Editor’s note: This is the seventh in a series of articles concerning bands coming out of DeKalb and NIU with NIU students or graduates as members.

Geisha with a Gun has been together only three months, yet it proceeded to come forward and won the Jammin‘ Band to Band competition last month.

The group began as the brainstorm of members Joe Dorenbos and Ken Burnstein after what Dorenbos calls a “nutty little escapade” that ended with the two having a jam session with another band’s instruments, Dorenbos said. Another member was added to the group, and their personalities meshed so well the band decided to make the threesome a permenant thing. The band called themselves Blue Wind.

One-and-a-half months after the group’s creation, a singer was added to the band, and at this time, they changed their name to Geisha with a Gun. They practiced constantly and got the opportunity to play at The DeKalb Coffeehouse on Feb. 17. This performance solidified the group and sparked the desire to pursue a musical career as Geisha with a Gun.

The Jammin’ Band to Band competition came along and the group’s members jumped at the chance to make themselves known to the public. Dorenbos said, “We had victory on our minds,” but he admits the competition win was a surprise anyway. Dorenbos and Burnstein agreed the only drawback to the Jammin Band to Band competition was they still have not yet received the money they were promised for winning.

Burnstein said Geisha with a Gun has, by far, the most potential of any band he’s ever been involved with. He attributed this to the fact that everyone in the group is committed and responsible.

He said the group is so in tune to each other personally as well as musically that often words aren’t needed to communicate. They can talk to each other through their music.

Geisha with a Gun is different in other ways as well. The group members have culturally and ethnically different backgrounds which Burnstein feels show up in their music. Burnstein describes the music itself as a “hybrid of all kinds of influences.” Dorenbos, on the other hand, calls the band’s music “funkadelic, like ‘The Four Tops meets Jimi Hendrix.'”

With the band competition win under its belt, Geisha with a Gun is moving on to other things. Dorenbos said he hopes the band will stay together and continue to “be content with spontaneously creative careers.” Burnstein said he hopes the band will expand to the suburbs and eventually to Chicago clubs. However, he said he has his own views on success.

Burnstein said he’s taking things one step at a time. It’s easy to get caught up in “the pipe dream of being a rock star,” he said, However, Burnstein’s being more realistic and said becoming a rock star is like playing Lotto. “Both involve a lot of time and luck.”

For now, Burnstein said he just wants the band to continue playing and making people happy. “I get a personal kick to see people get into our music,” Burnstein said, adding, “That’s what it’s all about.”

Geisha with a Gun can be seen April 21 at The DeKalb Coffeehouse, April 23 in the Martin Luther King Commons as part of the “Nooners” concert series and April 25 at Andy’s.