The Locust
Encyclopedia
The Locust is a musical group from San Diego, California
, United States
known for their unique mix of grindcore
speed and aggression, mathcore
complexity, and new wave
weirdness.
band with a strong tendency towards synth
-based passages, they have more recently stripped down much of their past sound, but retained the heavy distortion, synthesizers, screamed vocals, and intense stage presence. On the band's unique sound and live presentations, singer/bassist Justin Pearson has said, "I wanted to change the way people perceive music, or maybe just destroy it in general." Their music is complex, dynamic and fast-paced, often featuring abrupt and inconsistent time-signature changes. These erratic elements are, according to guitarist Bobby Bray, "a reflection of perhaps how our brains have to function in order to be able to do anything in the Western societies we live in."
After a number of personnel changes, they arrived at the current four-piece lineup in 2001.
Their music was featured in John Waters
' film Cecil B. Demented
.
The group has also solicited remixes from Bastard Noise
, Christoph de Babalon
, Kid606
, and I Am Spoonbender
.
s, including various Moog
models
and a patch-panel modular synth.
Bobby plays a Gibson SG
, and Pearson plays a see-through body Dan Armstrong
bass made by Ampeg
.
Gabe Serbian plays Ludwig drums, with Sabian Cymbals.
Unlike most bands, which normally have the drums set up behind the other members, the four members of The Locust are usually all positioned in a line at the front of the stage. The group recommends that in order to get the full impact of the music, one should see them live.
and refuse to play in any Clear Channel-owned venues.
This boycott affected a 2005 tour with Fantômas
as well as another tour with Yeah Yeah Yeahs
.
They also have a policy of only playing all-ages shows.
The band's lyrics range from stream-of-consciousness poetry to satirical portrayals of mainstream ideas of sexuality to political commentary and critiques of religion.
(Crossed Out
, Dropdead
), obscure experimental rock
(Art Bears
, Renaldo and the Loaf
), and death metal
.
San Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
known for their unique mix of grindcore
Grindcore
Grindcore is an extreme genre of music that started in the early- to mid-1980s. It draws inspiration from some of the most abrasive music genres – including death metal, industrial music, noise and the more extreme varieties of hardcore punk....
speed and aggression, mathcore
Mathcore
Mathcore is a rhythmically complex and dissonant fusion style of hardcore punk and Metal. It has its roots in bands such as Converge, Botch, and The Dillinger Escape Plan. The term mathcore is suggested by analogy with math rock. Both math rock and mathcore make use of unusual time signatures...
complexity, and new wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
weirdness.
Style
Originally a powerviolencePowerviolence
Powerviolence , is a raw and dissonant subgenre of hardcore punk. The style is closely related to thrashcore and grindcore.-History:...
band with a strong tendency towards synth
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
-based passages, they have more recently stripped down much of their past sound, but retained the heavy distortion, synthesizers, screamed vocals, and intense stage presence. On the band's unique sound and live presentations, singer/bassist Justin Pearson has said, "I wanted to change the way people perceive music, or maybe just destroy it in general." Their music is complex, dynamic and fast-paced, often featuring abrupt and inconsistent time-signature changes. These erratic elements are, according to guitarist Bobby Bray, "a reflection of perhaps how our brains have to function in order to be able to do anything in the Western societies we live in."
History
The Locust was formed in 1994 by Justin Pearson, Bobby Bray, Dylan Scharf, Dave Warshaw, and Dave Astor.After a number of personnel changes, they arrived at the current four-piece lineup in 2001.
Their music was featured in John Waters
John Waters (filmmaker)
John Samuel Waters, Jr. is an American filmmaker, actor, stand-up comedian, writer, journalist, visual artist, and art collector, who rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films...
' film Cecil B. Demented
Cecil B. Demented
Cecil B. Demented is a 2000 black comedy film written and directed by John Waters. The film stars Melanie Griffith as a snobby A-list Hollywood actress who is kidnapped by a band of terrorist filmmakers who force her to star in their underground film...
.
The group has also solicited remixes from Bastard Noise
Bastard Noise
-History:The Bastard Noise was founded in 1991 by Henry Barnes, W. T. Nelson and Eric Wood, initially as a side project of powerviolence band Man Is The Bastard.-Project personnel and past contributors:...
, Christoph de Babalon
Christoph De Babalon
Christoph De Babalon is a Berlin based producer and DJ, best known for his work on Alec Empire's label Digital Hardcore Recordings. He also is the co-founder of the label Cross Fade Enter Tainment .-Biography:...
, Kid606
Kid606
Kid606 is the stage name of Miguel Trost De Pedro, an electronic musician who was born 1979 July in Caracas, Venezuela, raised in San Diego and later moved to San Francisco...
, and I Am Spoonbender
I Am Spoonbender
I Am Spoonbender is an American/Canadian multimedia group formed in San Francisco in early 1997 by composer/multi-instrumentalist/producer Dustin Donaldson, with Brian Jackson and cub guitarist Robynn Iwata I Am Spoonbender is an American/Canadian multimedia group formed in San Francisco in early...
.
Equipment
Karam plays an assortment of analog synthesizerAnalog synthesizer
An analog or analogue synthesizer is a synthesizer that uses analog circuits and analog computer techniques to generate sound electronically. The earliest analog synthesizers in the 1920s and 1930s such as the Trautonium were built with a variety of vacuum-tube and electro-mechanical technologies...
s, including various Moog
Moog synthesizer
Moog synthesizer may refer to any number of analog synthesizers designed by Dr. Robert Moog or manufactured by Moog Music, and is commonly used as a generic term for older-generation analog music synthesizers. The Moog company pioneered the commercial manufacture of modular voltage-controlled...
models
and a patch-panel modular synth.
Bobby plays a Gibson SG
Gibson SG
At the launch of the SG in 1961, Gibson offered four variants of the SG; the SG Junior , the SG Special, the SG Standard, and the top-of-the-line SG Custom. However, Gibson's current core variants as of 2010 are the SG Standard and the SG Special...
, and Pearson plays a see-through body Dan Armstrong
Dan Armstrong
Dan Armstrong was a guitarist, luthier, and session musician.-Biography:Dan Kent Armstrong was born on October 7, 1934 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He started playing the guitar at age 11, and moved to New York in the early 1960s in order to work as a studio musician and guitar repairman...
bass made by Ampeg
Ampeg
Ampeg is primarily a musical instrument amplifier manufacturer headquartered in Woodinville, Washington, though they also manufacture guitars to a small extent...
.
Gabe Serbian plays Ludwig drums, with Sabian Cymbals.
Theatrics
The Locust have a unique stage presence: costumed in skin-tight, full body nylon suits (which the band refer to as uniforms), they have at times come across to first-time viewers as frightening. The last 5 different suits were designed and made by Ben Warwas.Unlike most bands, which normally have the drums set up behind the other members, the four members of The Locust are usually all positioned in a line at the front of the stage. The group recommends that in order to get the full impact of the music, one should see them live.
Ideology
The Locust boycotts Clear Channel CommunicationsClear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications, Inc. is an American media conglomerate company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It was founded in 1972 by Lowry Mays and Red McCombs, and was taken private by Bain Capital LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP in a leveraged buyout in 2008...
and refuse to play in any Clear Channel-owned venues.
This boycott affected a 2005 tour with Fantômas
Fantômas (band)
Fantômas is an avant-garde metal supergroup formed in 1998 in California, United States. The band is named after Fantômas, a supervillain featured in a series of crime novels popular in France before World War I and in film, most notably in the 60s French movie series.-History:Fantômas began just...
as well as another tour with Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Yeah Yeah Yeahs are an American indie rock band formed in New York City in 2000. The group is composed of vocalist and pianist Karen O, guitarist and keyboardist Nick Zinner, and drummer Brian Chase. They are complemented in live performances by second guitarist David Pajo, who joined as a touring...
.
They also have a policy of only playing all-ages shows.
The band's lyrics range from stream-of-consciousness poetry to satirical portrayals of mainstream ideas of sexuality to political commentary and critiques of religion.
Influences
The Locust take inspiration from powerviolencePowerviolence
Powerviolence , is a raw and dissonant subgenre of hardcore punk. The style is closely related to thrashcore and grindcore.-History:...
(Crossed Out
Crossed Out
Crossed Out was a power violence band from Encinitas, California, operative from early 1990 until late 1993.-History:Crossed Out played sixteen shows and released a demo, 7", split 7" with Man Is the Bastard, split 5" with Dropdead, and two songs for the Son of Blleeaauurrggh compilation...
, Dropdead
Dropdead
Dropdead is a hardcore punk band based in Providence, Rhode Island. Dropdead has been active in the punk scene since 1991. Dropdead tends to address subjects such as animal rights, pacifism, and anti-authoritarianism. The band members are supporters of the ALF.Their name is derived from the demo of...
), obscure 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....
(Art Bears
Art Bears
Art Bears were an English avant-rock group formed during the disassembly of Henry Cow in 1978 by three of its members, Chris Cutler , Fred Frith and Dagmar Krause...
, Renaldo and the Loaf
Renaldo and the Loaf
Renaldo and the Loaf was an English musical duo active in the late seventies and most of the eighties, consisting of a pathologist and an architect ....
), and death metal
Death metal
Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....
.
Current
- Justin PearsonJustin PearsonJustin Pearson is a frontman or bassist for a number of San Diego noise rock and grindcore bands, starting off in the punk outfit Struggle in 1994. Ensuing projects included Swing Kids, The Locust, The Crimson Curse, Holy Molar, Head Wound City, Ground Unicorn Horn, Brain Tourniquet, All Leather,...
– bass, vocals (1994–present) - Bobby Bray – guitar, vocals (1994–present)
- Joey KaramJoey KaramJoseph Karam is an American musician known for singing and playing keyboard/synth in The Locust and also formerly was the drummer of the band Le Shok, as well as voaclist for hard core straight edge band Resist....
– keyboards, vocals (1997–present) - Gabe SerbianGabe SerbianGabriel Serbian is an American drummer and guitarist, most famous for his work in The Locust, Cattle Decapitation, and Holy Molar. He is recognized as a very capable drummer, as showcased on recent Locust albums...
– guitar (1998–2001), drums (2001–present)
Previous
- Dylan Scharf – vocals, guitar (1994–1996)
- Dave Warshaw – keyboards, vocals (1994–1996)
- Dave Astor – drums (1994–2001)
- Jimmy LaValle – keyboards, vocals (1996–1998)
Albums
- The Locust (1998)
- Plague SoundscapesPlague SoundscapesPlague Soundscapes is The Locust's second album, and their first with ANTI-Records. It features a more refined sound than previous The Locust albums, with a greater emphasis on keyboards.-Track listing:#"Recyclable Body Fluids in Human Form" – 0:41...
(2003) - New ErectionsNew ErectionsNew Erections is noise rock band The Locust's second album with ANTI- Records. It was released on March 20, 2007.-Track listing:#"AOTKPTA" - 3:03#"We Have Reached an Official Verdict: Nobody Gives a Shit" - 1:22...
(2007) - The Peel Sessions (2010)
EPs
- The Locust (1997)
- Flight of the Wounded LocustFlight of the Wounded LocustFlight of the Wounded Locust is a six-song 7" EP by San Diego, California noise rock band The Locust. It was released in 2001 on Gold Standard Laboratories, and was their penultimate release on the label before moving to ANTI- . The CD version of the EP contains five tracks released in a split 7"...
(2001) - Well I'll Be a Monkey's Uncle (2002)
- Follow the Flock, Step in ShitFollow the Flock, Step in ShitFollow the Flock, Step in Shit is the second studio recording by The Locust. The EP consists of the two tracks that appeared on the split 5" picture disc with Jenny Piccolo, as well as the track "Red" from the Cry Now, Cry Later Vol. 4 compilation. The EP comes on a 3" square CD....
(2003) - Safety Second, Body LastSafety Second, Body LastSafety Second, Body Last is a noise rock EP by The Locust. One reviewer for Allmusic, described it as "grindy noise with disquieting lulls." The band has stated that the album is really just one 10-minute song, though it is split into two tracks, each of which is split into separate movements.The...
(2005)
Splits
- split with Man Is the BastardMan Is the BastardMan Is the Bastard were a pioneering hardcore punk band who contributed the name, and perhaps also the ethos, to the punk subgenre known as power violence...
(1995) - split with Jenny Piccolo (1995)
- split with Arab on RadarArab on RadarArab on Radar are a Providence, Rhode Island based noise rock band founded in 1994. They went on hiatus in 2002. Members of the band went on to form or join the bands The Chinese Stars, Athletic Automaton, Made in Mexico, and most recently Doomsday Student...
(2000) - split with Melt-BananaMelt-BananaMelt-Banana is a Japanese punk band that is known for playing extremely fast noise music mixed with experimental electronica and pop-based song structures. They have worked with artists as diverse as Merzbow, John Zorn, Mike Patton, and Discordance Axis...
(2002)