Savannah Gets Captured! By Robots
by thinkrevelry
Captured! By Robots, an eight piece robot band, with only one human performer, will take over the Jinx on Saturday, May 8th. In an exclusive telephone interview, creator and founder, Jay Vance, known as JBOT gave an in-depth look at what it’s like to be the only person in a robot band.
For many years, Vance found difficulty in forming bands with humans. People in the bands either had giant egos or couldn’t go on tour because of family obligations.
“I figured that this is just sucking. I had to have a band that could continue and would be relatively easy. Basically, I either had to build robots or quit music. So one day, I decided to build a robot. I had never done anything like it before. I just sort of came up with the idea and improved it. It’s been working ever since,” said Vance.
The actual process of learning to build robots took about 1 year. Captured! By Robots has performed consecutively for 12 years since their formation. Since then, he has even built robots for non-musical purposes.
“I built my niece a giant blue story-telling lion. In order to ship it, it was so big that I had to send her the head and have her Mom stuff it after it arrived with packing peanuts after it came through the mail. She loved it,” said Vance.
After these creations, the inventor says now he concentrates mostly on musical robots. Commonly people misconceive that Captured! By Robots is just a name. Anyone who has been to their show can attest that the robots are actually playing instruments.
“[A lot of people] think that the robots make beeping sounds, when they are real robots that play real instruments and they sound great! I mean, I’d put us up against any band and we’ll probably put on a more entertaining show than most bands out there.”
Having played trombone as a kid, Vance then picked up guitar, drums, bass and piano. He programs his robots to perform what he writes. In addition to writing, Captured! By Robots hosts many themed tours.
“I had the “We Got Married by Captured!By Robots” tour where I actually married couples. Savannah was great. The people at the Jinx decorated the club with wedding bells and wedding paraphernalia. We had cake at every show. Two guys even came to get married in wedding dresses.”
Although getting married at a show, can be pretty wild, Vance’s most memorable performance was for the Ten Commandments tour. The tour basically served as a musical adaptation of the movie, where Vance, as JBOT, played Moses.
“Yeah, it was great! I parted the Red Sea. I held up my staff and everybody moved aside. I got all the Hebrews and we walked out of Egypt. It was so, so wonderful.”
As far as this Spring tour goes, Captured! By Robots may find it hard to out-do themselves.
“Basically,[I want to do] a tour based on the ending of humanity. I’m torn as whether to do it as the various ways the human race will die out or a life story of humanity leading up to the end. The robots will be showing off for that tour. One thing that I’ve learned is that the robots can play incredibly fast and incredibly accurate.”
The show will begin at 11PM, Saturday, May 8th at the Jinx. Cover is 10$ in advance, 12$ at the door.
-Photo courtesy of Captured! By Robots
