Van Go Go

Hailing from Michigan, Van Go Go is Nathan Mackinder (vocals/guitar), Jason Schaller (lead guitar/vocals), Paxton Olney (bass/vocals) and Jonah Brockman (drums/vocals). They came up with the band name at the end of a night on the town when they saw a Van Gogh print at the top of a stairway. Schaller looked at the group and said, “How about Van Go Go?” Nate and Jason had shared the stage for over 20 years, with 15 successful years in their band South Normal, which broke up in 2007. Jason wanted to keep things going, so they auditioned some people to play drums and bass. That’s when Paxton and Jonah came along and Van Go Go was fully assembled. 

Nine months after the inception of Van Go Go, Nate and Jason decided that they were burned out and needed a life change. It was at that point that Van Go Go called it quits and Nate and Jason moved from Michigan to Florida to pursue careers outside of music. In October of 2020, Covid-19 and the Universe brought the guys back together. They had unfinished business, as well as unfinished music from 2008, and they collectively decided that it was time to finish the stories that they had begun to tell before separating. “Music is in your blood and for us, life just wasn’t the same without it,” says Nate. 

The band returned to Pearl Sound to finish the four songs from its first session in October of 2020 and this quickly inspired the band to return to the studio for a second round of new songs that were completed in January of 2021. The first 3 singles, “Big Mistake”, “Imaginary Friend” and “Both of Us” have received over 1.5 million streams and 100,000 YouTube plays in the short five months that the band has been together. 

Van Go Go has celebrated over 2,500,000 streams of their self-titled debut album - all produced, promoted and managed independently by Rock Nacho Music and the Van Go Go Team.  The band is up for four 2022 Detroit Music Awards and their videos for "Both of Us" and "Big Mistake" have been widely regarded for their creativity. The band is now back with a new single, "Watch it Burn", and in addition to writing and recording their new album, the band is soon to announce a few special spring shows and a tour to follow.   

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