Published November 24, 2010
If you frequent some of the regular art walks and farmerss markets around Sarasota, you may have seen a band of teens entertaining crowds with some rather unorthodox versions of your favorite Beatles songs. But these covers are no mash-up, more like a trash-up, because they’re played on trash. Literally.
The Garbage Men — comprised of a quartet of Pine View freshmen — started their band last summer as a way to not only have some fun playing music, but to draw attention to green living and what can be accomplished through recycling and a little ingenuity. Seeing how they all play on instruments salvaged from random household items, they’re obviously not lacking in the imagination department. But what they’ve managed to use as building material is quite impressive.
Lead guitarist Jack shreds up a yardstick guitar neck with toothpicks in place of frets and a Mini Wheats box to hold the rig together (I guess it’s a hollow body…). Bassist Alex gears up with a fretless section of stairway banister attached to a large cigar box. Horn player Harrison mostly works with PVC piping and funnels as opposed to your standard brass. And percussionist Ollie rounds out the outfit with the most fitting setup of all: a trashcan drum kit. (more…)