(From left to right) Daryk Durwood, Chico Perez, Stan Kipper, Matt Stevens, Joel Schann, JT Bates

\Stanley Kipper:
lead vocals, timbales, trap drums and percussion
Stanley returned to Minneapolis in 1989 after nearly 20 years in Los Angeles touring and recording with such artists as Minnie Riperton, Bill Withers, Joe Walsh, Jay Ferguson, Andrew Gold, Randy Meisner, Barry Gibb, Little Richard, Bo Diddley and Karla Bonoff. Stanley has composed songs for several films and commercials, and has also won top honors in the Coors Light National Song Contest.

To know more about Stan and his musical background, please check out his full-length bio.

Chico Perez:
percussion and backing vocals
Chico has been an active percussionist for many years, touring with such groups as Crow Cola, Gypsy, Jump Street, and 7th Wave. His professional career includes numerous studio projects, as well as keeping busy as a drum-maker and teaching African and Afro-Cuban percussion at the Minneapolis Drum Center.

Joel Arpin:
trap drums, percussion and backing vocals
Since completing his degree in Percussion Performance from the University of Wisconsin in 1987, Joel has been an active percussionist in the Minneapolis music scene. Joel currently stays active studying and performing African, Afro-Caribbean percussion and World Music.

Matthew Stevens:
bass guitar, backup vocals
Matthew grew up in a musically rich environment, learning his first blues lines on bass guitar at age 14 from his father. Soon, he began playing with brother, Nate, and Javier Trejo in The Beads. Matt has studied and played with Gary Hede and Jeoffry Baily and played Jazz at the U of M School of Music. He also played with his group, The Jazz Bastards, and with Hip-Hop group, United States of Consciousness. In 1999, he and Mason Hozza re-formed The Beads. Soon after winning the Cabooze's contest for �Best Unsigned Band in the Twin Cities�, The Beads released their 2003 CD, "Ordinary Sunday People." After The Beads' run, Matt formed the Stevens Brothers Band with longtime friend, Dave Libman (aka Juice), brother, Sam, on drums, and Nate on Vox and Harp. In the spring of 2005, Matt began performing with Wookiefoot, adding another dimension to his repertoire.

Matthew first met New Primitives in 2003 when they co-billed a show with The Beads. A few months later, Matt was invited to fill-in for Tommy Peterson while he was away on his honeymoon. During a practice/jam session before the gig, Matt remembers his feeling of glee over the rhythmic differences and all the possibilities of playing with this group. He finished the show, but did not hear from them about playing until 2005. This is when Javier called to say that Tommy was working on a new endeavor with his business partner and would he be interested in filling in regularly?

Since then, Matt has played many gigs with New Primitives. His experience playing jazz, hip-hop, reggae, and world beat converges with New Primitives� style: multi-genre, percussion-driven music at its finest.

Tom Peterson:
guest bass guitar
Tom is the guy in the band that the crowd never notices � until the bass
drops out. . .Tom first heard Stan, Chico and Joel at a festival in St. Paul with their group, One World, and handed Stan his card saying, �If you ever need a bass player, give me a call�. Nearly two years passed, when Stan finally came to his senses and called Tom. Along the way, you may have spotted Tom with many other fine bands in his 15 years in the music industry, but New Primitives offer up the Reggae/Afro- Latin Soul thing that he so desperately needs. In addition to playing with New Primitives, Tom is also co-owner of 318, and the Greenroom, and enjoys a sporting match of bocce.

Joel Schann:
guitar
Joel Schaan started music at age 5 when his family moved into a house with a piano to big to get out of the basement. By age 14 he talked his brother Toby into buying a bass and soon they formed their first band together. They played the northern North Dakota barn circuit in the late eighties, then reformed as Wallace Hartley and the Titanics in the early nineties. As a ten piece Funk/R&B group they traveled the midwest bar scene playing original music, as well as recording with Tom "Bones" Malone, and Paul Shaefer. In early 2000, they co-founded Test Site 67, where Stan Kipper became a regular member of their weekly house gig at famous NE bar Mayslacks. The band released one CD, followed up in '06 with a solo effort by Joel entitled "Accoustic." After years of sharing stage with Stanley in each others' bands, Joel finally joined the New Primitaves in the spring of 09.

Daryk Durwood:
saxophone
Daryk Narum (a.k.a. Durwood) has floated around the periphery of the New Primitives voodoo landscape since first meeting
Stan and Chico when they were in One World and just forming the New Primitives. Before joining the band, Durwood played in multiple projects with different members of the New Primitives. Since moving to the Twin Cities in 1994, Daryk has performed in Test Site 67, Inspirado, Wallace Hartley and the Titanics, Slow Motion Walter, and Rhythm Jones, as well as adding his signature bari and tenor sound to other bands in the area. Daryk has been enjoying being a permanent member of the New Primitives since 2007.

Bruce Jackson:
keyboards
Bruce Jackson...

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