Intricate Unit
Encyclopedia
Intricate Unit is the creation of Ben Kopec
. Although IU has seen many live members come and go, Kopec still persists and continues to write to the present. Kopec writes the music by himself in the studio and than has members play it live. Kopec has hand crafted light boxes to be triggered live while playing to create a truly unique visual experience. IU also incorporates many live theactrics including a huge box covered in circuit boards and swinging on the venue's pipes 20 feet in the air to smashing guitars live on stage.
Intricate Unit gathers fans where ever they travel. Gaining much popularity in on-line magazines and becoming sponsored by such companies as Coffin Case have helped launch IU to higher platforms.
, Hanzel Und Gretyl
, Zeromancer
, Bile
, and Nocturne
. This line up eventually dissolved because Densky decided to focus all his energy on this original band, Adva, and Saucier and Kopec has moral differences. Densky is currently the drummer for Deadstar Assembly.
IU wasn't quiet for long and quickly recruited 2 new live members. This time, a live bassist, Roger Lockshier, known to the fans as Z, and live guitarist, Mark Turko. Kopec knew it was necessary to be open minded. It was with this line up that the trio incorporated a manual light show by stepping on switches created from electrical boxes during the live performance. The showcasing of what was to be known as "the frame" was also used during live performances. This cast a huge shadow of Kopec during the intro of their set while emerging to the music of Karl Orf's Carmina Burana
.
Intricate Unit's current line up consists of keyboardist, Ryan Dest, known better as DJ Nitez and live guitarist, Tom Voytek.
. To date, none of these songs have ever been played live.
sounding compared to his later releases that sound more like Industrial rock
. This is the album that Kopec also created the tri-circle, a symbolic idea of his own representing what he recognizes as 3 stages of life repeating. The three stages of life are birth, life, and death, encompassed in a circle, representing that when one dies, one is just going to be reborn. This idea is consistent with reincarnation
.
Prior to the Denial release, Kopec had lost all of the audio due to a computer error and had to re-record all of the audio including vocals, guitars, and sound effects This delayed the release of the album by months.
, Marilyn Manson
, Static-X
, Ministry
, KMFDM
, and Leæther Strip
.
Artists such as Trent Reznor and Danny Elfman have been a real inspiration [to Ben Kopec]. [Ben Kopec] is also driven by people that challenge him to rise to higher levels. Other bands that have influenced the sound of IU are Skinny Puppy
and White Zombie
.
and Guitar Picks
Wikipedia page for a partial list of TV and film credits.
Ben Kopec
Benjamin Nils Kopec , known better by his stage name, Ben Kopec, is an American based musician and composer.As a composer, Kopec has had his music used in feature film trailers, such as Never Surrender, The Curse of Micah Rood, and more...
. Although IU has seen many live members come and go, Kopec still persists and continues to write to the present. Kopec writes the music by himself in the studio and than has members play it live. Kopec has hand crafted light boxes to be triggered live while playing to create a truly unique visual experience. IU also incorporates many live theactrics including a huge box covered in circuit boards and swinging on the venue's pipes 20 feet in the air to smashing guitars live on stage.
Intricate Unit gathers fans where ever they travel. Gaining much popularity in on-line magazines and becoming sponsored by such companies as Coffin Case have helped launch IU to higher platforms.
Formation
After Denial and shortly after graduating high school, Kopec formed the first original line up for Intricate Unit. He incorporated a drummer, Chris Densky, and live guitarist, Jay Saucier. The trio performed many live shows and opened up for such acts as DopeDope (band)
Dope is an American rock band from Villa Park, Illinois, formed in 1997 in Chicago, Illinois.To date, the band has released five full-length studio albums, their most recent being No Regrets which was released on March 10, 2009.-History:...
, Hanzel Und Gretyl
Hanzel und Gretyl
Hanzel und Gretyl are an Industrial metal music group formed by members Kaizer Von Loopy and Vas Kallas in February 1993. In the 1990s their sound was described as a genre-defying blend of sci-fi metal/electronic and experimental, but into the new millennium they adopted a decidedly heavier sound...
, Zeromancer
Zeromancer
Zeromancer is a Norwegian industrial rock band formed in 1999 by members of the band Seigmen. The current lineup is Alex Møklebust , Kim Ljung , Noralf Ronthi Lorry Kristiansen and Dan Heide...
, Bile
Bile (band)
Bile is an industrial metal project based in the New York City, USA area. Although there has been many different members throughout the bands career, Krztoff is the songwriting, recording and conceptual leader...
, and Nocturne
Nocturne (band)
Nocturne is an industrial rock band that was formed in 1999 in Dallas, Texas. The band is formed of two core members, Lacey Conner and Chris Telkes, and several touring musicians, usually Ben Graves of the Murderdolls and "Rotten" Rotny also guitar player of the industrial/metal band Psyclon Nine...
. This line up eventually dissolved because Densky decided to focus all his energy on this original band, Adva, and Saucier and Kopec has moral differences. Densky is currently the drummer for Deadstar Assembly.
IU wasn't quiet for long and quickly recruited 2 new live members. This time, a live bassist, Roger Lockshier, known to the fans as Z, and live guitarist, Mark Turko. Kopec knew it was necessary to be open minded. It was with this line up that the trio incorporated a manual light show by stepping on switches created from electrical boxes during the live performance. The showcasing of what was to be known as "the frame" was also used during live performances. This cast a huge shadow of Kopec during the intro of their set while emerging to the music of Karl Orf's Carmina Burana
Carmina Burana (Orff)
Carmina Burana is a scenic cantata composed by Carl Orff in 1935 and 1936. It is based on 24 of the poems found in the medieval collection Carmina Burana...
.
Intricate Unit's current line up consists of keyboardist, Ryan Dest, known better as DJ Nitez and live guitarist, Tom Voytek.
Deception (1999)
Ben Kopec was releasing albums in high school 3 years before ever playing out live. Kopec bought his first drum machine when he was 15 and first computer and sound module when he was 17. Once all the tools were in place, it took less than a year for him to compile his first EP, Deception. It is a true fact that his mother actually recorded a vocal part for the song Pensive while Kopec was writing the song still living in his parents house. The artwork on this album dispays Kopec's like of the artist Leonardo da VinciLeonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer whose genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance...
. To date, none of these songs have ever been played live.
Denial (2000)
Denial was released while Kopec was a senior in high school. This 13 track album marked the first full length release for Intricate Unit. The songs on this album are very IndustrialIndustrial 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...
sounding compared to his later releases that sound more like Industrial rock
Industrial rock
Industrial rock is a musical genre that fuses industrial music and specific rock subgenres. Industrial rock spawned industrial metal, with which it is often confused...
. This is the album that Kopec also created the tri-circle, a symbolic idea of his own representing what he recognizes as 3 stages of life repeating. The three stages of life are birth, life, and death, encompassed in a circle, representing that when one dies, one is just going to be reborn. This idea is consistent with reincarnation
Reincarnation
Reincarnation best describes the concept where the soul or spirit, after the death of the body, is believed to return to live in a new human body, or, in some traditions, either as a human being, animal or plant...
.
Prior to the Denial release, Kopec had lost all of the audio due to a computer error and had to re-record all of the audio including vocals, guitars, and sound effects This delayed the release of the album by months.
Detached (2003–2004)
Before the original line up dissolving, Densky and Saucier performed live to help promote the release of Intricate Unit's second full length album, Detached. Detached also had subsequent releases entitled, Detached (Detached). This latter album contained completely remixed and remastered songs with bonus tracks that would eventually appear on Thru-Hole. The cover of this album is a picture that Kopec edited himself of an ex-girlfriends bathroom tub after she died her hair red.Thru-Hole (2005-2006)
Vaccination Nation was the band's first single and was released on this album. Intricate Unit used this song as leverage to eventually perform at the Gathering of the Jaggalos in Ohio, where thousands of fans would be introduced to the sound of IU. After being greeting with the bottling and chucking of beer bottles, mud, fecal matter, food, and garbage, the people were won over by the end of the set.Tours
Intricate Unit has performed with many other bands from the East Coast to the Mid-West. Despite the mud throwing, bottle whizzing, crowd screaming audiences, IU manages to recruit fans from all over the world. Going from city to city, grass roots promotion is what it takes, according to Kopec. IU currently also receives radio play in over 15 states, as they expand their territory to becoming a national act. Intricate Unit has opened for such acts as Zeromancer, Insane Clown Posse, Hanzel Und Gretly, and Bile.Discography
- 1999: Deception
- 2000: Denial
- 2002: Detached
- 2005: Thru-Hole
- 2009: TBA
Band members
Current lineup- Ben Kopec – lead vocals, backup guitar (2001–present)
- DJ Nitez (Ryan Dest) – drums (2005–present)
- Tom Voytek – lead guitars (2007–present)
Music videos
- 2004: A Try to Keep Away
- 2004: Angel Moth
- 2005: Vaccination Nation
Influences
The likes of Intricate Unit have been compared to Nine Inch NailsNine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails is an American industrial rock project, founded in 1988 by Trent Reznor in Cleveland, Ohio. As its main producer, singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist, Reznor is the only official member of Nine Inch Nails and remains solely responsible for its direction...
, Marilyn Manson
Marilyn Manson
Marilyn Manson may refer to:* Marilyn Manson , an American rock musician* Marilyn Manson , the American rock band led by the singer of the same name...
, Static-X
Static-X
Static-X is an American industrial metal band from Los Angeles, California. They were formed in 1994. They are signed to Warner Bros. Records and have released six albums, their most recent being Cult of Static, which was released on March 17, 2009....
, Ministry
Ministry (band)
Ministry is an American industrial metal band founded by lead singer Al Jourgensen in 1981. Originally a synthpop outfit, Ministry changed its style to industrial metal in the late 1980s. Ministry found mainstream success in the early 1990s with its most successful album Psalm 69: The Way to...
, KMFDM
KMFDM
KMFDM is an industrial band led by German multi-instrumentalist Sascha Konietzko, who founded the group in 1984 as a performance art project...
, and Leæther Strip
Leæther Strip
Leæther Strip is a Danish musical project founded on January 13, 1988 by Claus Larsen. Its influence has been most felt in the electronic body music and electro-industrial genres. Perhaps to a certain extent, it may have influenced various film score productions. Leæther Strip was one of the...
.
Artists such as Trent Reznor and Danny Elfman have been a real inspiration [to Ben Kopec]. [Ben Kopec] is also driven by people that challenge him to rise to higher levels. Other bands that have influenced the sound of IU are Skinny Puppy
Skinny Puppy
Skinny Puppy is a Canadian industrial musical group, formed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in 1982. The group is widely considered to be the founders of the electro-industrial genre....
and White Zombie
White Zombie
White Zombie was a Grammy Award-nominated American heavy metal band. Based in New York City, White Zombie was originally a noise rock band. White Zombie are better-known for their later heavy metal-oriented sound...
.
Sponsorships
Intricate Unit is proudly sponsored by guitar case revolutionaries, Coffin Caseand Guitar Picks
Music Licenses
Please visit the Ben KopecBen Kopec
Benjamin Nils Kopec , known better by his stage name, Ben Kopec, is an American based musician and composer.As a composer, Kopec has had his music used in feature film trailers, such as Never Surrender, The Curse of Micah Rood, and more...
Wikipedia page for a partial list of TV and film credits.
External links
- Intricate Unit, official website
- Intricate Unit's YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
channel - Ben Kopec's solo page