Music Style Rock

Musical Influences Replacements, Kiss, The Who, Police, Cheap Trick

Artist History A four-year-old boy waving a fork with a limp green bean hanging from its end named the band, lead vocalist Jon Janssen says. “He just pointed at me and said, you’re a bean head.” And that’s the thing that may stand out most about the Beanheads. Their ability to see something special in the very ordinary. One of there soon to be released singles “Red and Larry”, is based on a downtown encounter with two homeless guys that turned into an enlightening conversation. “A friend and I were standing around after a gallery show,” Jon says. “We saw these two guys named Red and Larry and their mobile garage sale on the street selling anything and everything. We ended up sitting around with these guys for about three hours just talking and drinking beer. They were trying to sell us fishing poles and stuff, my friend bought some pictures.” Das Beanheads, founded in 1993, was originally a three-piece band,Jon Janssen, drummer Tom Marsh and bass player Kevin Foster. Brooks Bauer replaced Kevin in 1994 and that same year guitarist Tom Janssen made the Beanheads complete.“We started from absolutely nothing ”, Jon says. “I mean we were three guys who threw five songs together in a flooded out basement in rural Richmond, Michigan. We just knew we wanted to play, so we just did it. Tom (Janssen) was in another band when we started. So he wasn’t available to do it at first. He introduced us to Tom Marsh and basically said, here’s your drummer.” Tom Janssen having played for a few years in successful local band was an instant asset to the band with both his musical skill and experience. “I was very enthusiastic about playing in this band, toward the end of the other band I was ready to go with it. I was really focused on this band. This band started for the right reasons, the music, not to become rock stars. I just play because I want to, not because I have to.” For the next few years the band played all over southeast Michigan working out original material and becoming a well synchronized musical unit. In 1995, Das Beanheads went into the studio with producer Tim Patalin (Sponge) to record their first release called “Hatch”. The band sold around 2500 copies of Hatch at shows and local record stores, which seemed like a great success at the time. Hopes for the record died when they realized that the record didn’t capture what the band was all about, so they stopped pushing Hatch in 1996. The next year was spent shopping demos and playing gigs farther from their “Home Base” of Richmond. They jumped in the family minivan, doing gigs in East Lansing, Manhattan, Buffalo, Pittsburgh and Toledo Ohio. In 1998 the Beanheads entered a nation wide talent search and were picked from over 300 Michigan bands to play at the House of Blues in Chicago with four other bands from across the country. Sparking some label interests Das Beanheads returned home eager to return to the studio to record their first real record.In the pre-production phase of the second record, Brooks and drummer Tom left the band due to unforeseen circumstances. This pushed the release of the album to late 2000 while the brothers Tom and Jon searched to replace the two long time members. After a few months of looking and trying out players, the brothers stumbled upon a drummer from Detroit, Troy Toma. Troy had played with the “Trash Brats” and was currently playing with the band “Fret Buzz”. He had the experience and talent they were looking for. He fit right in. They still needed a bass player, which proved to be a much harder task. Finally Jon ran into Vinnie Strockis whom he had met years before playing a show in East Lansing. Vinnie had just dropped out of Berkley College and was looking for a new gig. Das Beanheads now have all the pieces they were looking for. A band a little more experienced and focused. Recording, of the second record is almost complete. “Writing good songs and playing them live is most important to this band.” Jon says. “We have to entertain, a lot of bands seem to forget that. We haven't.

Group Members Jon Janssen: vocals, guitar Vinnie Strockis: bass guitar, vocals Troy Toma: drums Tom Janssen: guitar, vocals

Instruments Guitars, Bass, Drums

Albums Hatch, Live

Location Richmond, MI - USA

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