Be/Non

Be/Non Press Photo 2-Piece

Be/Non
Website: brodierush.com
Bandcamp: be-non.bandcamp.com
Facebook: Be/Non Facebook

Over twenty years ago Brodie Rush started up a band called Be/Non. A band that has, over it’s long career, had more members than Spinal Tap. The only consistent member, songwriter and producer being Kansas City native, Brodie Rush. After all these years, Be/Non still remains largely undiscovered.

After forming in 1994 the band went through many incarnations to eventually become a power trio. In 1996, the band released two cassettes, The Black Tape and The Blue Tape. After playing their first gig (as the power trio) with Brooklyn’s Sunday Puncher at The Replay Lounge in Lawrence, Kansas, they were approached by Sunday Puncher tour manager Justin Weyerhaeuser to put out a 7-Inch single on his new NYC based label, Turnbuckle Records. Be/Non’s sound at this time was mostly guitar-based, angular noise-rock.

Released in March 1997, Be/Non’s first single found itself with minimal airplay but with encouraging reception. By the summer of 1997 Be/Non released its first full-length LP, You’re Playing with Children in the Land of the Bugs, engineered and co-produced by Brooklyn’s legendary Martin Bisi. The production of this album was solid but overall, the band felt like it misrepresented the sound they were ultimately trying to achieve. By the fall of 1997, Be/Non had become a duo. For the next two years, Be/Non toured extensively with fellow labelmates Oneida and Sunday Puncher. In the spring of 1998 Be/Non recorded Meet the Person Most Responsible for Your Safety, featuring Steven Drozd of The Flaming Lips on keyboards. This marked a departure from the angst-driven, guitar-heavy sounds of previous recordings, hinting at more elaborate orchestrations and complex production.

By 1999 Be/Non, for all intents and purposes, had become a solo act. Turnbuckle Records went out of business and Be/Non found itself label-less and besides it’s brainchild, member-less. In an era where labels meant everything to a band, not having one meant that the chances of Be/Non gaining success as a rock band were minimal. For years, countless attempts and promises were made, but no label ever manifested for the band.

Over the next decade, dozens of line-ups came and went. Some were extremely solid long-lasting line-ups and some were very experimental and short-lived. Even though Be/Non was still actively playing and recording music all this time, the band didn’t officially release another album until the self-released A Mountain of Yeses in 2009. The music on the A Mountain Of Yeses album was a stark contrast to the Be/Non of 1997. A concept record with a film still in production, this marked the next chapter in the band’s grandiose sound and musical evolution. Utilizing a Roland Juno 6 and a Prophet 600, synths became a major asset to Be/Non’s new sound, enabling the listener to take a journey from the “Mountain Of Yeses to the Valley Of No”.

Be/Non has recently released most of its back catalog on the Be/Non bandcamp, including the 7-Inch single “Moi Ou Toi” / “Not Tonight” (2011), two full-length albums RAN (2004) and Esperanto at the Pantheon, Incognito (2004), and a digital version of the cassette The Blue Tape (1996). The “Moi Ou Toi” / “Not Tonight” 7-Inch Single received a new revamped album cover courtesy of Haymaker Records in 2015 with added downloadable bonus tracks.

Be/Non proudly released their sixth album, Mystic Sunrise / Sunset Magic on Kansas City indie label Haymaker Records on leap day 2016. A musical direction unlike all previous endeavors, MS/SM was a meditative album, based on deep thought and cosmic oneness. With intuitive trajectory, it was a one-two punch into the unknown and regarded as a must-listen for those with a bucket-list for the bizarre. The purple blob vinyl for Mystic Sunrise / Sunset Magic is available through the Haymaker Records website. A self-released live album Live At Davey’s Uptown Ramblers Club was also released to close out the year 2016.

Be/Non’s 8th album Freedom Palace, was originally recorded in 2006 but was never released. It finally sees the light of day after 12 years of floating in space on January 17th, 2018 in digital formats through Haymaker Records. An art-rock album With quirky pop sensibilities, Freedom Palace enters all new territory in arrangements and lyrical content and finds itself as the most pop-friendly and accessible recording of the Be/Non catalog.

Ben Ruth, Be/Non’s longest-running member, rounds out the low-end on bass and keyboards. Ryan Shank mans the drums and Jeremiah James adds guitar, keyboards, and vocals. Brodie Rush does the rest.

• Haymaker Records Celebrates 10 Years

  Kansas City-based record label Haymaker Records marks the anniversary of ten years of existence with a special concert at recordBar on Saturday, May 4 2024. Performing on the stage are three artists who have seen multiple releases on the label over its ten years. Mathy jazz-rock group Jorge Arana Trio, space rock supergroup Be/Non, and doom blues duo Freight Train Rabbit Killer are the featured performers on the night.

  Haymaker Records was formed in January 2014. The label chose to focus on boundary-pushing artists and provide a home and promotional arm for music that might not find a home on traditional pop radio. Jorge Arana Trio became the first band the label worked with and by July 2014, a cassette and LP for the Oso EP had been released. Since that first release, the label has released a total of 24 recordings from 10 different artists including Be/Non, Freight Train Rabbit Killer, Schwervon!, Monta, HMPH!, and Sie Lieben Maschinen. 14 releases have made their way onto vinyl. Also included are two compilations featuring artists from the Kansas City area as well as national and international acts from Arkansas to Norway.

  The concert at recordBar has doors opening at 7PM on May 4^th with an entry of $15. Event information can be reviewed here. The Facebook event is available here. Haymaker Records will be located in the merchandise area with a collection of vinyl, cassettes, and other merchandise available for purchase from the ten-year history of the record label.

  

• Food People Soundtrack

  Haymaker Records and our friends at Crush Media have just released the Food People Soundtrack, the audio compliment for the Food People animated series. Food People is an animated sitcom cooking show about what our foods are, where they come from, and how they can all work together to become part of a bigger recipe. Food People used an ambitious Kickstarter campaign to get the series off the ground and provide employment to underemployed voice actors during this COVID-19 pandemic. The show is funny, educational, and whimsical with an all-star voice acting cast and superb music provided by Brodie Rush of Be/Non. Brodie also functions as creator and animator with Cori Anne Weber as the writer and producer and a cast of other artists and voice actors. A few episodes are available online already at www.foodpeople.tv. The soundtrack features Brodie’s original score for the show, the cast of Food People with snippets jingles and voiceovers, and full songs from two Kansas City bands; space rock group Be/Non and jazz / jump blues specialists Grand Marquis. Check out the soundtrack at Food People Bandcamp.

• New Be/Non Digital Release – “A Valley of No: The Alternate A Mountain of Yeses”

  Be/Non have a new digital release today on Haymaker Records (HAY022-DD). A Valley of No: The Alternate A Mountain of Yeses is a journey into the sculpting process of creating Be/Non’s “A Mountain of Yeses” (2009). In contrast to the original release, this compilation contains alternate mixes, isolated tracks and demo versions. Be/Non presents a bizarro-like version of the AMOY album, showing an alternate universe what could have been if the creation of the album went on a divergent path. Behold the paradoxical serendipity of Be/Non’s unique take on constructing a space-themed story/album. A visual accompaniment to the album has been in production since 2008 and now has a 2021 release date. A Valley of No: The Alternate A Mountain of Yeses is a name-your-price download through bandcamp.

• Outer Reaches 2019

  Haymaker Records is once again a sponsor of the Outer Reaches music festival in Kansas City, Missouri. This year’s festival will be celebrated Saturday October 19 at recordBar (1520 Grand Blvd). The eighth annual lineup spans across two stages and features two touring acts including space rock band Lumerians (Oakland, CA) and pop duo Thunder Jackson (Oklahoma / Wales). Kansas City bands featured at the festival this year include cosmic jazz legends BCR (Black Crack Revue), experimental hip hop duo FACEFACE, experimental music / performance artist Unicorns in the Snow, as well as Haymaker Records’ synthesizer-based psychedelic rock band Monta at Odds, and art-rock duo Shiny Jets space rock band Be/Non . Accompanying live video projections will be provided by XO Blackwater.

  Tickets are $15 and available in advance at the recordBar venue and website and also online here. You can also check out the Facebook event for updates and view the official website at www.outerreachesfest.com.

• Be/Non release the Long-Lost “Freedom Palace” Album

  Haymaker Records is proud to release the long-lost art-pop album Freedom Palace by Kansas City rock band Be/Non. Wednesday, January 17, 2018 sees its release in digital media formats. The “troubled” Freedom Palace was recorded over 12 years ago but never saw the light of day for a variety of reasons. Why would we release a mid-2000s album now? How does a 12 year old album sound now? Why should anybody care about this lost time capsule? Frankly because this album is just plain awesome. This is an album that must be listened to if you have a passion for rock music and quirky pop sensibilities. Freedom Palace enters all new territory in arrangements and lyrical content and finds itself as the most pop-friendly and accessible recordings of the Be/Non catalog.

  At the time of its recording in 2006, Be/Non were positioned at the top of a solid crop of inventive hard-working bands in Kansas City. Nearly every show they played that year was filled to capacity. Local press coverage was great and the antics of the band and crazy performances became legendary. As the fall rolled around, Kansas City anxiously awaited for the new album Freedom Palace. There was a palpable energy in the air. Would it sound as good as the live material they had been showcasing? What recording tricks did front man Brodie Rush and sound engineer Paul Malinowski have up their sleeves? Was this going to be the album that put Kansas City music on the map again? The release date approached… and then….nothing… ….. 2007 passed and word spread that the band had split up. 2008 came and went and people began forgetting altogether about Freedom Palace, short of a few music-obsessed nerds (no doubt represented well with now Haymaker Records staff). 2009 arrived and fans were granted a reprieve with a new Be/Non album, the synth-heavy Brodie Rush head trip A Mountain of Yeses. 2015 followed with another full-length as Haymaker Records released the meditative space-rock album “Mystic Sunrise / Sunset Magic”. All along though, there was still this void, this broad gap between the bands’ two late-’90s releases on New York City indie label Turnbuckle Records and the 2009 album A Mountain of Yeses.

  Now, on the 12th anniversary of its original recording date, the Freedom Palace album is finally ready to be revealed to the world. Be/Non and Haymaker Records would like to present the final mix, the way it was originally intended. A time capsule of compositions, energy, and productions that never saw the light of day. We present to you, with new artwork and updated packaging, Be/Non’s Freedom Palace.

  Listen to the album and purchase a digital download from the bandcamp below
  

  
  
  

• Fairgrounds Vol. 2
  It’s a wrap, the Fairgrounds Vol. 2 compilation is finally finished! This 16-track compilation will be released as a limited run of professionally replicated CDs and given as a free door gift at the Fairgrounds Vol. 2 Release Party presented by Haymaker Records. A BIG BIG thanks to all of the artists that contributed music to this compilation. Copies will also be mailed out to independent radio stations across the United States (Use the contact form if you’d like for your radio station to receive a copy). If you’re into nostalgia and physical copies of music, CDs can be pre-ordered now and we’re selling these at cost because we just want the music to be heard. This release will also be available as a free download from this website or the Haymaker Records Bandcamp. Click the Fairgrounds Vol. 2 Product Page to view information on the compilation, stream audio, pre-order a copy of the CD, or download a copy for free.

  Download the Haymaker Records – Fairgrounds Vol. 2 – Booklet

  Bandcamp
  

  Product Info – See Detailed Information / Streaming Preview of Album / Order a Copy

• Outer Reaches 2016 Photos

  Outer Reaches 2016 was a resounding success. See the rest of the Outer Reaches 2016 Pictures

• Outer Reaches 2016

  For the last three years, Haymaker Records has been a co-sponsor and planner of KC Psych Fest. The festival was rebranded to Outer Reaches this year, with the idea of being more incorporating of music outside of the “psych” genre. The music fest is still boundary-pushing and left-of-center, its just more inclusive of other genres now. We’re very excited to be a big part of the festival again this year. It will be held Friday, Sept. 30th and Saturday, Oct. 1st, 2016 at recordBar. Haymaker acts Be/Non and HMPH! are a part of the lineup this year, as well as 16 other great acts. All the information can be found at www.outerreachesfest.com.

• Haymaker Records Showcase at Middle of the Map Fest 2016

  Our friends at The Record Machine have been kind enough to invite Haymaker Records to be a part of the Middle of the Map Fest 2016 by providing us with a special label showcase. The Haymaker Records showcase will be on Wednesday, May 4th and will start at 6PM sharp at Mills Record Company (314 Westport Road, KCMO 64111) and features performances by Haymaker artists Be/Non, Jorge Arana Trio, and Monta at Odds. All three acts have brand new music to showcase with new albums out or on the way in 2016. This showcase is not to missed and this is the first time that all three acts have played together under one roof. Check out the Facebook event page for more details.

• Be/Non – “Mystic Sunrise / Sunset Magic” Record Release Party at Scottish Rite 2016/02/28

  KANSAS CITY, MO. – Kansas City-based Haymaker Records releases the album Mystic Sunrise / Sunset Magic by space rock group Be/Non on vinyl LP and digital media on leap day February 29, 2016. Mystic Sunrise / Sunset Magic is the sixth album for Be/Non and will be celebrated with an album release concert entitled MEDITATION: A Live Presentation of Mystic Sunrise / Sunset Magic by Be/Non in the temple of the Kansas City Scottish Rite, 1330 Linwood Blvd, Kansas City, MO, on Sunday February 28th 6-10PM.

  In 1996, Brodie Rush and his rock band Be/Non recorded two sets of songs in a small home studio in Lawrence, Kansas – material that would become their first two EPs released on cassette. Twenty years later and with a rotating cast of band members, Be/Non is still at it and proud to present the release Mystic Sunrise / Sunset Magic. Recorded over the course of six years in Brodie Rush’s home studio, the album features Be/Non family old and new performing compelling songs that incorporate pop elements into synth-drenched space rock. A musical direction unlike all previous endeavors, Mystic Sunrise / Sunset Magic is a meditative album based on deep thought and cosmic oneness. It’s a one-two punch into the unknown with intuitive trajectory, a must-listen for those with a bucket-list for the bizarre. The vinyl is pressed in limited edition purple blob vinyl with digital download included. It is the fifth vinyl release for Haymaker Records.

  The show on February 28th will feature Be/Non playing the new album in its entirety, rotating in musicians who assisted in its creation. The Kansas City Scottish Rite was chosen as a location for the event out of a curiosity surrounding the Masonic temple itself that will undoubtedly compliment the music and viewing experience. Built in 1928 and featuring classic Greek design inspired by the ancient mausoleum at Halicarnassus in Caria, the temple has a rich history in Kansas City but little in the way of public music performances. Christian Hankel will be handling stage production for the event and Kansas City catering company Cool Guy Foods will provide catered small bites. Copies of the new vinyl record will be available to the public for the first time at this event. Check out the Facebook Event Page for more details.

  Thank to our Sponsors
  –Haymaker Records
  –Kansas City Scottish Rite
  –Cool Guy Foods
  –Davey’s Uptown Rambler’s Club
  –KC Psych Fest
  –Money Wolf Music

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