Scottsdale, Arizona Jun 11, 2024 (Issuewire.com) - The Band Famous is the collective enterprise made up of the software, music duo, venue, and other ventures led by dynamic duo, Norell, a small-town singer who moved to the big city and met and modeled for the popular and in-demand body painter hot-shot artist, Jacob Alexander, who has collaborated with clients such as Red Bull, and production companies like Michael Levitt Productions.
Both took their difficult upbringings and turned to the creative arts in attempts to transcend something meaningful. The two formed The Band Famous on an improvised livestream music jam. Their debut album was improvised and then released in their mobile app [The Band Famous] they developed themselves; the same app by which they also stream their "in-app concerts", under their trademark The Band Famous® for their app audio and visual performances.
They notably received support from renowned technologist superstar, Greg Deocampo who wrote a blog on the software and the band; infamous hacker Kim Dotcom who reached out to lead singer Norell proposing a collaboration between them; comedian Tom Green who has described the band's genre-bending qualities in their music and invited them to play live on his Webovision show in Los Angeles, which is actually what prompted the band to move to Los Angeles, to further realize their dreams.
Once in Los Angeles, they made all kinds of connections, and received even more support from actor and television host Mario Lopez (Saved by the Bell), Hulu, and more! Mario first met the band at Universal Studios and later visited them at their day job, not to dine in, but just to say hi and see "how the band is doing", and regularly engages with them on social media. Hulu, a major streaming service with rivals such as Netflix has even followed the band.
Greg Deocampo – co-creator and co-inventor of Adobe After Effects and the Hoverboard Program, member of EBN (Emergency Broadcast Network), who contributed visuals for U2 during their World Tour, and who was hired to make a website for Prince, only to name a few of his inspiring credentials – happened to be in the virtual audience of The Band Famous debut livestream concert; he witnessed the birth of The Band Famous!
He was among one of the first people to download and review The Band Famous app, as first made available on the iPhone App Store in 2014. In addition to sharing on his personal blog about the band and software, in his app review, he had this to say about The Band Famous:
"Super interesting expression of the idea of a new format for music. Cool synthesis of music video and having a social relationship with the user. Two thumbs and a big toe up. Experimental music worth checking out. Reminds me of Björk."
The band claims their musical journey has been met with success, scrutiny, and censorship; so much so, they may be the most censored band in America of this decade. Watch this documentary to witness evidence of some of the supposed censorship for yourself, and form your own perspectives: Uncensor The Band Famous
Despite these successes, the band has been censored for years, from having posts of theirs on social media “shadow-banned”, hidden from the “algorithm”, to being locked out of their first Instagram account @thebandfamous, to having social media posts of theirs removed for “bullying and spam” while more explicit accounts and celebrity accounts on Instagram and Facebook and other social media continue to accrue millions of views over time.
With the recent ban on TikTok, and more social media bans likely, censorship is more real and relevant – to everyone – than ever before. Free speech is now a crime! Yet this is nothing new to The Band Famous. But why has The Band Famous been so heavily censored for years?
Speculation exists that perhaps some of the censorship faced by The Band Famous is related to the launch of their acclaimed app album [Last Words in the self-titled The Band Famous apps] receiving support and app reviews from friends Kick Kennedy (RFK Jr.'s daughter) who the band met while living in New York City in 2014 and 2015 (more on that later), and BJ Thomas (“Hooked on a Feeling”, “Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head”) who Norell shared was her first concert and that it was a dream come true, surreal that he would years later support her music.
The band met Jamil Walker Smith (X-Files, Stargate Universe, Hey Arnold!) and his dog Uno outside a Thai restaurant in Los Angeles and even he downloaded and reviewed the app and the music highly.
Along with these high ratings and reviews, the band was approached by and offered at least three separate major record label deals. The band declined all three deals because – as they were told by each of the labels – in signing these deals they would be required to surrender, in layman's terms, their freedom of speech.
True artists, they refused to surrender the freedom to decide what their album art could be, what their song lyrics could be, what messages they would promote. They did not want to be cornered into singing music written by the same ghostwriters that write almost all music in circulation in the entertainment industry in America.
The labels wanted control of everything from their trademark, The Band Famous®, and software, to deciding what fashion styles the band could wear, to what they could post and share on social media – they even wanted to change the name of the band! They wanted to strip the band down and build them back up, in their image to promote their narratives.
The Band Famous would never compromise their artistic freedom to make the music they want to make, the freedom to express themselves in any genre, and wear whatever fashion they choose to wear, and say what they want to say. They have said the only way they would ever consider signing to a label is if that label would let them be themselves.
Their music was described on CBS Radio Show The Tom Green Show by the band's hero, Tom Green: “Your band is exciting, you have an exciting - would you call it an industrial metal band? What is it more of a pop industrial alternative band?”.
The Band Famous does not conform to any particular style or genre. They just make music that feels good to them and sometimes resonates with others. The band had their music featured with international artist Olek in their VR art exhibition in NYC. Olek has called them their favorite band. Their four-track EP To Be Frank (2024) is loved in Brazil with “Mermaid Energy” featured and reviewed as “pop and experimental” by blog and radio, Heatwave, requesting the band to “make more music like that”!
Former Twin Cities (MN) media City Pages described their sound as “trip hop” in a review of “Emotional Scatter” in the “Top 5 MN Music Videos”. Minnesota Public Radio 89.3 FM The Current described The Band Famous as “dreamy” when they talked about how the band “filmed their own birth on a livestream on the internet”, and of their debut album Last Words being “completely improvised, from the first livestream and on subsequent livestreams”, playing a sample of “You Came to Me” live on The Local Show on 89.3 FM in November of 2014.
Some may say that their music isn't good, but if it were not good, they would not have the support of great singers like the late BJ Thomas who called them his new favorite music, saying, "Band Famous!! This is my favorite new music. This girl just steps up and sings her heart out. I love that. BJ" in a five star app review, and again on Twitter (now X).
En Vogue and Lucy Pearl's Dawn Robinson said The Band Famous “sounds amazing” and she loves Norell's voice. Bush and lead singer Gavin Rossdale followed the band, and Nancy Sinatra (“These Boots Are Made for Walkin”) follows lead singer Norell, Scott Page of Pink Floyd, and in fact some of their debut app album's music was often compared to Pink Floyd. Do these endorsements validate the band's talent and credibility within the music industry?
The Band Famous are the musician's musician, genuine artists supporting artists. Besides having support of some of the aforementioned artists, musicians, and technologists, they have a track record of helping their fellow artists and musicians with everything from free promotion and inclusion in what grew to become their online music collective, the Hall Of Fame and TBF Radio, which they hard-coded and built into their own website, to hosting, producing and sharing a stage with said artists in a venue that they sacrificed 2.5 years of their life living in a four-door sedan to open in Los Angeles for their “Party for a Purpose” charity-themed concerts.
They displayed, advertised, and worked store hours selling merchandise in their Los Angeles storefront for some of these artists, and when some were in breach of contract for The Band Famous to do all of this, the band never brought suit against them.
Even the artist Zander is censored – despite being published internationally, shown alongside Yoko Ono with Gulay Alpay at FIMA in Montreal, going on body paint tours, having a documentary made about his art gallery that inspired future art galleries in the Twin Cities, to being signed to Michael Levitt Productions as a consultant for Game Show Network's Skin Wars for three consecutive years in a row (Game Show Network follows the band and both Norell and Zander on Twitter/X), to having his artwork stored, saved and shipped to him from Paul Simon of Simon & Garfunkel (“The Sound of Silence”,”Mrs. Robinson”) .
The band, while living in NYC in 2015, connected with RFK Jr.'s daughter, philanthropist and actress, Kick Kennedy. Norell's grandfather shared a history with JFK, his parents owning a popular diner in northern WI at one point where JFK would visit for his campaigns. There is even a letter from JFK to Norell's great-grandfather, and they made a tribute page on their tumblr.
Kick left a five star review on the band's app The Band Famous, calling Norell “an angel from heaven” while saying "Zander is wildly talented as well". She connected the band to Harper Simon and Norell helped with his social media for a while with Kick's assistance. In the process, the band had to move across-country during some family hardships. Kick asked Harper and he agreed for Zander's artwork to be stored in his and his father Paul Simon's personal storage unit in NYC! They, Harper and Paul, even kept their storage unit open for two months longer than they needed it to allow Norell and Zander time to retrieve the artwork.
When the band was unable to make arrangements out-of-state to retrieve the artwork, Paul Simon himself (along with his assistant) arranged for the artwork to be shipped to a friend of the band in Wisconsin, as the band was living in their car in Los Angeles, not yet having a home, still making the ultimate sacrifices – everything but their souls, as they made clear, those aren't for sale – to open their dream venue to “Party for a Purpose” and help not only themselves but artists in their Hall Of Fame, sharing their music while simultaneously helping charities.
They have demonstrated admirable philanthropic efforts, resilience, their commitment to giving back to the community, and supporting emerging talent throughout the years. They rallied for the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, collecting non-perishable food items and monetary donations that Norell and Zander personally delivered to the food bank. They've also supported charities American Heart Association, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and My Friend's Place supporting homeless youth, to name a few.
The Band Famous named their music project in a moment of word play, with a long-term attempt and effort to redefine the concept of fame and celebrity, as so many famous people are not known to be kind, have humility, and promote good deeds, and are often surrounded by scandal on the contrary. Of course there are exceptions to this, but never did the band imagine they would have the support of so many celebrities and “famous” people that would directly prove to be some of those exceptions.
How is a band with so many influential figures known to love and support them so censored? The band has been interviewed by reputable media platforms such as Medium with articles like, “Rising Music Stars: Five Things You Need to Shine in the Music Industry” and “Dreamers: They told me it was Impossible and I did it anyway”, and “Norell and Zander of ‘The Band Famous’: 5 Steps We Must Take To Truly Create An Inclusive, Representative, and Equitable Society”.
None of these articles pull up when searching “The Band Famous” under “News” on Google, even though Medium pulls up under Google News. Thrive Global, a branch of HuffPost (Huffington Post), another recognized and reputable media outlet, also does not show up when you search for “The Band Famous” on Google “News”. That article on Thrive Global, titled, “Norell and Zander of ‘The Band Famous’: Leadership is really about being an expert of your chosen field and not being afraid to help others become successful”? It has since been scrubbed from the internet.
The Band Famous has been on Minnesota Public Radio, yet that doesn't come up under the "News" either. When you search “All” results, you will find many pages of press and articles, and other search engines (rivals to Google) will pull up press articles such as those published in Medium right away. Why the censorship of this band? Is it because they are respected figures in the industry as trailblazing artists who defy industry norms and champion creative independence?
How is it that The Band Famous has been played on international radio in England (6 Towns Radio), Wales (Radio Wigwam), France (Fasching Web Radio), China (Radio Lantau), and Brazil (Heatwave!), and played alongside mainstream bands like Sonic Youth; yet, after initially being played on Minnesota Public Radio 89.3 FM The Current in the USA in 2014, the band was later ghosted?
Writer Jay Gabler emailed the band discussing a follow-up article, then again emailed them that there was no room for a follow-up, only to later see The Current present and unveil: Instant Band, directly mimicking The Band Famous with their “improvised music over livestream on Facebook live”.
Were others trying to repackage what The Band Famous represents in attempts to phase them out as irrelevant? Could this censorship stem perhaps from those who are not able to exploit The Band Famous because the band refuses to be complicit in a day and age where so many “sell out”?
Whatever the answer may be, there is no doubt that it has gone too far, now bleeding into the personal lives of the band members. Both have now been wrongfully terminated by a successive smear campaign at their day jobs and side hustles where they've worked to further help their animal rescue sanctuary that they run together off-grid in the high desert mountains of Arizona.
Zander has now lost one of those jobs and side hustles; however, while Norell has lost two jobs based on rumors and defamation of character, something of which many celebrities are accustomed to. It could be due to discrimination as well as not all appreciate the adult work that The Band Famous has done under their erotic art project called KamasutraCandy (18+ only). Norell and Zander announced retirement from their adult content months ago, letting their entire fanbase know that they were choosing to focus more intently on their music, animal rescue sanctuary, and their Doberman Pinscher breeding business they do seasonally (they are highly reviewed and reputable breeders, too).
In the retirement letter they released, they said they might do new uploads in the future, but that they were retired and taking a bow from the KamasutraCandy project. They assured their fans they would leave their content online for their fans to continue to enjoy, but clarified that producing any further content would be indefinitely placed on the back burner over their other passion projects and businesses, now front and center stage.
The termination from their day jobs; however, clearly highlights the real-world consequences of censorship. As the documentary outlines, there are some wild and outlandish claims made against the couple, and the band says they can prove they are meritless, which is why they are actively seeking legal representation to hold the responsible parties accountable for these injustices and restore their good work history, reputations, and good names.
From executive producers at Universal Studios in Hollywood, CA, to producers at Paramount Pictures that even attended one of their benefit music festivals in Los Angeles, to internationally acclaimed artists, comedians, musicians, technologists, and celebrities all around the board, anyone that knows that The Band Famous knows that they are humble, kind, professional, and intensely authentic. They don't have anything to hide, but the truth could not be farther from the accusations made against them that have now hurt their livelihood and threaten the wellbeing of not only the band, but their animal rescue sanctuary.
The band seeks your support to fight censorship! They continue to produce music and livestream both music and games off clean energy, solar-powered by the sun as Twitch Affiliate. They also have a Patreon where fellow animal lovers can help support their independent music and animal rescue sanctuary for as little as $1.00 a month. All music, art, and merchandise sales further support their animal rescue sanctuary, and the band overall. One may also stream and buy their music everywhere, and subscribe to their YouTube, Rumble, and any platforms you're on to support The Band Famous.
Media Contact
The Band Famous d.b.a. Mary Norell Jackson and Jacob Alexander Figueroa info@bandfamous.com 646-384-9890 PO Box 822 https://bandfamous.com
