Minibosses

Minibosses is an American progressive rock band originally from Northampton, Massachusetts, and now located in Phoenix, Arizona. They are known for their video game music covers, which are instrumental rock variations of the theme music from classic Nintendo video games such as Mega Man, Metroid, and Castlevania.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Phoenix New Times awarded Minibosses their best cover band award in 2006.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

History

From 1997 to 1999, guitarist Aaron Burke and drummer Matt Wood played in Jenova Project, one of the earliest video game cover bands, along with other friends from the same dorm at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. In January 2000, Burke and Wood recruited bassist Ben Baraldi to form Minibosses.<ref name="Minibosses FAQ">Template:Cite web</ref> Initially, the band played both video game covers as well as original songs, and self-released their first album in September 2000. They were unsatisfied with the quality of this album and have since released new versions of their covers (as well as new covers) on the Minibosses/Penny Winblood split and Brass album. At the same time, they replaced their older songs, which had been freely available to download, with the newer versions found on Brass.<ref name="Minibosses FAQ"/> From 2000 to present, the band has toured continuously while recording material for new albums.<ref name="Minibosses Shows">Template:Cite web</ref>

Members

Current

• Aaron Burke – guitar (1999–present)
• Robin Vining – guitar (2019–present), bass (2007–2019)
• Brendan Dueck – keyboards (2014–present)
• Steve Dueck – drums (2014–present)
• Jakob Dueck – bass (2019–present)
• Owen Dueck – drums (2019–present)

Former

• Robert Kelly Turner – guitar (2010)
• Ben Baraldi – guitar (2007–2010), bass (1999–2007)
• John Lipfert – guitar (2004–2007)
• Fred Johnson – guitar (2002–2004)
• Richard Smaldone – guitar (2001–2002)
• Matt Wood – drums (1999–2014)

Discography

• Minibosses (Self-released on Kraid Records, 2000)
• Minibosses (EP) (Self-released, 2004)
• Live at the Middle East recorded at The Middle East nightclub (Self-released, 2004)
• Minibosses/Penny Winblood (Forge Records, 2005)
• Brass (Self-released, 2005)
• Brass 2: Mouth (Released December 2, 2011)

Further reading

• Borges, Mario Mesquita. "Minibosses". Allmusic. Retrieved May 9, 2005.

External links

General

• Official Web site (January 10, 2025 archive of down site)
• ReMixer profile at OverClocked ReMix
• Template:Musicbrainz artist
• Minibosses EP Insert Credit review Sheffield, Brandon (Apr. 12, 2004)
• Minibosses official MySpace

Interviews

• "Nintendo Rocks!" Wired Magazine: Werde, Bill (Dec. 2002)
• "Nintendo rocks!" Salon.com: Becker, Verne (Apr. 21, 2004)
• "Rocking in the Key of Nintendo" NPR-All Things Considered: (Aug. 26, 2004)