Karate High School was an American rock band formed in San Francisco, California in 2004 by frontman, 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.[7]
Paul McGuire formed the band in 2004, and the band's name came from McGuire's love for "really cheesy B-rated horror movies" and came up with a name that sounded like them.[8]
Karate High School's style evolved over the last three records. Once described as an "aggressive blend of poppy punk, hyper post-hardcore, and eight-bit blips";[2] the band began as a spazzy, catchy, keyboard-driven rock act on their debut record, but grew 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, their 2009 album Invaders focused on all of the aforementioned elements and further evolved the band's sound. The band's sound has also been called Nintendocore,[6] but the band doesn't consider itself under the genre.[8]
Karate High School was the songwriting project of Paul McGuire, and he wrote all the music and lyrics for the band.[8] Ray Bautista joined the group as the keyboard player, and was 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 Karate High School.
Former members and touring lineup
Paul McGuire - vocals, keyboards, guitar, bass, producer (2004-2010)
^ abcd"Karate High School - Arcade Rock". April 2, 2006. Retrieved December 19, 2020 – via rockfreaks.net. The band combines the usual hardcore guitars and breakdowns with melodic pop punkish hooks and 8/16bit nintendo-style keyboard effects to create a shocking but yet awe-inspiring sound, ranging from the quick, poppy riffs and mood-setting singing on "Good News And Bad News" through the 6-minute slow, acoustic ballad "Scenes Rushing By", all the way to the odd hardcore piece "Extra! Extra! (Hear All About It).
^ ab"Karate High School -- Arcade Rock". karatehighschool.com. August 12, 2007. Archived from the original on August 12, 2007. Retrieved May 6, 2021. The first single from the new KHS record has been posted for you to check out, so feel free to give it a listen and let us know what you think. We also just shot a video for this song in Brooklyn, NY with some amazingly talented folks, but more to come on that later.
