Deadly Fists of Kung Fu

No Man Can Stand Against the Deadly Fists of Kung Fu formed like so many emergent bands, by two guys with cheap guitars.



Zac Hobbs and Jason Hurt grew up in the same town, read the same comic books and shared the same distaste for mediocre pizza. They also enjoyed listening to the same music and at early ages the two of them would begin to write music together. Listening to Dinosaur Jr, The Afghan Whigs, Tom Petty, The Replacements and The Pixies would result in a writing style heavy on guitars yet graced by vocal melody. The two started their first band just out of high school but it wasn’t until the fall of 2001 that Zac took to the microphone. Their style is tight and powerful with just the right amount of push and tug. What you see isn’t a chemistry of opposing forces nor is it an order of lead and be led but a mutual symbiosis.



Working together for years, Zac and Jason created a tag-team dynamic that doesn’t appear often in writing teams. Jason and Zac began playing seriously in 2001 with the creation of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (The League), a tribute project which allowed Zac to hone his chops on the microphone. After The League, the duo kept collaborating and with the addition of Phread Touchette and Andrew Bennett, No Man Can Stand Against the Deadly Fists of Kung Fu (Deadly Fists of Kung Fu for short, DFKF for shorter) was created in 2002.



Phread Touchette and his bass guitar officially stepped into the band in 2002 and again in early 2010. Taking a break in 2004 for projects like Inkwell, Boat and Futbol Bat. Phread has rejoined the ranks of DFKF. As a life-long bassist, he demonstrates how maneuverability adds a playful element to an otherwise forceful guitar-driven sound. With guitars raging the trio needed a drummer that could not only collaborate, but could keep up. Enter Andy B.



Andrew Bennett, or Andy B., officially joined the rhythm section in mid 2003 after a few practices. When he came aboard he seemed to provide just the right amount of balance to the antics of the comic book twins. Classically trained with a heavier sound, complete with double-kick, he began playing with hard core acts like Jackeneuse and Mozzleschlock in 1997. This heavy-handed freight-train technique would be well adapted to DFKF and would prove to round out Jason's intricate guitar hooks and cement Zac's beguiling melodies with Phread's mischievous rhythm creating a welcome yet unexpected full-bodied and explosive sound.



From winning Pensacola Independent News Music Awards for Best Rock and Best Live Show in 2004 and 2005 and playing alongside GodSmack on the IV tour to driving through the night to play to a nearly empty room or a room full of out-of-genre fans, DFKF has experienced a fair share of thrills and bumps in their near decade of existence. When asked what kept them going in a newspaper interview, Jason responded "I feel that when you write songs and make up music, you kind of want to play them in front of somebody, even if it's just 12 people." While days of playing to a near empty house seem to be at their backs, DFKF continue to write and perform some of the most stylistically creative music to emerge from the Gulf Coast.



Steeped in the minutia of pop-culture references, comic book sagas and the appeal of space travel you won't find traditional songs of unrequited love or lyrics justifying society's need for anger management professionals. What you get is a surprisingly inviting fun and poppy indie rock sound that is both appealing and memorable. Striving to combat the all too familiar stereotype that emerging indie rock bands are only capable of writing one sound, the variances and dynamics in the songcraft of the Deadly Fists of Kung Fu provides listeners with a refreshing break from the norm.



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