Cojum Dip
This is the page for the band. If you’re looking for their self-titled album, click here.
| Cojum Dip | |
| |
| Place of Origin | Ann Arbor, MI |
|---|---|
| Genres | Metal, Jazz, Rock |
| Years Active | 2004-2006, 2008 (as a band), 2010-Present (as a solo act) |
| Label | None |
| Website | Cojum Dip's Official Website |
| Band Members | |
| |
Cojum Dip is an experimental metal/jazz/opera/math rock band/music project started by Bora Karaca in Ann Arbor, MI around 2004. They gained some popularity in the Ann Arbor area as one of the most insane, entertaining live acts of all time. The band is also known for their personas, wearing distinct multi-colored luchador masks.
History
First ideas (until 2003)
The first ideas for a band would come from Bora Karaca, in his high school years, after discussing about what he and his friend Jacob Hurley wanted to see from current bands, that lacked novelty in their opinion. As such, Bora attempted to start a band, but finding other bandmates in the high school was difficult. Around the same time, the idea of having distinct personas began to appear: on October 19th, 2005, the band would post on Facebook "a series of photos exhibiting an early enthusiasm for absurdity", Bora being dressed as Wes Borland from the band Limp Bizkit, and Jacob being "Doug the Retard," with a look inspired by Corey Taylor from Slipknot. Later, Bora would advertise the band by placing flyers on campus, but the band as we know it today wouldn't exist until early 2004.
Beginnings of the Dip (2004)
During the first half of the year, the website cojumdip.cjb.net would be created, and the idea for a crossover metal band wearing wrestling masks and capes on live shows was already decided upon. Song demos like 4LOM, Puzzle Dust, Tap Tap Tap and How? would be uploaded to various websites such as Vicious Enterprises later that year, a logo for the band was made by a Turkish calligrapher, and the personas would be mostly finalized: Bodur the Clumsy, a guitarist and the vocalist of the band portrayed by Bora, wearing a black, red and yellow Shocker mask, "Laurence", a guitarist portrayed by Jacob wearing a La Parka wrestling mask, Mumutits the Sour, a guitarist wearing a silver and pink Shocker mask, Udabn the Feared, a bassist wearing a Fisherman mask, and Captain No the Love Machine, the drummer, wearing a Love Machine mask.
Live shows and albums (2005-2006)
In late 2004 and early 2005, members finally joined the band: Mumutits would be portrayed by Brian McCorkle, Udabn by Traf Lewis, and Captain No by Blake Gower. The band's first release, titled The Greatest Demo CD in the Universe, would be released February 16th 2005, and would feature solo demos by Bora of songs such as Reverse Mullet, Jabberwocky and Bressed Men, alongside those already uploaded previously to various websites. Two days after the demo's release, on February 18th, 2005, Cojum Dip would play their first show at the Duderstadt Center in Ann Arbor, MI, during the 1st Annual Asteroid Chainsaw Classic. A DVD of the performance was allegedly released, and CDs and shirts would be sold at the event and on the band's website. Different versions of the CD were made whenever a batch of these run out, containing improved mixes and new tracks. The band played shows around the Detroit and Ann Arbor area, and, in September 2005, bassist Traf Lewis was replaced by Alex Saenz. The band would join the Emergenza Battle of the Bands contest, and new songs Cell and 5/4 were written around that time, the latter first being played live in December and getting a single release. This would be Alex's last show however, and he was replaced with Matt S. quickly afterwards. In late 2005 and early 2005, the band would go back in the studio to record their new EP, the Anthropomorphic Bible Assault EP, which would be released shortly afterwards. As with the last EP, new revisions were made every time a batch of CDs run out, one of these revisions featuring art by Homestuck artist Andrew Hussie, and the EP would be sold on live shows and on the Tally Hall forums. The band would ditch their capes at the April 2006 East Quad show to wear torn-sleeve karate suits, and in July, at the Majestic theatre, Cojum Dip would participate in the finals of the Emergenza Battle of the Bands contest, however the band did not win the finals. However, the band was about to be put on hold, as Bora would move to Los Angeles later that year. The band played their farewell show on September 20th, 2006, at the Blind Pig, in Ann Arbor, MI. Band would play cover songs such as Inside the Mind of Simon by Tally Hall, Over the Hills and Far Away by Led Zeppelin, and Everybody Wants to Rule the World by Tears for Fears, all of these would be uploaded on the newly-created Youtube channel of the band. That year, various videos would also be made, such as music videos for Puzzle Dust and a cover of JENOVA's theme from Final Fantasy VII, among others.
Hiatus, reunion and Turk Off (2007-2010)
The actual band didn't have any sign of activity in 2007, however, a video titled "What is Cojum Dip?" would be uploaded to the band's website, featuring various clips from recording sessions, live shows and other miscellaneous videos, and Bora would search for new bandmates in Los Angeles. "What is Cojum Dip?" was later uploaded to the band's Vimeo, and a reunion show would happen in early 2008 at a short-lived venue called The Alibi, in Ann Arbor: however, Brian McCorkle, who portrayed Mumutits, didn't attend the reunion, instead being replaced by an unknown portrayer. Bora would also remaster some of the songs from the previous EP uploading them to the band's website and MySpace, to form the digital-only Turk Off EP, released in September 2008. "What is Cojum Dip?" was uploaded to the band's Youtube channel in 2009, and in 2010, Bora would make a new Facebook page for the band, announcing that he had found a drummer in the LA area but still needed a bassist. Later that year, in November, Bora would remaster the Turk Off recordings once again and upload them to MySpace and to the band's Soundcloud as "2010 Remix", although the Turk Off name was still used.
Videojuegos (2011-2013)
In mid-to-late 2011, Bora would record some faithful video game covers, mostly Mega Man, and release them to Youtube and Soundcloud under the Cojum Dip. Among these songs is Magnet Man, a song covered at the band's first show, and Where's its $#&*&@ head?, a cover of the JENOVA theme from Final Fantasy VII, which was previously made into a music video and covered by the band. These songs would be released as Videojuegos, Cojum Dip's cover album of videogame songs. However, some of these songs on Youtube and Soundcloud would be made private in October of 2012, when Bora released Videojuegos: Volume 1 and Videojuegos: Volume 2 on Bandcamp for $5 per volume, the first volume containing Mega Man 2 songs and the second one Mega Man 3 songs, ditching the non-Mega Man songs Pokémon Trainer Battle, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Level 1 and Where's its $#&*&@ head.
Self-titled album (2013-2016)
In 2013, Bora would remaster existing Cojum Dip songs and record new ones, and on January 12th, 2014, the band's self-titled album would be released on Bandcamp for $8, featuring all of the songs recorded for the Anthropomorphic Bible Assault EP (and, by extension, the Turk Off EP) in a heavily remastered form, along with two new songs: 134340 Pluto, and Waltz in E-major, Op. 15 - Moon Waltz. The album was planned to be released in a physical form in addition to the Bandcamp release, but this didn't happen. Four days afterwards, on January 16th, Bora would, without any prior announcement, add another song to Videojuegos: Volume 2, Intro. Later that year, on Miracle Musical's Hawaii: Part II: Part ii, an instrumental of the song The Mind Electric (previously known as Inside the Mind of Simon) made by Cojum Dip would be released, however it is not known when it was recorded. In 2015, the band's only activity would be making the song 134340 Pluto free for a short time, in honor of Pluto Day, and in 2016, Bora would release a new song on Joe Hawley's album Joe Hawley Joe Hawley under the Cojum Dip name: Aristotle's Denial.
Plans for a future album
In 2018, during a Miracle Musical AMA on Reddit, Bora would say that Cojum Dip's future album would be released in the summer of 2019. This, however never happened. However, in 2019 Bora would release, on his Youtube channel and, for the first time, on streaming platforms, a piano version of Moon Waltz. Later that year, the band's self-titled album would be released on streaming platforms, albeit with the movie samples being distorted and shortened. An updated version of Puzzle Dust's music video would also be made. In 2020, the album covers of Videojuegos: Volume 1 and Volume 2 would be updated to have a more "organic" art style, and the Twitch channel of the band would also be made, with Bora creating a V-Tuber model of an updated design of Bodur and playing various games. On Halloween's Day 2021, a cover of Fuck Bucket's song "Pubes of Doom" would be made by Bora, portraying "Laurence". In 2022, Bora confirmed a second album would be coming soon, but with no release window. Bora stopped streaming later that year, allegedly to work on the future album. Unfortunately, Jacob Hurley, who portrayed Laurence during the band's live shows, passed away. No activity related to the band happened in 2023, but in 2024, as a part of the edu + Friends opener for Jukebox the Ghost, Moon Waltz was played live, and Bora confirmed again that a future album was going to be released, alongside CDs and live performances.
Members
 Bodur the Clumsy Vocals, Accordion, Guitar, Bagpipes |
 "Laurence" a.k.a. Oktabis the Keeper of the River of Lost Souls Guitar, Drill |
 Udabn the Feared Bass |
 Mumutits the Sour Guitar, Saw, Traffic barrel, Keyboard |
 Captain No the Love Machine Drums |
| played by | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bora Karaca February 18th, 2005 - 2008 |
Jacob Hurley February 18th, 2005 - 2008 |
Traf Lewis February 18th, 2005 - September 2005 |
Brian McCorkle February 18th, 2005 - September 20th, 2006 |
Blake Gower February 18th, 2005 - 2008 |
| Alex Saenz September 2005 - January 2006 | ||||
| Matt S. January 2006 - 2008 Commonly nicknamed "Newdabn". |
??? 2008 | |||
Discography
| Name | Cover art | Category | Release date |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Greatest Demo CD in the Universe | 
|
Compilation | February 16th, 2005 |
| Anthropomorphic Bible Assault EP | 
|
EP | Early 2006 |
| Turk Off EP/2010 Remix | 
|
EP | From September 21st, 2008 to March 2011 |
| Videojuegos | 
|
Compilation | October 17th, 2011 |
| Videojuegos: Volume 1 | 
|
Compilation | October 3rd, 2012 |
| Videojuegos: Volume 2 | 
|
Compilation | October 3rd, 2012 |
| Cojum Dip | 
|
LP | January 12th, 2014 |
| Moon Waltz (Piano Version) | 
|
Single | May 15th, 2019 |
