About the band :

Fishtank Ensemble is a band that offers a unique blend of Gypsy, Balkan, Flamenco, Klezmer and original tunes.  The arrangements are always surprising and include instruments from many countries such as violin, accordion, flamenco and gypsy jazz guitar, shamisen, bass, saw and voice.  From the smokey cafes of Bucharest to the Gypsy caravans of yesterday, Fishtank Ensemble evokes the spirit of a past age with the sounds of tomorrow.

Fishtank Ensemble formed around the arrival in our midst of the gifted young fiddler Fabrice Martinez. Originally from France, he has spent the last seven years traveling around Europe in a mule-drawn caravan learning and playing folk music with the ensemble "Croque Mule." Much of that time was spent living in Romania, often in Romani (Gypsy) villages.

A series of chance occurrences caused the members of what would become Fishtank Ensemble to meet in an Oakland performance space called ‘The Fishtank’ in the spring of 2005. After 3 short weeks together, they recorded their debut album, Super Raoul.  ‘Raoul’ is a gypsy slang term for ‘cool’.   The album, recorded live at ‘the fishtank’ and at The Cayuga Vault in Santa Cruz showcases the bands diverse range of styles and influences.

In late 2005 the band took to the road, performing up and down the west coast USA for delighted audiences everywhere.  Some of the notable venues they have performed at include the Freight and Salvage in Berkeley, Tangiers and The Knitting Factory in LA, Don Quixote’s Music Hall in Santa Cruz, The Fez Ballroom in Portland, and The Fiddlehaus in Seattle.

On the success of their first tour, the 2 bandmembers who lived in Europe agreed to relocate to the US to focus on establishing the band as a unique force in the folk and world music scenes.  A forthcoming DVD will showcase the bands exceptional live energy and an extensive tour is planned for late 2006 – summer 2007. With many new songs in the works, a new album can’t be far off as well.

Myspace:

We have a page on Myspace.com!

 

The Musicians:

	Fabrice Martinez (Violin and Violintromba) Fabrice is a gifted fiddler who travels Europe in a mule-drawn caravan collecting and playing folk music with the group Croque Mule. Originally from France before living in the caravan, his special love is Romanian folk music. He also plays Gypsy, Hungarian, Swedish, and many other kinds of music.
	Ursula Knudson (Saw, Voice, and Violin) Also traveling with the Croque Mule caravan, she is classically trained in voice and violin. Self-taught on the saw, she won 2nd place in the 2004 International Saw Festival. She sings beautifully in Romanian, French, Japanese, and sometimes even in English, her native tongue.
	Aaron Seeman (Accordion) Also plays solo as Duckmandu and is a founding member, arranger, and vocalist for the Punk Rock Orchestra. On accordion he plays Klezmer, Punk Rock, 70's Rock, classical, Broadway songs, and sometimes even a polka or two. In 2005 he completed the solo accordion Punk Rock album Fresh Duck for Rotting Accordionists. [website]
	Douglas Smolens (Guitar) Doug is an accomplished Flamenco guitarist, producer and composer. Performing as "el douje," his album Worlds Collide is a unique and bold mixture of traditional and modern styles, from 'jondo' flamenco to modern day world fusion/drum and bass/techno. [website]
	Mike Penny (Shamisen) Mike Penny is the second foreigner ever to have been awarded for his performance in the national Tsugaru Shamisen Tournament held annually in Kanagi, Japan. There, he won 3rd place out of over 200 competitors in the Spring of 2006. In Nov. 2006, Mike won Global Rhythm Magazine's songwriting contest with a bluegrass-tinged shamisen tune titled "Cruzian Grass." In addition to the Fishtank Ensemble, Mike performs regularly with his primary shamisen teacher Kevin Kmetz in their duet called the Great Masters of Modern Shamisen, and Tom Kurai's Taiko Center of Los Angeles.
	Djordje Stijepovic (Bass) Djordje was a member of leading world music bands in Serbia like Shira Utfila (Sephardic), Kal (Balkan gypsy) and Marsya (Balkan). He finished classical music conservatory and department for jazz arrangement and bass. Djordje performs solo (world music/jazz), provides his signature slap for rockabilly band Atomic Sunset, Deke Dickerson, Slim Jim Phantom (from Stray Cats), Lemmy (from Motorhead) etc and plays with other bluegrass, cajun, jazz, blues and other type of bands.
	Andy Zacharias (Bass) Andy is a very accomplished acoustic bassist who, in addition to Fishtank Ensemble, has performed with Dead Man's Party (An Oingo Boingo tribute band), Coto Normal, James Sudakow, Mermer, Sara Haze, Chelsea Lena, Soca Motion and Mark Dawson. He is also a faculty member of Cypress and Santa Ana College teaching bass, guitar and electronic music theory.
Past members include:
	Kevin Kmetz (Shamisen) Raised in Northern Japan, Kevin became the first foreigner to win the prestigious Hirosaki Shamisen Championship tournament in May, 2005. In addition to his award-winning Tsuguru-style shamisen music, Kevin has pioneered playing Gypsy, Romanian and rock styles on the shamisen. Currently he leads the progressive rock quartet God of Shamisen, and plays in Estradasphere, Secret Chiefs 3, and the Watsonville Taiko Dojo. As a guitarist, Kevin was a founding member of the J.S. Bach Experience (which played Bach compositions in note-for-note renditions), and was featured in the December 1991 issue of Guitar Player magazine.
	Tim Smolens (Double Bass) Producer and bass player for the bands Estradasphere and ISS, has lent his amazing talent to the low end. As Fabrice says, “Double Bass, triple money!”
	Adam Stacey (Percussion) Adam Stacey has tackled Fishtank Ensemble’s rhythm needs with his hand percussion skills. Stacey also plays keyboard and accordian (e.g., in Estradasphere). In Fishtank Ensemble, his versatile beat is like the paprika in the goulosh — not loud but hot!
	Glenn Allen (Double bass and other strings) Multi-instrumentalist, Circus Performer, (juggler, stilt walker, fire eater, sideshow attraction, puppeteer clown). In addition to bass, Allen plays mandolin, harp, guitar, banjo, and sings.

For more detailed information about Fishtank Ensemble, be sure to check out the FAQ.

©2007 Fishtank Ensemble
Portions © 2004-2006 Mark G. Ryan
Watercolor art by Dax Tran-Caffee