Hovercraft (band)
Encyclopedia
Hovercraft was an instrumental experimental rock
group that formed in Seattle, Washington in 1993. It was co-founded by its core duo of guitarist/samplist/tape looper Ryan Shinn, and bassist Beth Liebling
. Liebling and Shinn would use the pseudonyms "Sadie 7" and "Campbell 2000", respectively, throughout the duration of the band's history. Hovercraft has been cited as one of the most abrasive, non-commercial sounding bands ever to receive major-label distribution for its albums. Though somewhat overlooked and sometimes heavily criticized because of the band's early association to a platinum-selling rock star, the group was largely well-respected and well-received by critics and developed a cult following.
and Ryan Shinn met in an anatomy class for surgical students. Prior to forming the trio Hovercraft, Liebling and Shinn played together in Space Helmet. Space Helmet broke up when Shinn moved to New York
and the other members of Space Helmet, including Shinn's brother, formed the band Magnog
. Shinn's departure for New York was short and upon his return, Hovercraft was formed.
Hovercraft's material consisted of lengthy songs featuring an avant-garde
and moody sound that was a direct reaction to the local grunge
scene. Hovercraft's sound came to be characterized by the sounds a bee makes, which made heavy use of delay and reverb on Shinn's main guitar, a Fender Stratocaster
. The use of looping effects enabled Shinn to often simulate the simultaneous playing of multiple guitarists, though he was always the lone guitarist, both in the studio and onstage. Leibling generally played single-note, ominous, pulsating bass lines, played "clean" (with no effects). Early drum beats were generally sparse, yet jazzy; the band became more complex as the band gradually added more highly-skilled drummers over the years.
On January 8, 1995, recordings by Hovercraft and Magnog were played back to back on Pearl Jam
's Self-Pollution satellite radio broadcast, a four-and-a-half hour long pirate broadcast out of Seattle, Washington which was available to any radio stations that wanted to carry it. The tracks which followed immediately after Pearl Jam's final set are described by Eddie Vedder
as a "cleansing of the palette." The recording would appear on Hovercraft's first release, a seven-inch single on the band's own Repellent Records. Recorded in August 1994, "Zero Zero Zero One" featured "Paul 4" on drums and on "box of nails." No track titles were given, but "0001-A" and "0001-B" are etched into either band of the vinyl sides. It was also released as a VHS tape "video single" in a simple black slipcase.
The single was initially handed out at gigs; stickers affixed to the plastic slip of ones sold in stores boasted, "Featuring Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam." "Paul 4" is the pseudonym of early member Bobby Tamkin, currently with his own band, Xu Xu Fang. In 1995, Hovercraft accepted a slot opening for Mike Watt
on his U.S. tour. Hovercraft, and Dave Grohl
's new band Foo Fighters
, played short sets before both Grohl and Vedder would join headliner Watt as members of his band. This was Hovercraft's first tour, as well as the first major tour for Grohl since the suicide of Kurt Cobain
. Hovercraft toured later that year with Sky Cries Mary
.
Though Vedder donned a long wig in order to conceal his face somewhat, his true identity soon become widely known. Subsequent Hovercraft tours would often be flooded with fans of the Pearl Jam frontman. However, Vedder was soon replaced by former Pearl Jam drummer, Dave Krusen
, who adopted the stage name "Karl 3-30." With a more technically proficient drummer, the band was now free to play beyond the lo-fidelity noise experiments of its debut release, and play proper shows with structured improvisation and avant experimentalism. Hovercraft toured in 1995 opening for Sweet 75
. (Like Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic
's first tour following Cobain's suicide featured Hovercraft). Hovercraft would join Sky Cries Mary and Sweet 75 for Microsoft
and World Domination Recordings
' joint "Transmissions from Space" tour in November 1995, an interactive, multi-media exposition highlighting the new CD Plus technology.
The group's artwork, album and song titles ("Haloparidol
", "Vagus Nerve
", "Phantom Limb
", "Endoradiosonde" (a kind of "Radio Transmittor Pill", "Benzedrine
", "De-Orbit Burn") featured foreboding themes of medical, astronautical and scientific experimentation, satellite imagery, hallucinations, and medical conditions. Though these are common in the post-rock
, space rock
and avant-garde music scenes, Hovercraft's are likely bolstered by Shinn and Liebling's medical/scientific training, as well as their youths:
Group photos distributed to the press were also shot in silhouette, contributing further to the group's shadowy mystique, though a photo of the group does appear inside Akathisia, though Liebling is obscured by darkness. Recorded on two days in March and April 1996, the ten-inch format of Stereo Specific Polymerization, also released on the Liebling-run Repellent, allowed for recordings that more closely approximated their live sound.
In August 1996, the band appeared on a hidden track on the Germs tribute album A Small Circle of Friends
. Allegedly recorded in a "L.A. garage" in order "to capture the Germs feel", Hovercraft's contribution is a sixteen-minute long, mostly instrumental reprise of "Shutdown". The track, which follows a more conventional version of the song by Monkeywrench, features a conversation in Italian between Shinn and Liebling, making it the only recording by the band to feature any vocalization.
After running the small club circuit of the North America a few times on their own, the band supported Unwound
on a European tour. Hovercraft even opened for classic rockers The Who
on a short series of stadium concerts in the Northwestern United States
in late 1996.
Records in London by label head Paul Smith
. In North America, debut album (released as double-LP and single CD) Akathisia
was distributed by Mute Records America
. Ned Raggett
of Allmusic said that "the trio on Akathisia did a fantastic job of whipping up five dark, engrossing instrumentals that avoided any pretense of commercial acceptance." Akathisias liner notes state that the album was "preserved and magnetically encoded 12.1995."
The vinyl etchings on the four sides of Akathisia were as follows:
(This was the slogan of the cult classic 1980s Gottlieb
pinball
game, Black Hole
.)
The new lineup played at the first Terrastock
festival in Providence
, Rhode Island
, in April 1997. The band then toured with Japan's Kirihito and American rock band Caustic Resin
, and handled the opening slot on a tour with Fugazi, as well as a tour opening for Helmet
and The Melvins
. An EP featuring remixes of two truncated Akathisia songs by Scanner
was released later in 1997.
One year in the making, Hovercraft's final album, Experiment Below
, was released in September 1998. Jason Kaufman of Allmusic said, "This is challenging music that certainly has its rewards for those patient enough to hang around." In 1998 and 1999, Hovercraft toured Europe
again with Add N to (X)
, and the United States
with the Boredoms, The Melvins, and Mr. Bungle
. The band also played a number of one-off shows with Wire
, Sleater-Kinney
, Hater
, Mudhoney
, and IQU.
guitarist/backing vocalist Mary Hansen
, forming the band Schema. Schema featured vocals and instrumentals in approximately equal measure, adding some synthesizer. An eponymous maxi-EP/mini-album was released in 2000 on avant-garde Kill Rock Stars
imprint, 5 Rue Christine
. A second album and a tour was planned. However, while riding her bicycle in London on December 12, 2002, the 36 year-old Hansen was struck by a truck and killed.
Hovercraft and DJ Spooky
worked on remixes of each other's works in the late 1990s; two DJ Spooky remixes of Hovercraft songs were released (on various-artist techno compilation albums), but Hovercraft's versions of his songs were never released. Hovercraft's last live performance was on February 16, 2001, at the Experience Music Project museum in Seattle.
Experimental rock
Experimental rock or avant-garde rock is a type of music based on rock which experiments with the basic elements of the genre, or which pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique....
group that formed in Seattle, Washington in 1993. It was co-founded by its core duo of guitarist/samplist/tape looper Ryan Shinn, and bassist Beth Liebling
Beth Liebling
Beth Liebling is the co-founder of Seattle-based experimental instrumental group Hovercraft with guitarist/keyboardist/samplist Ryan Campbell...
. Liebling and Shinn would use the pseudonyms "Sadie 7" and "Campbell 2000", respectively, throughout the duration of the band's history. Hovercraft has been cited as one of the most abrasive, non-commercial sounding bands ever to receive major-label distribution for its albums. Though somewhat overlooked and sometimes heavily criticized because of the band's early association to a platinum-selling rock star, the group was largely well-respected and well-received by critics and developed a cult following.
Early history
Beth LieblingBeth Liebling
Beth Liebling is the co-founder of Seattle-based experimental instrumental group Hovercraft with guitarist/keyboardist/samplist Ryan Campbell...
and Ryan Shinn met in an anatomy class for surgical students. Prior to forming the trio Hovercraft, Liebling and Shinn played together in Space Helmet. Space Helmet broke up when Shinn moved to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and the other members of Space Helmet, including Shinn's brother, formed the band Magnog
Magnog
Magnog were a U.S. space-rock/post-rock band, initially active in the mid to late 1990s, then returning to live performances in 2011.-Biography:...
. Shinn's departure for New York was short and upon his return, Hovercraft was formed.
Hovercraft's material consisted of lengthy songs featuring an avant-garde
Avant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
and moody sound that was a direct reaction to the local grunge
Grunge
Grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged during the mid-1980s in the American state of Washington, particularly in the Seattle area. Inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal, and indie rock, grunge is generally characterized by heavily distorted electric guitars, contrasting song...
scene. Hovercraft's sound came to be characterized by the sounds a bee makes, which made heavy use of delay and reverb on Shinn's main guitar, a Fender Stratocaster
Fender Stratocaster
The Fender Stratocaster, often referred to as "Strat", is a model of electric guitar designed by Leo Fender, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares in 1954, and manufactured continuously by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation to the present. It is a double-cutaway guitar, with an extended top...
. The use of looping effects enabled Shinn to often simulate the simultaneous playing of multiple guitarists, though he was always the lone guitarist, both in the studio and onstage. Leibling generally played single-note, ominous, pulsating bass lines, played "clean" (with no effects). Early drum beats were generally sparse, yet jazzy; the band became more complex as the band gradually added more highly-skilled drummers over the years.
On January 8, 1995, recordings by Hovercraft and Magnog were played back to back on Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam is an American rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. Since its inception, the band's line-up has included Eddie Vedder , Jeff Ament , Stone Gossard , and Mike McCready...
's Self-Pollution satellite radio broadcast, a four-and-a-half hour long pirate broadcast out of Seattle, Washington which was available to any radio stations that wanted to carry it. The tracks which followed immediately after Pearl Jam's final set are described by Eddie Vedder
Eddie Vedder
Eddie Vedder is an American musician and singer-songwriter who is best known for being the lead singer and one of three guitarists of the alternative rock band Pearl Jam. He is widely considered a cultural icon of alternative rock.He is also involved in soundtrack work and contributes to albums...
as a "cleansing of the palette." The recording would appear on Hovercraft's first release, a seven-inch single on the band's own Repellent Records. Recorded in August 1994, "Zero Zero Zero One" featured "Paul 4" on drums and on "box of nails." No track titles were given, but "0001-A" and "0001-B" are etched into either band of the vinyl sides. It was also released as a VHS tape "video single" in a simple black slipcase.
The single was initially handed out at gigs; stickers affixed to the plastic slip of ones sold in stores boasted, "Featuring Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam." "Paul 4" is the pseudonym of early member Bobby Tamkin, currently with his own band, Xu Xu Fang. In 1995, Hovercraft accepted a slot opening for Mike Watt
Mike Watt
Michael David Watt is an American bassist, singer and songwriter.He is best known for co-founding the rock bands Minutemen, dos, and Firehose; , he is also the bassist for the reunited Stooges and a member of the art rock/jazz/punk/improv group Banyan as well as many other post-Minutemen...
on his U.S. tour. Hovercraft, and Dave Grohl
Dave Grohl
David Eric "Dave" Grohl is an American rock musician, multi-instrumentalist, and singer-songwriter who is the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter for Foo Fighters; the former drummer for Nirvana and Scream; and the current drummer for Them Crooked Vultures...
's new band Foo Fighters
Foo Fighters
Foo Fighters is an American alternative rock band originally formed in 1994 by Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl as a one-man project following the dissolution of his previous band. The band got its name from the UFOs and various aerial phenomena that were reported by Allied aircraft pilots in World War...
, played short sets before both Grohl and Vedder would join headliner Watt as members of his band. This was Hovercraft's first tour, as well as the first major tour for Grohl since the suicide of Kurt Cobain
Kurt Cobain
Kurt Donald Cobain was an American singer-songwriter, musician and artist, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the grunge band Nirvana...
. Hovercraft toured later that year with Sky Cries Mary
Sky Cries Mary
Sky Cries Mary is an American trance rock musical group from Seattle, Washington, that formed in the late 1980s.The husband and wife team of Roderick Wolgamott Romero and Anisa Romero sing dual lead vocals...
.
Though Vedder donned a long wig in order to conceal his face somewhat, his true identity soon become widely known. Subsequent Hovercraft tours would often be flooded with fans of the Pearl Jam frontman. However, Vedder was soon replaced by former Pearl Jam drummer, Dave Krusen
Dave Krusen
Dave Krusen is an American musician who is best known for being the original drummer for the American rock band Pearl Jam and for his work on the band's debut album, Ten...
, who adopted the stage name "Karl 3-30." With a more technically proficient drummer, the band was now free to play beyond the lo-fidelity noise experiments of its debut release, and play proper shows with structured improvisation and avant experimentalism. Hovercraft toured in 1995 opening for Sweet 75
Sweet 75
Sweet 75 was a band formed by Krist Novoselic in 1994 after the death of Nirvana band member Kurt Cobain. The band released one album before splitting up in 2000.-History:...
. (Like Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic
Krist Novoselic
Krist Anthony Novoselic II is a Croatian-American rock musician, best known for being the bassist and co-founder of the grunge band Nirvana. After Nirvana ended, Novoselic formed Sweet 75 and then Eyes Adrift, releasing one album with each band...
's first tour following Cobain's suicide featured Hovercraft). Hovercraft would join Sky Cries Mary and Sweet 75 for Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
and World Domination Recordings
World Domination Recordings
World Domination Recordings was an indie rock record label founded by bass player and music entrepreneur Dave Allen in Los Angeles. From roughly 1989 to 1996 it released records by artists including Low Pop Suicide, The Elastic Purejoy, Stanford Prison Experiment, Perfume Tree, Sky Cries Mary, Loop...
' joint "Transmissions from Space" tour in November 1995, an interactive, multi-media exposition highlighting the new CD Plus technology.
Angular momentum (live performances, motifs)
Live shows were marked by a stage prepared in advance of entrance by crowds. When the band did enter, not a word was uttered, and eye contact was never made with spectators. The stage was shrouded in darkness as a projector played black & white scientific films and space-themed documentary clips from the reel-to-reel era (1940s-1970s), and free-use stock footage, somewhat synchronized to the music. Examples of film material include insects mating, time-lapse footage of flowers blooming, and asteroids crashing. Though often featuring fragments of album tracks, each live show was played as a single forty to forty-five minute long semi-improvised piece with no breaks. The film collages were created by Shinn and Liebling, and were altered for each tour the band went on. According to Shinn, the band used films in their concerts "since the very first show."The group's artwork, album and song titles ("Haloparidol
Haloperidol
Haloperidol is a typical antipsychotic. It is in the butyrophenone class of antipsychotic medications and has pharmacological effects similar to the phenothiazines....
", "Vagus Nerve
Vagus nerve
The vagus nerve , also called pneumogastric nerve or cranial nerve X, is the tenth of twelve paired cranial nerves...
", "Phantom Limb
Phantom limb
A phantom limb is the sensation that an amputated or missing limb is still attached to the body and is moving appropriately with other body parts. 2 out of 3 combat veterans report this feeling. Approximately 60 to 80% of individuals with an amputation experience phantom sensations in their...
", "Endoradiosonde" (a kind of "Radio Transmittor Pill", "Benzedrine
Benzedrine
Benzedrine is the trade name of the racemic mixture of amphetamine . It was marketed under this brandname in the USA by Smith, Kline & French in the form of inhalers, starting in 1928...
", "De-Orbit Burn") featured foreboding themes of medical, astronautical and scientific experimentation, satellite imagery, hallucinations, and medical conditions. Though these are common in the post-rock
Post-rock
Post-rock is a subgenre of rock music characterized by the influence and use of instruments commonly associated with rock, but using rhythms and "guitars as facilitators of timbre and textures" not traditionally found in rock...
, space rock
Space rock
Space rock is a subgenre of rock music; the term originally referred to a group of early, mostly British, 1970s progressive and psychedelic rock bands such as Hawkwind and Pink Floyd, characterised by slow, lengthy instrumental passages dominated by electric organs, synthesizers, experimental...
and avant-garde music scenes, Hovercraft's are likely bolstered by Shinn and Liebling's medical/scientific training, as well as their youths:
-
- "I think that we've always wanted to be doctors and psychiatrists. I was really sick when I was a kid so I grew up in a lot of hospitals. Sadie was in a couple of institutions... so I think we all had our eyes wide open. So I guess we've always wanted to see it from the other side." - Shinn, 1997 interview
Group photos distributed to the press were also shot in silhouette, contributing further to the group's shadowy mystique, though a photo of the group does appear inside Akathisia, though Liebling is obscured by darkness. Recorded on two days in March and April 1996, the ten-inch format of Stereo Specific Polymerization, also released on the Liebling-run Repellent, allowed for recordings that more closely approximated their live sound.
In August 1996, the band appeared on a hidden track on the Germs tribute album A Small Circle of Friends
A Small Circle of Friends (Germs)
A Small Circle of Friends: Germs was a tribute album for the band The Germs released in 1996. The album features multiple Germs covers by several artists, including NOFX, L7, The Melvins, Gumball, and Hole, playing under the moniker "The Holez" with Pat Smear.- Track listing :# NOFX – "Forming"...
. Allegedly recorded in a "L.A. garage" in order "to capture the Germs feel", Hovercraft's contribution is a sixteen-minute long, mostly instrumental reprise of "Shutdown". The track, which follows a more conventional version of the song by Monkeywrench, features a conversation in Italian between Shinn and Liebling, making it the only recording by the band to feature any vocalization.
After running the small club circuit of the North America a few times on their own, the band supported Unwound
Unwound
Unwound was a United States post-hardcore band based in Tumwater/Olympia, Washington. Formed in 1991, the band consisted of Justin Trosper , Vern Rumsey , and Brandt Sandeno , all of whom had previously been in a band called Giant Henry. Brandt Sandeno quit Unwound in 1992 and was replaced by...
on a European tour. Hovercraft even opened for classic rockers The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
on a short series of stadium concerts in the Northwestern United States
Northwestern United States
The Northwestern United States comprise the northwestern states up to the western Great Plains regions of the United States, and consistently include the states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, to which part of southeast Alaska is also sometimes included...
in late 1996.
Enter the black hole (signing to Blast First)
In 1997, the band were signed to Blast FirstBlast First
Blast First is a sub label of one-time independent record label, Mute Records, founded in approximately 1985. It was named after a phrase taken from the first number of the radical Vorticist journal Blast, published by Wyndham Lewis in 1914...
Records in London by label head Paul Smith
Paul Smith (music industry)
Paul Smith is probably best known as the founder and manager of Blast First, the British alternative record label that released artists such as Sonic Youth, the Butthole Surfers, Big Black and Dinosaur Jr. in the UK. He continued to manage the artists and work in the music industry when Blast First...
. In North America, debut album (released as double-LP and single CD) Akathisia
Akathisia (album)
- Personnel :* Campbell 2000 – guitar* Karl 3-30 – drums* Sadie 7 – bass guitar...
was distributed by Mute Records America
Mute Records
Mute is an independent record label based in the UK. It was founded in 1978 by Daniel Miller and featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Goldfrapp, Depeche Mode, Yazoo, Erasure and Fad Gadget.-Beginnings:...
. Ned Raggett
Ned Raggett
Ned Raggett is a library assistant, freelance writer and music journalist. His work has been published in Allmusic, the OC Weekly, Plan B, Metal Edge and The Quietus, while pieces have also appeared in Dream, Arthur, as well as Stylus, The Broken Face, Fake Jazz, Freaky Trigger, Careless Talk...
of Allmusic said that "the trio on Akathisia did a fantastic job of whipping up five dark, engrossing instrumentals that avoided any pretense of commercial acceptance." Akathisias liner notes state that the album was "preserved and magnetically encoded 12.1995."
The vinyl etchings on the four sides of Akathisia were as follows:
- Side A: "Do You..."
- Side B: "Dare To..."
- Side C: "Enter The..."
- Side D: "Black Hole?"
(This was the slogan of the cult classic 1980s Gottlieb
Gottlieb
Gottlieb was an arcade game corporation based in Chicago, Illinois. The company was established by David Gottlieb in 1927, initially producing pinball machines while later expanding into various other games including pitch-and-bats, bowling games, and eventually video arcade games .Like other...
pinball
Pinball
Pinball is a type of arcade game, usually coin-operated, where a player attempts to score points by manipulating one or more metal balls on a playfield inside a glass-covered case called a pinball machine. The primary objective of the game is to score as many points as possible...
game, Black Hole
Black Hole (pinball game)
Black Hole is a pinball game released in 1981 by Gottlieb. It is notable for having two playfields: one on top with a conventional slope, and one mounted underneath, sloping away from the player. It has no connection with the 1979 film of the same name....
.)
The new lineup played at the first Terrastock
Terrastock
Terrastock is a music festival organised periodically by Phil McMullen, formerly editor of the Ptolemaic Terrascope and since 2005 the publisher of the Terrascope Online website. The event typically features independent bands playing psychedelic rock....
festival in Providence
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...
, Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
, in April 1997. The band then toured with Japan's Kirihito and American rock band Caustic Resin
Caustic Resin
Caustic Resin is an indie rock band from Boise, Idaho, who have released several albums for Up Records, Alias Records, and C/Z Records. The band is Brett Netson on guitar and vocals, Tom Romich, Jr. on bass guitar, and either James Dillion or Pat Perkins on drums...
, and handled the opening slot on a tour with Fugazi, as well as a tour opening for Helmet
Helmet (band)
Helmet is an alternative metal band from New York City formed in 1989. Founded by vocalist and lead guitarist Page Hamilton, Helmet has had numerous lineup changes, and Hamilton has been the only constant member....
and The Melvins
The Melvins
The Melvins are an American band that formed in 1983. They usually perform as a trio, but in recent years have performed as a four piece with two drummers. Since 1984, singer and guitarist Buzz Osborne and drummer Dale Crover have been the band's constant members...
. An EP featuring remixes of two truncated Akathisia songs by Scanner
Robin Rimbaud
Robin Rimbaud is an electronic musician who works under the name Scanner due to his use of cell phone and police scanners in live performance...
was released later in 1997.
Final drummer, final album
1998 brought yet another change of drummer as Ric Peterson took the stool as "Dash 11". His much harder-hitting, more visceral style was the apparent catalyst in the band's shift from ethereal 15-minute songs to more concise, angular arrangements. The track "Epoxy" from the band's upcoming album first premiered for the world on Pearl Jam's Monkeywrench Radio broadcast, on January 31, 1998.One year in the making, Hovercraft's final album, Experiment Below
Experiment Below
-Personnel:Hovercraft*Campbell 2000 – guitar*Dash 11 – drums*Sadie 7 – bass guitarProduction*S. Hess – orange sphere photo*Hovercraft – production*Aaron Warner – assistant engineering...
, was released in September 1998. Jason Kaufman of Allmusic said, "This is challenging music that certainly has its rewards for those patient enough to hang around." In 1998 and 1999, Hovercraft toured Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
again with Add N to (X)
Add N to (X)
Add N to were a three-piece British band specializing in electronic music performed on analogue synthesizers, formed in London in 1994.The original band members were Andrew Aveling, Barry Smith and Ann Shenton...
, and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
with the Boredoms, The Melvins, and Mr. Bungle
Mr. Bungle
Mr. Bungle was an experimental band from Northern California. The band was formed in 1985 while the members were still in high school and was named after a children's educational film. Mr. Bungle released four demo tapes in the mid to late 1980s before being signed to Warner Bros. Records and...
. The band also played a number of one-off shows with Wire
Wire (band)
Wire are an English rock band, formed in London in October 1976 by Colin Newman , Graham Lewis , Bruce Gilbert , and Robert Gotobed...
, Sleater-Kinney
Sleater-Kinney
Sleater-Kinney was an alternative rock band from Portland, Oregon that formed in 1994. Originally formed in Olympia, Washington, the group's name is derived from Sleater-Kinney Road, Interstate 5 off ramp #108 in Lacey, Washington, the location of one of their early practice spaces. They were a...
, Hater
Hater (band)
Hater was an American rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington in 1993. The band formed as a side project mostly under the direction of Soundgarden bassist Ben Shepherd...
, Mudhoney
Mudhoney
Mudhoney is an American alternative rock band. Formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1988 following the demise of Green River, Mudhoney's members are vocalist and rhythm guitarist Mark Arm, lead guitarist Steve Turner, bassist Guy Maddison, and drummer Dan Peters. Original bassist Matt Lukin left the...
, and IQU.
Schema, DJ Spooky remixes and the final burn-out
Hovercraft teamed up with StereolabStereolab
Stereolab are an alternative music band formed in 1990 in London, England. The band originally comprised songwriting team Tim Gane and Lætitia Sadier , both of whom remained at the helm across many lineup changes...
guitarist/backing vocalist Mary Hansen
Mary Hansen
Mary Hansen was a guitarist and singer with Stereolab.Born in Maryborough north of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia, Hansen moved to London in the late 1980s and became a backing singer with the Essex-based indie band, The Wolfhounds.She met Stereolab founder Tim Gane when the Wolfhounds played...
, forming the band Schema. Schema featured vocals and instrumentals in approximately equal measure, adding some synthesizer. An eponymous maxi-EP/mini-album was released in 2000 on avant-garde Kill Rock Stars
Kill Rock Stars
Kill Rock Stars is an independent record label founded in 1991 by Slim Moon and based in both Olympia, Washington and Portland, Oregon. The label has released a variety of work in different genres, making it difficult to pigeonhole as having any one artistic mission...
imprint, 5 Rue Christine
5 Rue Christine
5 Rue Christine is a semi-defunct Olympia, Washington based independent record label, formed as a spin-off from the Kill Rock Stars label in 1997...
. A second album and a tour was planned. However, while riding her bicycle in London on December 12, 2002, the 36 year-old Hansen was struck by a truck and killed.
Hovercraft and DJ Spooky
DJ Spooky
Paul D. Miller , known by his stage name DJ Spooky, That Subliminal Kid, is a Washington DC-born electronic and experimental hip hop musician whose work is often called by critics or his fans as "illbient" or "trip hop". He is a turntablist, a producer, a philosopher, and an author...
worked on remixes of each other's works in the late 1990s; two DJ Spooky remixes of Hovercraft songs were released (on various-artist techno compilation albums), but Hovercraft's versions of his songs were never released. Hovercraft's last live performance was on February 16, 2001, at the Experience Music Project museum in Seattle.
Studio albums
| Year | Album details |
|---|---|
| 1997 | Akathisia Akathisia (album) - Personnel :* Campbell 2000 – guitar* Karl 3-30 – drums* Sadie 7 – bass guitar...
|
| 1998 | Experiment Below Experiment Below -Personnel:Hovercraft*Campbell 2000 – guitar*Dash 11 – drums*Sadie 7 – bass guitarProduction*S. Hess – orange sphere photo*Hovercraft – production*Aaron Warner – assistant engineering... |
Extended plays
| Year | Album details |
|---|---|
| 1996 | Hovercraft
|
| 1997 | Scanner Remixes
|
| 2000 | Schema (collaboration with Mary Hansen)
|
Singles
| Year | Single | Album |
|---|---|---|
| 1995 | "Zero Zero Zero One" | Non-album single |
Videos
| Year | Video details |
|---|---|
| 1995 | 0001
|
Other appearances
| Year | Song | Title | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | "Shutdown Reprise" |
A Small Circle of Friends: A Germs Tribute A Small Circle of Friends (Germs) A Small Circle of Friends: Germs was a tribute album for the band The Germs released in 1996. The album features multiple Germs covers by several artists, including NOFX, L7, The Melvins, Gumball, and Hole, playing under the moniker "The Holez" with Pat Smear.- Track listing :# NOFX – "Forming"... |
Grass Wind-Up Records Wind-up Entertainment, Inc. is a record label based in New York City. It was formed in 1997 by Alan Meltzer, former owner of CD One Stop, following his 1996 purchase of Grass Records. Wind-up is currently the largest independently-owned record label in the world... |
| 1997 | "De-Orbit Burn" (remix) (with Scanner Robin Rimbaud Robin Rimbaud is an electronic musician who works under the name Scanner due to his use of cell phone and police scanners in live performance... ) |
Newman Passage - A Souvenir Compilation | Mute |
"Stereo Specific Polymerization" (Mad Psychotic Hyper-Accelerated Lower East Side mix) (with DJ Spooky DJ Spooky Paul D. Miller , known by his stage name DJ Spooky, That Subliminal Kid, is a Washington DC-born electronic and experimental hip hop musician whose work is often called by critics or his fans as "illbient" or "trip hop". He is a turntablist, a producer, a philosopher, and an author... ) |
Electric Ladyland, Vol. 4 | Mille Plateaux Mille Plateaux Mille Plateaux is an influential electronica record label founded 1993 by Achim Szepanski in Frankfurt, Germany. It is known for mostly releasing minimal techno, glitch music and other experimental electronic music.-History:... |
|
"Hymn" (with Eddie Vedder Eddie Vedder Eddie Vedder is an American musician and singer-songwriter who is best known for being the lead singer and one of three guitarists of the alternative rock band Pearl Jam. He is widely considered a cultural icon of alternative rock.He is also involved in soundtrack work and contributes to albums... ) |
Kerouac - kicks joy darkness | Rykodisc Rykodisc Rykodisc Records is an American record label. It is owned by Warner Music Group, operates as a unit of WMG's Independent Label Group and is distributed through Alternative Distribution Alliance.-Company history:... |
|
| 1998 | "Stereo Specific Polymerization" (Beneath the Underdog mix) (with DJ Spooky) |
DJ Spooky Vs. Spectre | Word Sound |
"Haloparidol" (short version) |
Chicago Cab: Soundtrack | Loosegroove Loosegroove Records Loosegroove Records was a Seattle based record label formed by Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard and Brad drummer Regan Hagar in 1994. Initially a subsidiary of Sony before going independent in 1996, Loosegroove signed many up and coming artists from various musical genres, especially rock and hip... |
External links
- Hovercraft database formerly known as The Aurora Lab; includes mp3 download of a live show and tour chronology