Ché Albrighton, Viva, Joe Gideon and Bastian Juel are Bikini Atoll.
Their story begins when Joe Gideon, real name Gideon Joel Seifert, was born. Everything was engaging enough until his kid sister Viva came along.
Meanwhile, in Jugenheim, Germany, Ché was being born into a family of prog-rockers. To be precise, his father is the ringleader of the band Nektar, the prog rock sensation of the 70's.
Then, Bastian was brought into the world, son of a Danish flautist.
The years rolled by. Viva proved adept at the piano. As a sideline she represented England at the Barcelona Olympics as a modern rhythmic gymnast. Gideon, in his own way, did nothing but chase skirt. Ché discovered a penchant for Jazz and Tap. Bastian went to a psychiatric hospital in Denmark to teach guitar. Ended up learning how to play Bach’s cello suites on bass.
Bikini Atoll is a place in the central pacific that was bombed to hell by the USA as part of a series of atom and hydrogen bomb tests between 1945-1962 ‘for the good of Mankind’. On seeing photographs of these bombs Gideon was struck by how something so beautiful could be so deadly. Apparently, a French lingerie company at the time, who had just designed a new two-piece swimming costume, also thought this. Hence the word, ‘Bikini’, implying that a woman wearing this costume would have the same devastating effect as one of those bombs going off. It’s also the home of Godzilla, the mutant monster, born from radiation.
Gideon thought, what a cool name for a band.
Viva’s piano skills suddenly seemed more relevant than her antics in the gymnasium, and Gideon discovered he had unwittingly learnt how to play the guitar during the stoned-out torpor that was his teens. Brother and sister set off on a quest to find the perfect band.
In 97’ Ché emerged. Fully-formed. Man of drum. Then, in 99’ Bastian joined the band. Having arrived in the UK the year before to Make It.
After honing their skills for a few, interminable years, they decided to make a record. This would be called ‘Moratoria’. They made it with a sound-engineering Irish wizard, name of Rob Kirwan, in the late summer of 2002, in London. One track from this album, ‘Desolation Highway’, ended up being featured in the acclaimed British film ‘My Little Eye’, released in the UK November 2002.
This album landed them a deal with Bella Union. Moratoria was released in February 2004 and from here Bikini Atoll have embarked on a journey that has seen them play in all the finest toilets throughout the land.
And with the release of every album there’s just a little more heartache, a little more love, a little less time and a whole lot more doobie.
Gideon’s reminded of a genius line by John Lennon, which goes, ‘Life is what happens when you’re making other plans’.
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