Versus (band)

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Versus
Origin New York City, U.S.
Genre(s) Indie Rock
Years active 1990 – 2001
Label(s) TeenBeat, Caroline, Merge
Associated acts +/-, TFT, Whysall Lane, The Pacific Ocean, Flower, Containe
Members
Richard Baluyut
Fontaine Toups
James Baluyut
Patrick Ramos
Former members
Edward Baluyut
Robert Hale

Versus was an American indie rock band formed in 1990 by Richard Baluyut, Fontaine Toups and Edward Baluyut in New York City. The band were 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 American indie scene. They named themselves after the 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, and was perhaps the most prominent example of a wave of American indie bands emerging in the early 1990s which featured Asian American members. 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 in the mid 1990s.

Contents

[edit] 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 +/-, Fontaine Toups formed TFT and Richard Baluyut converted his solo acoustic project Whysall Lane into a full band. Former member Edward Baluyut has played in The Pacific Ocean since 1997.

[edit] 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. Further activity by Versus appears likely as Richard Baluyut had recently returned to live in New York City, both TFT and Whysall Lane appear to have broken up, and +/- seems to be temporarily on hold while member Chris Deaner is touring as part of Kelly Clarkson's live band.

[edit] Members

[edit] Discography

[edit] External links

MySpace

Reviews

Interviews