Zimbabwe (band)
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| Zimbabwe | |
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 Zimbabwe symbol |
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| Origin | Boston, Massachusetts |
| Years active | 2006 - Present day |
| Genres | Rock Psychadelic Spoken Word Conversational |
| Labels | None |
| Members | Antonio Mascaro Craig Fimian Nathan Getz Ivan O'Brien |
Zimbabwe is an American band formed in Watertown, Massachusetts, a small suburb of Boston, Massachusetts. Originally a High school band, Zimbabwe's original four members consisted of Antonio Mascaro (guitarist/vocals) Craig Fimian (guitarist/vocals) Nathan Getz (audio effects/mastering/vocals) and Ivan O'Brien (percussion/vocals). The group's music was influenced by bands such as Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, The Who, Syd Barret and many more.
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[edit] Band History
[edit] Origins
Zimbabwe was initially a two-piece group out of Watertown, Massachusetts, consisting of Antonio Mascaro (b. January 7th, 1988, Bardonecchia, Italy) and Ivan O'Brien (b. September 27th, 1988, Cambridge, Massachusetts). The band was formed in spring of the 2004, but no concrete material ever came out of this material, and Zimbabwe became dormant for almost two years. In March of 2006, however, the band seemed to be revitalized after an impromptu recording session with producer Nathan Getz (b. August 14th, 1988, Watertown, Massachusetts) netted songs such as "The Ballad of Jeff Perrin" and "Iker". In later sessions the trio was joined by Craig Fimian (b. April 29th, 1988, Watertown, Massachusetts), who was at first seen as an auxiliary session musician but eventually became a member. These sessions produced the tracks "OG's Nightmare" and "The Legends of the Hidden Temple", among others. After what is now considered the creative peak of the band, Zimbabwe ceased to create new material. Reasons for this are unknown, as some speculate that it may have been due to tensions within the band, while others feel it may just be a lack of creative inspiration.
Mascaro is the only foreign born member in the band. Growing up in a small mountain town called Bardonecchia near Torino, Italy, his family decided to move to America. Antonio is an experienced guitar player starting at a young age. His creativity and intellect is one of the leading influences to the band's direction, although his often-suffocating ego has frequently put him at odds with the rest of the group.
Fimian is an American born member from Watertown, Massachusetts. His experience on guitar hasn't been much to prove himself in the public eye, however he is a rising, hard-working talent, which can only make the band better in the future. His realistic reasoning helped the band progress from the early music of Zimbabwe to later tracks. Fimian also drew severe criticism from the rest of the group after he leaked some of their material without their consent, a move that briefly put his future with the band in limbo.
Getz is an American born member also from Watertown, Massachusetts. Nathan's genius of mastering records and audio effects was a staple in Zimbabwe's early success. Getz has drawn high praise from Fimian, who has reportedly called him "the second coming of Pink Floyd's Roger Waters." Getz, however, is also the most engimatic member of the group and has voiced displeasure at each member of the band at some point.
O'Brien is also an American born member also from Watertown, Massachusetts. Ivan has contributed greatly in leading tracks such as "Iker" and "OG's Nightmare". He has brought an unconventional and eclectic style, both lyrically and vocally, to the group's music and has provided much of the humor (be it intentional or unintentional) present in its recorded material, however O'Brien also brought a similar "Yoko Ono" effect to the group which also caused tensions amongst each other.
[edit] The First Album
The first album from Zimbabwe is called The Belmont Hill Sessions. With their number one hit "Iker". "Iker" was created after a night where all the band members were in a nearby town Belmont, Massachusetts sitting in Craig Fimian's car. It was a dark Sunday night and the band decided to chill on Belmont Hill, a wooded area with natural wild life. As they sat there a hitch hiker came from the darkness walking towards the car. This freaked the band out and they sped away.
Other tracks on "The Belmont Hill Sessions" include "Aht", "Legends of The Hidden Temple", "O'g Nightmare", and "The Ballad of Jeff Perin".
[edit] Present Day
Currently Zimbabwe has been on an educational and creative hiatus. As guitarist Craig Fimian refines his skills in the next coming years and as Ivan O'Brien and Antonio Mascaro become inspired at universitites such as UVM and Evergreen the band will come together in the future along with Nathan Getz's natural genius recording more albums in the future.
