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We Are Scientists

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Location: Brooklyn, NY

Website: http://myspace.com/wearescientists

Bio: Beginnings

W.A.S. is a band with two primary, famous members: Keith Austin Murray (‘Keith’) and Christopher Ian Cain (‘Christopher I. Cain’). The two met at college ... (more) in Southern California, where it’s fair to say that they both majored in ‘Babes’. Although that wasn’t technically a focus available at their college, one could definitely assert that had it been possible to do so, both Keith and Chris would have graduated with honors in ‘Babes’. Not that there was anything ‘honorable’ about the way the two went about their ‘course work’, as it were. No, they left a trail of scorched social earth everywhere they went, everywhere their ‘studies’ took them. Such was their tendency to end relationships on a sour note that by junior year they were reduced to poaching students from a high school ten minutes down the road – no one at their college would even consider a romantic entanglement with Keith, much less with Chris. Shortly after graduation, in the autumn of 1999, in a desperate shot at reinvention, Chris and Keith formed a band. The rest, as they say, happened after that. 

A Fantastic New Record

On the forthcoming Barbara, W.A.S. recruited Andy Burrows (former hitter-guy for Razorlight) to drum. Andy moved to New York for the summer of 2009 and began work with Chris on that crucial rhythm section trick: playing at the same time. Keith, meanwhile, decamped to Athens, Georgia, to take inspiration from the lack of New York accents, and the songs began to take shape. They recorded that fall in London, Los Angeles, & NYC. This geographical diversity could be seen as a metaphor for how disparate the three musicians are as people. Chris likes chicken; Andy likes lamb, while Keith is a vegetarian. All three appreciate beer, but sometimes, when drinking together at a pub, they order different brands. (That is rare, though.) 
It is a happy accident, then, that Murray, Cain, and Burrows were able to mesh their musical inclinations to such a compelling end on the songs of Barbara, a record that sees them return to the stripped-down production sensibilities of W.A.S.’s gold-selling debut, With Love & Squalor, while continuing to hone the melodic knack that has made them popular with fans and men who work for months at sea. 

F.A.Q.

How many albums has W.A.S. put out so far?  Two: Brain Thrust Mastery (2008), and With Love & Squalor (2005). With the release of Barbara, how many will that be total?  Seven.

Does the band play live shows?  W.A.S. has toured everywhere you would assume they have, plus Malaysia. They’ve supported R.E.M., Kings of Leon, Arctic Monkeys, Kaiser Chiefs, Editors, & The Pixies, as well as a few bands who are now less famous than W.A.S., making it pointless to list them. And festivals?  From Glastonbury to Coachella, Reading & Leeds to Summersonic, Lowlands to Benicassim, W.A.S. have played festivals, yes. What’s the highest a W.A.S. single has charted?  Because they’ve never had a top 10 single (After Hours peaked at #11), the band think that’s a stupid, if frequently asked, question.

Playing in a band is one of those incredibly desirable careers that barely counts as “work” – do the band do anything that could be considered remotely taxing?  Besides working out with weights, Keith & Chris have dabbled in television. In the fall of 2009, MTV-UK aired a series of shorts called Steve Wants His Money written by and starring the bi-talented duo. Negotiations are underway to produce another show, this one with episodes as long as 30 minutes(!). 
More about Chris and Keith

Keith plays guitar and sings, but Chris plays bass guitar and handles backing vocals. Chris grew up in Utah, yet to this day is not Mormon. Keith grew up in Miami, the setting for Scarface, TV’s Dexter, and one book. Keith lives in Brooklyn. Chris has two cats that he doesn’t really give a shit about, at the end of the day. (less)