Karate High School

Karate High School (KHS)
Background information
Origin	San Francisco, USA
Genres	Pop punk, post-hardcore, experimental rock, electronicore, power pop, Nintendocore, alternative rock
Years active	2004–2010
Labels	Eyeball Records, EVO Recordings, Evolution Music, Elizac Music
Website	http://www.karatehighschool.com
Members	Paul McGuire
Past members	Ray Bautista

Karate High School was an American pop punk/post-hardcore band from San Francisco, California, fronted by multi-instrumentalist and producer Paul McGuire. On March 21, 2006 the band released their debut album, Arcade Rock. Karate High School's second album, The League Of Tomorrow, was released on September 4, 2007, which further honed the band's layered, keyboard-driven style of alternative rock. On November 11, 2008, Karate High School announced that they had signed to Eyeball Records, and would release a new record entitled Invaders on May 19, 2009. In early 2010 Paul McGuire announced that he was done producing music under the name Karate High School and has since chosen to go into other studies.

Style

Karate High School's style has evolved over the last three records. Once described as an "aggressive blend of poppy punk, hyper post-hardcore, and eight-bit blips"; the band began as a spazzy, catchy, keyboard-driven rock act on their debut record, but has grown and matured over the course of three records to a sound that crosses the genres of rock, punk, experimental, electronica, and power-pop. Their sound has often been referred to as synthcore. While 2007's The League Of Tomorrow effortlessly gear-shifted through poppy, upbeat melodies to heavy electronica-fused pop-punk, 2009's Invaders focuses on all of the aforementioned elements and further evolves the band's sound.

Members

Karate High School is the songwriting project of Paul McGuire, and he writes all the music and lyrics for the band. Ray Bautista joined the group as the touring keyboard player, and is the only member to be in the band since Arcade Rock. For recording purposes, Paul produced all three records and played all the instruments on The League Of Tomorrow. During the recording of Invaders, Geoff Garnett played guitar, Aaron McVeigh played drums, and Paul McGuire played keyboards, bass, and sang. In 2010, Paul McGuire announced that he was done producing music under the name KHS.

Former members and touring lineup

• Gabe Ausiello (original guitarist)
• Sean Martin (original drummer)
• Paul Kriz (original bassist)
• Danny Glaspy (drums)
• Ken Kaiser (bass)
• Dan Kingdon (bass)
• Nathan Vega (bass)
• Gideon Naude (bass)
• Aaron McVeigh - (drums)
• Geoff Garnett - (guitar)
• Ray Bautista - keyboards
• Paul McGuire - vocals, keyboards, guitar, bass, producer

Discography

• Arcade Rock (2006)
• The League Of Tomorrow (2007)
• Invaders (2009)

External links

• Karate High School's official website
• Paul McGuire's official site
• Karate High School on Facebook
• Invaders Review