Recycled Percussion is a
Laconia, New Hampshire
Laconia is a city in Belknap County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 16,871 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, up from 15,951 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. It is the county seat of Belknap County. La ...
-based band. The group was originally formed in
Goffstown, New Hampshire
Goffstown is a town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 18,577 at the 2020 census. The compact center of town, where 3,366 people resided at the 2020 census, is defined by the U.S. Census Bureau as the Goffst ...
.
History
Justin Spencer formed Recycled Percussion in 1995 for a high school talent show. Spencer, looking to be more creative than using traditional instruments, took the idea of playing buckets, which was introduced to him in the subways of
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. Spencer then added more and more instruments to the show and expanded on the New York style of street percussion. Spencer specialized in using
recycled
Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. The recovery of energy from waste materials is often included in this concept. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability to reacquire the p ...
materials to build instruments.
The band started to take off in 1999 when they were featured on the cover of ''
USA Today
''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...
''. Recycled Percussion began touring the country in 2001. The group continued to tour for 10 years until they made their debut on
season 4 Season 4 may refer to:
* "Season 4" (''30 Rock'' episode), an episode of ''30 Rock''
See also
*
* Season One (disambiguation) Season One may refer to:
Albums
* ''Season One'' (Suburban Legends album), 2004
* ''Season One'' (All Sons & Daughte ...
of the television show ''
America's Got Talent
''America's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated as ''AGT'') is a televised American talent show competition, and is part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. The program is produced by Fremantle (as well as distribut ...
''. The group auditioned with over hundred acts and became the then-highest-placed non-singing act to ever compete in the series' history, finishing third. They lost this distinction when
Olate Dogs
Olate Dogs (originally Olate Family's Dogs) is an American dog trick act featuring father-and-son trainers Richard and Nicholas Olate. The group won the America's Got Talent (season 7), seventh season (2012) of ''America's Got Talent'', claiming ...
won
season seven in 2012.
Afterwards, they began to work with
Jerry Springer
Gerald Norman Springer (born February 13, 1944) is a British-American broadcaster, journalist, actor, producer, former lawyer, and politician. He hosted the tabloid talk show ''Jerry Springer'' between September 30, 1991 and July 26, 2018, an ...
on a live version of "America's Got Talent". They spent three months performing at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas and one month performing the live show at
MGM Grand Foxwoods in Connecticut. In 2010, the band sealed a deal with the
MGM Grand in
Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
to have their own show.
After runs of shows at the MGM,
Tropicana Tropicana may refer to:
Companies
*Tropicana Entertainment, a former casino company that owned several Tropicana-branded casinos
*Tropicana Products, a Chicago-based food company known for orange juice
Hotels and nightclubs
*Tropicana Casino & Re ...
and
The Quad on the
Las Vegas Strip
The Las Vegas Strip is a stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard, Las Vegas Boulevard South in Clark County, Nevada, that is known for its concentration of resort hotels and casinos. The Strip, as it is known, is about long, and is immediately south of ...
, they last moved the show to the Saxe Theater at
Planet Hollywood
Planet Hollywood International Inc. (stylized as planet Hollywood, planet Hollywood observatory and ph) is a themed restaurant chain inspired by the popular portrayal of Hollywood. The company is owned by Earl Enterprises corporation. Earl En ...
on the Las Vegas Strip. Their interactive show features the audience being given drumsticks and other unique instruments, incorporating non-traditional items like power tools, ladders, buckets and trashcans.
In 2017, the members of Recycled Percussion started ''Chaos & Kindness'', a television and web series where they give back to communities around New Hampshire and beyond in unique and entertaining ways. In one episode, they pay for
dental surgery
Dental surgery is any of a number of medical procedures that involve artificially modifying dentition; in other words, surgery of the teeth, gums and jaw bones.
Types
Some of the more common are:
* Endodontic (surgery involving the pulp or root ...
for a friend of the band with
cerebral palsy
Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, stiff muscles, weak muscles, and tremors. There may be problems with sensa ...
, and in another they perform for twenty-four hours straight. The band also owns and operates a clothing line of the same name with several locations around New Hampshire, as well as running an annual toy drive for local children.
[Ali, Alissa]
“Recycled Percussion hosts annual Chaos and Kindness Toy Drive”.
''WMUR''. Published December 24th, 2021. Accessed March 7th, 2023.
Discography
;Studio Albums
*Recycled Percussion in Manchester (1996)
*Covers, Pt. 1: Icon Covers (1997)
*Onhow (1998)
*IV: The 4th Album (2001)
*No Control in the Studio (2004)
*Las Vegas: In the Inside (2006)
*Recycled Percussion in Las Vegas (2006)
*Metallium Metal (2009)
*Lockout: Manchester (2011)
*Lockout: Las Vegas (2011)
*New Years Eve 1 (2014)
*Them Boys Are Back in Town: Manchester (2016)
*Them Boys Are Back in Town: Las Vegas (2016)
*New Years Eve 2 (2019)
*New Years Eve 3 (2020)
*Greedy Bendy (2020)
;Extended plays
*The Beginning: RP (1995)
*Now
;Live albums
*Live in Las Vegas! (2006)
;Compilation albums
*Demos: Recycled Percussion (1995)
*The Best of Recycled Percussion (2008)
*The Collection: Recycled Percussion (2015)
;Video albums
* Live in Las Vegas: DVD (2006)
Members
Justin Spencer - Lead Percussionist, Group Founder. "Mr. Red"
Ryan Vezina - Lead Percussionist, Body Percussion Specialist.
"Mr. Blue"
Tony Zane - Dancer, Roller skater
Jimmy Luv - Hypeman, Singer
Davin Cox - Hypeman, Dancer
Former members
Greg Kassapis - Co-Founder - Percussionist
Aaron Fairhurst - Co-Founder - Percussionist
Zach & Ethan Holmes - Percussionists/Multi-instrumentalists - Introduced Musical Powertools, Flying Sparks, Ladders, and Beatbox to live show.
Loren "Butch" Valley - West Coast Hype-man, Front of House, Absolute Savage
Todd "DJ Pharoah" Griffin - DJ, Percussionist
Jim Magoon - Electronic Guitar player
Jerami Bellofatto - DJ
Matt Bowman - Guitar player, Percussionist, 80s Primal Screamer, Slinky Master. "Mr. Black"
Jason Davies - DJ, Percussionist, Dancer. "Mr. Green"
References
External links
Recycled Percussion Band Website
{{Authority control
Musical groups from New Hampshire
America's Got Talent contestants
Percussion ensembles
Musical groups established in 1995