Action Figures 432 is fantastic little band formed by veteran indie-rockers Bibi Farber, George Krzyzewski and Rob Norris. Their fun project celebrates classic songs from the ‘60’s, ‘70’s, and ’80’s. Rob Norris graciously took time out of his busy schedule to grant me this interview to talk about the band, along with other projects the members are working on. Action Figures 432 will be playing at the Festival in a Field event September 10th, Hudson, NY. [See flyer below]
How did the group arrive at the name Action Figures 432?
We wanted to have each have different personas and colors – and even stand on kidney-shaped platforms like toy action figures do. We added “432” because we use A432 tuning, which is compatible with the human energy field and the energy field of the earth. It’s very supportive of biological life as opposed to standard A440 tuning – which is less harmonious. We decided to incorporate that into our name as a way of spreading that information about harmonious tuning.
Wow – I had no idea this type of tuning even existed!
Well how would you know? Most people are not aware of this type of tuning. When we first got together I suggested that we all tune to 432. So I bought Bibi and George chromatic tuners and we tried it and it felt just so good after we’ve been playing rock and roll for decades in A440.
How long have you guys been together?
Just a couple years – we got together because of the pandemic really. Bibi was very active in the music world down in NYC and a couple things happened – she was ostracized by the whole musical kingdom down there for her vaccination status, and then her father died. She decided to move to upstate New York. Me and Bibi played a lot together over the years and we just like to kind of have fun really and to play music when we weren’t playing publicly that much.
George and I have known each other for a long time because in one of the later editions of the Velvet Underground together. We’ve played a lot together over the years.
Was it easy to mesh together with everyone knowing so much about music in general?
It was very easy. It was our shared love of the music. And we all had the skills, and we all had similar tastes and sensibilities – each a little different – but we would then combine them. Bibi comes from more of a pop sensibility and George comes from more of a rhythm and blues – and I’m more rock. All of us have a rock background as well. It just fell together. We chose songs that we all loved from different decades.
Is there a particular sound you all agree on?
The sound we’re striving for is basically acoustic based folk-rock. We give that treatment to the songs that we love – particularly since we didn’t have a drummer. Bibi plays acoustic six-string and sings, George plays acoustic 12-string and sings and I play bass and sing.
What bands does Action 432 really like?
Oh my gosh – there’s hundreds. We just had to narrow it down. We put together a nice medley of about 7 classic songs we really love [see youtube link below] for people to listen to. In the past none of us ever did much with cover bands. All of us were based in original music – so this has been a lot of fun. It’s kind of like preserving beautiful music that might be forgotten, for the current generation of people to enjoy.
And Bibi plays in care homes – that’s her joy. She just strolls around with her guitar playing all kinds of songs from many different genres.
Do you guys ever share any mutual grumblings about the music industry. Is there anything you would like to change if you could?
Right now we’re all about just having fun. We all have been deep in the music industry at one point. One of the blessings we feel that’s happened during the pandemic is that music is returning to its original purpose which is to serve community – house concerts, parties, local events – like the Festival in a Field coming up – rather than touring. It’s a lot more fulfilling for us to be playing within the community, or local clubs, and playing for our friends. There’s no ambitions at this point for fame and fortune. We’re just enjoying the beauty and power of love and creativity. All three of us are very busy. I’m playing with The Bongos, and Tulula! along with working as a practitioner with The Holistic Health Community in Stone Ridge. George is involved with his initiative – The Music Cottage. And Bibi is returning to playing her original music. She’s got three beautiful albums – she’s very accomplished. She wants to open that up again. So Action Figures 432 has really been a great hobby for all of us while we work on our other projects.
Watch a 10 minute medley of Action Figures 432
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wccY8SAxxmA
Rob Norris’ music can be found at
https://soundcloud.com/robbassman-1
Bibi Farber’s music can be found at
https://bibifarber.com
George Krzyzewski teaches music at
https://www.musiccottage.com/
See Action Figures 432 September 10th at
Festival in a Field – Hudson, NY
