bios
marc simao
marc
is an original member of litterbug and the only member of the band who has
had an active stalker. after listening to jonathan richman, the minutemen
and patti smith, he decided he needed to play music and formed the first
incarnation of litterbug (then nameless) with janie cranfield and a couple
of friends from work. with an avowed interest in early russian revolutionary
politics and characters and a love of all things ice cream, marc has created
his own lyrical and musical stamp that offer snapshots of his life and the
lives of others in his life. if you have trouble finding him, he's probably
in a movie theatre watching some black and white film with subtitles.
janie cranfield
janie
is also an original member of litterbug and the only member of the band
who has had a boxing career (lifetime 4-0). at one time or another, she
has played keyboards, bass, drums, clarinet, banjo, bells, trombone, and
trumpet, as well as singing. graduating from art school, janie made a natural
transition into playing in a band and did much work in designing band cds,
websites, t-shirts and posters. a distant relation to fyodor dan, janie
has always been partial to the menshevik cause and was in a menshevik bowling
club in university. once appearing in a platinum blonde video (or did that
not happen??), janie got a good glimpse into the horrors of the hair dye
industry and wrote a scathing exposé entitled, clowns and carcasses.
stewart lampe
stewart
also joined litterbug in late 2009, just before doing a solo tour of central
america (check out stewart lampe's illumination when you're below 20°
latitude - the only places they can play because of drummer/harpist rodrigo's
whooping cough). gregarious, charming, witty and full of candy, stewart
brings joy to all peoples and his cat momo with his singing, and his playing
of ukulele, guitar, bass, keyboards and drums. we're pretty sure he's got
another 5 or 6 instruments he can play but he needs to clean up his apartment
to find them. note: he's american!
spring burke
spring joined litterbug in early 2012. she has studied the violin for over 20 years, played with orchestras, and won medals, prizes and scholarships (see her website at springburke.com). in addition to violin, spring is also playing guitar, bass and drums, as well as doing some singing in litterbug. being a part-time professional clown (but oddly enough no eating of children) scared some of the members of the band, but spring is such an excellent baker (the cake she made for her own birthday was divine!) and we all know chocolate wins over fear every time. when pressed for an answer to a question, if she does not know the answer, she'll answer in esperanto.
justin harder
justin harder joined litterbug in late 2002, bringing along his girlfriend aileen rankin. both had previously been in the band the interns, whose messy breakup was captured in the cbs documentary my life after school. litterbug knew justin would fit in because he had a willingness to play instruments he had never played before and he was willing to take a lie detector test. although the test showed him to be a pretty truthful person, litterbug let him in the band anyway.
justin has played guitar, bass, drums, keyboards, and sang once or twice at litterbug shows. he started recording with litterbug in the spring of 2003, leaving for several months to join his girlfriend on a secret mission (he wouldn't give us any details) in guatemala. with justin not speaking a word of spanish, the rest of the band deduced that he was either working for the cia or recruiting children for organ sales. since his return, justin has spent a lot of time recording songs for the kaiser album, although his "work" and mystery trips to chicago, peru and indonesia have continued to keep the rest of the band suspicious. now living in vancouver, justin has rejoined the band and created a new type of cookie that he only shares with litterbug members and alumni.
former band member bios: mouki k butt, spencer rose, amelia mori, and aileen rankin.