Parry Gripp
| Parry Gripp | |
|---|---|
 Parry Gripp Performing Live in Japan | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Parry Gripp |
| Born |
September 22, 1967 Santa Barbara, California |
| Genres | Rock |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Instruments | Vocals, Guitar, Keyboards |
| Labels | Oglio |
| Associated acts | Nerf Herder |
| Website | Official website |
Parry Gripp (born September 22, 1967 in Santa Barbara, California)[1] is a singer-songwriter as well as lead vocalist and guitarist for the pop punk band Nerf Herder.
Style and works
False jingles and other novelty songs
As a songwriter, Gripp is best known for fake jingles, as in his 2005 solo album For Those About to Shop, We Salute You - a 51-track concept album mimicking various musical styles as product commercials. It does not have one single concept; it goes through many various concept suites, such as trucks, beer, and insomnia. He also maintains a song-of-the-week website and a YouTube channel on which he creates soundtracks to internet memes[2] as well as music videos for his own novelty songs, with titles including "Do You Like Waffles?", "Nom Nom Nom Nom Nom Nom Nom," "Last Train to Awesometown," "Spaghetti Cat (I Weep For You)," "Hamster on a Piano (Eating Popcorn)," "There's a Cat Licking Your Birthday Cake", "Wiener Dog Riding a Skateboard", "I Am A Banana," and "Baby Monkey (Going Backwards On A Pig)."
The Wawa and Hallmark connections
Along with his phony jingles, Gripp also has created some true advertising music, such as a series of Beatles-inspired tunes promoting the Wawa Food Markets' summertime Hoagiefests[3] and songs for the Hallmark Cards e-characters hoops&yoyo.
Television theme songs
Gripp also performs the Being Ian, The Super Hero Squad Show, Ben 10: Omniverse, and The 7D theme songs.
Gripp also joined forces with MC Lars to perform some of the vocals, including the chorus to "Guitar Hero Hero (Beating Guitar Hero Doesn't Make You Slash)," a song commenting on the notion that video games like Guitar Hero take kids away from playing in bands and actually learning their instruments.
On July 9, 2009, Parry Gripp debuted a new song called "The Girl at the Video Game Store" for the 1000th episode of the G4 TV program Attack of the Show! The video features the show's hosts Olivia Munn as the title character and Kevin Pereira on drums.[4]
In July 2012, the National Geographic Kids website uploaded his video, "Spooky Spider."
In April 2013, Parry Gripp recorded the song "Backyard Hodge Podge" for the episode of the same name for the children's TV show Phineas and Ferb, and he also appeared in the episode in animated form.
Personal life
Aside from his music, Gripp is the co-owner (with his sister) of the Santa Barbara Orchid Estate, which was founded by his father.[5][6]
Discography
Albums
- For Those About to Shop, We Salute You (2005)
- One Donut a Day (2007)
- Do You Like Waffles (2008)
- Mega-Party (2013)
- Raining Tacos (2012)
- Space Unicorn (2012)
See also
References
- ↑ "Family Tree Legends". Retrieved 21 March 2010.
- ↑ Parry Gripp, the Weird Al Yankovic of YouTube
- ↑ Wawa Hoagiefest website
- ↑ "The Girl At The Video Game Store". Kotaku. July 9, 2009.
- ↑ "Band With a Funny Bone, Nerf Herder Gets Last Laugh". Los Angeles Times. July 17, 1997.
- ↑ About SBOE, Santa Barbara Orchid Estate