Captain Squeegee

If David Gilmour and Jerry Garcia linked up in Phoenix and decided to begin playing jazz music, it's a safe bet that said collaboration would sound something like Captain Squeegee. The local atomic jazz-fusion act, still riding high following the release of their sophomore album, To the Bardos, and its first music video, "Inevitable," played an "acoustic" show at Crescent Ballroom last night along with The Riveras, There Is Danger, and Wooden Indian.

And the word "acoustic" was applied to the concert in somewhat arbitrary fashion. The first two acts stuck to acoustic pretty well, but Captain Squeegee and Wooden Indian played sets that were more or less fully electric. "I thought that we cheated enough to make it sound sort of like the record, but not really," says Captain Squeegee frontman Danny Torgersen.

Although Wooden Indian was ostensibly the headliner at the Crescent last night, the show acted was essentially a coming-out party for Captain Squeegee's fantastically apocalyptic claymation video. As such, its director, local artist/filmmaker Johnny McHone, brought out many of the clay pieces involved in the video's creation to the venue to display.

Captain Squeegee played a six song set, all of which came from To The Bardos, and used a rainbow's worth of psychedelic color-changing imagery projected onto the stage as backdrop to their performance, one the coolest parts of their set.

Frontman Danny Torgenson says it was born from the band's desire to over-stimulate its audiences, which, according to the vocalist, might very well include engaging other senses beyond just sight and sounds.

"Pretty soon we will emit crazy smells while we play," he says. "It'll be like scratch 'n' sniff, but like 'Scratch 'n' Squeegee' [in] 4-D."

Captain Squeegee opened with "Seek," which sounded pretty spectacular from its first notes on, followed by "Duly Noted" and "Interwoven." The multicolored projections combined with the band's quasi-experimental sound and the languid, wayward interplay of light and shadows really made the set pop.

Their fourth song was "Inevitable," and the projection immediately switched over to its music video. The looks on the faces of all seven members of Captain Squeegee definitely made it seem like they enjoyed performing the song while their eight-foot tall clay doppelgangers played along right behind them. It definitely made for a very meta moment.

Having been released just over a week ago, the music video has already garnered more than 3,000 views on YouTube, as well as praise from music fans and bloggers from around the Valley. Torgersen says they're surprised by the reaction, as well as the quality of the video itself.

"I don't think we even knew what Johnny [McHone] could do, so once there were things blowing up and giant monsters and aliens, I was thrilled," he says. "People have been pretty tripped out by it. Usually everyone wants to watch it a few more times because they feel like they just got hit by a psychedelic clay bus."

Sounds a little like last night's Captain Squeegee show, especially during their final song, "Factory." The color changing images began to take the shape of soldiers storming a battlefield while Torgersen sang out rather cryptic lyrics. The convergence of all the lights, sounds, and horns made for an exciting ending to a vibrant show. - Phoenix New Times

It’s not that I’m not used to Captain Squeegee going out of its way to do something; as lead singer Danny Torgersen’s Facebook friend, I recently watched from a social-media-distance as he attempted to find some non-fluoridated water, which is not something I spend a lot of time worrying about. It’s not even that I didn’t know the band had a stop-motion animated video in the pipeline; when we talked about To the Bardos back in December, he mentioned it was coming and told me about the hundreds of hours animator Johnny McHone had spent building, moving, and destroying clay models to make it.

It’s just that there’s a difference between someone telling you -- with his characteristic hyper-enthusiasm -- that they’re working on an absurdly ornate claymation video and actually seeing it. Squeegee released the “Inevitable” video Tuesday, and it’s worth seeing it.

“Inevitable” the video looks a lot like Captain Squeegee sounds -- filled with spacy, ambitious detours, concerned with any and all unifying theories of state, human, and world history, and, uh, filled with aliens. The band pans and zooms through space, time, and possible execution scenarios before ending up somewhere between the K-T extinction event and their album cover. - Phoenix New Times

Pop music has a proud tradition of socially awkward lead singers -- the Brian Wilsons, the shoegazers, the Rivers Cuomos. They are not what this list is about.

This is about the other kind of frontman and frontwoman -- the one who gets inside your head or maybe right up in your face.

Danny Torgersen - Captain Squeegee

Captain Squeegee has been a staple of the Phoenix music scene for years, and their longevity has afforded them some amazing opportunities. They have played for a presidential candidate in Gary Johnson, conducted a full orchestra, and most recently released To the Bardos, one of 2013's best local albums.

The face of the band is its quirky lead singer and trumpeter, Danny Torgersen. Besides being an extraordinarily talented musician, he also brings his likes and interests on to the stage with him. His lyrics and performances and even the albums themselves are heavily influenced by the paranormal, the extraterrestrial, and conspiracy theories.

Going to a Squeegee show is part high-energy jazz-fusion performance and part education about, well, whatever Torgersen feels like teaching you. - Phoenix New Times

2013, it's been real — and really, really busy. That was especially true when trying to take in as much art, culture, comedy, architecture, and anything else I could get my eyes on this past year in Phoenix. In no particular order, here are the best things I saw.

Captain Squeegee — "Shift Happens": Captain Squeegee raised a little over $10,000 to record To the Bardos in a spring crowdfunding campaign, and it turns out that that's exactly what it costs to get a clear picture of the Valley's weirdest ska refugees and self-actualizers. The unstated goal behind the sheer volume of gnostic ideas and off-kilter instrumentation in Bardos is to trigger an out-of-body experience in the listener. But if it doesn't work, don't worry — they have an instructional web series that will help. - Phoenix New Times

The album cover has always been a classic representation of what’s inside. While media have evolved over the last several decades, there’s always been something to be said about the artwork on an album. We all have those covers that we remember growing up with like The Clashes’ London Calling, Bob Dylan’s Freewheeling Dylan’s allusions to James Dean, and Nirvana’s instant classic Nevermind (the most famous music wiener this side of Jim Morrison). Then there are simple covers whose music speaks for itself like the Beatles The White Album or Prince’s The Black Album. A lot of great has come out of Arizona in 2013, and this has included album covert art. Not every album cover was submitted for consideration by the musicians, promoters, and artists in our top album covers of the year several were, but from those who were the finalists included Captain Squeegee, Fayuca, Future Loves Past, Former Friends of Young Americans, Man Hands, PreHab, Sundressed, SupaJoint, TerraFirme. The final results took into consideration the artistic endeavor of the album and did not include an examination of the music or musicianship. With no further ado, here are the top album Arizona album covers of 2013. Happy New Year from AZ Music Matters and enjoy some good music tonight.

Fabián Jiménez’s art for To the Bardos was one of the best received albums of late 2013, and the cover art mirrors the successes of the songs on the album. - AZ Music Matters

There are 11 slots on the McDowell Mountain Music Festival local stage, and seeing as how the main stage slots have been filled they are the last spots open at the festival. With so many tremendous local bands to choose from, filling them cannot be easy, so I’ve decided to provide a little help.

I have no idea who the organizers may be considering, so this is 100-percent pure personal hopes and dreams for the McDowell Mountain local stage.

On the subject of album releases, Captain Squeegee had a pretty big and well-received release recently. The atomic jazz fusion act with the notoriously mad (in the crazy, good way) lead singer/trumpeter Danny Torgersen are exactly the sort of high energy band that MMMF should be looking for to fill their local stage. - Modern Times Magazine

Known for their wild live shows and outlandish song topics, these Mesa rockers celebrate the release of their latest record, “To the Bardos!,” a captivating mix of prog-rock, psychedelic rock and acid jazz. Originally a ska-punk band, Captain Squeegee now play a brand of music they have dubbed “Metaphysical Horn-Rock,” and if that doesn’t sound like it makes any sense, check out this show and you’ll get it. Local bands Twin Ponies and Instructions open the show.

Details: 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 5. Crescent Ballroom, 308 N. Second Ave., Phoenix. $8-$10. 602-716-2222, crescentphx.com. - Arizona Republic

Talking about Captain Squeegee's new album, To The Bardos, frontman Danny Torgersen is excited about the songwriting and the performances, and he's excited about the crowdfunding campaign that made it possible--he's excited about most things, to be honest. But that's not what he's most excited about.

"I think Bob Hoag saved the record," he tells me. Hoag, who recorded and produced the album at Flying Blanket Recording in Mesa, was the impetus for all the crowdfunding in the first place.

"There's seven of us playing like 10 instruments... and there's always been this problem where by the time we're done recording you can't hear anything." The way he says it it sounds like the problem is mystifying him even now, with copies of the record sitting shrinkwrapped in his backpack.

That's the big deal about To The Bardos, really: If you haven't seen them live, this is the first chance you'll get to know what Captain Squeegee sounds like. The unwieldy klatsch of horn-players and guitarists is separated in the mix now, and Torgersen is willing to send most of the credit Hoag's way--the added clarity, the professional equipment, even the ability to tell them what not to play. "He said no to me more than I've ever heard the word in the studio, and he was the first person I believed when he said it... he was like an uncle I could trust with my children for the summer."

So now they have a record that sounds like Captain Squeegee sounds--few overdubs, little they can't recreate live, just the sound of a very large band in a reasonably sized room. Squeegee needs that kind of audio business card more than most, because they're an especially difficult band to explain to a third party.

So there's horns, but they aren't a ska band, and--well, no, they still kind of groove a little, just not with all the upstrokes, and--the lyrics? Well, it's about believing in yourself, and also freemasonry, and--and yes, they're serious. Then they've got this web series about lucid dreaming, if you're--yes, lucid dreaming, like being able to know you're flying, for one thing... and then you're trying to explain lucid dreaming to your third party, and both of you have forgotten about To The Bardos.

It's all of that, though, and now most of it's audible. The parts that aren't in the mix are in the packaging, another thing the members of Captain Squeegee have been talking up since the crowdfunding campaign began; one tier of crowdfunders will get the album in a USB key shaped, well, like a key, and filled with behind-the-scenes video and footnotes and UFO sightings and cross-references enough to recreate the album from scratch in a clean room.

The lyrics, too, are more discernable than ever, and if you stop to listen to them you might be more, rather than less, confused, at least at first. Torgersen's lyrical world is divorced from Occam's Razor--there's a wild, unknown history lurking behind not just the bad parts of history but the good stuff, too, one group of conspirers out to commit false-flag war crimes and another out to help you realize your full trans-human potential.

It's not an act, or if it is an act it's one that extends to his Facebook page. But he wants the ideas behind the songs--or just the sheer volume of ideas in the music, the background radiation sending you to a million Wikipedia pages--to appeal to everyone; he tells me he isn't looking to exclude people who accept the full opinion of the Warren Commission, even though he (in no uncertain terms) does not.

Now that the album is out--the crowd has funded, and the songs have been recorded, and the CDs pressed--Captain Squeegee has its best chance yet to induct fans into its own secret society. Whether you say the vows or not, it's worth sitting in on this meeting.

Captain Squeegee is scheduled to perform at Crescent Ballroom Thursday, December 5. - Phoenix New Times

(see link above for review text) - JAVA Magazine

I can state, without a shadow of a doubt, that To The Bardos, the new album from Captain Squeegee, is one of the finest albums I have heard in, like, ever. Seriously.

More troupe than band, more cast of characters than group, Captain Squeegee led by the incomparable Danny Torgersen has created what has to be the most innovative and intricate collection of music Phoenix has ever heard.

Torgersen’s writing, broken melodies and unmatched showmanship is hard to resist. He is the archetypical bandleader, the master of ceremonies. From the very first track, “The Key”, he is in total control.

The musicianship on To The Bardos is brilliant. Garrett Ortego, Austen Mack, Chris Hoskins, Ryan Sims, Matt Maloy and Ben Jones are not merely back-up players to Torgersen’s ultra-hyper Ricky Ricardo. Each and every one has a part to play on the album and each take that opportunity to showcase their crazy talent.

The horns, seriously? The horns - provided by Torgersen, Hoskins and Sims - take on a life of their own. Deftly dodging in and out of even the smallest of musical phrases to punctuate, accent, and many times, take the lead. The drums and bass, masterfully played by Maloy and Sims, respectively, are so in synch you’d think they were joined at the hip. I checked the Facebook pics and they are not. And that beat? The timing seems to change every third bar – it keeps the ear on its toes to mix body parts and a metaphor.

As far as Ortego and Mack are concerned, they more than admirably man the guitars providing The Tubes-like hooks that set the table for the rest of the group. And, while Torgersen is blowing his horn, Mack seamlessly fills in with vocals.

A note on the recording - once again we see the brilliance of Bob Hoag of Flying Blanket Studios. Not only has he managed to capture the sound and the vision of the band, I can’t even imagine how he wrangled so much creativity and distilled it so flawlessly.

However, while I cannot say enough about how much I liked To The Bardos, it is a record that needs to have the listener’s full attention with one of the tracks topping out 5:36. Now, don’t get me wrong. I enjoyed every second of To The Bardos, but it doesn't leave much to the imagination and maybe that extra minute and half would be better suited for the live show. A live show that I cannot wait to witness.

The album is available for purchase and download at the band's website here. They are planning a CD release party on December 5th at the Crescent Ballroom. Don't miss out. - YabYum Music and Arts

En matière de musique, l’innovation vient rarement de la technologie, et quasiment jamais de la faculté d’aligner les sextolets et d’enchaîner les mesures asymétriques plus rapidement qu’il ne faut pour dire « ELP ». Non, le Neuf, c’est souvent l’art de réinventer un langage connu et commun, de mêler les couleurs. Et c’est la plupart du temps la jeunesse qui s’y colle, celle qui pourvoie la fraîcheur par l’enthousiasme, le mélange, la mixité. Il n’est plus choquant aujourd’hui de voir une trompette ou un trombone enlacer une guitare électrique saturée, de voir s’unir le jazz, la pop et le métal. Captain Squeegee fait partie de ces big band métissés, nourris d’un glorieux passé mais affranchis des contraintes à papa.

S’ils ont sérieusement mûri, ces jeunes hommes n’ont absolument rien perdu, ni de leur fantaisie, ni de leur énergie. Qu’ont-ils bien pu faire pendant les cinq années qui se sont écoulées depuis l’OVNI Nothing vs Everything? S’improviser comédiens en réalisant (et en composant la musique d’) une web-saga délirante intitulée Lucidity, par exemple. Donner des concerts et signer sur le label 80/20 qui, comme son nom l’indique, redistribue quatre-vingts pour cent des recettes aux artistes. Et composer pour leur nouvel album To The Bardos! financé avec succès par souscription. Cinq ans n’auront d’ailleurs pas été de trop pour assembler, fignoler et polir la surface de cet obus de gros calibre, d’autant que ces joyeux drilles sont sept à avoir leur mot à dire. Sept comme leurs compatriotes de Thank You Scientist avec lesquels ils entretiennent en outre quelques autres ressemblances. Car si Captain Squeegee a plus d’affinités avec la pop et le jazz que le metal et joue moins la vélocité et la fureur que ses lointains voisins du New Jersey, on retrouve dans To The Bardos!, outre les cuivres vrombissants, cette densité, cette manière de remplir l’espace sonore, de ne laisser aucun répit, d’entraîner l’auditeur jusqu’à épuisement.

Enjôleur, onctueux, le chanteur/trompettiste Danny Torgersen peut très vite changer de ton et, assisté des ses imprévisibles musiciens, dérouter celui qui pensait suivre un chemin propret et balisé. Ainsi, quand l’apparente indolence façon New Orleans de « The Factory » ou le vernis art-pop trompeur de « Cosmic Waltz » laissent déjà largement entrevoir de savantes orchestrations et un extraordinaire travail d’arrangement, le moule se craquèle beaucoup plus vite ailleurs : les prémisses radio friendly de « Dually Noted » cèdent peu à peu la place à une bacchanale instrumentale, les gros riffs sortent du bois sur le final de « My Machine » tandis que « The Farce 500 Million » échappe dès les premières secondes à tout contrôle. Il y a toujours un moment où le véhicule dérape et escamote les rambardes de sécurité. Un peu comme si Elton John, sur un coup de tête, jetait aux orties ses innombrables distinctions et invitait sur scène le Grand Orchestre du Splendid en plein milieu d’un concert. Humour, action, suspense, chaque titre de ce disque est l’épisode mené tambour battant d’une histoire dont on brûle de connaître la suite.

Vivifiant, étourdissant, To The Bardos! emprunte aux genres et modes tout ce qui peut contribuer à le rendre avenant. Et en même temps si farouchement indépendant. Tout le monde y trouvera son compte (sauf peut-être quelques vieux débris gérontocrates), car ces sept garçons ont l’art de vous faire passer une pilule que vous n’avez pas forcément envie d’avaler. Et puisqu’il n’est pas sérieusement concevable qu’un groupe comme Captain Squeegee reste ignoré en Europe (ou alors, c’est que l’Humanité a amorcé un inéluctable déclin), prêchez la bonne parole, vous qui sans l’ombre d’un doute serez conquis.

Année: 2013
Site: www.captainsqueegee.com
Label: 80/20 Records
Site du label: www.8020records.com - Chromatique.net

Hearing Captain Squeegee’s new album, “To The Bardos!,” is an explosively, energetic cosmic experience. It’s as if a cannon of band geeks was fired into outer space where they adopted the musical style of Frank Zappa-worshipping aliens. Now Captain Squeegee brings that energy back to Earth for their CD release party December 5 at Crescent Ballroom.

Aptly named after the Tibetan word for an intermediate state, “Bardos” uninhibitedly explores the psychedelic sounds of a wormhole between spirituality and jazz.

The band, which has rebranded themselves as a secret society, forcibly hurls listeners into a space-aged, prog-rock adventure. Vocalist and trumpeter Danny Torgersen says the album is meant to be an interpersonal pilgrimage through themes of reincarnation, love and the end of the world.

“We are your shaman,” Torgersen says. “We intend to confuse, please, jolt, squeeze and free you track to track.”

The album is more than just an audio tour de force—it’s a community effort. “To The Bardos!” would never have been possible without a $10,000 RocketHub crowdfunding operation, showing the mutual dedication of fans and artists.

There is so much going on inside the album, it’s staggering. New Squeegee initiates will be dragged undertow by the great cosmic wave. But by the second listen, the mixture of music, form, function and discord reaches perfection.

Torgersen urges listeners to play the album again, to really tune into everything happening and think for themselves.

“That's we did with all of our favorite records. Especially if they were too much to handle on the first go ‘round,” Torgersen says. “And if someone Googles the word ‘Annuanaki’ or ‘Bardos’ afterwards, that's just a bonus.”

Torgersen chats with College Times about his experiences crowdfunding, conspiracy binging and tapping into the ultimate goal of mankind.

College Times: What’s with all the conspiracy theory imagery? Is this album a warning, a celebration or some sort of homage to the spiritualist paranoia of a post Mayan-calendar world?

Torgersen: Slap an all-seeing-eye on anything and the rabbit hole starts to open wide. This album is certainly the result of a five-year esoteric Internet research binge. It's a warning, party, and a prayer for hope all at once. If we made it past 2012, then we've still got a shot right? And honestly, underneath all the conspiracy and spiritualism on the record, it is still very personal. What else are we gonna write about besides the token love songs?

There was a huge effort to create this album. How did you come up the idea? Did you have any doubts?

There were some sleepless fits of naked depression, sure... but it was freaking destiny. Crowdfunding is one of the most stressful and exciting things I've ever done. It reminds me of skydiving, but with a band, and the parachute is made of the best fans and friends ever. It was easy to conjure, and this is just the beginning. We want to play these songs with more jazz bands and orchestras everywhere, break rules and explode souls with our psychedelic wild arrangements. Humans have been making music way too long to settle, and it seems crowdfunding could be the monetary messiah for rebirthing our musical recklessness.

Squeegee was providing some of the coolest swag for donators: Masonic aprons, the gold key USBs, personalized live performances, etc. How did these ideas come up? Did you ever end up washing someone’s car?

Some of us risked our lives to get those Masonic aprons, you know. And I've been slaving over those USB keys, filling them with recording videos, classified documents, UFO videos... We have a clear theme going here, so we're just going all the way with it. But sadly, there were no car washes. We barely wash our own cars.

What were you listening to as you created the album? What artists were you jamming to in your spare time?

Squeegee is a strange cocktail of influences. Bands I was listening to at the time were pretty rock ‘n’ roll: Thrice, RX Bandits, Modest Mouse, Tera Melos... But once it got mashed in the orchestral and jazz part of the brain there was a strange re-hybridization. Some Stravinsky, John Adams, Frank Zappa and Wayne Shorter really mutated the rock sound. Even though I hate most musicals, I was trained in musical theater, so there's always gonna be some drama in there vocally.

Give us a little hint about the CD release party at Crescent Ballroom.

We're going to sound like the CD. Start to finish. But louder, with more jam-age and intense visual overstimulation. We like to perform with live video projections and psychedelic visualizers. If you're susceptible to seizures or pregnancy, this may not be the show for you. We're also stoked to sell those USB keys. They're so freaking cool and they look like mystical golden Masonic skeleton keys. - College Times

On November 12, the sudsy boys from Captain Squeegee (are they still “and the Soap Suds”?) released a new album under 80/20 Records after much anticipation and patiently waiting. “To The Bardos!” was mixed, engineered, and produced by Flying Blanket’s Bob Hoag, mastered by The Blasting Room’s Jason Livermore, and artistically and visually created by Fabian Ramirez with his psychedelic album art.

The first song opens with a theatrical Danny Torgersen belting out on vocals and Mat Maloy crashing on drums. It then leads into a piano transition that leads into a full band one-minute jam session, introducing the brass section and Ben Jones’ bass and closing out with a bang. Already, the first track “The Key” has me sold on the rest of the album.

I’ve heard Captain Squeegee perform “The Factory” before, and hearing it recorded just makes me happier. Danny has a way of piecing together melodies over his extensive lyrics that make you wonder how he can pen such ups-and-downs between notes without falling sharp or flat. He hits each note with such accuracy that my perfect-pitch ear notices how pinpoint his melodies are.

“Dually Noted” is ballsy and in your face. It’s almost like hard rock meets big band with the combination of all the instruments. Starting at 2:36 is an instrumental break with the Chris Hoskins taking lead on saxophone in a free-form, Charlie Parker-influenced solo, all the way until Danny joins back in 4:27 and finishes the song.

“Seek” starts as a polar opposite from “Dually Noted”: very subtle and mellow. The combination and teamwork of Austin Mack’s and Garrett Ortega’s guitars in this track remind me of another local band, Small Leaks Sink Ships, with the way they play off of each other. In fact, as this song progresses, it reminds me so much of SLSS’s “The Flood” from their “Until The World is Happy; Wake Up You Sleepyhead” album. “Seek” possess somewhat of a biblical theme: “Ask and you shall receive / Seek and you will find” is the first half of Matthew 7:7, which talks about if you want something, you gotta get up and do something about it.

“Shift Happens” is trippy and feel-good and may just be one of the best songs on the albums. This is another song I saw performed live before hearing the record. Hearing all the elements come together for a record make the whole song sound tighter.

I especially love “Interwoven” with how intimate and bluesy it is. The lyrics are romantic, but the song itself is so musically interesting that it doesn’t sound like a sappy love song.

“Mirror Images” is beautiful and haunting, just like most of my favorite songs. The song talks about being locked inside a room and needing to get out without knowing of a way out. The three-part harmony during the bridge is just what the song needs to add a little spice, before Ryan Sims’ brass come in and add some dramatic effect to the mix. The song ends with Danny singing “The only way out is in,” as the key steps higher and higher and tempo gets quicker and quicker until Danny is yelling, and the song drops out.

“Cosmic Waltz” is exactly that: a ¾-time song with echoing guitar parts that make you feel like you’re floating through space. It’s a song to dance to all the way to the Milky Way. “Are we evolving or revolving…are we resolving or dissolving?” It’s almost an existential song—almost.

The whole album left me satisfied. Captain Squeegee has enough hard rock, blues, ska influences going on that they are their own genre. I call it “Soapsud Rock”…or something like that. If you have a chance to see them at their CD release show on Thursday night at Crescent Ballroom, please do. Seeing these songs live is another element of the sudsy guys that should not be missed.

FOR DISCOUNT TICKETS:
MESSAGE US: Captain Squeegee
E-MAIL: Tickets@Captainsqueegee.com
TEXT: 480-246-6387
Admission is $8 pre-sale and $10 at the door, and CDs will be made available at a discounted price for this night only! - AZ Music Matters

Captain Squeegee (one of our favorite bands) released their new album To The Bardos! today! We were lucky enough to get it early, and I've been listening to it all week. For those of you who haven't listened to them, Captain Squeegee is a local band that has been around for ten years now. There are 7 members who play music that is impossible to describe as anything other than amazing. The entire time I was listening to the album, all I could think is, "wow, this is band is incredibly talented." It starts with a slow piano ballad called The Key, which shows off singer Danny Torgersen's amazing voice. The next song, The Factory, is one of my favorite songs to see them play live because it is full of cohesive instrumentation. Instrumentally, every single song is tight and dynamically diverse. Two of my favorite songs on the album are Interwoven and The Farce 500 Million, which are completely different, but equally great songs. Interwoven, is a beautiful love song about two lover's bodies being interwoven all the way down to their soul. The Farce 500 Million is a politically driven song that displays emotion through cacophony and dynamism. The final song on the album is Cosmic Waltz, which is a wonderful, emotional slow song, almost like a lullaby, with a hint of power ballad thrown into the mix. It brings the album to a close beautifully.

You can listen to the full album on their Bandcamp and you can buy To The Bardos! for $10, (which I highly suggest)! If you are interested in learning more about their album, you can read the interview we held with Danny here or head over to the KUKQ website at 10:30AM tomorrow to hear an acoustic performance and interview with the band.

P.S. Remember, it is important that we support our local music, so make sure to like Captain Squeegee on Facebook and head out to one of their shows when you get the chance :) - Melodic Music Project

Ever since Mesa-area band Captain Squeegee formed in 2002, it has dodged musical genres. Combining ska, blues and rock influences, the band creates a trademark mind-boggling sound which has gained it quite the local following.

“Nothing vs Everything,” the band’s 2008 debut full-length album, won over fans with an insane blend of horns, lyrical innovation and high-energy guitar.

Now, Captain Squeegee plans to take over Crescent Ballroom with a CD release show for its long-awaited album, “To The Bardos!” on Dec. 5 with Twin Ponies and Instructions.

Lead singer Danny Torgerson said the band was more than ready to release the new album after a combination of years of writing and rehearsing, a total band transformation and a successful crowdfunding campaign that raised more than $10,000.

“We had the music, and we had the drive and passion, but we really just needed everything to come together at the end, and it did,” Torgerson said.

As a band that initially identified itself with a mash-up genre of ska/punk music, Captain Squeegee’s evolution — because of its deviation from retaining original members — has produced a sound previously unknown to Phoenix.

Torgerson said he views today’s line up as the third or fourth reincarnation of Captain Squeegee.

“I don’t know how we got to where we did, but it just had to happen,” Torgerson said.

Guitarist and keyboardist Austen Mack said that the Nov. 12 release of “To the Bardos!” marked another step in the band’s musical evolution.

“We’ve got some new members,” Mack said, “We’ve got a new approach to creating our songs.”

Wayne Jones of Twin Ponies said he thinks Captain Squeegee’s “To The Bardos!” is another clear example of the band’s grasp of the genre.

“They’ve always been good doing this orchestrated kind of rock thing,” Jones said.

Released with Phoenix-based record company 80/20 Records, the band’s growing fanbase devoured it.

“I knew we had a good following, but it didn’t know it was so big, and I didn’t know it was that committed,” Mack said. “People really came through for us, and without that, we really could not have made it happen.”

Torgerson said watching the success of his crowdfunding process was intense.

“That was probably the closest thing to skydiving we’ve ever done,” Torgerson said.

Despite the fact that Torgerson actually has skydived before — as bandmate Mack reminded him — he said the experiences were comparable.

Now that Captain Squeegee’s evolutionary process is complete, its fans should be able to relate.

“We’re all kind of music nerds, and I think a lot of our fans are,” Torgerson said.

Captain Squeegee will play at the Crescent Ballroom in downtown Phoenix on Dec. 5 at 8 p.m. Check out the band’s Bandcamp to download “To The Bardos!” - The State Press

Captain Squeegee, a seven-piece local act oozing with sudsy sounds and eccentric energy, will be playing at the Crescent Ballroom Thursday night to celebrate the release of their new album, To The Bardos!

After a more than five-year lull, as well as a few member changes, Captain Squeegee signed with downtown-based label 80/20 Records earlier this year. Their return effort, To The Bardos! was funded entirely through a crowdsourcing campaign on Rockethub.

The band raised more than $10,000 in a month to produce the album, said vocalist and trumpet player Danny Torgersen.

“We didn’t even really know how we would do it, because we’re all broke,” Torgersen said. “We ended up signing with 80/20 Records and they wanted us to go to one of the best studios we could, so the crowdfunding campaign was the only way we could do it. That was the last great mountain to climb.”

“To The Bardos!” was released digitally on Nov. 12. Physical copies will be available at the release show. Captain Squeegee will be playing the album from front to back and the show will also include live art and video projections.

“We’re going to make the live performance sound like it does on the record,” Torgersen said. “We’re going to project some wicked psychedelic graphics. We’re known for doing that at shows, but we’ve always found a way to increase the maximum psychedelia.”

A lot can change for a band in five years, and Captain Squeegee is no exception. None of the current members are original members. Torgersen said this album is a sort of “third reincarnation” as a band.

“Everybody has some amount of formal music training now,” said Austen Mack, who plays keys and guitar and does vocals for the band. “We strayed away from the approach on the last album where most of the parts were composed, and there were small improvised sections. With this one, everybody got to work their own parts out and each person was able to contribute more musically, and it was a lot more collaborative.”

With new musicians inevitably come new sounds, styles and overall functionality. “To The Bardos!” is a different sound for Captain Squeegee, but it is one that the members hope is more accessible to all listeners.

“In a lot of ways, it’s poppier and catchier and easier to follow than some of our older music,” Torgersen said. “But we still hung on to the batshit crazy part, which we’ll never let go of fully.”

Mack explained that the first thing Captain Squeegee did to create the album was write more music, learn it, and teach it to all of the members. Many of their songs are complex and include tricky parts, so this task is quite an undertaking, Mack said.

“The last album is pretty densely written, for this one we were able to give it more space and let it breathe, so you can really hear everything that is happening more clearly,” Mack said. “It’s just like writing English: The hardest part is taking out as much stuff as you can to get the core of what you’re really trying to say.”

In addition to the hard copies of To The Bardos! fans can also purchase a custom key-shaped USB complete with the album, all previous Captain Squeegee releases, the band’s complete Web saga series, and even a few “confidential” government documents and UFO videos.

“I’m pretty inspired by the cacophony of conspiracies and new-age spiritualism on the internet,” Torgersen said. “A lot of the record is about that, so I put in a bunch of stuff that made me feel that way.”

To The Bardos! is Captain Squeegee’s attempt to impact their listeners on multiple levels.

“I hope that listeners feel both satisfied and really confused,” Torgersen said. “I think everyone will need to listen a few times to really take it all in. I just hope that people feel like we sandblasted their soul with music, and that it felt awesome.”

Captain Squeegee hopes that fans will hear their message on the album, and feel their message at the release show.

“I hope that it inspires people to rethink some of they key aspects of their world views, not necessarily with the goal of changing them, but more just opening up the realm of questioning in people’s minds,” Mack said. “I think it’s really healthy when you’re confronting the world to have a little bit of doubt in what you think, and not assume that you’re right about pretty much anything.”

Torgersen said that he is already bubbling with new tunes, and that it will definitely not be another five years before Captain Squeegee’s next record. The band will also be releasing a new music video in the next month or two.

“I think we’ve got some wild horses, and we reigned ‘em in, and now we’re traveling well,” Torgersen said. “I think people will enjoy it. Anyone who likes compelling, interesting, out-there music will really like it.” - Downtown Devil

On the heels of the release of their first full-length album “To The Bardos“, Valley Hype sat down with Captain Squeegee‘s Danny Torgersen & Austen Mack at Zia Records for a break down their top 5 picks from the album. Check out the video and head over here to stream the album for free!

For discounted tickets to the December 5 show at Crescent Ballroom click here!

Producer: Anthony Sandoval & P. Marcus Braithwaite
Video: Ryan Leediker
Graphics: Steven Hendee
Editor: P. Marcus Braithwaite - Valley Hype

Captain Squeegee‘s Danny Torgersen & Austen Mack explain the meaning behind their album title “To The Bardos” at Zia Records! - Valley Hype

Captain Squeegee has been a band in the Valley for 10 years now and with no original members left it has evolved into the theatrical rock and jazz group it is today. To the Bardos! marks the band’s first real full-length album showcasing their current music. Characterized by Danny Torgerson’s dramatic vocals and driving horn section, fans of Captain Squeegee will not be disappointed.

Do you think that To the Bardos! is hype-worthy? Let us know in the comments. - Valley Hype

The Valley’s own jazz-infused, politically charged, rock opera-like band, Captain Squeegee, has released the first single “Dually Noted” from their upcoming album To The Bardos! Lead singer/trumpeter Danny Torgersen describes the song in his own words:

“This song felt especially important because it is about making music, against all odds & social norms… it’s like ‘fuck jobs, make art,’ basically. It’s kind of a musical face-punching anarchy of a song.”

The album will be released online on Tuesday, November 12. - Valley Hype

Crescent Ballroom was packed out for the release show of Captain Squeegee‘s highly publicized album To the Bardos! Friends, relatives, members from other local bands, and new listeners all came out to support the band. In case you missed it, here’s Captain Squeegee performing “Shift Happens.”

Listen to the Album here. - Valley Hype

Captain Squeegee: "Dually Noted"

Captain Squeegee launched into quite a fundraiser earlier this year to raise the cash dollars needed to finance their latest recording project To the Bardos. The full album drops this week and you can start getting excited with repeated listenings of "Dually Noted", the first single from To the Bardos. Psychedelic, trumpet-tinged, progressive rocknroll. Get ready for good times. Listen to "Dually Noted" here. And, starting Tuesday, you can get the full album through the band's website here. - YabYum Music and Arts

Here is what I will call an almost acoustic track by my good friends Captain Squeegee. This is a brand new song called “Dually Noted” that appears on their excellent new 80/20 Records release “To The Bardos”. If you are a fan of the later material from RX Bandits I think you will thoroughly enjoy the latest offering from the good Captain. The music is fearless and somehow amazingly catchy despite having such a wide range of influences on display during every track.

Enjoy this down and dirty live acoustic recording then go check out the fully produced version of “To The Bardos” which was recorded by Bob Hoag who always does a fantastic job bringing the artists music to it’s final resting place for your ears to feast upon. - Woodbanger Records

There’s a lot more than meets the eye with many of our favorite bands, and as an ASU Music alum myself, there’s a particular group that always hits close to home. I sat down with jazzy-ska-rockers Captain Squeegee to discuss one of the most eye-catching shows of the season. It’s been called a show “of past, present, and future,” and there couldn’t be three more fitting words. From roots to revolution, Danny Torgersen, Garrett Ortego, Austen Mack, Chris Hoskins, Ryan Sims, Matt Maloy, and Ben Jones share the ingenious story behind this upcoming Thursday’s highly anticipated show at Crescent Ballroom.

Echo Cloud: You guys have been around for almost a decade, but for newcomers not yet graced with the opportunity to see you guys, give us a slight backstory on the band. I mean, not only are you all incredibly talented musicians but the band is also a product of hard work and some classical training, right?
Captain Squeegee: Yes Lisa, it truly has been a long and interested evolutionary process. From Cro-Magnon man to Squeegee, no one even knows our pure origins as literally NONE of us are founding members of the band. It is a musical dynasty, crawling from the primortial pools of high school ska and into this brave new future of fusion, rock & jazz. We all have some deep dark past of classical training & once we discovered the whole “jazz” thing in “college,” we’ve been exponentially progressing towards this very event.

EC: Obviously Captain Squeegee has close ties to the ASU Music School, but what specifically motivated the band to put this show together/whose genius is behind the plan?
CS: We’ve always had alot of shit going on in our music… uh… that is… our songs & arrangements have been notoriously more complex over the years. In those same years over half of us have played in a Big Band (Jazz Band) somewhere… MCC, SCC, ASU… when finally divine inspiration struck last year, and we realized we could have even more shit going on if we just ADDED one of these Big Bands we knew so well. Upon this revelation Danny (Singer-Trumpet) & Austen (Keys-Guitar) ran straight to the composer-cave and started arranging scores & shows to make this happen. Although their “genius” could be interpreted as mild “insanity”.

EC: Who were your major influences for this arrangement? Were you looking at specific bands, musicians, composers, or ensembles?
CS: It’s a mess. The music we’ve arranged for the big band & us is like a giant loaded twice-baked potato of all of our greatest musical inspiration. The original “Potato of Rock” is still intact, pulling from some of our favorite groups like The Mars Volta, Muse, Foo Fighters, & Radiohead… but it’s also got this gooey “Cheese of Jazz”, with flavors from jazz greats like Charles Mingus, Frank Sinatra, Don Ellis & Buddy Rich. Now sdd some “Bacon Weirdness” from folks like Frank Zappa & King Crimson, with a dash of “Classical Salt” from famous dudes like Igor Stravinsky & John Adams. And now we’re hungry…

EC: What about fried foods on a stick? Some of you played in a massive Weezer ensemble at the Arizona State Fair a few years ago. What’s it like to be on the other side of the arrangement?
CS: Yes, but in our collaboration with Weezer it was basically just Rivers singing a few melodies to us & us just learning them and playing them the day of. For this ASU show we have literally been rehearsing for weeks during their regular class-time with our original 20-Piece musical scores, riddled with notes & counter-melodies like you wouldn’t believe. Thank god ASU printed out the music for us… our printer would have died.

EC: I’ve seen that you’ve been hard at work arranging those scores for the ensemble. Are you sticking with a completely Captain Squeegee original set? What can we expect in terms of changes, depth, improvisation, and new material? I wouldn’t use “thin” to describe the CS sound itself, so fuller body aside, what are you most jazzed about while adding this whole 13-piece ensemble to the bill?
CS: Yes the composer-cave is a lonely, damp place, but the eggs we layed there are finally hatching and it is like NOTHING you’ve ever heard before. We are playing a FULL SET of original Squeegee songs with the full 13-Horn Big Band… mostly brand new. All with extended twists & turns designed to show off the jazz band and conduct a deep exploration of the big-band black-hole phenomena we’ve discovered.

Photo Courtesy of Danny Torgersen

EC: Are there any songs that took you by surprise or surpassed your wildest sonic expectations?
CS: Yes there has been much mind-melting. Our new song “The Factory” (downloadable on captainsqueegee.com) is sounding extra jazzy & terrifying with the big band. Besides playing, we have them singing & stomping like a large anrgy mob of over-worked Muppets and the effect is pleasantly unsettling. But EVERY song is in contrast to the other & will easily exceed all previous - Echo Cloud Productions

Six Phoenix area bands have written and recorded 11 original songs about how to use public transportation as part of a new community education effort to help residents try environmentally friendly modes of travel.



“Surveys and research revealed there was widespread unfamiliarity about how to use public transportation across greater Phoenix, and that was a barrier to giving the system a try,” says Mario Diaz, chief marketing officer at Valley Metro Regional Public Transportation Authority. “So we asked local bands to record – in their own unique way – the various things you need to know in order to get out of your car and use public transportation instead.”



Each original creation describes a different aspect of using the Valley Metro system, such as how to buy fare, passenger courtesy, safety near train tracks and buses, or how one fare pass can be used on both bus and light rail. The 11 topics were selected based on common passenger questions at Valley Metro’s customer service line and from the top questions city transit departments receive. Participating local bands are: Black Carl, Captain Squeegee, Elvis Before Noon, Mills End, Peachcake, and What Laura Says.



Beginning in November, Valley Metro will release the songs one at a time on a monthly basis. Songs are set to animated video a la “School House Rock.” Videos will be available with other helpful information 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at ValleyMetro.org/Notes.



“Riders and non-riders told us that they want their public transportation system to be friendly, progressive, and, most important of all, simple to understand and use,” Diaz added. “The new online videos teach the basics of using the public transit system in a fun, memorable way that can help more of us reduce air pollution, traffic congestion, and environmental waste.”



Bands say they were motivated to be part of the project to support the local community and, for some, for personal reasons.



“Growing up, I used the bus to get to music lessons, arts and crafts, everywhere. My mom didn’t let not having a car in Phoenix hold her back from enjoying the city with me,” says Danny Torgersen of the band Captain Squeegee. “I’m so excited that there’s an effort to involve music in public transit because music is one of the best ways to spread good ideas.” - Metro Magazine

There is reggae royalty among us at Mesa Community college, and his name is Danny Torgersen.

He has been in music his entire life but for the last 10 years he has been the lead singer and trumpeter for Captain Squeegee.

They used to be called Captain Squeegee and the Soapsuds, but that was when they were first starting out as a ska band trying to find their way in the desert reggae scene.

“Along time ago when the band first came into existence it was pretty much just ska,” said Torgerson, music major at MCC.

But their music evolved into something that can be described as a melting pot of music, mixing their early ska sounds with more experimental elements, a kind of subatomic jazz rock.

The music also encompasses some of Torgesens personal interests such as aliens and the paranormal, they even put that into their shows having played a UFO convention

Captain Squeegee has also released several albums both independently and in studio including, Nothing vs. Everything, Behind the Metal and Metric Space, and Valley Metro Notes.

They have also recently released two new songs that can be downloaded from their website Captainsqueegee.com. The download includes a taste of their not yet released album.

Torgesen is a busy guy having to get through school, band practice every day as well as getting the word out about Captain Squeegee.

They also have an extensive show schedule having just recently opened for legendary Ska act Reel Big Fish (RBF).

Like RBF and many other bands that have been rocking for more than a decade, Captain Squeegee is still breaking in two new members.

But one thing all members of the band have in common are deep roots in Mesa either graduating from Dobson High School, or Rhodes Jr. High, they pretty much keep it in the bird family.

Beside just the music Captain Squeegee as a band is also responsible for a youtub.com web saga called Lucidity which creatively blends Squeegee’s music with the band acting as the characters.

The web show like squeegee’s music focus’s a lot on lucid dreaming, and creates a dream like atmosphere for the show that has viewers seeing everything from extreme jumping to dead skeletons.

Captain Squeegee sans the soap suds will be playing in downtown Phoenix’s Crescent Ballroom on Sept. 27. - Mesa Legend

“How have I not heard of these guys before,” an audience member comments to the lady next to her. As soon as their first song ended, I asked myself the same question.

It is hard to believe that six-piece theatrical powerhouse Captain Squeegee has been on the Phoenix music scene for 10 years. All original band members from 2003 have since left the group and the guys that currently make it up range from owning a one month to a six year membership. Tonight, Captain Squeegee takes the stage at Crescent Ballroom in their typical dramatic fashion and invites the audience on a musical journey.

Unique as they come, Captain Squeegee combines trumpet, woodwinds, and trombone along with classic guitar, bass, keys and drums to create a full sound that is complex yet easy to follow. Every single member is musically trained in some respect and can read and chart music. Their music is sophisticated in its orchestral rock style, much like ELO with a jazz flair. Lead singer/trumpet player Danny Torgersen goes into full performance mode on stage and brings a theatrical rock vocal sound. “It’s a strong [musical] cocktail for sure,” elaborates guitarist Garret Ortego after the show. Because the vocals are solid, the lyrics are not lost amongst the instruments.

Nothing about Captain Squeegee is stereotypical including their song content. Capitalism, reincarnation, and the apocalypse are all themes within their music. When asked about lyrical substance Torgersen explains, “I read some crazy stuff on the internet and I think, ‘That should be a song.’” Their lyrics reach a more intellectual crowd and their high energy and fun sound attract the average listener.

Their intricate melodies and dynamic vocals are enough to make people interested, but their live performance sells it. Torgersen commands the audience’s attention by engaging them with his stage presence and upbeat humor. If the smart-alecky class clown in high school started a band, this would be it. Even though Torgersen is a standout leader, he doesn’t overshadow the rest of the band. Each band member performs in his own right and each are on the same wavelength, listening and responding to the other members. With a band this size, it is essential that they work as a unit and, thankfully, they do. Each song easily transitions into the next and takes the crowd on a musical journey. A sight to behold, Captain Squeegee connects with the audience and conveys a rather political message without sounding overly preachy.

After 10 years Captain Squeegee is still creating new music and mystifying concert goers but they have struggled to be acknowledged and have their music reach a wider audience. One must wonder what they get out of it.

“Soul food,” Torgersen answers without missing a beat. The music regenerates them in a way nothing else can and anyone who is paying attention can see that in their complex melodies, politically charged lyrics, and incredible showmanship. - Valley Hype

It’s hard to tell what the mad minds behind local band Captain Squeegee are up to at any given moment. A talented bunch with the imagination of a stoned toddler, their shows are highly entertaining to say the least. Their latest endeavor has them collaborating with Arizona State University’s jazz program. Captain Squeegee singer and trumpet player Danny T briefly chatted with College Times about what happens when rock and a traditional big band mix.

College Times: What can people expect?

Danny T: When people hear the words “big band” in this day and age, they usually just think I’m talking about a popular band. A big band is just like a jazz band, just like the ones you’ve seen behind Frank Sinatra and Michael Buble so many times. This is obviously more on the deep end of interesting writing and “out there” Squeegee music, so it kind of sounds like Frank Sinatra and Frank Zappa had a baby.

(see article for full interview) - College Times

It’s no secret that record labels are in trouble these days. Illegal downloads and steaming music online has made it virtually impossible to turn a profit on music. Labels are downsizing and folding, unable to keep up, but rather than bellyache and focus on the past, Phoenix’s Mike Zimmerlich started his own label with drastically different terms.

80/20 Records was born nearly five years ago but made its biggest announcement last week. It signed Future Loves Past, PALMS and Captain Squeegee, three well-known bands in the area that have garnered their own followings with blood, sweat and gigs.

Zimmerlich, founder of 80/20 Records, says the company didn’t intend to sign three bands at once; it was just an opportunity he couldn’t pass up.

“That’s a funny story. We had Dry River Yacht Club [on our roster] and we got to a point where we had the structure behind the label to bring on board another artist. We were looking to bringing on one, maybe two artists,” he says.

Zimmerlich says 80/20 scouted venues for new artists, but after being in the scene for several years knew who they wanted to work with. However, signing a band isn’t an easy process and can take several months of meetings to work out an agreement.

“It’s also not an easy decision for an artist so they take their time to see if it’s a right fit,” he says. “It just so happens, out of the blue, that all three of these artists came up to us around the same time and said, ‘We’d love to sign.’”

They all signed within the week and label mates Dry River Yacht Club approved. The new additions are a big move for a label that started a bit serendipitously. Zimmerlich had no experience working with record labels before starting his own, which probably helped in crafting 80/20’s business plan, in which artists keep 80 percent of their royalties.

“That’s unheard of in the music industry,” he says. “Most record labels offer about 12 to 15 percent royalties so we’re doing complete reversal.”

While 20 percent doesn’t sound like enough to keep them in business, 80/20 Records prides itself in being smart with expenses and promoting crowd funding. It also focuses on digital distribution rather than spending money on physical CDs.

“The band decides what we are involved with, so if it’s just the music or if they want us to be involved in the merch, we’ll do that and then we get our fair share,” Zimmerlich says.

80/20 Records offers to do the dirty PR and management job that bands have had to do for themselves for so long. Zimmerlich says relieving bands of their business duties allows them to focus more on their music and get better as a band.

“Mike [Zimmerlich] and Jason [Shoff, head of A&R] of 80/20 have a well thought-out business plan that nurtures bands rather than exploiting them, and the relatively small size of their roster makes it realistic to give each band the necessary attention to record good albums and make smart moves,” says Austen Mack, keyboardist and guitarist for Captain Squeegee. “We're excited to work with them on planning our next year of recording, touring and getting the business end of our operation running smoothly.”

Captain Squeegee has been on the local scene for nearly a decade and singer/ trumpet player Danny Torgersen says it just made sense to join forces.

“They just emailed us. We said, ‘We're just trying to save the world with our next album... that's all... we're about 80/20 on our chances of it working,’” he says.

All four bands on 80/20 Records are planning on releasing a new album next year, and Zimmerlich says he can guarantee 2013 is going to be by far the best year they’ve ever had. - College Times

Captain Squeegee frontman Danny Torgersen is a bona fide quote machine. The singer and trumpeter is known for his unconventional views. Just take his vocal contribution to a song that asserts 9/11 was an inside job (in dubstep!) or simply supporting underdog Ron Paul for president. Those views might be atypical, but they occasionally lead him on a journey to sudden genius. Or that's probably the universe at work. Hard to tell.

Tonight, the horn-rock masters will pair up with the 20-piece Mesa Community College Big Band for a night that's bound to be the "ultimate experience of Squeege-genre-blending and Big Band revival," the event's Facebook page insists.

"The universe thought of it first," Torgersen says. "We then channeled the idea and manifested it in reality. We have always had a jazz influence in our music, and many of us play jazz religiously, so it only made sense to fuse our musical mission with a full-size jazz band."

The band will unleash two new Squeegee songs, both part of a new album with an undisclosed release date. But it isn't just any old album. "We're not just trying to make an album. We're trying to save the world. ASAP," Torgersen says of the disc.

For the past few weeks, the Captain and MCC's Big Band have been rehearsing the songs, with Squeegeers taking the time to write and score music for the extra horns.

"Not many people know that Squeegee already makes full scores and printed music for original songs, so arranging all the extra horn parts was just a matter of staying up for days on a computer and becoming delusionally creative," he says.

The show is the first in a series of Squeegee-supporting events throughout May at the Alwun House, including a screening of their trippy six-part web series, "Lucidity," on May 12, and an "eclectic evening of scenes ranging from robot poetry to ritual sacrifice and everything that's hilarious in between," which is actually just a sketch-comedy night on May 19. - Phoenix New Times

Musicians and concertgoers were nearly indistinguishable at the Crescent Ballroom last night when sci-fi geek rockers Captain Squeegee and Arizona State University's Concert Jazz Band crowded the stage. With so many people playing, it was hard to tell where one ended and the other began.

Coupled with a performance by special guests Steff Koeppen and the Articles, two live artists, and trippy graphic projection display, it was one campy conglomerate of artistic expression as only Captain Squeegee could do it.

It was musical madness that worked like a double feature at the drive-in. Koeppen and her Tucson quartet opened the show with their perfectly polished piano-based pop songs. They were like the intellectual indie flick starring Zooey Deschanel while Squeegee and company were the lucid animated film concocted by Salvador Dali and Walt Disney.

The two styles contrasted and complimented each other nicely.

Koeppen impressed the crowd with her powerful vocals and bouncy keystrokes. Using foot-tapping rhythms and soft violin touches, her music dripped with introspection and thoughtfulness. I seemed to sit on the less-interested side of the ballroom where patrons chatted away, but the rest of the audience listened intently and clapped eagerly and often. Her set was filled with new songs from the band's latest album, Stories You Can't Tell. The frantic pace of "Change Like That" served as the perfect transition and was a definitive highlight of the set.

With the jazz ensemble's stations already in place on stage, a brief set change followed.

Squeegee frontman Danny Torgersen has always spoken with so much enthusiasm and earnestness that I hadn't thought he could ever be any happier than he already seemed.

But apparently the opportunity to bolster his sound with the booming big band brass section from the ASU ensemble had him bursting at the seams. Something like 12 extra horns will do that to you, I suppose. Together the troupe performed Squeegee originals about metaphors, space, time, and conspiracies, as well as an instrumental cover of the saucy classic, "Fever." In all, I think I counted something like 20 people on stage.

Torgersen's falsetto squeal and sometimes talk-singing delivery differed sharply from Koeppen's cool croonings but it was pitch perfect when mashed up with the messy menagerie of the jazz backing. Tracks like "Factory," "Shovel," and "Cosmic Waltz" stood out as favorites among the crowd.

They wrapped up after a little more than an hour, sending concertgoers out into the nippy air with a buzz. We can't wait for the sequel.

Critic's Notebook:

Last Night: Captain Squeegee, ASU Concert Jazz Band, Steff Koeppen and the Articles

Overheard: "You're all dressed like it's winter and you're sleeping outside or something, man."

Hit or miss: The psychedelic filter projected onto the band totally worked during Captain Squeegee's set -- during Koeppen's, not so much. - Phoenix New Times

One thing is certain about Mesa's only known ska-rock septet: They picked a hell of a fun name. Go on. Say "Captain Squeegee" to yourself a couple of times and try not to crack a smile. Try to deny the mental image of a wacky Halloween outfit or the latest revolutionary cleaning product from the ShamWow guy. It's simply fucking joy to contemplate. And the music? Also categorically joyful. It's Fantasia music, with lead singer Danny Torgersen making like Mickey in a swirling maelstrom of flying horns, dancing guitars, broken melodies, and mad-prophet vocalizing. It's not really ska, or rock. It's something like a mash-up of the Pixies, Carlos Santana, Cake, and the Mighty Mighty Bosstones and, yes, the French love it (the band's debut full-length album Nothing vs. Everything won "Best Album of 2008" from the French webzine Progressia). Formed back in 2002, these local live-music heroes eventually took a cue from No Doubt and steered away from their ska roots, but unlike Stefani and company, they didn't shed the horn section. Or the fun. - Phoenix New Times

How much cash would you shell out if it meant saving the world from its impending doom? Twelve bucks? How about $10? In case you haven't noticed, there are only 120 days left in the Mayan calendar year so you better start thinking about it.

In the meantime, quirky metaphysical horn-rockers Captain Squeegee, along with friends The Veragroove, Inept Hero, Instructions, Clairevoyant, and Terragaia, are launching a preemptive effort to do what no band has done before -- gather enough psychic energy to save the planet through song, dance, and retro-psychic kinesis.

And we're off!

"It's obvious now that in the Phoenix scene, there are just killer bands ... so the six of us are coming together basically to have this zany, awesome out-of-this world performance that Phoenix doesn't usually get to see," says Squeegee frontman Danny Torgersen. "The whole point is really just to have a cacophony of local bands coming together for a themed, epic, local, huge show."

The event, billed as "2012: Phoenix Saves The World," is scheduled for Saturday, August 25, at the Marquee Theatre and will feature some experimental interactive media, mind-altering graphic projections, and even a pendulum that the audience can control with their mind according to Torgersen. And if that's not enough to get you jazzed about planet saving, the six bands will also be coming together like Voltron to form one super band for a special performance of R.E.M.'s "It's the End of the World as We Know It."

"We just want to try stuff that just doesn't get tried," Torgersen says. "We're in this new technological age -- that may destroy us -- but as long as we're doing that stuff we're going to try and integrate it."

Along with the "End of the World" theme, Captain Squeegee is also unveiling two new songs that night, as well as two new band members.

Here are the ways they plan to save the world with their show:

1) In case of an alien invasion, we've invited representatives from multiple hostile alien races, to prove to them we shouldn't be invaded or eradicated.

2) In case of tsunamis, volcanic eruptions or hurricanes, we will prove to mother earth with our beautiful music and positive gathering that she should refrain from drowning us in fire or water.

3) In case of a new world order takeover, the event will show the evil illuminati conspiracy how far we've come and convince them not depopulate the planet.

4) In case of comet or asteroid, we will rock so hard from Earth, that all dangerous comets will explode instantaneously.

5) And in case of The Rapture, God will enjoy our concert so much that he will allow humanity to continue as we are, and party as we do.

But there is still no saving us from solar flares or zombies. -- Danny Torgersen

Tickets at the door will go for $12 but you can get a $10 presale discount by emailing tickets@captainsqueegee.com. "The more presale tickets we sell, the more likely the show will save the world, I think," Torgersen says.

Unless you know something we don't know, you better start busting out those credit cards. - Phoenix New Times

The DIY method might be the record-releasing choice of local bands around the country -- after all, the Internet opens all kinds of possibilities for self promotion, recording, and pressing -- but increasingly, Phoenix artists seem to be signing to small labels. And it seems the Valley's Mike Zimmerlich is snagging a few of the most acclaimed up for himself.

Zimmerlich and his label 80/20 Records announced yesterday that they signed the Valley's PALMS, Captain Squeegee and Future Loves Past, all of which will be heading to the studio to record in the next year.

This is the "biggest expansion in the label's history," considering the 80/20 roster previously only held the name of two other bands, Dry River Yacht Club and 42 Eternal, the now defunct indie rockers who have 80/20 represent their recorded catalog. Still, 80/20 is slowly snagging up the artists they believe can best represent the Phoenix music scene on a national level.

"We chose these particular bands because they all brought something to the table. Musically each band has a unique sound that is unmistakably their own, and they all have the full enthusiasm and support of those in the music community, both fans and in the press," says Jason Shoff, head of A&R at 80/20. "We feel that, with the right push behind them, there's no reason why none of these bands can become successful outside of the Phoenix area. And that goes for [Dry River Yacht Club] as well."

Of course, artists have another incentive by signing with 80/20. As its name suggests, the label gives 80 percent of profits directly to the artist. The figure is in contrast to the standard indie label, which have been known to take between 40 and 50 percent of artist recording and touring profits.

"I feel that the artists are putting so much of themselves into their music and working so hard to create these works that they deserve the majority it reaps. The reason why we can sustain giving 80 percent royalties to our artists is being efficient within the label," Zimmerlich told Up On the Sun last December. "When you are able to record a quality album using equipment for a few thousand dollars and release it to the world with numerous channels at your fingertips you don't need to spend as much as you had in the past. From the very beginning we decided not to release CDs initially and offer our albums as download only. If the album sells, well then we can determine if physical mediums are necessary. We don't have to risk fronting money for an album that may or may not sell." - Phoenix New Times

Captain Squeegee sounds like a character at Phoenix Comicon, which is convenient but not quite accurate. It's actually a band at Comicon, with a performance coming up Saturday night at Comikaze.

We talked Friday afternoon with lead squeegee Danny Torgersen -- just before his appearance on a panel at Comicon re: "Acting & Directing Sci-Fi/Fantasy" -- about the difference between geekdom and nerd-dom, the importance of passion, and how to make money as a musician when nobody wants to buy music. (One of their solutions: A crowd-funded album with a Masonic-apron tier.)

(click on link for full interview) - Phoenix New Times

I can safely say without fear of hyperbole that in the coming months Captain Squeegee will unleash one of the best albums of the year that may very well melt your brain and devour your soul. Well, Saturday night we got a taste of what is to come at The Rogue and it was goddamn delicious. Wild guitar rock infused with Zappa-esque horns, Beefheartian absurdity all within the realm of a new age bent pop rock explosion. Their set was absolutely devastating and I felt as though it had altered my brain chemistry in the process and possibly raped my spine. “My Machine” and “Shift Happens” were particular highlights that delivered my consciusness beyond the confines if The Rogue. - Sounds Around Town

Frontman/trumpeter Danny Torgerson, with his chest-to-falsetto vocal histrionics, sets the pace for Capt. S with an energy that is irrepressible and unpredictable—and his band mates are up to the challenge, navigating every eccentric dip and turn with agility. “Dually Noted,” “The Factory” and “The Farce...” are components of this progressive rock carnival, which delights in taking jabs at mainstream
 frauds and follies. Inquisitive, accusatory and, above all, wickedly clever, the recordings are as impressive as they are overwhelming, and will take time for mere mortals to absorb. But the band knows how to keep things buoyant and up-energy. So, while we’re doubtful about their film/TV prospects, we expect this Tempe, AZ sextet puts on one helluva live show. - Music Connection

Talking about Captain Squeegee's new album, To the Bardos, frontman Danny Torgersen is excited about the songwriting and the performances, and he's excited about the crowdfunding campaign that made it possible — he's excited about most things, to be honest. But that's not what he's most excited about. "I think Bob Hoag saved the record," he tells me. Hoag, who recorded and produced the album at Flying Blanket Recording in Mesa, was the impetus for all the crowdfunding in the first place.

"There's seven of us playing, like, 10 instruments . . . and there's always been this problem where by the time we're done recording you can't hear anything." The way he says it, it sounds like the problem is mystifying him even now, with copies of the record sitting shrink-wrapped in his backpack.

That's the big deal about To the Bardos, really: If you haven't seen the band in concert, this is the first chance you'll get to know what Captain Squeegee sounds like. The unwieldy klatsch of horn players and guitarists is separated in the mix now, and Torgersen is willing to send most of the credit Hoag's way — the added clarity, the professional equipment, even the ability to tell them what not to play. "He said 'no' to me more than I've ever heard the word in the studio, and he was the first person I believed when he said it . . . He was like an uncle I could trust with my children for the summer."

So now they have a record that sounds like Captain Squeegee sounds — few overdubs, little they can't re-create live, just the sound of a very large band in a reasonably sized room. Squeegee needs that kind of audio business card more than most, because it's an especially difficult band to explain to a third party. So there are horns, but Squeegee isn't a ska band, and — well, no, they still kind of groove a little, just not with all the upstrokes, and — the lyrics? Well, it's about believing in yourself and also freemasonry, and — and, yes, they're serious. Then they've got this web series about lucid dreaming, if you're — yes, lucid dreaming, like being able to know you're flying, for one thing . . . and then you're trying to explain lucid dreaming to your third party, and both of you have forgotten about To the Bardos.

It's all of that, though, and most of it's finally audible. The parts that aren't in the mix are in the packaging, another thing the members of Captain Squeegee have been talking up since the crowdfunding campaign began; one tier of crowdfunders will get the album in a USB key shaped, well, like a key, and filled with behind-the-scenes video and footnotes and UFO sightings and cross-references enough to re-create the album from scratch in a clean room.

The lyrics, too, are more discernible than ever, and if you stop to listen to them, you might be more, rather than less, confused, at least at first. Torgersen's lyrical world is divorced from Occam's Razor — there's a wild, unknown history lurking behind not just the bad parts of history but the good stuff, too, one group of conspirers out to commit false-flag war crimes and another out to help you realize your full trans-human potential.

It's not an act, or if it is an act, it's one that extends to his Facebook page. But he wants the ideas behind the songs — or just the sheer volume of ideas in the music, the background radiation sending you to a million Wikipedia pages — to appeal to everyone. He tells me he isn't looking to exclude people who accept the full opinion of the Warren Commission, even though he (in no uncertain terms) does not.

Now that the album is out — the crowd has funded, and the songs have been recorded, and the CDs pressed — Captain Squeegee has its best chance yet to induct fans into its own secret society. Whether you say the vows or not, it's worth sitting in on this meeting. - Phoenix New Times

I can state, without a shadow of a doubt, To The Bardos, the new album from Captain Squeegee, is one of the finest albums I have heard in, like, ever. Seriously.

More troupe than band, more cast of characters than group, Captain Squeegee led by the incomparable Danny Torgersen has created what has to be the most innovative and intricate collection of music Phoenix has ever heard.

Torgersen’s writing, broken melodies and unmatched showmanship is hard to resist. He is the archetypical bandleader, the master of ceremonies. From the very first track, “The Key”, he is in total control.

The musicianship on To The Bardos is brilliant. Garrett Ortego, Austen Mack, Chris Hoskins, Ryan Sims, Matt Maloy and Ben Jones are not merely back-up players to Torgersen’s ultra-hyper Ricky Ricardo. Each and every one has a part to play on the album and each take that opportunity to showcase their crazy talent.

The horns, seriously? The horns – provided by Torgersen, Hoskins and Sims – take on a life of their own. Deftly dodging in and out of even the smallest of musical phrases to punctuate, accent, and many times, take the lead. The drums and bass, masterfully played by Maloy and Sims, respectively, are so in synch you’d think they were joined at the hip. I checked the Facebook pics and they are not. And that beat? The timing seems to change every third bar – it keeps the ear on its toes to mix body parts and a metaphor.

As far as Ortego and Mack are concerned, they more than admirably man the guitars providing The Tubes-like hooks that set the table for the rest of the group. And, while Torgersen is blowing his horn, Mack seamlessly fills in with vocals.

A note on the recording – once again we see the brilliance of Bob Hoag of Flying Blanket Studios. Not only has he managed to capture the sound and the vision of the band, I can’t even imagine how he wrangled so much creativity and distilled it so flawlessly.

However, while I cannot say enough about how much I liked To The Bardos, it is a record that needs to have the listener’s full attention with one of the tracks topping out 5:36. Now, don’t get me wrong. I enjoyed every second of To The Bardos, but it doesn’t leave much to the imagination and maybe that extra minute and half would be better suited for the live show. A live show that I cannot wait to witness.

The album is available for purchase and download at the band’s website here. They are planning a CD release party on December 5th at the Crescent Ballroom. Don’t miss out. - Yab Yum

For Captain Squeegee's last video off of their 2013 L.P To The Bardos, "Inevitable," the atomic jazz fusion seven-piece tapped the amazing claymation skills of animator Johnny McHone. The resulting video was easily the most creative in town for the year 2013. As a follow up, Captain Squeegee may have done it again with their second video from the album "The Factory" directed by Matty Steinkamp.

"We wanted to make something that was as rightfully zany and dark as the song. I think a lot of people think of Captain Squeegee as maybe a little silly and funny but if you really pay attention there is all these political and conspiratorial themes in the music. So this video was our first attempt to make a point but still keep it as psychedelic as possible," says Captain Squeegee front man Danny Torgersen. "I want people to watch it and wonder what it was about. I want people to feel like they were forcibly given a hallucinogen and now they have to think about the experience that they had... It's like if [CIA mind control project MKUltra] was a music video and funny."
The video is set in a funhouse with the over the top Torgersen theatrically portraying the ring leader of a wild political circus complete with a top hat and tails. "Who's making the facts," asks the lyrics of the song. A question which Torgersen says he hopes people will consider after watching his band's politically psychedelic video.
Steinkamp's vision was to "turn a warehouse into funhouse with each room showing a different part of the factory where the political lies and half truths are coming from," according to Torgersen. "You can't help but have fun in there even though there is clearly something scary going on. It's like a terrifying pun, the factory is where the facts are made, and I just hope it makes people think twice about what they think is true and false and whose telling them.Its all the same circus."

It's not cheap however to make a point. According to Torgersen, of all of Captain Squeegee's videos,this one had the most resources put into it. Without getting into exact numbers the eccentric trumpeter said the cost of the video "was worth it." The band had to pay for costume rentals, location rentals, and of course the cost of having one of Phoenix's premier video makers behind the lens.

Torgersen and his band left to their own devices are capable of amazing things, but according to Danny much of the design of this video is owed to creative genious of Steinkamp.

"I don't think we could have done this without Matty Steinkamp directing. He made a film that is so cinematic that you can't help but watch it and be entranced," says Torgersen. "He wanted to mix the music theater parts of the band with the trippy parts of the band with the jazzy parts of the band. It's very much a collage of everything the band is about, with this super dark twist. I don't think people are expecting that from us, so I am pretty excited."

Torgersen and bandmate Austin Mack are currently in Fullerton Calif. acting as counsellors and instructors at Camp Jam. But they will be back for a July 28 gig at Crescent Ballroom, opening for Foxy Shazam. - Phoenix New Times

Local rockers Captain Squeegee and director Matty Steinkamp, who topped our countdown of best local music videos for 2014 with “The Factory,” have taken a radically different approach on the just-released “Seek,” another highlight of 2013's “To the Bardos.”

It’s a futuristic science-fiction romance set in part on the planet Bardonia in 2020 but mostly here on Earth in 2019, which suits the atmospheric grandeur of the song, produced at Flying Blanket Recordings by the great Bob Hoag. And yes, the decision to make the dystopian future just around the corner is a brilliant if unsettling touch.

The action centers on a star-crossed interplanetary love affair. He’s bearded. She has blue skin. And they’re being chased, apparently while doing what they can to get the blue-skinned girl home safely to Bardonia.

The cinematography, which features some breathtaking aerial shots of Arizona mountains, is stunning, and the pace is action-packed. Everything about this video, in fact, feels a little like Steinkamp is testing the waters for a move into directing short films now that he’s wrapped production on his music documentary, “Play.”

Perhaps the biggest difference between this video and their collaboration on “The Factory” is that singer Danny Torgersen, who stole the show in that one, is kept to small supporting roles here -- flashlight-wielding military man and a guy in a chem suit. The horn players have a small role as security guards, and the trombone player rides a motorcycle in the chase scene. But the action focuses on actors Shela Yu and Samuel Pena.

The video premiered on YouTube Wednesday, Nov. 11. - AZ Central

As upstart bands eye their throne, Captain Squeegee fervently works to defend the crown as Phoenix music video kings. The Mesa-based atomic jazz fusion ensemble has been steadily producing the highest-quality music videos in the Phoenix indie scene, with a barrage of videos in multiple disciplines.

The first video to come from Squeegee’s 2013 album To The Bardos was the Johnny McHone-animated claymation apocalypse epic “Inevitable,” which was followed up by the Matty Steinkamp circus freakout “The Factory.” Today, Captain Squeegee is releasing its newest multimedia work, another McHone production — “The Farce 500 Million.”

The song already is outrageous enough, with more time signatures and BPM shifts than probably any other local song ever written. That isn’t to say that "Farce" isn’t totally off the wall, just like its creators and its new animated music video.

“I love busting out all these mediums, and “Seek” is our next video that’s going to be a no-band video. It’s gonna be like a short film and that excites me a lot. But 'Farce' is our video with the least narrative, which excites me possibly even more. I want to make a bunch of videos on such a different wavelength than each other because if people see one, they will hopefully watch another, and that’s how you start a cult,” says Danny Torgersen, Captain Squeegee’s lead singer. “I couldn't be more happy that Johnny picked 'Farce,' because when I believe in somebody I want them to take my baby and raise it. It’s still my baby at the DNA level but its gonna turn into a completely different awesome person.”

It doesn’t hurt when the person that the musical baby is being passed off to happens to be an accomplished animator who has a credit on the Adult Swim show Mr. Pickles. Nor that the baby’s parents (Captain Squeegee) spent about an EP’s worth of money rearing it (so to speak), according to Torgersen.

A small price to pay however, considering how important this video is to Torgersen and Squeegee’s plan for global domination.

“I am a space alien lizard from the Drago star system and I’m here to take over bitches, and you better not front cause I got friends,” says Torgersen. “The plan is obvious and the fact that no one can stop it is proof that it should happen, and that’s why I put 'novus ordos seclorum' at the end of the video, and that's why everyone is going to look it up. Because they’re gonna be weirded out when it happens that’s why I put it in the song. Like, why is Danny hauntingly screaming Latin right now? And it’s because I didn’t write that shit. It’s on the dollar bill beneath the giant freaky 13-stepped pyramid that is looking into your soul saying ‘continue being a mind slave.'"

Captain Squeegee is scheduled to perform August 14, at Yucca Tap Room in Tempe with Fairy Bones, Dan Tripp, and others. - Phoenix New Times

For days now, Captain Squeegee has been promising concrete evidence of extraterrestrial life. Here it is, a direct communication from interplanetary beings in the form of a music video. It turns out it may be the members of Captain Squeegee who are, indeed, the aliens. You might be thinking, "Another new video from Captain Squeegee?" Well, it turns out that this merry band of madman and mysterians have put out some of the most compelling videos, to match their equally visionary music. Not to be undone by previous efforts, the band ups the game a bit, and the video for "S33K" plays more like an engaging short film, immersing you in a story, unlike a standard video.

"S33K" is the fifth video drawn from Captain Squeegee's landmark 2013 album, To the Bardos!, released on local label 80/20 Records, and it's almost certainly not the last. It also is the band's third collaboration with Matty Steinkamp of Sundawg Media. We sat down with lead sorcerer Danny Torgersen to talk about the video after Saturday night's mysterious "missile launch/alien sighting" in Arizona. After an hour of discussing extraterrestrials, metaphysics, mystical arts, and secret societies, we finally got down to business. We both agreed that, in Torgersen's words, "there was a giant fucking sky-sighting [Saturday] night!"

It wasn't out of line to consider the inspiration behind the newest video. "It's a combination of elements, specifically because on To the Bardos! I tried to hit on every major esoteric subject on every front," Torgersen said. "I feel like we hit the propaganda, Illuminati stuff pretty well on our first videos. [So] I wanted to hit the extraterrestrial element. At the same exact time I was thinking about making an off-world alien video, Matty was, like, 'I think we need to make an alien/human love story. I was sold."

Torgersen has a great collaborative relationship with Steinkamp, as evidenced in their previous videos. "I like how Matty set it in the not-so-distant future," Torgersen says. "Because I would like to see a not-so-distant future where we are interacting with extraterrestrials in a meaningful way. Because I think they are interacting with us right now, but that the message and relationship is not that clear."

"When I heard this song for the first time, I instantly began writing a concept for the music video," Steinkamp says. "I felt that the dreamy beginning of the song demanded a cinematic story with a futuristic time period. With many different influences, from Star Wars to Star Trek. I came up with an alien-human love story placed on Earth with the idea that the human would help the alien escape so she can go back home to her planet of Bardonia."

The name of her planet was one of many aspects during the making of the video that referred back to the album, almost unintentionally.

"There were some connections to the album that started to unfold," Torgersen says. "When we were painting [actress Shela Yu] blue, I thought, 'This is the girl from our album cover! We also coined that her planet was Bardonia pretty quickly."

"S33K" is the first Captain Squeegee video that doesn't feature the band onscreen. You've seen the group performing live in "Shift Happens," as claymation characters in "Inevitable," as mad circus performers and more in "The Factory," and most recently as cartoons in "Farce 500-Million." "S33K" stars Yu and Samuel Pena, but the band members are nowhere to be found.

"I think we wanted to make a new world for people," Torgersen says, grinning. "The band still ties you to this reality. It was cool, too, since at the end, it all makes sense. We have remade Romeo and Juliet, but Juliet is an alien."

Indeed, its themes — including persecution, death, and, of course, love — are not far off from the Shakespearean classic.

UPCOMING EVENTS

The Zombies
TICKETS
Sun., Sep. 11, 8:00pm
Counting Crows & Rob Thomas
TICKETS
Tue., Sep. 13, 6:45pm
Ray LaMontagne
TICKETS
Wed., Sep. 14, 7:00pm
Hall & Oates
TICKETS
Wed., Sep. 14, 7:00pm
Future Now - The Tour
TICKETS
Fri., Sep. 16, 7:00pm
"Love is not a logical thing," Torgersen says. "It is not a reasonable, rational thing. It's why Kirk will never be like Spock."

The video also perfectly achieves the aims of its creators. "The biggest thing I want people to take from the video is that love is not exclusive to this planet," Torgersen says, smiling. "But that humans may not be ready to be off of it, which may be the reason that we're not in direct communication — yet."

Steinkamp had his own goals. "I really wanted to make a music video as close to a short film as possible with real-life-looking makeup and effects," he says.

That's exactly what he and Captain Squeegee have done, but you don't have to take his word for it or mine. Just sit back, relax, and check out the glorious new video for "S33K." - Phoenix New Times

East Valley rockers Captain Squeegee and director Matty Steinkamp have dreamed up a dizzying blend of sideshow antics, political parody and the best sort of scenery-chewing performance from front man Danny Torgersen as a wild-eyed ringmaster.

And those are just some of the elements that make the freshly premiered music video for "The Factory" from last year's "To the Bardos" such a wild, intoxicating ride. It also has some of the loopiest choreography in recent history, a tattooed fire breather setting her own arm on fire and a madcap tug-of-war between two political leaders.

The end result is every bit as zany as the early days of Primus. And it suits the song, which begins with a melancholy rewrite of the melody to the Star-Spangled Banner on what sounds for all the world like a melting music box. There are plenty of horns. And when Torgersen starts to sing, it's to inform you that "The world is flat / You must relax / 'Til the sun is back / But is that a fact?"

A star-making turn for Torgersen, "The Factory" would have fit right in on "120 Minutes" in the early '90s. In the best way possible. - AZ Central

East Valley rockers Captain Squeegee and director Matty Steinkamp have dreamed up a dizzying blend of sideshow antics, political parody and the best sort of scenery-chewing performance from front man Danny Torgersen as a wild-eyed ringmaster.

And those are just some of the elements that make the freshly premiered music video for "The Factory" from last year's "To the Bardos" such a wild, intoxicating ride. It also has some of the loopiest choreography in recent history, a tattooed fire breather setting her own arm on fire and a madcap tug-of-war between two political leaders.

The end result is every bit as zany as the early days of Primus. And it suits the song, which begins with a melancholy rewrite of the melody to the Star-Spangled Banner on what sounds for all the world like a melting music box. There are plenty of horns. And when Torgersen starts to sing, it's to inform you that "The world is flat / You must relax / 'Til the sun is back / But is that a fact?"

A star-making turn for Torgersen, "The Factory" would have fit right in on "120 Minutes" in the early '90s. In the best way possible. - AZ Central

For days now, Captain Squeegee has been promising concrete evidence of extraterrestrial life. Here it is, a direct communication from interplanetary beings in the form of a music video. It turns out it may be the members of Captain Squeegee who are, indeed, the aliens. You might be thinking, "Another new video from Captain Squeegee?" Well, it turns out that this merry band of madman and mysterians have put out some of the most compelling videos, to match their equally visionary music. Not to be undone by previous efforts, the band ups the game a bit, and the video for "S33K" plays more like an engaging short film, immersing you in a story, unlike a standard video.

"S33K" is the fifth video drawn from Captain Squeegee's landmark 2013 album, To the Bardos!, released on local label 80/20 Records, and it's almost certainly not the last. It also is the band's third collaboration with Matty Steinkamp of Sundawg Media. We sat down with lead sorcerer Danny Torgersen to talk about the video after Saturday night's mysterious "missile launch/alien sighting" in Arizona. After an hour of discussing extraterrestrials, metaphysics, mystical arts, and secret societies, we finally got down to business. We both agreed that, in Torgersen's words, "there was a giant fucking sky-sighting [Saturday] night!"

It wasn't out of line to consider the inspiration behind the newest video. "It's a combination of elements, specifically because on To the Bardos! I tried to hit on every major esoteric subject on every front," Torgersen said. "I feel like we hit the propaganda, Illuminati stuff pretty well on our first videos. [So] I wanted to hit the extraterrestrial element. At the same exact time I was thinking about making an off-world alien video, Matty was, like, 'I think we need to make an alien/human love story. I was sold."

Torgersen has a great collaborative relationship with Steinkamp, as evidenced in their previous videos. "I like how Matty set it in the not-so-distant future," Torgersen says. "Because I would like to see a not-so-distant future where we are interacting with extraterrestrials in a meaningful way. Because I think they are interacting with us right now, but that the message and relationship is not that clear."

"When I heard this song for the first time, I instantly began writing a concept for the music video," Steinkamp says. "I felt that the dreamy beginning of the song demanded a cinematic story with a futuristic time period. With many different influences, from Star Wars to Star Trek. I came up with an alien-human love story placed on Earth with the idea that the human would help the alien escape so she can go back home to her planet of Bardonia."

The name of her planet was one of many aspects during the making of the video that referred back to the album, almost unintentionally.

"There were some connections to the album that started to unfold," Torgersen says. "When we were painting [actress Shela Yu] blue, I thought, 'This is the girl from our album cover! We also coined that her planet was Bardonia pretty quickly."

"S33K" is the first Captain Squeegee video that doesn't feature the band onscreen. You've seen the group performing live in "Shift Happens," as claymation characters in "Inevitable," as mad circus performers and more in "The Factory," and most recently as cartoons in "Farce 500-Million." "S33K" stars Yu and Samuel Pena, but the band members are nowhere to be found.

"I think we wanted to make a new world for people," Torgersen says, grinning. "The band still ties you to this reality. It was cool, too, since at the end, it all makes sense. We have remade Romeo and Juliet, but Juliet is an alien."

Indeed, its themes — including persecution, death, and, of course, love — are not far off from the Shakespearean classic.

"Love is not a logical thing," Torgersen says. "It is not a reasonable, rational thing. It's why Kirk will never be like Spock."

The video also perfectly achieves the aims of its creators. "The biggest thing I want people to take from the video is that love is not exclusive to this planet," Torgersen says, smiling. "But that humans may not be ready to be off of it, which may be the reason that we're not in direct communication — yet."


Steinkamp had his own goals. "I really wanted to make a music video as close to a short film as possible with real-life-looking makeup and effects," he says.

That's exactly what he and Captain Squeegee have done, but you don't have to take his word for it or mine. Just sit back, relax, and check out the glorious new video for "S33K." - Phoenix New Times

Frontman/trumpeter Danny Torgerson, with his chest-to-falsetto vocal histrionics, sets the pace for Capt. S with an energy that is irrepressible and unpredictable—and his band mates are up to the challenge, navigating every eccentric dip and turn with agility. “Dually Noted,” “The Factory” and “The Farce...” are components of this progressive rock carnival, which delights in taking jabs at mainstream
 frauds and follies. Inquisitive, accusatory and, above all, wickedly clever, the recordings are as impressive as they are overwhelming, and will take time for mere mortals to absorb. But the band knows how to keep things buoyant and up-energy. So, while we’re doubtful about their film/TV prospects, we expect this Tempe, AZ sextet puts on one helluva live show. - Music Connection

As upstart bands eye their throne, Captain Squeegee fervently works to defend the crown as Phoenix music video kings. The Mesa-based atomic jazz fusion ensemble has been steadily producing the highest-quality music videos in the Phoenix indie scene, with a barrage of videos in multiple disciplines.


The first video to come from Squeegee’s 2013 album To The Bardos was the Johnny McHone-animated claymation apocalypse epic “Inevitable,” which was followed up by the Matty Steinkamp circus freakout “The Factory.” Today, Captain Squeegee is releasing its newest multimedia work, another McHone production — “The Farce 500 Million.”

The song already is outrageous enough, with more time signatures and BPM shifts than probably any other local song ever written. That isn’t to say that "Farce" isn’t totally off the wall, just like its creators and its new animated music video.

“I love busting out all these mediums, and “Seek” is our next video that’s going to be a no-band video. It’s gonna be like a short film and that excites me a lot. But 'Farce' is our video with the least narrative, which excites me possibly even more. I want to make a bunch of videos on such a different wavelength than each other because if people see one, they will hopefully watch another, and that’s how you start a cult,” says Danny Torgersen, Captain Squeegee’s lead singer. “I couldn't be more happy that Johnny picked 'Farce,' because when I believe in somebody I want them to take my baby and raise it. It’s still my baby at the DNA level but its gonna turn into a completely different awesome person.”

It doesn’t hurt when the person that the musical baby is being passed off to happens to be an accomplished animator who has a credit on the Adult Swim show Mr. Pickles. Nor that the baby’s parents (Captain Squeegee) spent about an EP’s worth of money rearing it (so to speak), according to Torgersen.

A small price to pay however, considering how important this video is to Torgersen and Squeegee’s plan for global domination.

“I am a space alien lizard from the Drago star system and I’m here to take over bitches, and you better not front cause I got friends,” says Torgersen. “The plan is obvious and the fact that no one can stop it is proof that it should happen, and that’s why I put 'novus ordos seclorum' at the end of the video, and that's why everyone is going to look it up. Because they’re gonna be weirded out when it happens that’s why I put it in the song. Like, why is Danny hauntingly screaming Latin right now? And it’s because I didn’t write that shit. It’s on the dollar bill beneath the giant freaky 13-stepped pyramid that is looking into your soul saying ‘continue being a mind slave.'" - Phoenix New Times

Local rockers Captain Squeegee and director Matty Steinkamp, who topped our countdown of best local music videos for 2014 with “The Factory,” have taken a radically different approach on the just-released “Seek,” another highlight of 2013's “To the Bardos.”

It’s a futuristic science-fiction romance set in part on the planet Bardonia in 2020 but mostly here on Earth in 2019, which suits the atmospheric grandeur of the song, produced at Flying Blanket Recordings by the great Bob Hoag. And yes, the decision to make the dystopian future just around the corner is a brilliant if unsettling touch.

The action centers on a star-crossed interplanetary love affair. He’s bearded. She has blue skin. And they’re being chased, apparently while doing what they can to get the blue-skinned girl home safely to Bardonia.

The cinematography, which features some breathtaking aerial shots of Arizona mountains, is stunning, and the pace is action-packed. Everything about this video, in fact, feels a little like Steinkamp is testing the waters for a move into directing short films now that he’s wrapped production on his music documentary, “Play.”

Perhaps the biggest difference between this video and their collaboration on “The Factory” is that singer Danny Torgersen, who stole the show in that one, is kept to small supporting roles here -- flashlight-wielding military man and a guy in a chem suit. The horn players have a small role as security guards, and the trombone player rides a motorcycle in the chase scene. But the action focuses on actors Shela Yu and Samuel Pena.

The video premiered on YouTube Wednesday, Nov. 11. - AZ Central

For Captain Squeegee's last video off of their 2013 L.P To The Bardos, "Inevitable," the atomic jazz fusion seven-piece tapped the amazing claymation skills of animator Johnny McHone. The resulting video was easily the most creative in town for the year 2013. As a follow up, Captain Squeegee may have done it again with their second video from the album "The Factory" directed by Matty Steinkamp.


"We wanted to make something that was as rightfully zany and dark as the song. I think a lot of people think of Captain Squeegee as maybe a little silly and funny but if you really pay attention there is all these political and conspiratorial themes in the music. So this video was our first attempt to make a point but still keep it as psychedelic as possible," says Captain Squeegee front man Danny Torgersen. "I want people to watch it and wonder what it was about. I want people to feel like they were forcibly given a hallucinogen and now they have to think about the experience that they had... It's like if [CIA mind control project MKUltra] was a music video and funny."

See also: Captain Squeegee Discovers Clay Aliens and a Few Apocalypses in Band's Ridiculous New Video

The video is set in a funhouse with the over the top Torgersen theatrically portraying the ring leader of a wild political circus complete with a top hat and tails. "Who's making the facts," asks the lyrics of the song. A question which Torgersen says he hopes people will consider after watching his band's politically psychedelic video.

Steinkamp's vision was to "turn a warehouse into funhouse with each room showing a different part of the factory where the political lies and half truths are coming from," according to Torgersen. "You can't help but have fun in there even though there is clearly something scary going on. It's like a terrifying pun, the factory is where the facts are made, and I just hope it makes people think twice about what they think is true and false and whose telling them.Its all the same circus."

It's not cheap however to make a point. According to Torgersen, of all of Captain Squeegee's videos,this one had the most resources put into it. Without getting into exact numbers the eccentric trumpeter said the cost of the video "was worth it." The band had to pay for costume rentals, location rentals, and of course the cost of having one of Phoenix's premier video makers behind the lens.

Torgersen and his band left to their own devices are capable of amazing things, but according to Danny much of the design of this video is owed to creative genious of Steinkamp.

"I don't think we could have done this without Matty Steinkamp directing. He made a film that is so cinematic that you can't help but watch it and be entranced," says Torgersen. "He wanted to mix the music theater parts of the band with the trippy parts of the band with the jazzy parts of the band. It's very much a collage of everything the band is about, with this super dark twist. I don't think people are expecting that from us, so I am pretty excited."

Torgersen and bandmate Austin Mack are currently in Fullerton Calif. acting as counsellors and instructors at Camp Jam. But they will be back for a July 28 gig at Crescent Ballroom, opening for Foxy Shazam. - Phoenix New Times