The Go! Team [rank: 99] based on users subscribed

"The Go! Team are a British, Brighton-based six piece band (with two drummers) whose songs are a mixture of action theme songs, cheerleader chants, guitars and early hip-hop, with a hint of '70s funk. Their songs are a mix of live instrumentation and samples from various sources. Founder Ian Parton, born in Wales, was previously the drummer for a band called Dig The Slowness, which was fronted by his brother Gareth Parton. Dig The Slowness became Slot Jockey which went on to enjoy moderate success before folding.

The Go! Team is split 50/50 by gender, with a female frontwoman (Ninja), drummer (Taylor), and multi-instrumentalist (Kaori Tsuchida, who replaced Silke Steidinger in Autumn 2005). Initially The Go! Team was ostensibly a solo project for documentary film director Parton, whose debut release was the Get It Together EP, released in 2000 by Leicester-based Pickled Egg Records. This received airplay from legendary DJ John Peel, but, following signing to indie label Memphis Industries, it would be another three years before their next release, the Junior Kickstart EP in 2003."

[reproduced or excerpted from the Wikipedia article "The Go! Team" and its use is thus licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License]

Bandega Interview with Ian Parton of The Go! Team (December 2007)

The Go! Team will ground down your senses and take you over.

Q: How have your shows changed over the years? Has your perspective on performing live changed?
A: We're a bit more aware of having an impact live. From day one, I wanted to get people together who might not normally be in a band. I knew that I wanted us to be quite energetic, to have lots of movement. I wanted to have the type of band that would run across the stage and pick up a different instrument after each song. I like idea bands, bands that are always trying to bring something new to the stage, like The Flaming Lips. They're always thinking of the next thing to do, dreaming up non-musical ideas. I'd like to think that we're getting better as a band. And we've still got a million things to try.

Q: Describe the most memorable live show you've played.
A: We're lucky because we've had quite a few. We played in China earlier in the year, one of the few bands to have ever played there. It's like the birth of the teenager in the '50s in England, kind of a youth explosion going on. There's no real live music there; they've been kicked down so much, that the idea of expression is so new. There aren't really a lot of bands or venues, so we ended up playing one of the only venues in Beijing. It was sold out, full of screaming people, stage-diving, jumping on people's shoulders. They might have been arrested a few years ago, for some of the things they were doing. That show will always stick out for me. It was euphoric.

Q: What venue do you consider to be your "home", where you feel most comfortable, with the crowd and the place itself?
A: I don't think we have one, really. We're a Brighton band, and it's a seaside town, so we've never really even played there. There's Koko in London, where we played the first time there, pretty old school.

Q: Describe the most enjoyable show you've ever experienced as a fan.
A: At All Tomorrows Parties, the best show of that weekend was Cornelius. He had this amazing light show and the visuals projected on the screen behind the band, synced up with the music. You couldn't really take your eyes away from the stage - it kind of ground down your eyes, sensory overload. I really like that idea, kind of taking people over.

Q: Word is you had a great show at the Pitchfork Music Festival a couple of years ago in Chicago where you had a bunch kids up on stage with you. How did that all happen?
A: Yeah, there were a bunch of neighborhood kids kinda gettin' down on the edge of the park, so we went up to 'em and asked 'em if they wanted to get up on stage with us for the last song, and before we knew it, there were about 15 kids up there, from like toddlers to 15 year olds, gettin' down in front of Ninja, and for the last power chord, they all collapsed into a heap. It was fucking amazing.

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