The Above Average Aardvarks is a post-punk/psychadelic band from the city of Fort Smith, Arkansas. Beginning in the warm month of July of 2007, they have accomplished much more than many bands from the area. With their unique sound, style, and tonal qualities, they were unstoppable.
In the beginning (being July, 2007) the current rhythm guitarist Clay Bugh began talking to current lead singer Jamie Bennett about starting a band. Bennett, who was well acquainted with two brothers by the name of Hunter Clark and Kelly Jones, accepted the offer and they had a jam. Jones' fast-paced style of guitar and Clark's equal caliber of drummership met with Bugh's multi-cultured rhythms and Bennett's magnificent All-State worthy vocals. With only one practice behind them, Bugh called in bassist William White to fill the void. With White's jazz-inspired playing and ultimately expeditious style, the band was complete. After two weeks, the band voted to fire Bennett, and Jay Neece was chosen to take his place. Artistic differences began to tear the "band" apart, and after only four months, Jones demitted his spot in the group, leaving only White, Bugh, and Clark (Neece left the band because of his close relationship with Jones).
With the slow movement of the band, the creative process was halted for nearly two months, but when they booked a show with the Regeneration (at the time known as Two Jave Monkeys) for January 5th of the following year, the band's musicianship was put to the test. With a lack of any original songs, the band had to create them within a very constrained amount of time due to school and the fact that White lived 30 miles away. The weekends were crucial, being spent on developing tunes for the upcoming show. Over that short amount of time, three songs were created, including "Kiwi," Bugh's tribute to his current girlfriend Asian Kimi Nguyen, the grunge-inspired "Now," and the ballad "Escape Remake."
With great tension among the members, especially Bugh and White, the band's future was in question. After extensive practice and the first show, contact among the members was rare. The group did not even practice until the night before their next show two weeks later. It was right before that show that White revealed his decision to quit the band that he and the other two had spent so much time creating. The feuding duo of Will and Clay turned to be quite tragic, and when asked about how he felt about the band, White responded,"In retrospect, I wish I had never even stepped foot in that poolhouse we poured our minds and bleeding hands into. It might be that I just wish mine and Clay's attitude had been different because it ultimately ended our friendship. Ever since we had become friends in seventh grade, being the outcasts we were, we stuck together through everything. We were seriously best friends, and we always talked about how much we wanted to be in a band and all that and it was like the femme fatale. We thought we wanted it, but i don't know."
After White quit the band, the group was reduced to only Bugh on guitar and Clark on drums. Persistence was obviously present. Clark comments,"This thing that started as a little get-together has blossomed into a whirlwind of all elements of emotion: excitement, frustration, uncertainty, just...everything you can think of. We will continue."
A few months later, the band adopted metal group Bloody Carcass' lead guitarist Drake Mord. Bassist Justin Peters entered the band, and by April of 2008, the Above Average Aardvarks were once again fulfilled.

Above Average Aardvarks Myspace
Above Average Aardvarks Facebook
above-average-aardvarks-2/2433484568 Above Average Aardvarks AOL Videos
index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.search&t=aardvarks Above Average Aardvarks Myspace Videos
Above Average Aardvarks Youtube
2005/11/aardvark-of-doom-doth-approach.html The Epic Abyss of Incredulity