Beangrowers are a

Maltese Maltese may refer to: * Someone or something of, from, or related to Malta * Maltese alphabet * Maltese cuisine * Maltese culture * Maltese language, the Semitic language spoken by Maltese people * Maltese people, people from Malta or of Malte ...

three-piece indie rock band consisting of Alison Galea ( vocals and guitar), Mark Sansone ( bass guitar) and Ian Schranz (

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

and noise). All three were born in 1977 in

St. Julian's Saint Julian's ( mt, San Ġiljan) is a town in the Central Region of Malta. As of 2020, its registered number of inhabitants stands at 13,792. It is situated along the coast, north of the country's capital, Valletta. It is known for tourism-or ...

, Malta. The members of the band are also songwriters, resulting in their albums reflecting diverse influences, including indie rock, punk, and goth.

History

Ian Schranz (

Bark Bark Disco Ian Schranz, (born March 9, 1977) best known by the stage name Bark Bark Disco, is a Maltese indie musician. Schranz first began his career as the drummer of the band Beangrowers before establishing himself as a solo artist. Schranz released ...

) and Mark Sansone met in church and were childhood friends from the age of 8, and later started playing music together. They were joined by mutual friend Alison Galea, who proved to be a capable singer. The band went through a number of fourth members before settling on their current three-musician composition. According to the band's official site, the name "Beangrowers" was given by a fan when a promoter demanded a name for

poster A poster is a large sheet that is placed either on a public space to promote something or on a wall as decoration. Typically, posters include both typography, textual and graphic elements, although a poster may be either wholly graphical or w ...

s. According to this story, the band had not previously decided on a name. Alison, also a

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselv ...

and keyboardist, provides a distinctive and vaguely British-accented voice to Beangrowers songs. Her voice has been described as sweet yet sultry.

Drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one mem ...

Ian Schranz also orchestrates the drum machines and other electronic noise for the songs, while Mark Sansone is the Beangrower's

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a Bass (instrument), bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboar ...

. Schranz, and his brother, bought what has been described as the oldest bar in Sliema, on a dare, in 2015. Their gentrification included making it a venue for live music. The Beangrowers recorded demo tapes in early 1996 when they were just 18. Early recordings featured sounds from 1950s science fiction movies and

computer A computer is a machine that can be programmed to Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as C ...

-generated noise. Within a year they travelled to play in German clubs which resulted in a positive response. The Beangrowers record heavily in English but they are possibly best known in the German-speaking world. In 1999 their first single made the top 20 of the Deutsche Alternative Charts, an alternative rock sales ranking in Germany. They also have become a minor hit in New Zealand where the single "José Clemente" from their album ''Beangrowers'' reached No. 7 on New Zealand charts and achieved steady rotation on Juice TV, the New Zealand equivalent of

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

. Relatively obscure in large English-speaking markets, various critics have voiced their opinion that they would do very well in Britain and the United States if more popularly known.. Their song, The Priest, has been featured on the soundtrack of

Wim Wenders Ernst Wilhelm "Wim" Wenders (; born 14 August 1945) is a German filmmaker, playwright, author, and photographer. He is a major figure in New German Cinema. Among many honors, he has received three nominations for the Academy Award for Best Docum ...

2004 movie

Land of Plenty ''Land of Plenty'' is a 2004 American drama film directed by Wim Wenders starring Michelle Williams and John Diehl. The title of the film comes from the song "The Land of Plenty" from the album '' Ten New Songs'', written by Leonard Cohen and ...

The Times Thursday, September 16, 2004, 00:00 by Fiona Galea Debono. On-Line: retrieved 06Feb2019 featuring Michelle Williams. Alison has also lent her voice to the Academy Award

soundtrack for the film '' Pina'' 2011, the biopic on the contemporary dance choreographer Pina Bausch. They have recently worked on the soundtrack for the movie Love Me (2012) by Rick Bota.

Musical style

Musically the group is influenced by other alternative groups like the Violent Femmes, Joy Division, and the Pixies, but with an alternative pop sound. The band itself readily admits to this noting that "all the greats essentially wrote pop songs, like The Cure, Nirvana,

Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in Basildon, Essex, in 1980. The band currently consists of Dave Gahan (lead vocals and co-songwriting) and Martin Gore (keyboards, guitar, co-lead vocals and main songwriting). Depeche ...

etc." Many of Beangrowers songs, such as "Teen Titans" with repeating lyrics "We never listen to the radio" seem to reference the band's own obscure indie status.

Discography

Albums

*''48K'', June 1999
Review
*''Beangrowers'', April 2001
Review
*''Dance Dance Baby'', October 2004
Review
*''Not In A Million Lovers'', April 2008
Review 12

Singles

*''Astroboy'', March 1999 *''Genzora'', July 1999 *''Jose Clemente'', 1999 (New Zealand only) *''Feel'', May 2000 *''Teen Titans'', April 2001 *''This Year's Love'', 2002 *''You Are You Are'', October 2004 *''I Like You'', January 2006 (UK only) *''Not In A Million Lovers'', April 2008

References

External links

Official Beangrowers Webpage

German Beangrowers SiteBeangrowers on MySpace.comBeangrowers on CDbaby.com
{{Authority control Maltese alternative rock groups Musical groups established in 1999 1999 establishments in Malta