Robbers on High Street

MySpace »

Robbers on High Street take straightforward rock songs and hang them in the air like purposely-crooked paintings. They schizophrenically mix fast paced dance rock with sinister melodies that tug and pull in different directions. They are not afraid to veer off the straightway into something dark and heavy and then, as if with a defibrillator, come right back with something that will make you want to jump up and down. The result is intelligent, atmospheric, and perfectly off kilter. At the apex, is a keyboard at the mercy of fingers that sound they belong to an ex-circus worker.

Robbers on High Street’s Ben Trokan (guitar, keyboard, vocals), Steve Mercado (guitar), Jeremy Phillips (bass), and Tomer Danan (drums) look like four guys who could have met in a prep school detention hall, which right away sets them apart from the hip New York typecast rock band. Although as teenagers, Steve and Ben may have donned punked out leather jackets in their native Poughkeepsie, they have since traded them in for something simpler, something that calls to focus their music not their clothes.

Steve and Ben began playing guitar together around age 13 while they bonded over bands such as The Kinks, The Jam, and Led Zeppelin and their parents Beatles and Stones records. As they began to discover their own music, they took to mail ordering and trading records because their hometown lacked a good indie record store. After high school Ben decided to head to nearby New York City while still keeping up with Steve who remained in Poughkeepsie working at a local bookstore. In New York, Ben met Tomer through a mutual friend. After seeing him play drums a couple of times, the two started playing together and immediately clicked. Back in Poughkeepsie, Steve was reunited with Jeremy when he became an employee at the same bookstore. Jeremy, an old acquaintance the guys had known since middle school, agreed to start playing bass with them after their first bassist moved to the west coast. It wasn’t until this foursome started getting together regularly to play music that Robbers on High Street were officially formed.