Akimbo was an American indie band from

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, Washington. The band was founded by its two original members, Jon Weisnewski (

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

) and Nat Damm (

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

). The two met in 1995 in a high school gym class after noticing each other's home-made punk T-shirts. They quickly became friends, sharing a love of DC hardcore and punk rock. Akimbo played its first show on Halloween of 1998. Akimbo has had eleven guitarists over the course of its existence. The first, Kyle Iman, was featured on two albums: a split 10-inch with Seattle's Teen Cthulhu, and a 7-inch released in 1999 entitled ''An Army of Evil Robots Programmed for Human Destruction'' ( Rock and Roleplay records). Iman was replaced in 2000 by full-time guitarist Jared Burke Eglington. "Burke", as he is known by friends, served the band from 2000 to 2006, and is featured on several records. It was with him that Akimbo developed what would come to be known as their signature sound. The constraints of Eglington's career as a financial analyst caused the band to enlist the help of several part-time guitarists to fill out their lineup for their rigorous touring schedule. Among these guitarists are Chuck Rowell, Dustin Brown (featured on ''City of the Stars''), Demian Johnston (of Playing Enemy), Patrick Cunningham (featured on ''Forging Steel and Laying Stone''), and Stacy Schrag (a notable fixture of the Southern Oregon hardcore scene). In 2006, Aaron Walters was recruited to join Akimbo for a ten-day West Coast tour. Shortly thereafter, he accompanied the band on a month-long tour of the US. His collaboration with the band eventually led to his replacement of Eglington as Akimbo's sole guitarist. In 2005, Akimbo was approached by punk artist

Jello Biafra Eric Reed Boucher (born June 17, 1958), known professionally as Jello Biafra, is an American singer, spoken word artist and political activist. He is the former lead singer and songwriter for the San Francisco punk rock band Dead Kennedys. Init ...

after opening for him and

Melvins Melvins (sometimes the Melvins) are an American rock band formed in 1983 in Montesano, Washington. Their early work was key to the development of both grunge and sludge metal. Primarily a trio, they have also performed as a quartet, with eith ...

. The next year, they released ''Forging Steel and Laying Stone'' on Biafra's

Alternative Tentacles Alternative Tentacles is an independent record label established in 1979 by Dead Kennedys vocalist Jello Biafra and guitarist East Bay Ray in San Francisco, California, with the intention to release the Dead Kennedys' self-produced single " C ...

label. In 2007, the same label released ''Navigating the Bronze'', which was the band's first recording with Aaron Walters on guitar. After a show with

Converge Converge may refer to: * Converge (band), American hardcore punk band * Converge (Baptist denomination), American national evangelical Baptist body * Limit (mathematics) In mathematics, a limit is the value that a function (or sequence) app ...

and

Neurosis Neurosis (: neuroses) is a term mainly used today by followers of Freudian thinking to describe mental disorders caused by past anxiety, often that has been repressed. In recent history, the term has been used to refer to anxiety-related con ...

, Akimbo was asked by members of Neurosis to join

Neurot Recordings Neurot Recordings is an American independent record label founded by members of avant-garde metal band Neurosis in 1999. Gradually expanding, it has showcased a variety of artists including a number of sludge metal, post-rock, and noise bands. ...

' roster. Neurot, owned by Neurosis guitarist-singer Steve Von Till, released Akimbo's most critically acclaimed album entitled ''Jersey Shores'' in October 2008. ''Jersey Shores'' is a concept album inspired by a series of mysterious shark attacks which occurred on the beaches of New Jersey in 1916. It showed a substantial deviation in style from previous recordings, which can be attributed to the band's intentional creation of a "cohesive piece of music" as opposed to a collection of separate tracks, as well as a natural progression of their sound. The band broke up in 2012 after the departure of guitarist Aaron Walters, with the remaining members deciding not to continue. Jon and Nat now play in Sandrider. Burke plays in X Suns. Weisnewski also hosts the podcast Tomorrow We Die, with Jeff McNulty of Bloodhag.

Members

*Jon Weisnewski - Bass, Vocals *Nat Damm - Drums *Aaron Walters - Guitar

Selected discography

*''An Army of Evil Robots Programmed for Human Destruction'' (Rock and Roleplay records, 1999) *''Harshing Your Mellow'' (CD - Dopamine records / Vinyl - Seventh Rule Recordings, 2001) *''Elephantine'' (CD - Dopamine records / Vinyl - Seventh Rule Recordings, 2003) *''City of the Stars'' ( Seventh Rule Recordings, 2004) *''Forging Steel and Laying Stone'' (

, 2006) *''Navigating the Bronze'' (

, 2007) *''Jersey Shores'' (

, 2008) *''Live to Crush'' (

, 2013)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Akimbo (Band) Hardcore punk groups from Washington (state) Alternative Tentacles artists