IBOPA (band)

History
IBOPA (pronounced eye-boh-pah) is nine-piece band of a mish-mosh genre personally dubbed "Cinematic Death Mambo" from Palo Alto, California. Their name is an abbreviation for the "Indestructible Beat of Palo Alto", a parody on the album The Indestructible Beat of Soweto. At one point, they tried to shorten the name to something less obnoxious, but they couldn't agree on a final solution. The band name, all lyrics, and a great deal of the creative process can be credited to frontman Jamie Stewart, with Don Dias expanding on Stewart's ideas. IBOPA lasted around for about two years before they decided to break up as their label, Spongebath Records (subset of Elektra Records), dissolved 90% of their clientele. They played their last show on July 4, 1999.

As the band split apart, some moved on to other musical endeavors. Cory, Don, Jamie, Kurt, and Tim planned and formed Ten in the Swear Jar before IBOPA ended. Eventually, that disbanded too, and Cory and Jamie currently work on Xiu Xiu.

Discography

 * 1996 - Squids: Obsession and Devotion
 * 1997 - Ballads for Benpadrone
 * 1998 - When You Write

Members

 * Michael Stewart (father of Jamie Stewart) on bass


 * Big Daddy Rucker and Styx (Brady Fischler/ Tim Kirby) on drums and percussion


 * Bionic Millionaire (Joan Ling) on violin and vocals


 * DJ Fonzi Dream Taco (Mikel Zwissler) on optigan and synths


 * Fuck Machine (Tim Kirby) on double bass


 * Gigantor (Mecca-gigantor) (Cory McCulloch) on slide guitar and mandolin


 * Joe Stewart


 * Kona the Smiling Burger (Don Dias) on accordion


 * Orlando Furioso (Kurt Stumbaugh) on baritone sax


 * Purring Mantis (Jamie Stewart) on lead vocals and guitar


 * Tim Kirby on trumpet and drums