When The Scrub Babies burst on the scene lo these may years ago, no one knew what to think. But it soon became clear that thinking was optional with this zany band of unconventional nonconformists.
Although the band was formed with the original intent of bursting on the scene, Brigadoon-like, in conjunction with the emergence of brood-X cicadas, it soon became clear that they had far too much material for such romantic-musical periodicity. So they cloistered themselves in the studio, and nothing will ever be the same, not that anything would be substantially different, all things being equal.
Meet the Scrub Babies!
Much to the astonishment of their adoring fans, The Scrub Babies continue to rock!
Bromo Hmnb
Sadly no longer with us, founding member and front man Bromo Hmnb* is remembered for ground-breaking compositions like "Captain Nemo (The Unauthorized Adventures)" and "Who's Rubbing Your Belly Now?" as well as for his philosophical musings. He once told Ozly, after a late-night jam session, when both were around fifteen years old and should have been sleeping, because it was a school night,† that music was supposed to be fun, because we play music, and that it should never be work. That philosophy is of course central to everything The Scrub Babies have ever done. He is greatly missed, but his spirit lives, as do a large number of unfinished tracks that could well become the foundation for future albums.
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*Pronounced, “hummgnobb,” the supererogatory “g” being silent.
†It is unclear whether either was actually attending classes at that time, because they were, while brilliant academicians by nature, somewhat remiss in the execution of conventional scholastic duties.
Olaf Hvaðheitirhann
Raised on a remote island by the Huldufólk and known for his vigorous exuberance, bass player Olaf Hvaðheitirhann would like everyone to know that life is beautiful, in its own way.
The Chief Executive
Laconic drummer The Chief Executive likes walks on the beach, concupiscence, involuntary rappelling, and rhythmic nutation.
Bromo Hmnb and Ozly Poz had collaborated on a number of projects prior to settling into their tenure with The Scrub Babies like professors of rock into the university of roll. Their friendship indeed can be traced back to nocturnal jam sessions above the mean streets of South Minneapolis and late-morning music theory classes at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, where they learned to reject theory and embrace practice, though not of instruments, if that were seemingly implied.
In those formative years they wrote many of the beloved songs with which The Scrub Babies are now most identified, songs like “Honky-Tonk Blues,” first performed in the legendary attic on West 32nd Street, and “Rubber Boy,” composed in Ozly’s basement lair on Grand Avenue South; thus the highs and lows of the Hmnb-Poz collaboration, with respect to architectural elevation, were established in those storied early days.
When Taw Taw arrived with spoon in hand, the tonal Wunderhör that ensued convinced even the skeptical Ozly that they needed to head full speed like stampeding wildebeests on the verdant savannah, as Bromo might have put it if he had thought to do so, to the next level, though not architectural, if that were seemingly implied. And so The Scrub Babies came into being.
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Ozly Poz
Surprisingly still with us, founding member and high-functioning factotum Ozly Poz is not really interesting enough to merit even a brief biographical sketch, but something may be added here at some point.
Taw Taw
Founding member and spoon guitarist extraordinaire Taw Taw was drafted into The Scrub Babies before he was old enough to know better. When he reached the age of majority and declared that he didn’t think he wanted to be in the band anymore, Bromo replied, “No one quits The Scrub Babies!” Since then he has adjusted.