Kanjo Brasso
Rock and roll on an old tin can.
Kanjo. Cos it’s a banjo made from a can, spelt with a K cos I’m Keith.
Brasso. Cos it’s a Brasso can…..
I built the first Kanjo in the mid 1970s, so half a century ago. Urghhh! My Dad was fitting a new kitchen and had cut a thin strip off the chipboard work-surface to clear a chimney breast. As luck would have it the strip had the right proportions for a guitar neck. So with the addition of a Castrol GTX can, and a few matchsticks, nails and screws the Mk1 Kanjo was born. From the pictures you can see that it was not the most exquisite craftsmanship ever seen but it worked and produced a surprisingly melodic sound.
Then constructed a bass version using, of course, two cans butted together.
So with the Kanjo GTX, Kanjo Bass, cardboard boxes for drums, and a clarinet (!) recorded a number acoustic songs in my bedroom with a few mates. Made a pretty decent sound all things considered. Meant to perform in public, but was a bit apprehensive so kept putting it off till tomorrow.
Now the sad bit. I put it off till tomorrow 17,000 times. And all of a sudden I was 63. And had never once sung in public.
But at that point a friend put on an open mic at a pub just around the corner. So dragged the Mk1 out of the loft, recommissioned it, stiffened the sinews, summoned up the blood and plunged in. Immediately thought what on earth was I worried about! It’s the proverbial piece of cake. Just wish I had done it before…..
And then onwards and upwards. Played around the local open mics and did a few pub gigs. Then made the current Mk2 Kanjo from a Brasso can donated from a lovely lady in the audience. 40 years of engineering experience improved the build quality, though not too much….
Then turned up the distortion and added the bass synth pedal to drop the lower string note by a further octave. Then an MP3 player playing extracted drum tracks.
Result looks like junk, but sounds like Led Zep on a loud day.
So if you like the following words: loud, rock, raw, silly, heavy, noisy, then Kanjo Brasso could be the very thing you are looking for…… See the “ROCK” showreel in the video section.
On the other hand if you like the following words: tuneful, beautiful, melodic, nice, does also have a more melodic side…. See the “QUIET” showreel in the video section.
