"Politically charged...Musically relevent. Junkyard Empire insists upon delivering equal amounts of both Hip-Hop & Jazz executed by a 5 piece band. The messages they represent are strong: take control of your own destiny and question what the government tells you; make moving music and have fun doing it! Stamped by an original, d**e group name & showing loads of potential both live & recorded, do not miss an opportunity to observe these cats." --Carnage. Sometimes referred to as "the jazz version of Rage Against the Machine," Junkyard Empire is not just a band, they are a social and political platform, focused upon bringing people together to take back the country from the criminal corporations. They strive to be much more than another great alternative live hip-hop band from Minnesota - of which there are plenty - they want to become a musical force for grassroots political and social change in America, playing the music that they hear as the soundtrack to a long overdue global social and political revolution, against the neoconservative capitalist cabal. They believe music is not, nor should it be treated as though it is nothing more than the proverbial "widget" to be sold to the highest bidder. Adherence to the inherently inhuman conditions of so-called "free market" capitalism is - by design - working against the progression of music in society. NOTE TO AGENTS: If you don't want the audience to hear the truth about the government and the fascist economic system in which it operates, don't book Junkyard Empire. They will charge to perform, but only because they, like all Americans today, live under the tyranny of the bottom line. Someday, when the system completely fails, people will rise up in defiance. If they were in it for the money, they would be playing the same tired, irrelevant and lazy music that pervades today's corporate radio waves. The combination of Brihanu's forceful, yet uplifting lyricism - urging the listener to rise up in opposition to all things unjust - and the undeniable talent of the instrumentalists in the band makes for a blend of influences and intensity that is unlike any other band in this country. Trombonist and keyboardist Christopher Robin Cox, guitarist Bryan Berry, bassist Dan Choma, and drummer Graham O'Brien provide truly intense improvisatory explorations, while laying down cold-blooded grooves under Brihanu's verses. The gritty sounds of Miles Davis's B**ches Brew and the funky avant-jazz of the late 1960s often are cited as influences, but if you ask any of them, they will also tell you they listen to a long list of current genre-bending artists too. The wide array of influences and the resulting sound comes from dedicated rehearsals and collaborative song writing second to none. Since their inception in 2005, Junkyard Empire has been slowly and methodically developing their own unique sound and today, there is a buzz following them around everywhere they go. The time is right for this band to explode onto the national scene. Aside from playing in front of thousands of people during the 2008 RNC protests, they have shared the stage with such diverse bands as boots Riley and the Coup, Ecid, the New Congress, Ill Chemistry, Kill the Vultures, the Dean McGraw Trio, Anthony Cox, Big Ditch Road, the Snaps, Leroy Smokes, and Los Nativos. The varied bills they perform on is yet another wall they routinely break down the walls that exist between hip-hop and all other forms of music. Junkyard Empire believes that progressive live hip-hop and jazz is the people's music and should be included on as many bills as possible, the more variant and vibrant the better. The corporatocracy that is the mainstream music industry is out of touch with what the people really dig when they go out to see live music, so don't expect to see Junkyard Empire trying to "break in". Instead, look for the industry trying to break into what Junkyard Empire is proudly breaking out of. Simple minded, racist, knuckle-dragging, misogynist hip-hop is DEAD in the minds of the musicians in Junkyard Empire. And so is "commercial" music all together. Their debut album RECLAIM FREEDOM was released in December of 2007 and is continuing to sell in Germany, the UK, Australia, and of course right here in the United States. Tracks from the album are being played in heavy rotation on several Internet radio stations around the world, including Emancipation Radio and Gotham Radio in New York City. You WILL NOT likely hear their music on mainstream radio, and the day you do is the day the revolution has begun! Politically and musically, the current environment in the United States is calling for artists to provide the necessary communication to spark the social movements we have been waiting for in this country. Junkyard Empire makes no effort to hide the fact that they want to join the ranks of Rage Against the Machine, Michael Franti, Public Enemy, and all the rest! People are hungry for what Brihanu and the gang are unafraid to say. In Brihanu's own words: "It's important, when you have the platform, to say something that has substance." In a few words: REVOLUTIONARY POLITICAL PROPAGANDA, BROUGHT TO YOU IN THE FORM OF CREATIVE LIVE HIP-HOP AND JAZZ.