More Info on VersusSimilar Undetermined MusicSearch Artistopia
Biography
Infobox musical artist | name = Versus| image =| caption =| image_size = | background = group_or_band| alias =| origin = New York City , United States|U.S. | instrument =| genre = Indie rock | occupation =| years_active = 1990& ndash;2001, 2009 & ndash; current| label = TeenBeat Records|TeenBeat , Caroline Records (U.S.)|Caroline , Merge Records|Merge | associated_acts = +/- (band)|+/- , TFT, Whysall Lane , The Pacific Ocean (band)|The Pacific Ocean , Flower (band)|Flower , Containe| website =| current_members = Richard Baluyut Fontaine Toups Edward Baluyut | past_members = Robert Hale(musician)|Robert Hale James Baluyut Patrick Ramos | notable_instruments = Versus is an United States|American indie rock band formed in 1990 by Richard Baluyut , Fontaine Toups and Edward Baluyut in New York City . Richard and Fontaine were to remain the two core members throughout the band's history. http://www.metrotimes.com/editorial/story.asp? id=722 Detroit Metro Times The band was noted for their marriage of indie pop songwriting and vocal harmonies to the "loud-soft" dynamics of grunge and alternative rock . They were also noted for their proficient and disciplined musicianship and for their credo of "meat, sports and rock", neither of which had much currency in the early 1990s United States|American indie scene. They named themselves after the Mission of Burma album Vs. (Mission of Burma album)|Vs.
Versus has counted at least one, usually two and sometimes three of the Filipino-American Baluyut brothers as members throughout its existence, http://www.asianweek.com/2000_12_15/ae2_hotnsour_versus.html AsianWeek.com Retrieved 11 December 2009 and was perhaps the most prominent example of a wave of United States|American indie (music)|indie bands emerging in the early 1990s which featured Asian American members. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html? res=990CE6D7143BF935A35756C0A963958260 NY Times - Asian-Americans Stake a Claim on Rock Retrieved 11 December 2009 Merge Records was Versus' most recent record label , although they have maintained a long involvement with TeenBeat Records , and released two CDs through Caroline Records (U.S.)|Caroline Records in the mid 1990s. http://www.magnetmagazine.com/2009/02/14/lost-classics-versus-secret-swingers/ Magnet Magazine Issue 75 Lost Classics: Versus Retrieved 11 December 2009 http://www.citypaper.net/articles/042398/pick.versus.shtml Philadelphia Citypaper:Free Versus Retrieved 11 December 2009
The band makes an appearance in the 1994 cult roadmovie Half-cocked (movie)|Half-cocked .
Breakup and Other Projects
The band still continued to tour occasionally but began a recording hiatus in 2001 after it broke up for a short period and Richard Baluyut relocated to San Francisco. The members afterwards moved on to other bands - James Baluyut and Patrick Ramos formed +/- (band)|+/- , Fontaine Toups formed The Fontaine Toups and Richard Baluyut converted his solo acoustic project Whysall Lane into a full band. http://origin.avclub.com/dc/events/versus-and-soft-power,144570/ AV Club: Versus and Soft Power at the Black Cat Backstage Retrieved 11 December 2009 Former member Edward Baluyut formed and played in The Pacific Ocean (band)|The Pacific Ocean from 1996 to 2003.
Reunion and Current Status
After a prolonged period of inactivity (the band had only played one show in the preceding 3 years) Versus played a private warm-up show in November 2007 and opened for Yo La Tengo at a Hanukkah show on December 4, 2007. At that point Richard Baluyut had recently returned to live in New York City, both TFT and Whysall Lane had broken up, and +/- was temporarily on hold while member Chris Deaner was touring as part of Kelly Clarkson|Kelly Clarkson's live band. Versus opened for Love Is All at the Bowery Ballroom in June, 2008 as a three-piece with Ed Baluyut on drums. The band played as a four-piece with James Baluyut and Patrick Ramos when they toured Japan with +/- in late 2008, but in June 2009 the Versus MySpace page announced that Edward Baluyut had rejoined as a longtime member and that James and Patrick had left the group. The group began recording a new album that month, and started performing as a four-piece band with Margaret White (musician)|Margaret White on violin and keyboards. The band released "On the Ones and Threes" (on Merge Records ) - the first Versus LP in ten years - in August 2010. A UK-based fan-site for them that had been around since 2000 finally closed in January 2011.
Members
Richard Baluyut - guitar , Singing|vocals (1990 onwards)
Edward Baluyut - guitar (1990–1991); Drum kit|drums (1992–1996, 2008 onwards)
Margaret White - violin , keyboards (2009 onwards)
Robert Hale - Drum kit|drums (1991–1992)
James Baluyut - guitar , Keyboard instrument|keyboards (1995–2008)
Patrick Ramos - Drum kit|drums (1996–2008)
Touring
Versus has scheduled shows in 2010 with Polvo & Superchunk .
Versus drummer Edward Baluyut missed the August 13th, 2010 show in Toronto at Lee's Palace because he had to return home for the birth of his child. Paul Boddum of the opening band Soft Copy, played drums for the set.
The band have been chosen by Jeff Mangum of Neutral Milk Hotel to perform at the All Tomorrow's Parties (music festival)|All Tomorrow's Parties festival that he will curate in March 2012 in Minehead, England. http://www.atpfestival.com/events/jeffmangum.php ATP curated by Jeff Mangum
They will play the third annual Hopscotch Music Festival in Raleigh, North Carolina , USA which takes place September 6–8, 2012. http://hopscotchmusicfest.com/band/versus/ Versus at Hopscotch
Discography
Singles
Insomnia/Astronaut 7" Land Speed Records|Land Speed 1992 http://www.appelstein.com/cif/reviews1.html Caught in Flux review
Bright Light/Forest Fire 7" Pop Narcotic 1992
"Tin Foil Star" on January Working Holiday 7" split single with Scrawl Simple Machines (record company)|Simple Machines 1993
Secret Swingers cd Caroline Records (U.S.)|Caroline Records 1996
Two Cents Plus Tax cd Caroline Records (U.S.)|Caroline Records 1998
Hurrah cd/lp Merge Records 2000
On the Ones and Threes cd/lp Merge Records 2010
Compilation Appearances
"Another Face" on Stars Kill Rock compilation LP Kill Rock Stars 1993
"Tin Foil Star" and "Hacienda" on Working Holiday! comp. cd Simple Machines (record company)|Simple Machines 1994
"Crazy" on " A Day in the Park " comp. cd The Now Sound 1994
"Sunburned (Life's A Beach)" on " Why Do You Think They Call It Pop? -The Pop Narcotic Compliation " comp. double 10" Pop Narcotic 1994
"Know Nothing" on "Wakefield / Volume 1 / A TeenBeat Sampler (teenbeat 141)" TeenBeat Records 1995
"Reveille" on Ear of the Dragon|Ear of the Dragon: 19 Asian American Bands comp. cd Fortune 5 Records 1995
Soundtrack Appearances
The Dhamma Brothers One song, Crazy-maker http://www.dhammabrothers.com/dhammabrothers.pdf Credits for The Dhamma Brothers Retrieved 11 December 2009
Midas' Son Two songs, Said Too Much and Ghost Story . Also original score by Richard Baluyut. http://www.fluidmotiontheaterfilm.org/film/project.php? id=14 Credits for Midas' Son Retrieved 11 December 2009
References
External links
http://www.mergerecords.com/band.php? disc=true& band_id=71 Versus at Merge Records
http://monodrone.org/versus/ Versus Lyrics
Allmusic|class=artist|id=p45269|pure_url=yes Entry for Versus at Allmusic.com
