Abstinence(band)
Encyclopedia
Abstinence is an experimental industrial music project founded in 1985 in Belmar, New Jersey
, USA, now based in Brooklyn
. Its sound ranges from bombastic to noise
, ambient soundtrack
to industrial music
and uses video/audio dialog and sound samples.
Since 1982, Abstinence has created experimental
industrial music
that follows in the traditions of the Beats
, the Dada
movement, the Futurism
movement, punk rock
, the origins of industrial music, the freedom of the experimental art movement and the human rights art movement.
Abstinence utilizes tunnels, decommissioned military bases, warehouses, bathrooms, abandoned buildings, basements, freeway underpasses and various indoor/outdoor environments as sound laboratories to create unique soundscapes that coalesce with power tools, a variety of traditional analog / digital instrumentation and percussion.
Belmar, New Jersey
Belmar is a borough in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 5,794. The Borough of Belmar is governed under the Faulkner Act system of municipal government....
, USA, now based in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
. Its sound ranges from bombastic to noise
Noise music
Noise music is a term used to describe varieties of avant-garde music and sound art that may use elements such as cacophony, dissonance, atonality, noise, indeterminacy, and repetition in their realization. Noise music can feature distortion, various types of acoustically or electronically...
, ambient soundtrack
Ambient music
Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...
to industrial music
Industrial music
Industrial music is a style of experimental music that draws on transgressive and provocative themes. The term was coined in the mid-1970s with the founding of Industrial Records by the band Throbbing Gristle, and the creation of the slogan "industrial music for industrial people". In general, the...
and uses video/audio dialog and sound samples.
Since 1982, Abstinence has created experimental
Experimental music
Experimental music refers, in the English-language literature, to a compositional tradition which arose in the mid-20th century, applied particularly in North America to music composed in such a way that its outcome is unforeseeable. Its most famous and influential exponent was John Cage...
industrial music
Industrial music
Industrial music is a style of experimental music that draws on transgressive and provocative themes. The term was coined in the mid-1970s with the founding of Industrial Records by the band Throbbing Gristle, and the creation of the slogan "industrial music for industrial people". In general, the...
that follows in the traditions of the Beats
Beat generation
The Beat Generation refers to a group of American post-WWII writers who came to prominence in the 1950s, as well as the cultural phenomena that they both documented and inspired...
, the Dada
Dada
Dada or Dadaism is a cultural movement that began in Zurich, Switzerland, during World War I and peaked from 1916 to 1922. The movement primarily involved visual arts, literature—poetry, art manifestoes, art theory—theatre, and graphic design, and concentrated its anti-war politics through a...
movement, the Futurism
Futurism (art)
Futurism was an artistic and social movement that originated in Italy in the early 20th century. It emphasized and glorified themes associated with contemporary concepts of the future, including speed, technology, youth and violence, and objects such as the car, the airplane and the industrial city...
movement, punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
, the origins of industrial music, the freedom of the experimental art movement and the human rights art movement.
Abstinence utilizes tunnels, decommissioned military bases, warehouses, bathrooms, abandoned buildings, basements, freeway underpasses and various indoor/outdoor environments as sound laboratories to create unique soundscapes that coalesce with power tools, a variety of traditional analog / digital instrumentation and percussion.
Full length albums and EPs
- Revolt of the Cyberchrist (1994, Furnace Records/Silent RecordsSilent RecordsSilent Records was a record label established in 1985 by Kim Cascone when he released PGR's debut LP, titled Silence. The label went on to produce primarily electronic experimental and ambient music. From 1993 to 1996, three imprints were started in order to highlight different genres of...
) - Theorem (1995, Furnace/SilentSilent RecordsSilent Records was a record label established in 1985 by Kim Cascone when he released PGR's debut LP, titled Silence. The label went on to produce primarily electronic experimental and ambient music. From 1993 to 1996, three imprints were started in order to highlight different genres of...
) - The Path of Maximum Resistance (2005, s6k media)
Singles
- Frigid 12" EP (1994, Furnace/SilentSilent RecordsSilent Records was a record label established in 1985 by Kim Cascone when he released PGR's debut LP, titled Silence. The label went on to produce primarily electronic experimental and ambient music. From 1993 to 1996, three imprints were started in order to highlight different genres of...
)
Compilation appearances
- Hellscape (1995, Furnace/SilentSilent RecordsSilent Records was a record label established in 1985 by Kim Cascone when he released PGR's debut LP, titled Silence. The label went on to produce primarily electronic experimental and ambient music. From 1993 to 1996, three imprints were started in order to highlight different genres of...
) includes the songs "Interference" and "Screaming Into the Void VSmix: (Virtually Silent Mix)" - New Industries (1995, Dynamica Records - GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
) includes the song "Frigid Changes" - Hellscape 2 (1995, Furnace/SilentSilent RecordsSilent Records was a record label established in 1985 by Kim Cascone when he released PGR's debut LP, titled Silence. The label went on to produce primarily electronic experimental and ambient music. From 1993 to 1996, three imprints were started in order to highlight different genres of...
) includes the song "Fractured/Assassinate the Beat" - Operation:Beatbox (1996, Reconstriction Records/Cargo Records) includes the song "Two-Three-Break"
- Ikebana : MerzbowMerzbowis the main recording name of the Japanese noise musician , born in 1956. Since 1979 he has released in excess of 350 recordings.The name "Merzbow" comes from German artist Kurt Schwitters' artwork, "Merzbau”. This was chosen to reflect Akita's dada influence and junk art aesthetic...
's Amlux Rebuilt, Reused And Recycled (2003, Important Records) includes the song "Freq"
Filmography
- Backyard Glances soundtrack Alva Skateboards (1987) includes the song "Level 7"
- Multiple Cross Wounds unreleased video (1991)
Current
- Darryl HellDarryl HellDarryl Hell is a musician and multimedia artist who has been involved with multiple groups, including but not limited to Public Disturbance, Sektor 6 Kommunikatons, Abstinence, Emergency Broadcast Network, and Operation Mindwipe...
(1985–present) - John BechdelJohn BechdelJohn Bechdel is a keyboardist, and has been a part of many bands over the years including Ministry, Fear Factory, Abstinence, Prong, Killing Joke, Murder, Inc. and Brian Brain to name a few...
(1993–1996, 2004–present) - Deftly-D (2004–present)
Past members
- Steve Herring
- Bill Kuegler
- Mike Roberts
- Eloise Mourning
- Paul Raven
- J.Burns
- Jerry Franklin
- Bill Latshaw
- Tommy Latshaw
- Tommy Walling
- Mark Yard
- Mike Scrivani
- Greg Hunt
- Terry Hughes
Related bands
- Operation Mindwipe
- Rock'it Society
- Patient 4311
- Nau-Zee-auN
- Zero Times Infinity