Post by GLRuk on Jun 21, 2010 23:29:02 GMT 1
160dB / The Fascists: Bio
160dB formed in 2001 [initially known as Villidge Id!ot and later 190dB] and are the result of the comings-together of guitarist Alex Katz, drummer 'Swiss' Kris Figgis and [sometimes, but not often] bassist Rik Sachs, three disaffected youths from the lower-middle-class suburbs of Bristol, UK. Never particularly organised enough to form a band in any conventional sense of the word and their purpose initially only self-fulfilling, their released material is a haphazard collection of musical obscenities and punk pastiche; on one hand roughly recorded, badly played and out of tune and on the other a prodigous embryo of talent culled, quite unfairly, before birth.
Notable for obscure concept albums, spontaneity and their almost typical British humour, they are a group that stopped before they ever really started, yet despite having no real place to practice, little money, cheap equipment and armed only with their foul mouths, dirty lyrics and some musical knowledge they resilliently attempted to stain history's pages with their insidious brand of bizarre rock n roll.
In late 2001 and throughout 2002 their 'comings-together' were rare nights of sprawling jams in Kris's lounge while his parents were out, covering anything from Iron Maiden to Eric Clapton. Over the year these few sessions, combined with the separate growing musical knowledge of the two [Kris was already an accomplished jazz drummer, while Alex spent his days immersed in dozens of free online music lessons] built their rapport and, by the end of the year, long rambling blues-rock improvisations interspersed with short sharp injections of punk were their speciality. There are one or two cassette tapes in existence of some of these early sessions, although their whereabouts is unknown. On them are standards like Children of the Damned by Iron Maiden, Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin, Linoleum and Leave it Alone by NOFX and other weirder numbers like a half-hour doom-metal song, or various highly charged blues jams inspired by artists like Hendrix, Clapton, The Beatles and more. Many strange new vibes, both heavily fuelled and increasingly hindered by the group's recent discovery of cannabis.
In July of 2002, after hearing NOFX's Fuck the Kids [an EP of only 15 minutes in length but with 13 tracks, written and recorded in just a few days - DIY punk at its absolute best] Alex was inspired to set about concocting a punk concept EP for 160dB, following similar-ish guidelines. The lyrics and art were whipped together almost immediately, shortly followed by the music, but were left unrecorded for another year. This material would eventually become the group's first EP, 12 Bearded Germans. Over the summer, between jamming, Kris and Alex worked together to write another dozen songs, [Elvis's Funeral, Pissing on Both Sides of the Road, We Don't Like You] all of which showed increased musical ability, despite an inherent lack of style, or even sense in some of the lyrics.
Following the summer, due to the impossible demands of the education establishment, 160dB was put on hold indefinitely, or until the exams were over - but as always, flying in the face of adversity, GCSE French lessons became 160dB's writing hour... as did many other lessons. Despite not playing together as much in this period, the quality of the songs written between September 2002 and May 2003 show a more heightened awareness of politics: the majority of songs having something to do with either Bush, Blair or some other social ill [High Noon, Simultaneous Obliteration, Upper-class-holes, Shoot It]; an uncanny sardonic side, courtesy of a clutch of songs written by 160dB compadre, Jon [Your Mother is a Fucking Whore, What the Fuck and the classic Scary Mary]; and an unexpected playfulness in both the lyrical and musical construction of the songs [Punctuation Const;ipation, Lee Has Boobies, Just Another Song, Why You're a Dick, Butt Ballad].
In July 2003 following the end of their collective exams, 160dB, plus the usual tag-alongs, were present at Alex's home where the idea was that they finally record the material written for 12 Bearded Germans the previous summer and cut and paste it together using Cool Edit '96. Needless to say, only half of the bass parts, three quarters of the lead, rhythm and additional guitar parts, one vocal part and none of the drums were completed over that holiday.
All three band members now attending sixth form together, Alex completes the guitar and bass parts on his own over September and mixes and masters them with Kris and Jon, as well as writing two more songs with Jon [Who Cares? Big Kris] in the months leading up to Christmas. And so, the finished cuts remained as the lyrics and artwork had before them, buried on Alex's computer and were eventually overshadowed by more exams. Over the first few months of 2004 there is a creative burst from Alex, who pens another five songs [My Dead girlfriend, Alex's Bad Trip, Fake Plastic Assholes]. There are one or two more recorded sessions at Kris's, on one of which Kris introduces Alex to Black Metal and they make an absolute cacophany of noise. Also, a cover of a Death song, some Bob Dylan covers [with harmonica!], more never-ending blues jams and a dubious parody of a Black-metal documentary, starring a Norsk Kris interviewed by Alex in a dark room in black and white. Grim.
In the May bank holiday weekend of 2004, 160dB [minus Rik] were able to procure the use of Kris's parents' spare room, a 7X10ft box room above their lounge with a window that deflected all of the music into his neighbour's garden [who, it has been said, "dug the tunes"] and had just enough room for Kris's drums to fit in with enough space for one or two people to sit or stand around - and room for Alex to stand and sing into the £9.99 swan-neck PC mic that was duct-taped to a tape recorder, duct-taped to the wall. These hazy, booze-filled Easter sessions would produce the content later released as 160dB's first LP Hawaii Live-O, a jaunty, slurred skidmark of an album of one-take off-cuts - one half blistering punk-rock [Last Caress, Die, Die My Darling, Losing It], the other an unexpected melange of Beatle covers [Including a nine minute shuffle through Norwegian Wood, an absolute butchery of I Am The Walrus and a passable cover of I'm Only Sleeping]. The whole album is terribly mic'd, awfully sung and wonderfully abstract. Similarly to the 12 Bearded Germans work, the tapes were put away and forgotten about, while they went back to school to write more songs about pirates and the B.N.P.
In May 2004, as the result of an AS project, 12 Bearded Germans is brought back from the crypt and all work is completed. It finally becomes the first release on the newly-formed GLR label on 20/06/2004. There is another lull until November, during which time Alex hones his theory and production skills on Cool Edit '96 and Evolution Midi, producing a handful of songs as experiments [L.S.D. I, L.S.D. II, Vincent, Billy], and in July embarks upon a month-long trek through Peru armed with only a bergen and a spanish guitar. Following his return, 160dB based work begins to cease; over the past few years each of their individual spheres of musical taste have grown and changed immensely - the punk-rock that started it all has led them on to discover different genres and the spectrum is now simply too wide for them to accommodate all that extra influence under the undeniably 'punk' 160dB guise.
But no, that's not the end of the story just yet for 160dB, as when Alex gets to work trying to write one last batch of songs for the group in October 2004 he comes across the discarded Easter tapes and transfers them to his computer. From the two hours of tape he found came the tracks that now make up Hawaii Live-O, 160dB's first and last LP [to date]; being to them like Let it Be was to The Beatles and released almost posthumously, certainly long after the memories of the sunny Easter jams had died away. Made up of fragmented and lazy live performances, 160dB took the more fun mish-mashed route of Glyn John's Get Back compilation than Spector's cumbersome LP, making it quite clear that they valued having a good time over impeccable - even terrible playing. Which is what it's all about, really.
The final chapter in 160dB's cruel and unusual anthology is the slow and final transition to disintegration from the 2004 Christmas Period onwards, beginning with a variety of finger-picked guitar ballads [Lifting Mist, The Last Song] and ending with the indecisive but fantastically orchestrated title track to rushed EP Waiting for Miffy. More of an Alex solo project than anything else, it is basically about a girl. Bad judgement, enough said. This fairly weak release marks the catachlysmic ending of 160dB once and for all. As of 2007 the band members now live out their separate lives in Newport, Lancaster, Cardiff and Bristol. They still meet up for smokes.
Aware that they would soon all be parting company, The Fascists were spawned as a purely temporary outfit, but were more than just a reformed 160dB. As 160dB's slow breakdown began, elsewhere in the world trouble was afoot: On 20th February 2005 legendary Gonzo journalist [and long-time hero of Kris and Alex] Hunter S. Thompson dies at his home in Aspen. That weekend Kris, Alex, Jon and his brother Tom commence a commemorative period of Gonzo hi-jinks in his memory, initiated by the recent acquaintance and addition to the group of Skinny Marinque. For the next few months this group would be making constant music of all varieties, spurred on by the unending ebullience of Skinny, enthused by the no-bullshit straight-talking cynicism of the troupe. This time, spent listening to music, digging through vinyl, jamming out or just chilling; honing the etiquette involved in turning on, tuning in and dropping out like pros, while not producing any substantial material was surely an important period of learning and gestation for their collective tastes.
By March/April 2005, months away from completing sixth form, The Fascists line-up was 'Swiss' Kris, Alex Katz and Jon and Tom McMahone [presided over and mentored by the one and only Skinny Marinque]. Memorable moments from this Easter period, according to the band, include Spring walks with a portable amp [with a selection of mad delay effects] and guitar, unending stacks of cds stalking them wherever they went and a strong affinity to Dub Reggae. Initial Fascist projects had vastly eclectic vibes; heavily influenced also by Hip-Hop, Funk, Blues, Metal, Ska, experimental electronic, even vague hints of indie can be seen hiding among some of these tracks. Unfortunately the freespirited nature of the group resulted in a distinct lack of finished product with one or two experimental songs being semi-recorded and remixed and a short section of videotape from a night at Skinny's.
Upon the end of their time at Sixth Form, before going their separate ways, The Fascists meandered through the summer, bisected by their individual vacations, working on a handful of songs while relaxing in the unusually warm weather. In September 2005 they disbanded, leaving a small heap of unfinished material and a black bin liners worth of roach ends as their legacy.
160dB formed in 2001 [initially known as Villidge Id!ot and later 190dB] and are the result of the comings-together of guitarist Alex Katz, drummer 'Swiss' Kris Figgis and [sometimes, but not often] bassist Rik Sachs, three disaffected youths from the lower-middle-class suburbs of Bristol, UK. Never particularly organised enough to form a band in any conventional sense of the word and their purpose initially only self-fulfilling, their released material is a haphazard collection of musical obscenities and punk pastiche; on one hand roughly recorded, badly played and out of tune and on the other a prodigous embryo of talent culled, quite unfairly, before birth.
Notable for obscure concept albums, spontaneity and their almost typical British humour, they are a group that stopped before they ever really started, yet despite having no real place to practice, little money, cheap equipment and armed only with their foul mouths, dirty lyrics and some musical knowledge they resilliently attempted to stain history's pages with their insidious brand of bizarre rock n roll.
In late 2001 and throughout 2002 their 'comings-together' were rare nights of sprawling jams in Kris's lounge while his parents were out, covering anything from Iron Maiden to Eric Clapton. Over the year these few sessions, combined with the separate growing musical knowledge of the two [Kris was already an accomplished jazz drummer, while Alex spent his days immersed in dozens of free online music lessons] built their rapport and, by the end of the year, long rambling blues-rock improvisations interspersed with short sharp injections of punk were their speciality. There are one or two cassette tapes in existence of some of these early sessions, although their whereabouts is unknown. On them are standards like Children of the Damned by Iron Maiden, Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin, Linoleum and Leave it Alone by NOFX and other weirder numbers like a half-hour doom-metal song, or various highly charged blues jams inspired by artists like Hendrix, Clapton, The Beatles and more. Many strange new vibes, both heavily fuelled and increasingly hindered by the group's recent discovery of cannabis.
In July of 2002, after hearing NOFX's Fuck the Kids [an EP of only 15 minutes in length but with 13 tracks, written and recorded in just a few days - DIY punk at its absolute best] Alex was inspired to set about concocting a punk concept EP for 160dB, following similar-ish guidelines. The lyrics and art were whipped together almost immediately, shortly followed by the music, but were left unrecorded for another year. This material would eventually become the group's first EP, 12 Bearded Germans. Over the summer, between jamming, Kris and Alex worked together to write another dozen songs, [Elvis's Funeral, Pissing on Both Sides of the Road, We Don't Like You] all of which showed increased musical ability, despite an inherent lack of style, or even sense in some of the lyrics.
Following the summer, due to the impossible demands of the education establishment, 160dB was put on hold indefinitely, or until the exams were over - but as always, flying in the face of adversity, GCSE French lessons became 160dB's writing hour... as did many other lessons. Despite not playing together as much in this period, the quality of the songs written between September 2002 and May 2003 show a more heightened awareness of politics: the majority of songs having something to do with either Bush, Blair or some other social ill [High Noon, Simultaneous Obliteration, Upper-class-holes, Shoot It]; an uncanny sardonic side, courtesy of a clutch of songs written by 160dB compadre, Jon [Your Mother is a Fucking Whore, What the Fuck and the classic Scary Mary]; and an unexpected playfulness in both the lyrical and musical construction of the songs [Punctuation Const;ipation, Lee Has Boobies, Just Another Song, Why You're a Dick, Butt Ballad].
In July 2003 following the end of their collective exams, 160dB, plus the usual tag-alongs, were present at Alex's home where the idea was that they finally record the material written for 12 Bearded Germans the previous summer and cut and paste it together using Cool Edit '96. Needless to say, only half of the bass parts, three quarters of the lead, rhythm and additional guitar parts, one vocal part and none of the drums were completed over that holiday.
All three band members now attending sixth form together, Alex completes the guitar and bass parts on his own over September and mixes and masters them with Kris and Jon, as well as writing two more songs with Jon [Who Cares? Big Kris] in the months leading up to Christmas. And so, the finished cuts remained as the lyrics and artwork had before them, buried on Alex's computer and were eventually overshadowed by more exams. Over the first few months of 2004 there is a creative burst from Alex, who pens another five songs [My Dead girlfriend, Alex's Bad Trip, Fake Plastic Assholes]. There are one or two more recorded sessions at Kris's, on one of which Kris introduces Alex to Black Metal and they make an absolute cacophany of noise. Also, a cover of a Death song, some Bob Dylan covers [with harmonica!], more never-ending blues jams and a dubious parody of a Black-metal documentary, starring a Norsk Kris interviewed by Alex in a dark room in black and white. Grim.
In the May bank holiday weekend of 2004, 160dB [minus Rik] were able to procure the use of Kris's parents' spare room, a 7X10ft box room above their lounge with a window that deflected all of the music into his neighbour's garden [who, it has been said, "dug the tunes"] and had just enough room for Kris's drums to fit in with enough space for one or two people to sit or stand around - and room for Alex to stand and sing into the £9.99 swan-neck PC mic that was duct-taped to a tape recorder, duct-taped to the wall. These hazy, booze-filled Easter sessions would produce the content later released as 160dB's first LP Hawaii Live-O, a jaunty, slurred skidmark of an album of one-take off-cuts - one half blistering punk-rock [Last Caress, Die, Die My Darling, Losing It], the other an unexpected melange of Beatle covers [Including a nine minute shuffle through Norwegian Wood, an absolute butchery of I Am The Walrus and a passable cover of I'm Only Sleeping]. The whole album is terribly mic'd, awfully sung and wonderfully abstract. Similarly to the 12 Bearded Germans work, the tapes were put away and forgotten about, while they went back to school to write more songs about pirates and the B.N.P.
In May 2004, as the result of an AS project, 12 Bearded Germans is brought back from the crypt and all work is completed. It finally becomes the first release on the newly-formed GLR label on 20/06/2004. There is another lull until November, during which time Alex hones his theory and production skills on Cool Edit '96 and Evolution Midi, producing a handful of songs as experiments [L.S.D. I, L.S.D. II, Vincent, Billy], and in July embarks upon a month-long trek through Peru armed with only a bergen and a spanish guitar. Following his return, 160dB based work begins to cease; over the past few years each of their individual spheres of musical taste have grown and changed immensely - the punk-rock that started it all has led them on to discover different genres and the spectrum is now simply too wide for them to accommodate all that extra influence under the undeniably 'punk' 160dB guise.
But no, that's not the end of the story just yet for 160dB, as when Alex gets to work trying to write one last batch of songs for the group in October 2004 he comes across the discarded Easter tapes and transfers them to his computer. From the two hours of tape he found came the tracks that now make up Hawaii Live-O, 160dB's first and last LP [to date]; being to them like Let it Be was to The Beatles and released almost posthumously, certainly long after the memories of the sunny Easter jams had died away. Made up of fragmented and lazy live performances, 160dB took the more fun mish-mashed route of Glyn John's Get Back compilation than Spector's cumbersome LP, making it quite clear that they valued having a good time over impeccable - even terrible playing. Which is what it's all about, really.
The final chapter in 160dB's cruel and unusual anthology is the slow and final transition to disintegration from the 2004 Christmas Period onwards, beginning with a variety of finger-picked guitar ballads [Lifting Mist, The Last Song] and ending with the indecisive but fantastically orchestrated title track to rushed EP Waiting for Miffy. More of an Alex solo project than anything else, it is basically about a girl. Bad judgement, enough said. This fairly weak release marks the catachlysmic ending of 160dB once and for all. As of 2007 the band members now live out their separate lives in Newport, Lancaster, Cardiff and Bristol. They still meet up for smokes.
Aware that they would soon all be parting company, The Fascists were spawned as a purely temporary outfit, but were more than just a reformed 160dB. As 160dB's slow breakdown began, elsewhere in the world trouble was afoot: On 20th February 2005 legendary Gonzo journalist [and long-time hero of Kris and Alex] Hunter S. Thompson dies at his home in Aspen. That weekend Kris, Alex, Jon and his brother Tom commence a commemorative period of Gonzo hi-jinks in his memory, initiated by the recent acquaintance and addition to the group of Skinny Marinque. For the next few months this group would be making constant music of all varieties, spurred on by the unending ebullience of Skinny, enthused by the no-bullshit straight-talking cynicism of the troupe. This time, spent listening to music, digging through vinyl, jamming out or just chilling; honing the etiquette involved in turning on, tuning in and dropping out like pros, while not producing any substantial material was surely an important period of learning and gestation for their collective tastes.
By March/April 2005, months away from completing sixth form, The Fascists line-up was 'Swiss' Kris, Alex Katz and Jon and Tom McMahone [presided over and mentored by the one and only Skinny Marinque]. Memorable moments from this Easter period, according to the band, include Spring walks with a portable amp [with a selection of mad delay effects] and guitar, unending stacks of cds stalking them wherever they went and a strong affinity to Dub Reggae. Initial Fascist projects had vastly eclectic vibes; heavily influenced also by Hip-Hop, Funk, Blues, Metal, Ska, experimental electronic, even vague hints of indie can be seen hiding among some of these tracks. Unfortunately the freespirited nature of the group resulted in a distinct lack of finished product with one or two experimental songs being semi-recorded and remixed and a short section of videotape from a night at Skinny's.
Upon the end of their time at Sixth Form, before going their separate ways, The Fascists meandered through the summer, bisected by their individual vacations, working on a handful of songs while relaxing in the unusually warm weather. In September 2005 they disbanded, leaving a small heap of unfinished material and a black bin liners worth of roach ends as their legacy.