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View the original article for The Beards.

Band Members

Each member of The Beards is publicly known by a beard-related moniker, with their real names withheld from official band documents. Each member has been with the band since its inception in 2005, and previously worked together in another comedy rock band, The Dairy Brothers.

Johann Beardraven

Johann Beardraven is the band's lead vocalist. He also plays the piano and saxophone during certain performances. According to Behind The Beards, a fictional documentation of the history of the band's members, Johann Beardraven can never stop partying, and drinks while doing his day-to-day tasks.

Facey McStubblington

Facey McStubblington is the only member of the band to not feature the word 'beard' in his name, and is the band's guitarist. According to Behind The Beards, Facey can defeat any non-bearded opponent in hand-to-hand combat.

Nathaniel Beard

Nathaniel Beard is The Beards' bassist, and as mentioned by Behind The Beards, being the tallest member of the band is his most interesting quality. Nathaniel Beard's beard is also the longest of all the members' beards.

John Beardman Jr.

John Beardman Jr. is the percussionist for The Beards, and is able to stroke his beard in between swings of his drumstick while performing. According to Behind The Beards, John lives a life on his farm when he is not performing.

Pro-Beard Movement

The Beards have become popular amongst fans for their spreading of their self-proclaimed pro-bearded message. The band has performed several shows in which they have encouraged the crowd to join in pro-bearded chants, and publicly shame their beardless attendees or stagehands. The Beards satirically attack clean-shaven individuals ranging from full-grown men to even women and children, with the intent of pressuring the entire population into growing a beard via beard-related propaganda. Their first album features a song titled Beard Revolution that details their intent to revolutionize a heavily bearded world that the band truly believes and acts by. The band facetiously claims to have convinced over 1,000,000 people to grow a beard, but while the actual numbers are impossible to accurately discover, there have been several testimonials from fans who have grown beards inspired by their music.

North American Tour Controversy

The Beards have historically performed largely on their home continent of Australia, but have also toured many parts of Europe several times. It was to the surprise and acclaim of several fans that on July 18th, 2013, The Beards announced their first-ever North American tour, Beards Across America, in which they were to perform in several locations across the U.S. and Canada. Having promised to perform over a dozen shows, several venues began selling tickets early in preparation. On October 15th, 2013, the day commencing their tour, the band posted on their website that the Beards Across America tour was officially cancelled. The inability to attain performance visas to enter the United States was cited as the reason for the tour's cancellation. It is curious as to why The Beards were not recognized as worthy of entering the country considering their popularity both in Australia and worldwide. The website of the Department of Homeland Security officially states:

You must be an artist entering the United States through a government recognized reciprocal exchange program. In addition, you must possess skills comparable to those of the United States artists and entertainers taking part in the program outside the United States.

— U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, uscis.gov

The Beards have made Australia's Top 100 list twice, once for their single You Should Consider Having Sex with a Bearded Man, and once more for their fourth album, The Beard Album. The U.S. consulate never gave an official reasoning for their rejection of The Beards, and a public statement has not been made by The Beards in regards to whether the consulate has responded since the incident. The Beards have stated that they would be eager to return to North America, but no further announcements have been made regarding a revitalization of their first North American tour.

Viral Videos

The Beards have made several viral videos for their YouTube channel, TheBeardsAustralia. Besides their live performances and music videos, the band has created several comedic shorts and clips. These exist to both promote their musical content and continue to spread their pro-beard movement.

Creative Insights

The Beards have provided several YouTube-exclusive clips that appear as behind the scenes content, but are actually disguised satirical skits and provide little inside content at all. These videos include Behind The Beards, a supposed look at each member of the band and their upbringings. In reality, it goes into short detail of their characters' histories and takes the opportunity to make small gags. Songwriting with Johann Beardraven is a video in which the band's lead vocalist, Johann Beardraven, presents the band's creative process as nothing more than numerous tiny exercises involving the word 'beard.'

Pro-Beard Campaign and Beardless Harassment

The Beards have extended their pro-beard movement to outside their musical careers. In several non-music-related videos, the band has recorded themselves spreading their bearded message to a large audience, playing games discouraging shaving, and harassing beardless civilians.

In their video celebrating World Beard Day 2014, The Beards were shown playing parody games such as 'Beardless Darts' and 'Pin the Beard on the Guy' in support of beard growth. The band was also shown burning a stuffed, beardless dummy named Michael on a beach.

In another video, which was for unexplained reasons removed from The Beards' YouTube channel, Street Talk With The Beards, The Beards are shown interviewing civilians on the streets of Australia about beards. While they praise their interviewees who do possess beards, their beardless guests receive verbal harassment as well as some minor physical assault. This slowly evolves into the band breaking the mailboxes of the beardless and stealing their cars, at which point the video stops representing actual events. Every interaction in this video was performed for the purposes of comedy, but also exists to spread The Beards' message through more drastic means. The Beards have been criticized in this video for acting harshly towards the beardless population, and therefore segmenting their demographic.