Ima Robot

Biography

IMA Robot is a rock band based in Los Angeles, CA that formed in 1998, after Alexander Ebert's band The Lucky 13's broke up. But they really only came to fruition in the early 2000s after signing with Virgin Records. The band's vocalist, Alex Ebert, originally wanted to be a rapper before becoming a singer. The band's other original members were Timmy Anderson, Oligee, Justin Meldal-Johnsen, and the prolific studio drummer Joey Waronker. Meldal-Johnsen and Waronker were sought-after musicians wh...

IMA Robot is a rock band based in Los Angeles, CA that formed in 1998, after Alexander Ebert's band The Lucky 13's broke up. But they really only came to fruition in the early 2000s after signing with Virgin Records. The band's vocalist, Alex Ebert, originally wanted to be a rapper before becoming a singer. The band's other original members were Timmy Anderson, Oligee, Justin Meldal-Johnsen, and the prolific studio drummer Joey Waronker. Meldal-Johnsen and Waronker were sought-after musicians who had played with Beck before joining IMA Robot.

Their first full-length album released on September 6, 2003 was self-titled IMA Robot, and featured the singles "Dynomite" and "Song #1" (released in the UK only.) The band has toured with artists such as Hot Hot Heat, The Von Bondies, Hoobastank, The Sounds, She Wants Revenge and others. In 2004 Waronker and Oligee left the band, and Meldal-Johnsen followed in 2005, with former Oleander drummer Scott Devours taking over drumming duties, Filip Nikolic taking over on bass, and Andy Marlow on keyboards and guitar. In June of 2008 Lars Vognstrup joined the group, having previously played with Nikolic in Junior Senior. On September 12, 2006 IMA Robot released their second album Monument to the Masses which featured the singles "Creeps Me Out" and "Lovers in Captivity".

In April 2007, the band won their independence from Virgin Records, and went under the management of Alexis Rivera of Echo Park Records. The song "Gangster" premiered on the band's MySpace on April 15, 2008, with its lyrics posted in a blog entry by the band. In 2010 the band announced the upcoming release of their new album, Another Man's Treasure, and released the song "Ruthless" on the Internet. They are now being represented by the Werewolf Heart label.
On January 6, 2011, The banded played six songs live on KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic . This was the first time since Monument To The Masses tours that the new full banded played live. They added Orpheo McCord (of Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros, Fool's Gold), Jason Taylor, and Jonas Petri Megyessi.

Their songs have been featured in the game SSX3 ("A is for Action"), ATV Off Road Fury 4 ("Creeps Me Out"), and the movie 'Grandma's Boy' ("STD Dance"). "STD Dance" was also featured in 'Suicide Girls: The First Tour'.' Greenback Boogie' is featured in the credits of the USA Network legal drama Suits.

Alex Ebert has since gone on to lead the band Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.