Biography

Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, the founding members of The Want (Damian Banaszak, Sam Figuli, and David Willison) emerged from the basement 4-track scene of Washington DC in the late 1980s. In the early 90s, The Want began entertaining fans with their unique brand of original recordings and live shows.

In April 1995, the trio (with Bob Stewart now on guitar and vocals) released their first CD, "Too Much Stuff", on Selling The Ranch Records. The CD quickly won praise of critics, and that summer, the band showcased at the Local Music Summit in Washington DC. The single “Lifetime Exposure” was released on the compilation disk "Plunge" and featured at the Philadelphia Music Conference in 1995.

By 1996, the band was regularly playing energetic live shows featuring edgy punkabilly rock exposing influences (and a few covers) by bands such as The Fall, Social Distortion, Black Flag and The Clash.

In 1998, Jack Stanton joined The Want on bass and the band released their second CD, "Texas", again on Selling the Ranch Records. With "Texas", The Want blended influences of Rockabilly and New Wave with satirical twists of country, disco, funk, and metal thrown in. "Texas" contains 12 original tunes plus a convincing cover of 80's punk anthem "Six Pack" (Black Flag).

The Washington Post (March 18, 2004) calls The Want "musically tough" with "satiric lyrical twists that are pretty dang funny."

See also The Want's bio at allmusic and Wikipedia.