Biography

Keyboardist John Corda, the sole musician responsible for Mashed Buddha, has performed live with a diverse array of bands, encompassing such styles as funk, reggae, jazz, rock, blues, and jam band. In these bands he has opened up for Tower of Power and on the complete other end of the spectrum Great White. In college, he studied jazz composition and classical piano, where he received a BA in jazz studies. Before college he obsessively wrote music and improvised, fascinated with how chords, melodies, and rhythms could be combined endlessly, and that fascination continues to this day.

Mashed Buddha's newest full length release, Zen Conspiracy, is a blend of intricate drum n bass, downtempo funk, and ambient electronica. John infuses melodic soul into every groove and jams as if performing with a live band. Armed with a Trigger Finger and an arsenal of keyboards, he forgoes premade loops and generated beats in favor of 25+ years of piano skill, performance, and compositional exploration. Famed guru and bender of spoons Uri Geller threatens to put you into a hypnotic coma on one track. The album's painted artwork was done by none other than Spy vs Spy artist Peter Kuper.

The 4 track EP, 'Four Keys to Zen', portrays a new direction for Mashed Buddha, who's sublime, orchestrated grooves have thus far lacked one thing: Improvisation. Whereas debut album "Subdue Your Mind" was an experiment in electronica composition, 'Four Keys to Zen' is a collection of layered funk, drum n bass and downtempo grooves that allow for jamming keyboard solos.

Mashed Buddha's first album, 'Subdue Your Mind', was an unexpected foray into electronic music from a keyboard player who started classical, discovered jazz, and ended up in another orbit with electronica. John decided to stop waiting for the band of his dreams and instead created his own album of original music. Attracted to the complex drum stylings of jungle and drum n bass, he used this as a rhythmic foundation for much of the music on 'subdue your mind.' Not content with creating just another drum n bass record, he added grooves that are at times hypnotic, dissonant, symphonic, emotional, or all of the above. The result is an organic approach to electronic music.