Update from Blanco of TB5

Hello World from Beverly Hills Ca where its a cool 60 degrees, the fire truck sirens have ceased just long enough for me to concentrate a bit to write( and eventually send) a little update from The Bangkok Five camp, or more precisely from Blanco & Frost. There is a little excitement in the air at the moment, and Im here to tell you about it. For those of you that have been "following" along online, you may have noticed how often we have been in the studio. For all of our wonderful tB5 fans out there you should know that the new songs are coming along great and we have recorded close to 2 records worth of new material and we arent stopping anytime soon. But thats not the news Im most excited to share with you. For you west coasters, I should also let you know that Ive recently seen some potential tour dates for the end of May, but that also is not what Im most excited to share with you.
At this time I would like to share the following video/ commercial with you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWQ_5LOhbiA



www.Zappos.com

You may be wondering why Im sending you a Zappos commercial. Well let me explain. While writing new tB5 music, Frost & myself came to the conclusion that we had lots of music that needed to come out that wasnt for tB5, so we started a new project. Less than 3 weeks later, we have written and recorded a new record, started a new band, and have the support from Zappos in all of their new commercials.
Black Light Poster Children featuring Frost & Blanco of The Bangkok Five along with new supasta sensation Struggles. Also including a variety of guest musicians and appearances from other amazing songwriters.

Its kind of funny that a few weeks ago I was talking to the owner of Thrust Drums, Mario, about how 2 white kids were making the sickest, fattest black record with BIG drum sounds and funk sprayed all over its face... his response encapsulates the WHY we made this record. "Blanco & Frost have more funk, more groove than most and probably bleed black." Whatever the hell that meant, only fueled our desire to make this record.

A response to other white kids thinking they could make a funk record?
Our desire to go where we feel most fell short?
No other choice than to create and exude what moves us?

So we went ahead and signed a record deal with Authentic Artist and will be releasing our debut album on Itunes on May 12th.

Black Light Poster Children
myspace.com/BlackLightPosterChildren
( we just started this profile and would greatly appreciate the friends :)

All of this has happened at light speed and while a million other things are happening, but we are very proud to present this music for your listening pleasure. If you find yourself enjoying the new tune, bobbing your head, humming along, feel free to spread the disease. Seeing as how even our fans didnt know about this, its crystal clear as to why all the people hearing it on the Zappos commercial for the first time cant figure out who we are. Let them know! on the you tube comments and give them the link to find us. We will be adding more new tunes in the next few days, along with more pictures and art and information so keep checking it out.
Myspace.com/BlackLightPosterChildren
Featuring Blanco & Frost of The Bangkok Five.

This is only the tip of the iceburg. I will have lots more exciting news and updates for all of you in the weeks to come. We will be keeping things as up to date as possible via all social networking sites, but for up to the minute news feel free to stalk, i mean follow me, at twitter.com/rayblanco or facebook ray blanco.

Thank you all for your continual support, your patience, and most importantly thank you for listening to our music, our passion, our art. Lets have some fun :)

~blanco

The Smiths - What Difference Does It Make (TB5 Cover)

We've posted a new cover of The Smiths track "What Difference Does It Make" on Youtube. This is taken from our series the E-Lab Sessions streaming weekly on LiveVideo.

New show announced at Dragonfly

We are playing a show on September 20th at the Dragonfly in Hollywood. Check out the banner above for information.

THE PAST - PART 2

So my good friend (the one with some degree of success in the entertainment industry) had some interesting things to say about his trip "home" to his high school class reunion...

Firstly, he did state that it was absolutely fantastic to see his childhood friends, for the most part, happy and healthy.
Most of which working in the medical field, or in education as it were.
He did say that a lot of them never left the immediate area after high school or college, maybe due to family, or possibly the great, nationally recognized school system for their children's educational needs.

Then came the onslaught...
He seemed to strap on his +3 helmet of bitterness, and let loose on his white picket-fenced classmates.
"How can somebody just settle for the easy road, where everything is laid out for you? Where all your answers are stuffed in your Wal-Mart indulging asses, while being programmed by Fox News every night?...
Go to college, knock-up, or be knocked-up by your sweetheart(makes puke face), squeeze out some puppies, have them destroy your life, spend all your money, and THEN YOU DIE!!!"
Though I saw his point, I thought he was maybe a little frustrated by his "less ambitious than thou" mentality that so many of his (fallen) comrades seemed to exhibit.

I told him he was EXTREMELY lucky to be so goddamm talented,and to have recognized his potential so early in life, and that VERY few people hear that call, or invest themselves into their "spirit mission".

"People don't think enough, with all their bullshit religion,popularity-chasing and materialism... they're crippled by fear and the possibility of FAILURE, if people just went for it, there would be a lot less regret in the world..."
I again saw his point, probably because of our similar occupations and how it dominates every aspect of our lives.
"If people just saw their path,made the right choices, they'd be so much happier!"

"Are you happy?" I asked. After two failed engagements, holding numerous shitty jobs, moving from one to another part of town, watching people getting burned all around him by his business associates, having his name dragged through the mud by some, maxed-out credit cards, drug and alcohol dependency issues, sex-addiction, insomnia, he said: "Yes, and they all treated me like I was famous, or other-worldly, very strange..." He went on; "Their kids wanted my autograph, and pictures taken with me, while I asked their parents if they thought that was appropriate."

Then I saw something in his face change. Had all of those high school classmates of his had finally accepted him, because of their children's approval? "NO!" was his reply. I told him that he symbolized something very important to all of them, even his detractors. He represented the ambition of the 4.0 gpa honor roll student. The tenacity and determination of the state champion wrestler. The social grace and magnetism of the upper echelons of high school society. The artistry, and creativity of the"creepiest", under-achieving genius in the corner, tinkering away... He became something far greater than he could imagine during those never-ending winters and two-a-day football practices in the summer: Himself: Artist, genius, champion, brainiac, warrior. "I guess that's why they were so happy to see me..." he said. His classmates were the ones who inspired him to dig deeper, work harder, get OUT quicker! A good example of not living in the past, but instead, recognizing the impact it has had on the present.

So,the next time you see some old,washed-up, never-has-been doing what they do, maybe they are at the peak of their career :) Contrary to what mainstream American culture tells us regarding everyone being exceptional, or talented, or pretty, or a good dancer, and that the camera awaits us all, Remember... Someone has to operate the camera, click that clicky-thing and yell;

"QUIET ON THE SET!!!"
"STUNTCOCK!?!"

Then the comes the money-shot ;]

Lucky bastard...

The E-Lab Sessions: MGMT's "Time to Pretend"

Check out the latest E-Lab session with The Bangkok Five covering MGMT's "Time to Pretend".

The Big Bang: Watch Nik Frost paint the studio wall live!

"I'm going to be painting the south wall of our new recording studio from 8PM to 11PM tomorrow night as the episode of our Fri night show, "The Big Bang!". Check out the live stream at..

www.livevideo.com/thebangkokfive

- Nik Frost / TB5

The E-Lab Sessions - Weezer's "Pork and Beans"!!

Check out the latest E-Lab Sessions with Weezer's "Pork and Beans"!!