Bano! He’s Reggie’s bridge into the land of coolness, confidence … and absolute weirdom.

Everything about this lad screams eccentric! Even Reggie, at times, has a hard time getting a full understanding of Bano’s quirkiness, but Bano is a great friend and always makes things better for Reggie (well, in the end, anyway).

Bano is one of Reggie’s three amigos and bandmates. He’s also relocated with his family to Peachtree City, by way of their long-extended roots in New Orleans. He’s a Cajun kid with the gift of gab and a thick accent.

Bano’s been in Peachtree City a bit longer than Reggie has and already knows the lay of the land at RPAS.

Bano’s musical weapon of choice is “that good ol’ guitar, baby!”, and he’s absolutely amazing at it (though he can play any stringed instrument). He’s the white Jimi Hendrix with a style and flair all his own. In fact, Jimi’s his idol, and he does everything he can to be like him. Bano’s been playing guitar since he was six years old. He first played an acoustic guitar. Now he plays electric.

While in “N’awlins,” Bano played at a number of festivals to showcase his talents, but now he’s looking to expand his repertoire at RPAS.

Bano may often be the butt of everyone’s jokes, but he’s quick-witted and always has a stinging comeback ready.

Reggie’s the one kid – just genius enough, just weird enough, and too new – to know how crazy Bano really is!

They’re a match made in heaven.

A.k.a. the magic man on the ones and twos!

Ta Dah may be the third member to join Reggie’s crew/band, but he’s definitely not bringing up the rear in the music department. He’s a master DJ who has a taste for all types of music and sounds.

Ta Dah is like a stylish hipster/mad scientist with a lab coat on when crafting beats and altering the sound of his band’s pieces. For example, adding the sound of a toilet flushing to an instrumental of strings and drums … that’s vintage Ta Dah. Ta Dah is also heavy into history and discovering ancient artifacts.

Oftentimes, it’s his passion for the mysterious that drives his production. An example is making his crew explore a Mayan temple to record the exact sound of a South American temple rattlesnake for one of his beats.

Ta Dah is basically Data from The Goonies meets super producer Timbaland.

His creations often cause Bano and Reggie to wonder just where his talents begin and end. In the end, he always pulls through with something amazing.

Ta Dah – originally Takuma Date – is a third-generation Japanese immigrant whose family has chosen to embrace American culture with open arms. His parents are very laid back and encourage him to explore his talents in every way he can.

Are these real-life … heaven-sent … dressed-in-all-white … bona fide angels?

Not even close! But don’t tell that to these three sassy and fierce fish. They believe they are every bit as beautiful and God-sent as any of the flying beings you’ve learned about in Sunday school.

They’re all from different parts of the world and have been brought together under one roof – Reggie’s roof. During his family’s travels, Reggie picked up the sisters in Mexico.

They love Reggie, but it has been somewhat of an adjustment for them, lifestyle-wise. Their previous owner in Mexico was loaded – the epitome of super rich! They even shared a 300-gallon aquarium at one point. My, how things have changed.

Today, they share a modest tank in Reggie’s “spacement” and are even more crowded in his portable fish bowl. The change has had a profound effect on their relationship with one another. Though they fight more than ever, they could never be closer as sisters.

Reggie has a special relationship with his “pet” fish. He’s the only one in this world who sees what they can really do. Not only can they talk, but they can also sing! For a long time, these fish have been the closest thing to best friends that Reggie’s ever had (along with his dog). They advise him on matters of his life and musical endeavors. They each bring a different flavor and perspective to the table and all play a different role in Reggie’s life. He carries them nearly everywhere he goes (even creating a special space in his locker for them during school days). They are much more than mere pets; they are Reggie’s confidants, his conscience, and his muses when he needs it most.

Let’s meet this trinity, starting with the head diva herself … Angelica!

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Angelica is the eldest sister of the bunch and has no problem pulling rank on the others.

She’s a diva but also takes on a sort of motherly role at times with the other fish and Reggie.

When living with her previous owner, who also loved music, Angelica gravitated mostly to the sound of Aretha Franklin and fused it with her already pronounced Latin flavor.

Once taken in by Reggie, Angelica was the first to realize her symbiotic relationship with him. At first, it was following Reggie when he walked around the room. Then, she was able to measure his sounds. Now she knows his greatest strengths and weaknesses, not only as a musician but as a person.

Angelica takes her relationship with Reggie very seriously and will do all she can to protect and advise him when need be.

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Angelee is the middle sister, and, as the story so often goes, she too must contend with the dreaded MFCS – Middle Fish-Child Syndrome.

Aside from that, as angelfish go, she’s the flyest, most fashionable, most flamboyant fish you’ll find in the Western Hemisphere! She is the loudest and most colorful of her sisters. Angelee is often chided by her sister Angelica for not keeping up with tank standards (Angelee can be a bit of rebel at times).

Annoyed by Angelica but enamored with her younger sister, Angelee is often the instigator of two-on-one battles against her oldest sister, Angelica.

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Angelou is a philosopher with a flair for the poetic and a voice that’ll make your heart melt.

She loves to sing all the time and, as the youngest, often follows the lead of her sisters. She makes sure to stay out of the way of Angelica and often wishes she could get Angelica and Angelee to just get along.

Reggie depends upon Angelou’s voice and poetic skill when writing his deepest lyrics. Her voice always shows up in his dreamscapes as a haunting/guiding conscience.

Kang is a 7-year-old German Shepherd with rhythm in his bones and the spirit of a hustler running through his veins. Kang is also highly protective of Reggie and does all he can to help him in various situations by providing materials he needs before Reggie even knows he does.

Kang’s ability to make something out of nothing is like magic – literally! And it all starts with his extensive hat collection. No one in the world of REGGIE knows where Kang gets his hats or exactly how he hides some of the most obscure items in them. If Reggie needs a new key for his keyboard, Kang’s got the key right under his hat. If Bano needs a 13-foot  ladder  to sneak into the band room, Kang mysteriously shows up with a steel ladder under his hat. It’s sheer craziness, but that’s what you can do when you’re the ultimate hustler dog.

Kang was previously owned by a nefarious character in Detroit who wore flashy clothes and possessed an even more colorful way of speech. Kang adopted some of his previous owner’s ways and has the craziest, silkiest, smoothest laugh of any dog that’s ever existed. His owner, in addition to his dealings in the underworld, was also a “manager” to a number of artists in and around Detroit. His staple of artists ranged from soul singers to punk-rock bands and rappers. Kang spent a lot of his time in music studios seeing many musical acts. During that time, he developed an ear for good beats and rhythm, while learning the “business” side of the game. Kang has seen it all and done it all in the streets, and now he’s trying to get used to life in the suburbs.

Reggie was given Kang as a birthday gift when he was seven years old, and they’ve been inseparable ever since. Often riding in the family car, Kang has been known to move in situations where a noticeable cadence or beat is present. Kang spends most of his time in Reggie’s room/studio but often disappears to places no one knows.

Doing what? No one knows. Kang is often in Reggie’s dreamscapes, and he assists with making certain beats. Often, when Reggie is stuck with a song, Kang will tap on the drum machine to add that bridge to Reggie’s musical destination. Lately, Kang has been gaining more control over his talents, allowing himself and Reggie to produce better music while he continues to use his hustling skills to help Reggie and his crew in unexpected ways.

Darla is THE “it” girl at RPAS!

Every guy wants to be her boyfriend, and every girl wants to be her friend or aspires to be her! She embodies the style and presence of a young Beyonce fused with the musicality of an Esperanza Spalding.

She has a voice that is five octaves high, and she can act on stage with the best of them.

That’s the good. Here’s the … shall we say “rough” side   of Darla. If you thought  the  Hulk  was  strong,  Darla  is like Serena Williams on Barry Bonds juice! She may be small, but somehow – someway – she can destroy anything at anytime. And that’s her dilemma. Darla wants to be a “girly” girl, but she’s really what people consider     a tomboy. She uses her acting skills to try to cover up     her real self. She’s constantly trying to dial back her strength and keep from getting too upset, because, like  the Hulk, we know what happens  when  she  gets  too mad! She’s trying to find  a  way  to  balance  the  real Darla and the perfect girl she tries so hard to be.

At 14 years old, Darla has discovered her life is about more than song, dance, and acting. She’s also a budding freshman track star.

Darla lost her father early on to cancer and is now being raised solely by her mother, though her loving grandfather pitches in the best he can. Darla often talks with her grandfather, who, although a recluse, has a vast amount of experience in music. Darla has a heart of gold and is always looking to stand up for the rights of her classmates and those who are bullied.

Though Darla and Reggie live in the same neighborhood and are in the same grade, she barely notices him at first. It’s not until her “big brother,” Kezon, begins bullying the teen prodigy that she takes notice. Now Darla is starting to realize that Reggie, like so many other boys at the school, wouldn’t mind being more than friends. And, maybe this time, that’s not so bad!

Tweedels is the dancer of the bunch.

She may be a big girl, but she’s as light as a feather on her feet. Tweedels is always fighting the stigma that she can’t be a world-class dancer because of her size. She’s a champion for the heavier girls and looks to prove she’s just as good as, if not better than, her skinnier peers.

Tweedels and Darla are best friends and often perform together at student showcases and other venues.

Tweedels is a sweetheart and loves to smile. Though she is always searching for validation in her dance, she’s pretty confident in other aspects of her life.

One of Tweedels’s biggest issues is with our character Scrumpy Scrump … or “Shrimpy Shrimp,” as she likes to call him.

The brash-but-vertically-challenged Scrumpy can’t get enough of the bigger Tweedels, but she’s having none of it.

Though she understands, what it’s like to be judged on size, she can’t imagine the added scrutiny that would come along with dating a shrimp, or rather, a Scrump.

He’s the biggest kid in school and one of the most popular, and now he’s somehow become Reggie’s archenemy.

Kezon was born in Peterborough City Hospital in Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom. He was brought to the United States when he was eight years old and has worked the last four years to lose his British accent. Kezon was teased and bullied relentlessly when he first arrived at grammar school, and the other kids often excluded Kezon from their activities because of his accent and his affinity for “British- centric” food, music, and other things.

Utore’ Beevan, his father, has a job with the State Department and takes long excursions away from Kezon and his family. When he is around, he can be seen wearing British regalia and other attire that looks like it’s straight out of the 16th century … white, Parliament-style wigs and all! Kezon’s mother, Nadare Beevan, tries to guide Kezon as much as she can,  but recently he’s been very rebellious and disruptive in school and home. Kezon wants his mother and father to stay as far away as possible as not to embarrass him at school with their eccentric behavior. Kezon has only one sibling, Needra, who is five years old.

Kezon has his own crew/rap group, which consists of him and, well, just one other person – his best friend, Scrumpy Scrump. Though he’s the big man on campus, somehow he’s been placed in the friend zone with Darla. He’s now reluctantly become her “big brother” in public, but when it comes to Reggie, Kezon has made it known that Darla is HIS girl.

Kezon is always looking to hound Reggie for anything and everything. In his eyes, Reggie’s talent is a constant threat to his supreme school superiority and ultimate standard for coolness. Kezon believes there’s room for only one type of cool at “Woods High” and that Reggie, the new boy in school and “weirdo” (in Kezon’s eyes), must be put in his place every chance he gets.

Kezon refers to Reggie as “Wedgie” in a baby’s voice, because, as he puts it, Reggie’s a “pain in the butt and a dumb freshman with milk still on his breath.”

If there were one word needed to define Scrumpy Scrump, it would be “brilliant.” Imagine an artsy CeeLo Green (before Goodie Mob) with the linguistic skills of E-40.

Scrumpy has a unique voice, awkwardly deep for his diminutive size, yet amazingly suave and laid back. He has a way with words and, at times, is described as “pimpish” in his tone. He often talks in rhyme and has no problem spitting eloquent game to his “big girl that twirls,” Tweedels.

Scrumpy began to display behavioral problems in the seventh grade and, as a result, tested out of primary school. He’s the youngest student at RPAS and the youngest character in the show (though he has yet to reveal his real age to the others). Scrumpy ended up skipping the rest of junior high school when it was discovered that he had an IQ of 179!

Scrumpy isn’t necessarily accustomed to life at RPAS, a prestigious arts school with well-to-do kids making up the majority of the student body. Scrumpy’s from the rough side of the tracks and is at RPAS only because his mother got him a scholarship to attend. She knew her son was an amazing musician and sought to provide the best environment for him to learn and grow in his craft.

Scrumpy wasn’t always the product of a single-parent household. At the tender age of seven, he lost his father to gang violence in their WestEnd Atlanta neighborhood.

Scrumpy’s feelings of being an outsider at RPAS have left him with a somewhat prickly demeanor. Plus, because he’s naturally a short guy, Scrumpy has developed a voracious need to stand up for himself, whether someone’s a real threat to him or not.

Though he’s intellectually on the level of the other kids at RPAS, Scrumpy still has the interests of a young boy. He has a keen interest in cars and old cartoons and often litters his rhymes with references to each. Scrumpy often uses his “word play” to fit in or stand out among his peers.

Scrumpy strikes fear in Reggie and others. He’s small and mysterious, and that’s the way he wants to keep it. Though Scrumpy is a self-proclaimed battle rapper, deep down he’s a lover of dance and yearns to do ballet … a secret he wants no one to know.

Though Scrumpy feels out of sorts at RPAS, his tough exterior has endeared him to Kezon, the biggest and “toughest” kid at school. They’ve since created their own rap group and look to take RPAS, Atlanta, and the nation by storm.

Mr. Rono Hawkins, a.k.a. “Ole Rono,” lives in a makeshift garage in Reggie’s neighborhood. His home’s lot has a boarded-up home on it that he once lived in, but Ole Rono feels more at home in the sweaty, moldy, and natural-light-devoid garage. He’s turned the garage into in his “studio” apartment, making it a place where he eat, sleeps, and creates music all in the same space.

Back in 1970, Rono purchased the home for his family

– Mrs. Perdee, daughter Cynthia, and son Rono Jr. – and at some point his love for music overshadowed his family, and it all fell apart. Rono left his family to be lead singer of his 70s funk band called “thefunkyouwant?” He had one hit on black radio, but the group broke up shortly after Rono and another band member had a fight over leaving the tour bus junky – Rono’s a clean freak – and this eventually broke up the band.

Desperate to feel in control of his life and destiny again, Rono retreated to his studio, where he’s stayed since the early 90s. Today, Rono is a janitor at RPAS, because he loves both music and cleaning.

Mr. Rono has accepted his new life and the consequences of his past, and now he’s looking for a way to connect to his community. Rono wants to pour all the wisdom he’s gained from his life’s experiences, from his glory years as a bandleader for “thefunkyouwant?” to his moment of rock bottom when losing it all.

In the show, he’s around nearly every episode (whether it’s at the school or in his garage in the neighborhood) to instill some sort of advice or message when Reggie needs it.

As a janitor, Rono can use anything to make music (e.g., Rono can bust out in song while making a beat with his plunger in a toilet) and finds the craziest metaphors to relate to Reggie’s problems.