Banditos

Originally from Birmingham, AL, Banditos is a group - more like a gang, actually - of six 20-somethings, nowadays operating out of Nashville. The members of the band first met playing in various punk and rock 'n' roll projects around Birmingham at D.I.Y., all-ages venues. In 2010, Corey Parsons and Stephen Pierce began busking around town and were asked to perform at their favorite local bar. Without a full band, they invited friends to join them. Salter and Wade studied together at music school learning classical/jazz techniques, while Richardson's background was mostly singing in church choirs. The members soon moved into a house together in Birmingham. After repeated tours through Nashville, they decided to move the band there instead, where the music scene was bigger and more diverse. The sextet has since developed their unique and airtight sound, culminated through several years of enduring friendships and a roaddog touring schedule that has, at their count, numbered over 600 shows in the last three years.

Banditos' self-titled debut album was released on May 12, 2015 and gathered rave press from NPR Music, Consequence of Sound, The AV Club, Playboy Magazine, and more.

Artist Feature

Banditos know a lot about being out on tour - in the last three years, this six piece group has played over 600 shows! Naturally, we had to ask them about some of their tour necessities, what they love about the road, and how awesome traveling with your best friends is.

Tell the Feed The Beat community about Banditos in one sentence: A band of scarecrows awakened by the wail of a banshee form a rock n roll outfit in order to remind humans that it's fun to have fun.

You guys are already out on the road, and you'll be out there all summer! What are you looking forward to the most? I'm just excited about spreading the good news to the good folks who are in need of some good news. It's a pretty amazing thing we get to do for a living. There's a lot of interesting people and places in this crazy world and we're just now scratching the surface of it. We're touring outside the country for the first time later this summer. That's one of the coolest things that's ever happened to me.

On your self-titled album (which just came out!), you can hear a lot of different musical influences. Were there any in particular that you felt gave the record life? We're all over the place musically. I think not leaning too hard on any one specific musical influence is what makes this album different.

With 6 members in your travelin' show, touring seems like it's a pretty big adventure. What's the best part about playing shows with a big band? Aside from giving us a lot more to work with musically, it's nice to always have an entourage of five of your best friends. We're a party at all times.

What are some "must haves" for Banditos while you're touring? Personally, I've learned that the less stuff I have on the road the happier I am. Also, when you have less things there's less of a chance of losing or breaking your things. CLEAN SOCKS. There's nothing worse for morale than crusty-ass socks. The van is always stocked with jugs of water and multivitamins, apparently that stuff helps with hangovers or something. Books. Books are good.

Take a look at the video for "The Breeze":