meters, James Brown, Otis Redding, Marvin Gaye, Sam & Dave, Lee Dorsey, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, The Kinks, Bob Marley, Gram Parsons, Flying Burrito Brothers, English Beat, Santana, The Specials, Talking Heads, Fela Kuti, The Cramps, The Clash...and many, many more.

Hobbies: Music

Bongokopter has released their debut EP with propulsive, up-beat rock & roll informed by world music, country, funk and reggae from the metropolis of Toronto. Described by the acclaimed former Elektra producer Frazier Mohawk as ''the real deal,'' the new voice of music has arrived! The creation of their unique sound is due largely to the sonic influences of the founding leader, Jimmy Temper. His father was also a songwriter and guitarist since the 1960's and his mother sang as well. They did the coffee house circuit for Jimmy's first nine years of childhood. ''At home there were no nursery rhymes just rock & roll and folk music.'' So Mr. Temper took up guitar and jammed with his father's musician friends and had his first garage band by the age of ten. He started playing professionally at 18 when he helped form the Vancouver world beat dance group, ''Ngoma''. This seven piece highlife band packed clubs from Vancouver Island to Winnipeg and back, and got quite a following for their fast songs, and insightful approach to mixing musical styles. At their height, Ngoma was opening for such international acts as Desmond Dekker and Pablo Moses as well as playing the Stein Valley Festival, and YTV Rocks. Nonetheless, Jimmy wanted to strike out on his own after four years in the group and seek his musical destiny. After realizing this, Bongokopter was conceived and played gigs around British Columbia until many venues started to hire Djs instead of live bands which made gigging harder. In response, Jimmy looked to the south and after spending some time in California he stumbled down to New Orleans. ''I played the streets with the finest buskers in the world and checked out the bands every night in the French Quarter and 9th Ward. I learned how to make the arrangements more slippery and how to create space, tension and release.'' He immersed himself in the sounds and soul of ''The Crescent City'' and you can hear the influence in the songs and the flat-out intensity of their delivery. After eventually returning to Canada through Toronto, Mr. Temper stopped playing for a while and returned to school until he met Sneaky T in 2002. She had recently come to Canada from Hungary. Her life in Budapest was cramped and poor in a huge concrete housing colony. Consequently, she was the perfect match for Jimmy, whose rebellious, low-income childhood reflected her own. The next thing the band did was to send a demo of their tunes to the studio at Puck's Farm, who were looking for new talent. They liked what they heard at the studio and contacted the group, and became an integral part of their overall development. Puck's Farm Studio is owned by Frazier Mohawk and operated by his engineer and co-producer, Walter Sobczak. Walter has been producing for many years with credits such as Dream Warriors, Michie Mee and The Barenaked Ladies. In addition, he was one of the founding members of Raggadeath in the mid 1990's. Frazier Mohawk's resume includes attending a boarding school run in part by Aldous Huxley and working as a publicist for The Beatles 1964 Hollywood Bowl Concert, and Ike Turner. Furthermore, he produced artists such as David Lindley in Kaleidoscope, Nico and The Holy Modal Rounders on Elektra Records while also helping to assemble Buffalo Springfield. On the recording, the band also included percussionist Rick Shadrach Lazar, drummers Sly Juhas and Max Senitt, as well as Michael Fonfara who played keyboards with Jimmy Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Lou Reed, Sly & Robbie and Booker T. & the M.G's just to mention a few. With the help of some amazing legends in the music industry, the new Bongokopter EP is ready to represent not just the music of Canada but the music of the planet. From the African flavoured guitar solo in ''Between Worlds'' to the New Orleans funk of ''No Two Ways'' or the pounding rock & roll of ''Northern Canadian Hillbilly Boy,'' this CD contains a bit of something for everyone. Without being a replica of any band or genre, they capture the sound and spirit of the 60's and 70's while keeping one foot in the present. There is even a mystical quality to the sound with some spiritual channeling going on. As Jimmy recalls, ''I had a psychedelic dream one night when I was visited by Gram Parsons. He made sure I knew to do some country on the EP. That is how we decided to do 'World By Storm'. I guess Gram was right because it ended up sounding so good, we made it the first song on the CD.'' You can see that intuition is a big part of what the band is all about. They listen to their conscience and the voices of the unseen, and it shows! http://www.pucksfarm.com