Lucid Nation
Encyclopedia
Lucid Nation is an American
Los Angeles
-based experimental rock
band formed in 1994. The band has morphed and transformed itself over the years, reinventing itself and the sound Lucid Nation produces. Lucid Nation is on the independent record label
Brain Floss Records.
, a fundraiser for a riot grrrl
art collective known as Revolution Rising. The show was at a club called Cell 63, where they opened for two local riot grrrl bands.
Their next show was in a downtown LA art gallery opening for Team Dresch
, followed by a show opening for Bikini Kill
in Montebello
. Lucid Nation toured the West Coast
next, playing seven riot grrrl conventions
in one summer. They also backed Warhol superstar Holly Woodlawn
at several live shows.
After her apartment was ransacked and a gang member was shot dead in the doorway to her apartment building, Haliday decided to move back to Florida for college. Spivey compiled the band's work thus far and put out an album entitled The Stillness of Over (1997). The album reached #11 most added on the CMJ
charts.
Tamra Spivey on The Stillness of Over:
"'The Stillness of Over' has a triple meaning. Obviously it refers to the exit of Debbie, and also to the end of the golden age
of riot grrrl. But 'The Stillness of Over' is also the instant when a hurdle is cleared."
The last track of the CD featured a guest drummer, Nick Romero (of The Limeys), who joined the band after Haliday left.
After Haliday left the band, Romero became a temporary drummer for the band. They were most often playing at Impala
in Little Tokyo
, Los Angeles
. They focused on improvisation
, including lyrics. When Romero left, Erin McCarley took over on drums. Spivey had met McCarley in an online riot grrrl newsgroup
. McCarley was also in charge of the first riot grrrl chapter in the O.C. At this point, McCarley introduced the band to the peace punk scene. In 1998, they released their second album, American Stonehenge.
At Koo's Anarchist Cafe in Santa Ana, California the band played matinees promoted by Jang Lee and Erin McCarley, including Food Not Bombs fundraisers. At these shows they became acquainted with the local Black Panther movement, which had renamed itself New African Vanguard. New African Vanguard helped distribute Lucid Nation zines including Eracism to prisons all over the western United States. Lucid Nation's "The Stillness of Over" was positively reviewed in the Black Panther newspaper. While on their national tour, McCarley had to fly home, and the band had to replace her. They turned to Tia Sproket, formerly of Sexpod, who was on a break from touring with Luscious Jackson
. After the tour, the band (Spivey and Pontiac) invited Sproket to write and record with them back in L.A. Spivey's former bassist teacher, Margaret "Grit" Maldonado (bassist from Girl Jesus), began playing with them. Guitarist Danette Lee (formerly of Butt Trumpet
) was also added and once Sproket arrived Christmas 1998. They shortly began to record and were close to signing with Danny Goldberg's Artemis Records, but faced with a decision between mixes made by Neil Perry
(who had worked with Nine Inch Nails
and Smashing Pumpkins) or Nitebob (who has worked with Iggy and the Stooges, New York Dolls
, Aerosmith
and Alice Cooper
) and Mike Barile (who works with Candiria
), they decided to go with the latter two and began mixing in Unique Studios on Time Square, where Tupac
was shot. The studios are gone now.
Before this group of musicians could perform their first gig together in Olympia, Washington
at the Capital Theatre as Lucid Nation, the band imploded and did not sign with Artemis Records. However, the band put out a CD in 1999 of those recordings titled DNA. Warhol Superstar Holly Woodlawn provided spoken word for the song "L.A. River," a song Rolling Stone's guitarist Keith Richards called "marvelous". The band name after that was often displayed with a capitalized DNA in the middle: luciDNAtion. Two songs from DNA "Las Vegas the Instrumental" and "Fun" were chosen by Sasha Grey for two scenes in avant garde porn filmmaker Jack the Zipper's "Naked and Famous" Alternative Press
singled out the song "Las Vegas the Instrumental" when Lucid Nation was included in their "100 Bands You Need to Know: 2002".
In 2000 they put out another collection of recordings from the same sessions called Suburban Legends, a totally improvisational album. The album was the least popular Lucid Nation album on college radio stations. However, the album got the attention of Randy Roark (assistant to Allen Ginsberg
for sixteen years) who was interested in Spivey's writing.
In February 2001 the band recorded a live show at the college radio station KXLU
, in L.A. during one of the worst storms Southern California
had ever seen. The gig would become their fourth album. The only members of Lucid Nation left over from the previous group of musicians were Spivey and Pontiac (two of the three original members). The rest of the band at this time consisted of the following:
The album was named Nonpoetic Rain:Live on KXLU and distributed in a limited edition of just one hundred home made signed CDs.
In 2002 the band came out with a double CD of improvised songs named Tacoma Ballet. Patty Schemel
(of Hole
) played drums and Greta Brinkman (of Moby
's backing band) was on bass. Larry Schemel of The Flesh-eaters and Midnight Movies played guitar. Diane Naegel was recruited on keyboards and Lucid Nation recorded the whole album in Tacoma, Washington
at Uptone Studio. There were no rehearsals, and Diane had never played with a band before. The band recorded fifty-two tracks, thirty-two of which ended up on the album. Recording ended on September 10, 2001 and several of the songs foreshadowed 9/11 including the phrase "homeland security" used before it became a catch phrase and the chorus "everything's falling down" from the song "Fall." After some rearrangement, the songs were revealed to depict a story about a girl who realized the hypocrisy of her town, her family, and herself . source 7 Tacoma Ballet was broken into two discs of sixteen songs each. The first was labeled What is the Answer? and the second one was named What is the Question? (inspired by the final words of Gertrude Stein
). The album gained critical praise from Rolling Stone
, Magnet
and Randy Roark. Tacoma Ballet hit #8 most added on the College Music Journal
charts in July 2002.
In January 2002 the band recorded Tribeca Shockwave with New Yorkers Lafrae Sci on drums and Jezebel Kipp on bass, keys and production. The recordings include many references to 9/11.
After 9/11 Tamra refused to tour, telling her fans that it would by hypocritical to sing songs protesting oil wars while burning fossil fuels during long drives. Lucid Nation has expressed a desire to stay out of the mainstream, but Tacoma Ballet did bring them somewhat into the spotlight of small college
and commercial stations with playlists chosen by DJs, known as the secondary market
in the music business. There was a chart to measure those stations, called the New Music Weekly Combined College Radio and Secondary Chart (aka NMW Chart). By November, Lucid Nation had broken through to the top five on the NMW Chart and reached #1 by December 2002, after six months of slowly climbing.
From July 2002 to October 2005 Tamra Spivey was an Art Editor and then Senior Editor for Newtopia Magazine, an award winning website of progressive politics and under reported news. Ronnie Pontiac was Art Editor, a member of the New Poetry Collective and then Poet in Residence for Newtopia Magazine. Individually and in collaboration they produced articles on Jean Smith
, Michael Ruppert
, Danny Goldberg, Larry Tramutola, Rachel Corrie, and others.
2004 saw the recording of Mung Jung Bushi with Jean Smith
on guitar and David Lester
of Mecca Normal
on guitar. Also on MJB was LaFrae Olivia Sci on drums and keyboard. There were no vocals on this album. The album name 'mung jung bushi' was thought up by Jean, and is a rough combination of Chinese
and Japanese
meaning "grumpy dance".
In 2005 Lucid Nation released a 'best of' album named Public Domain: The Best of Lucid Nation. This compilation
featured songs spanning the entire career of Lucid Nation. Also on the CD was a song titled FUBAR, which Lucid Nation collaborated with Jody Bleyle of Team Dresch
and Hazel
on. This song was originally created for the P.E.T.A. compilation by Fat Wreck, but rejected because it was "too raw". Denise Saffren of Wench played drums on FUBAR.
Throughout the band's career, the only two members of Lucid Nation who have stayed with the band since 1994 are Tamra Spivey and Ronnie Pontiac, although members have returned including Grit Maldonado, John Sellers, and others. Tamra Spivey continues to be the band leader, operating the band's official MySpace
and Lucid Nation's official web page (see Related Sites and Sources below).
In January 2006, Tamra Spivey also began a process she named The Hundred Song March. With the help of Jonathan Krop for programming, Tamra began to post one song every day for about one hundred and fifty days, starting in January. The songs were posted chronologically, from least recent to most recent. They are all available for free download by MP3
, RSS
and podcast
. The HSM was created for kids who could not gain access to Lucid Nation music. Since Lucid Nation's music is mainly sold online, a vast amount of potential listeners were missing out, and Tamra wanted to open her band up to them. Along with posting the songs to download, Tamra also wrote a paragraph or two for each song about the song's meaning, the process of creating the track, gear used and the musicians featured. The songs are broken up into 'Episodes' which consist of the albums and a brief history of that particular time in Lucid Nation's life.
In Summer of 2006, Lucid Nation recorded improvisational sessions with Ken Schalk of Candiria
on drums and Justin Citron on guitar. Tamra Spivey has released a few rough mixes from "A Bird in the Stairwell" (her name for the collected sessions) including the YouTube videos "Stray" "Token Voter" and "Pretzels for Algernon."
In Summer of 2007, Lucid Nation recorded songs with drummer Rob Cournoyer and guitarist Justin Citron. Tamra Spivey named the unreleased album "Chemtrail Rainbows." Again, only rough mixes have been shared including the YouTube videos "Last Day of Pretend", "Pressure Cooker" and "World's Guiltiest Pleasure."
In 2008 Lucid Nation headlined RockNRead at the VirginMega on Hollywood Boulevard where they covered a protest song written by Alex Maranjian called "Bring My Brothers Home" which became the band's most popular YouTube video.
In Summer of 2008 Tamra Spivey and Ronnie Pontiac associate produced The Gits
documentary with Executive Producer Danny Goldberg and Liberation Entertainment.
In Fall of 2008 Tamra Spivey collaborated with Danny Goldberg to connect music artists and management with the Obama campaign to help bring rally concerts to key counties.
In 2010 Lucid Nation released "Second Skin by The GIts
with guest drummer Steve Moriarity who played with the original Gits.
In 2011 Lucid Nation provided the music for deaf Muslim punk playwright and filmmaker Sabina England's experimental performance and video Vazzxo Alien Dance. Mixing and new recordings continued with the advice of skilled veteran producers Rob Fraboni and George Daly. Both Tamra and Ronnie Pontiac became bloggers for the relaunch of Newtopia Magazine. Tamra's first blog for the relaunch was an interview with Kelly Heresy a day one occupier at OccupyWallStreet, the first protestor pepper sprayed.
wrote "If Spivey sounds spacey, she's not. Her songs range from aggressive, screaming punk
to beautifully melodic rhythm and blues
, the very definition of garage rock
. Like Sleater-Kinney
and Bikini Kill
-- Lucid Nation has opened for both -- her band's music is raw, poetic, sloppy and infectious...simply bare-bones, kick-ass rock and roll
."
Magnet
wrote "a punk rock
Exile on Main Street with shades of The Stooges
, riot grrrl
, Pere Ubu
, and even The Doors
."
Mario Mesquita Borges of Allmusic wrote "Lucid Nation's creations expose fierce streams of experimentalism within the rock genre by captioning a singular set of conceptual alternative pop/rock style, somehow following a similar trail as the one unclosed by Sonic Youth
... "
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
-based experimental rock
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....
band formed in 1994. The band has morphed and transformed itself over the years, reinventing itself and the sound Lucid Nation produces. Lucid Nation is on the independent record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
Brain Floss Records.
History
The band was formed in Los Angeles in 1994, when founding drummer, Debbie Haliday, met Tamra Spivey and Ronnie Pontiac. Spivey and Pontiac were already playing in a band called Cat Cult, which was short lived. The three soon formed Lucid Nation and had their first live gigGig (musical performance)
Gig is slang for a musical engagement in which musicians are hired. Originally coined in the 1920s by jazz musicians, the term, short for the word "engagement", now refers to any aspect of performing such as assisting with performance and attending musical performance...
, a fundraiser for a riot grrrl
Riot grrrl
Riot grrrl was an underground feminist punk movement based in Washington, DC, Olympia, Washington, Portland, Oregon, and the greater Pacific Northwest which existed in the early to mid-1990s, and it is often associated with third-wave feminism...
art collective known as Revolution Rising. The show was at a club called Cell 63, where they opened for two local riot grrrl bands.
Their next show was in a downtown LA art gallery opening for Team Dresch
Team Dresch
Team Dresch is an American punk band from Portland, Oregon, originally formed in Olympia, Washington, which was initially active from 1993 until 1998. The band made a significant impression on the do-it-yourself movement queercore, which gave voice through zines and music to the passions and...
, followed by a show opening for Bikini Kill
Bikini Kill
Bikini Kill was an American punk rock band formed in Olympia, Washington in October 1990. The group consisted of vocalist and songwriter Kathleen Hanna, guitarist Billy Karren, bassist Kathi Wilcox, and drummer Tobi Vail. The band is widely considered to be the pioneer of the riot grrrl movement,...
in Montebello
Montebello
Montebello is the name of several places:* Montebello Islands, Australia* Montebello, Quebec, Canada* Montebello della Battaglia, Pavia, Italy* Montebello, Rimini, Province of Rimini, Italy * Montebello Vicentino, Vicenza, Italy...
. Lucid Nation toured the West Coast
West Coast of the United States
West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...
next, playing seven riot grrrl conventions
Convention (meeting)
A convention, in the sense of a meeting, is a gathering of individuals who meet at an arranged place and time in order to discuss or engage in some common interest. The most common conventions are based upon industry, profession, and fandom...
in one summer. They also backed Warhol superstar Holly Woodlawn
Holly Woodlawn
Holly Woodlawn is a Puerto Rican-born transgendered actress and former Warhol superstar, who appeared in his movies Trash and Women in Revolt .-Early life:...
at several live shows.
After her apartment was ransacked and a gang member was shot dead in the doorway to her apartment building, Haliday decided to move back to Florida for college. Spivey compiled the band's work thus far and put out an album entitled The Stillness of Over (1997). The album reached #11 most added on the CMJ
College Music Journal
College Music Journal, commonly known as CMJ, is a music events/publishing company which hosts an annual festival in New York City, the CMJ Music Marathon, as well as a weekly magazine of and for the music industry and college radio stations in the United States and Canada. It publishes top 30...
charts.
Tamra Spivey on The Stillness of Over:
"'The Stillness of Over' has a triple meaning. Obviously it refers to the exit of Debbie, and also to the end of the golden age
Golden Age
The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology and legend and refers to the first in a sequence of four or five Ages of Man, in which the Golden Age is first, followed in sequence, by the Silver, Bronze, and Iron Ages, and then the present, a period of decline...
of riot grrrl. But 'The Stillness of Over' is also the instant when a hurdle is cleared."
The last track of the CD featured a guest drummer, Nick Romero (of The Limeys), who joined the band after Haliday left.
After Haliday left the band, Romero became a temporary drummer for the band. They were most often playing at Impala
Impala
An impala is a medium-sized African antelope. The name impala comes from the Zulu language meaning "gazelle"...
in Little Tokyo
Little Tokyo
Little Tokyo may refer to:* Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, California* Little Tokyo, Vancouver* Little Tokyo, U.S.A., a 1942 American film* Another term for a Japantown* Shigeri Akabane , Japanese professional wrestler...
, Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. They focused on improvisation
Improvisation
Improvisation is the practice of acting, singing, talking and reacting, of making and creating, in the moment and in response to the stimulus of one's immediate environment and inner feelings. This can result in the invention of new thought patterns, new practices, new structures or symbols, and/or...
, including lyrics. When Romero left, Erin McCarley took over on drums. Spivey had met McCarley in an online riot grrrl newsgroup
Newsgroup
A usenet newsgroup is a repository usually within the Usenet system, for messages posted from many users in different locations. The term may be confusing to some, because it is usually a discussion group. Newsgroups are technically distinct from, but functionally similar to, discussion forums on...
. McCarley was also in charge of the first riot grrrl chapter in the O.C. At this point, McCarley introduced the band to the peace punk scene. In 1998, they released their second album, American Stonehenge.
At Koo's Anarchist Cafe in Santa Ana, California the band played matinees promoted by Jang Lee and Erin McCarley, including Food Not Bombs fundraisers. At these shows they became acquainted with the local Black Panther movement, which had renamed itself New African Vanguard. New African Vanguard helped distribute Lucid Nation zines including Eracism to prisons all over the western United States. Lucid Nation's "The Stillness of Over" was positively reviewed in the Black Panther newspaper. While on their national tour, McCarley had to fly home, and the band had to replace her. They turned to Tia Sproket, formerly of Sexpod, who was on a break from touring with Luscious Jackson
Luscious Jackson
Luscious Jackson are an alternative rock group formed in 1991. The band's name was inspired by now-retired American basketball player Lucious Jackson....
. After the tour, the band (Spivey and Pontiac) invited Sproket to write and record with them back in L.A. Spivey's former bassist teacher, Margaret "Grit" Maldonado (bassist from Girl Jesus), began playing with them. Guitarist Danette Lee (formerly of Butt Trumpet
Butt Trumpet
Butt Trumpet was a Los Angeles punk band that was known more for its crass lyrics and deliberately offensive style than its music. The group featured two bassists among its members...
) was also added and once Sproket arrived Christmas 1998. They shortly began to record and were close to signing with Danny Goldberg's Artemis Records, but faced with a decision between mixes made by Neil Perry
Neil Perry
Neil Arthur Perry is a prominent Australian chef, restaurateur, author and television presenter. He also is the co-ordinator for Qantas Flight Catering under his company Rockpool Consulting and has a food brand sold under his name, available at Woolworths Supermarkets.Perry co-owns and is...
(who had worked with Nine Inch Nails
Nine 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...
and Smashing Pumpkins) or Nitebob (who has worked with Iggy and the Stooges, New York Dolls
New York Dolls
The New York Dolls is an American rock band, formed in New York in 1971. The band's protopunk sound prefigured much of what was to come in the punk rock era; their visual style influenced the look of many new wave and 1980s-era glam metal groups, and they began the local New York scene that later...
, Aerosmith
Aerosmith
Aerosmith is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "The Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has come to also incorporate elements of pop, heavy metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many...
and Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper is an American rock singer, songwriter and musician whose career spans more than four decades...
) and Mike Barile (who works with Candiria
Candiria
Candiria are an American band from Brooklyn, New York. They blend various styles of music, including heavy metal, hardcore, jazz, hip hop and ambient. Candiria have often dubbed their sound "urban fusion".- History :...
), they decided to go with the latter two and began mixing in Unique Studios on Time Square, where Tupac
Tupac Shakur
Tupac Amaru Shakur , known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper and actor. Shakur has sold over 75 million albums worldwide as of 2007, making him one of the best-selling music artists in the world...
was shot. The studios are gone now.
Before this group of musicians could perform their first gig together in Olympia, Washington
Olympia, Washington
Olympia is the capital city of the U.S. state of Washington and the county seat of Thurston County. It was incorporated on January 28, 1859. The population was 46,478 at the 2010 census...
at the Capital Theatre as Lucid Nation, the band imploded and did not sign with Artemis Records. However, the band put out a CD in 1999 of those recordings titled DNA. Warhol Superstar Holly Woodlawn provided spoken word for the song "L.A. River," a song Rolling Stone's guitarist Keith Richards called "marvelous". The band name after that was often displayed with a capitalized DNA in the middle: luciDNAtion. Two songs from DNA "Las Vegas the Instrumental" and "Fun" were chosen by Sasha Grey for two scenes in avant garde porn filmmaker Jack the Zipper's "Naked and Famous" Alternative Press
Alternative Press (music magazine)
Alternative Press is an American music magazine based in Cleveland, Ohio. It generally provides readers with band interviews, photos, information on upcoming releases, and music charts. It was founded in 1985 by Mike Shea, who is the current president....
singled out the song "Las Vegas the Instrumental" when Lucid Nation was included in their "100 Bands You Need to Know: 2002".
In 2000 they put out another collection of recordings from the same sessions called Suburban Legends, a totally improvisational album. The album was the least popular Lucid Nation album on college radio stations. However, the album got the attention of Randy Roark (assistant to Allen Ginsberg
Allen Ginsberg
Irwin Allen Ginsberg was an American poet and one of the leading figures of the Beat Generation in the 1950s. He vigorously opposed militarism, materialism and sexual repression...
for sixteen years) who was interested in Spivey's writing.
In February 2001 the band recorded a live show at the college radio station KXLU
KXLU
KXLU is an FM radio station broadcasting out of Loyola Marymount University in southwest Los Angeles, California. It was first on the air in 1957, and recently celebrated its 50th anniversary. It is a non-commercial college radio station that plays many styles of music broadly classified under...
, in L.A. during one of the worst storms Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
had ever seen. The gig would become their fourth album. The only members of Lucid Nation left over from the previous group of musicians were Spivey and Pontiac (two of the three original members). The rest of the band at this time consisted of the following:
- John Sellers on bass.
- Troy Taroy on guitar.
- Liam Philpot on saxophone.
- Craig Waters on drums.
The album was named Nonpoetic Rain:Live on KXLU and distributed in a limited edition of just one hundred home made signed CDs.
In 2002 the band came out with a double CD of improvised songs named Tacoma Ballet. Patty Schemel
Patty Schemel
Patricia Theresa Schemel is an American drummer, most notably known as the drummer of the alternative rock band Hole from 1992 until 1998.-Early music career:Schemel learned to play drums after her father bought her a drum kit at age 11...
(of Hole
Hole (band)
Hole is an American alternative rock band that originally formed in Los Angeles in 1989. The band is fronted by vocalist/songwriter and rhythm guitarist Courtney Love, who co-founded Hole with former songwriter/lead guitarist Eric Erlandson...
) played drums and Greta Brinkman (of Moby
Moby
Richard Melville Hall , better known by his stage name Moby, is an American musician, DJ, and photographer. He is known mainly for his sample-based electronic music and his outspoken liberal political views, including his support of veganism and animal rights.Moby gained attention in the early...
's backing band) was on bass. Larry Schemel of The Flesh-eaters and Midnight Movies played guitar. Diane Naegel was recruited on keyboards and Lucid Nation recorded the whole album in Tacoma, Washington
Tacoma, Washington
Tacoma is a mid-sized urban port city and the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. The city is on Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Park. The population was 198,397, according to...
at Uptone Studio. There were no rehearsals, and Diane had never played with a band before. The band recorded fifty-two tracks, thirty-two of which ended up on the album. Recording ended on September 10, 2001 and several of the songs foreshadowed 9/11 including the phrase "homeland security" used before it became a catch phrase and the chorus "everything's falling down" from the song "Fall." After some rearrangement, the songs were revealed to depict a story about a girl who realized the hypocrisy of her town, her family, and herself . source 7 Tacoma Ballet was broken into two discs of sixteen songs each. The first was labeled What is the Answer? and the second one was named What is the Question? (inspired by the final words of Gertrude Stein
Gertrude Stein
Gertrude Stein was an American writer, poet and art collector who spent most of her life in France.-Early life:...
). The album gained critical praise from Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
, Magnet
Magnet (magazine)
Magnet is a music magazine which generally focuses on alternative, independent, or out-of-the-mainstream bands.-History:The magazine is published four times a year, and is independently owned and edited by Eric T. Miller. Music magazines with a similar focus in the 1990s era included Option,...
and Randy Roark. Tacoma Ballet hit #8 most added on the College Music Journal
College Music Journal
College Music Journal, commonly known as CMJ, is a music events/publishing company which hosts an annual festival in New York City, the CMJ Music Marathon, as well as a weekly magazine of and for the music industry and college radio stations in the United States and Canada. It publishes top 30...
charts in July 2002.
In January 2002 the band recorded Tribeca Shockwave with New Yorkers Lafrae Sci on drums and Jezebel Kipp on bass, keys and production. The recordings include many references to 9/11.
After 9/11 Tamra refused to tour, telling her fans that it would by hypocritical to sing songs protesting oil wars while burning fossil fuels during long drives. Lucid Nation has expressed a desire to stay out of the mainstream, but Tacoma Ballet did bring them somewhat into the spotlight of small college
College
A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...
and commercial stations with playlists chosen by DJs, known as the secondary market
Secondary market
The page applies to the finanical term; For the merchandising concept, see Aftermarket .The secondary market, also called aftermarket, is the financial market where previously issued securities and financial instruments such as stock, bonds, options, and futures are bought and sold....
in the music business. There was a chart to measure those stations, called the New Music Weekly Combined College Radio and Secondary Chart (aka NMW Chart). By November, Lucid Nation had broken through to the top five on the NMW Chart and reached #1 by December 2002, after six months of slowly climbing.
From July 2002 to October 2005 Tamra Spivey was an Art Editor and then Senior Editor for Newtopia Magazine, an award winning website of progressive politics and under reported news. Ronnie Pontiac was Art Editor, a member of the New Poetry Collective and then Poet in Residence for Newtopia Magazine. Individually and in collaboration they produced articles on Jean Smith
Jean Smith
Jean Smith is a Canadian musician, best known as the lead singer of the Vancouver-based band Mecca Normal, as well as a painter, novelist, lecturer and filmmaker...
, Michael Ruppert
Michael Ruppert
Michael C. Ruppert is an American author, a former Los Angeles Police Department officer, and investigative journalist and peak oil theorist....
, Danny Goldberg, Larry Tramutola, Rachel Corrie, and others.
2004 saw the recording of Mung Jung Bushi with Jean Smith
Jean Smith
Jean Smith is a Canadian musician, best known as the lead singer of the Vancouver-based band Mecca Normal, as well as a painter, novelist, lecturer and filmmaker...
on guitar and David Lester
David Lester
David Lester is the guitar player in the Vancouver, Canada based band Mecca Normal, as well as a painter, graphic designer and publisher at Get to the Point Press...
of Mecca Normal
Mecca Normal
Formed by Jean Smith and David Lester in 1984, Mecca Normal is a two-piece indie rock band from Vancouver, Canada. Smith writes lyrics and sings in a style that is often confrontational and laced with feminist themes; Lester's melodic yet dissonant guitar swirls and loops around her vocals...
on guitar. Also on MJB was LaFrae Olivia Sci on drums and keyboard. There were no vocals on this album. The album name 'mung jung bushi' was thought up by Jean, and is a rough combination of Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
and Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
meaning "grumpy dance".
In 2005 Lucid Nation released a 'best of' album named Public Domain: The Best of Lucid Nation. This compilation
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
featured songs spanning the entire career of Lucid Nation. Also on the CD was a song titled FUBAR, which Lucid Nation collaborated with Jody Bleyle of Team Dresch
Team Dresch
Team Dresch is an American punk band from Portland, Oregon, originally formed in Olympia, Washington, which was initially active from 1993 until 1998. The band made a significant impression on the do-it-yourself movement queercore, which gave voice through zines and music to the passions and...
and Hazel
Hazel (band)
Hazel was an United States alternative rock band based in Portland, Oregon. The group was a quartet, consisting of Jody Bleyle , Pete Krebs , Brady Smith , and Fred Nemo ....
on. This song was originally created for the P.E.T.A. compilation by Fat Wreck, but rejected because it was "too raw". Denise Saffren of Wench played drums on FUBAR.
Throughout the band's career, the only two members of Lucid Nation who have stayed with the band since 1994 are Tamra Spivey and Ronnie Pontiac, although members have returned including Grit Maldonado, John Sellers, and others. Tamra Spivey continues to be the band leader, operating the band's official MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
and Lucid Nation's official web page (see Related Sites and Sources below).
In January 2006, Tamra Spivey also began a process she named The Hundred Song March. With the help of Jonathan Krop for programming, Tamra began to post one song every day for about one hundred and fifty days, starting in January. The songs were posted chronologically, from least recent to most recent. They are all available for free download by MP3
MP3
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
, RSS
RSS (file format)
RSS is a family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated works—such as blog entries, news headlines, audio, and video—in a standardized format...
and podcast
Podcast
A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...
. The HSM was created for kids who could not gain access to Lucid Nation music. Since Lucid Nation's music is mainly sold online, a vast amount of potential listeners were missing out, and Tamra wanted to open her band up to them. Along with posting the songs to download, Tamra also wrote a paragraph or two for each song about the song's meaning, the process of creating the track, gear used and the musicians featured. The songs are broken up into 'Episodes' which consist of the albums and a brief history of that particular time in Lucid Nation's life.
In Summer of 2006, Lucid Nation recorded improvisational sessions with Ken Schalk of Candiria
Candiria
Candiria are an American band from Brooklyn, New York. They blend various styles of music, including heavy metal, hardcore, jazz, hip hop and ambient. Candiria have often dubbed their sound "urban fusion".- History :...
on drums and Justin Citron on guitar. Tamra Spivey has released a few rough mixes from "A Bird in the Stairwell" (her name for the collected sessions) including the YouTube videos "Stray" "Token Voter" and "Pretzels for Algernon."
In Summer of 2007, Lucid Nation recorded songs with drummer Rob Cournoyer and guitarist Justin Citron. Tamra Spivey named the unreleased album "Chemtrail Rainbows." Again, only rough mixes have been shared including the YouTube videos "Last Day of Pretend", "Pressure Cooker" and "World's Guiltiest Pleasure."
In 2008 Lucid Nation headlined RockNRead at the VirginMega on Hollywood Boulevard where they covered a protest song written by Alex Maranjian called "Bring My Brothers Home" which became the band's most popular YouTube video.
In Summer of 2008 Tamra Spivey and Ronnie Pontiac associate produced The Gits
The Gits
The Gits were an American punk rock band, formed in Yellow Springs, Ohio in 1986. Known for their part in the burgeoning Seattle music scene of the early 1990s, their distinct punk rock sound gained a reputation for its bluesy street punk aesthetic...
documentary with Executive Producer Danny Goldberg and Liberation Entertainment.
In Fall of 2008 Tamra Spivey collaborated with Danny Goldberg to connect music artists and management with the Obama campaign to help bring rally concerts to key counties.
In 2010 Lucid Nation released "Second Skin by The GIts
The Gits
The Gits were an American punk rock band, formed in Yellow Springs, Ohio in 1986. Known for their part in the burgeoning Seattle music scene of the early 1990s, their distinct punk rock sound gained a reputation for its bluesy street punk aesthetic...
with guest drummer Steve Moriarity who played with the original Gits.
In 2011 Lucid Nation provided the music for deaf Muslim punk playwright and filmmaker Sabina England's experimental performance and video Vazzxo Alien Dance. Mixing and new recordings continued with the advice of skilled veteran producers Rob Fraboni and George Daly. Both Tamra and Ronnie Pontiac became bloggers for the relaunch of Newtopia Magazine. Tamra's first blog for the relaunch was an interview with Kelly Heresy a day one occupier at OccupyWallStreet, the first protestor pepper sprayed.
Reviews
Rolling StoneRolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
wrote "If Spivey sounds spacey, she's not. Her songs range from aggressive, screaming punk
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...
to beautifully melodic rhythm and blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
, the very definition of garage rock
Garage rock
Garage rock is a raw form of rock and roll that was first popular in the United States and Canada from about 1963 to 1967. During the 1960s, it was not recognized as a separate music genre and had no specific name...
. Like 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...
and Bikini Kill
Bikini Kill
Bikini Kill was an American punk rock band formed in Olympia, Washington in October 1990. The group consisted of vocalist and songwriter Kathleen Hanna, guitarist Billy Karren, bassist Kathi Wilcox, and drummer Tobi Vail. The band is widely considered to be the pioneer of the riot grrrl movement,...
-- Lucid Nation has opened for both -- her band's music is raw, poetic, sloppy and infectious...simply bare-bones, kick-ass rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
."
Magnet
Magnet (magazine)
Magnet is a music magazine which generally focuses on alternative, independent, or out-of-the-mainstream bands.-History:The magazine is published four times a year, and is independently owned and edited by Eric T. Miller. Music magazines with a similar focus in the 1990s era included Option,...
wrote "a 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...
Exile on Main Street with shades of The Stooges
The Stooges
The Stooges are an American rock band from Ann Arbor, Michigan first active from 1967 to 1974, and later reformed in 2003...
, riot grrrl
Riot grrrl
Riot grrrl was an underground feminist punk movement based in Washington, DC, Olympia, Washington, Portland, Oregon, and the greater Pacific Northwest which existed in the early to mid-1990s, and it is often associated with third-wave feminism...
, Pere Ubu
Pere Ubu (band)
Pere Ubu is an experimental rock music group formed in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1975. Despite many long-term band members, singer David Thomas is the only constant...
, and even The Doors
The Doors
The Doors were an American rock band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, California, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger...
."
Mario Mesquita Borges of Allmusic wrote "Lucid Nation's creations expose fierce streams of experimentalism within the rock genre by captioning a singular set of conceptual alternative pop/rock style, somehow following a similar trail as the one unclosed by Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
... "
Band members
- Tamra Spivey, vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, Korg MS-20Korg MS-20The Korg MS-20 is a patchable semi-modular monophonic synthesizer which Korg released in 1978 and which was in production until 1983. It was part of Korg's MS series of instruments, which also included the single oscillator MS-10, the keyboardless MS-50 module, and the SQ-10 sequencer... - Ronnie Pontiac, guitar, bass, vocals, keyboardMusical keyboardA musical keyboard is the set of adjacent depressible levers or keys on a musical instrument, particularly the piano. Keyboards typically contain keys for playing the twelve notes of the Western musical scale, with a combination of larger, longer keys and smaller, shorter keys that repeats at the...
- Justin Citron, guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
- Grit Maldonado, bass,
- Lita Penaherrera, musical keyboard/keyboard
- Darren CarterDarren CarterDarren Anthony Carter is an English football midfielder who is a free agent after his contract with Preston North End expired at the end of the 2010–11 season.-Career:...
, sound engineer, guitar, bass, video - DJ Phoenix, sound mixer, DJ
- Dave Greene, drums, DJ
- Colin Biddy, videoVideoVideo is the technology of electronically capturing, recording, processing, storing, transmitting, and reconstructing a sequence of still images representing scenes in motion.- History :...
,
Past members
- Jody BleyleJody BleyleJody Bleyle is an American musician, songwriter and independent record label owner.Jody Bleyle first gained public attention in the Pacific Northwest music scene of the 1990s, in the Portland, Oregon–based band Hazel. The group, formed in 1992, released two albums on the Sub Pop label, to critical...
, bass - Greta Brinkman, bass
- Debbie Haliday, drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, guitar, vocals - Danette Lee, guitar
- Erin McCarley, drums, guitar, bass, vocals
- Diane Naegal, keyboard
- Liam Philpot, saxophoneSaxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
- Nick Romero, drums
- Denise Saffren, drums
- Larry Schemel, guitar
- Patty SchemelPatty SchemelPatricia Theresa Schemel is an American drummer, most notably known as the drummer of the alternative rock band Hole from 1992 until 1998.-Early music career:Schemel learned to play drums after her father bought her a drum kit at age 11...
, drums - John Sellers, bass
- Tia Sprocket, drums
- Troy Taroy, guitar
- Craig Waters, drums
- Ken Schalk, drums
- Rob Cournoyer, drums
- Jimmy Shines, harp
- Art Johnson, fiddle
- Voice Rogers, vocals
- Holly Woodlawn, spoken word
- Imran Asif, drums
- Jason Kirk, bass
Albums
- The Stillness of Over, 1997.
- American Stonehenge, 1998.
- DNA, 1999.
- Suburban Legends, 2000.
- "Tribeca Shockwave", 2001, unreleased.
- Nonpoetic Rain: Live on KXLU, 2001.
- Tacoma Ballet, 2002.
- "Chemtrail Rainbows" 2006, unreleased.
- "A Bird in the Stairwell" 2007, unreleased.
Compilations
- Public Domain: The Best of Lucid Nation, 2005.
- FUBAR, single, 2005, included in this compilation.
External links
- Official site
- [ Lucid Nation] at Allmusic