The Notekillers
Encyclopedia
The Notekillers are an instrumental avant-rock band based out of both Philadelphia and Brooklyn, New York. The current line up consists of David First (Guitar), Stephen Bilenky (Bass), and Barry Halkin (Drums). The band officially began in 1977 and was closely associated with the No Wave
acts of New York
at the time. After a nearly thirty year hiatus, the band has recently released their long awaited first full length album We're Here To Help on Prophase Records.
band that played small gigs at local Philadelphia clubs and coffee houses between 1968 and 1971. Between 1971 and 1976 the members went their separate ways leaving Dead Cheese behind. During this break David First plays in an ensemble formed by avant-jazz legend Cecil Taylor
that performed at Carnegie Hall
. Also during this time First studies guitar & jazz theory with renowned instructor Dennis Sandole
and analog & computer synthesis through auditing classes at Princeton University
. He befriends a grad-student there who admires his nascent constructions and arranges to allow him unlimited access to the largely abandoned classical electronic music studio and tape machines where, driving up from Philadelphia, he creates his first works for the medium in after-hours sessions.
In 1976, after a 5-year, break Halkin returns to Philadelphia. Halkin and First begin playing together once again. Soon, after years of mostly playing free-improv, First begins creating song-structures for the two of them inspired by what he had been listening to in the ensuing years- minimalist composers, long-time hero John Fahey
, free jazz
, funk music, reggae
& various world musics and the emerging punk rock
movement. In early 1977 Halkin & First play their first show – a private party for friends – as Notekillers. In late 1977 Stephen Bilenky joins on bass and the band begins playing in Philadelphia in clubs such as the Hot Club, Artemis, Grendel’s Lair, Omni, Starlight Ballroom as well as a few local colleges. Mostly they are met with confusion or disdain, but they make one important ally in David Carroll – Philadelphia’s punk rock impresario who continues to book them despite the lack of local support.
The band continues to play, mostly with local Philadelphia bands, but also open up for the Misfits in Bethlehem, Pa and DNA in Philadelphia. The band was scheduled to open for Sid Vicious
, yet a week prior to the show Vicious dies and the show is canceled. In 1978 the band adds a fourth member, Thomas Johnson on congas. Johnson spends various lengths of time with the band, often coming and going from the line-up.
After a subsequent trip to New York City to shop the record to different outlets, store owner/label manager Ed Bahlman
of 99 Records
contacts the band, booking them for a show in New York City with Glenn Branca
. Despite First's hand not having healed the band decides to return from the short hiatus. The band plays shows at Hurrah
, CBGB
, Maxwell's
, amongst other locations in Philadelphia. During this period they play shows with the likes of such bands as The Feelies
and The Bush Tetras.
In 1982 First leaves Philadelphia and in 1984 moves to NYC and begins to establish himself as composer of experimental music. During this early period time he led bands & ensembles such as Flatland Oscillators, The World Casio Quartet, and The Koan Pool. His ensembles included such artists as violinist Mark Feldman
, cellist Jane Scarpantoni
, Trumpeter Frank London
& Saxophonist Ulrich Krieger
. As the 90's began, and up to the present, First continued developing an international reputation, receiving numerous grants, awards and much critical acclaim ("a fascinating artist with a singular technique" in The New York Times, and "a bizarre cross between Hendrix and La Monte Young" in The Village Voice
.) for his electronic and instrumental microtonal compositions and guitar improvisations. He performed often in New York as well as throughout Europe. In 1995 he created an opera about the AIDS crisis entitled, The Manhattan Book of the Dead which was presented both in NYC and Potsdam, Germany.
During the hiatus, Halkin continues to build his name and reputation in the Photography community, while Bilenky starts Bilenky Cycle Works
- an internationally renowned bicycle frame boutique
shop.
In Late 2001 Halkin received a call from an old friend informing him that Thurston Moore
mentioned The Notekillers in an article in the winter 2001 issue of Mojo
Collections magazine, as part of a mix-tape saying “This is the tape I made for the band when we were starting out” and “we have to find out who these guys are”. First contacted Moore – who he knew from his time spent in the New York City scene, and tells him that he, in fact, was a member of the band. Moore tells First that he used to hang around 99 and that Ed Bahlman played him The Zipper in 1980. Moore asked about other recorded materials as plans are born to release a CD of material on Moore's Ecstatic Peace! label. First - who had remained in contact with Halkin over the years - calls Bilenky to talk to him for the first time in almost 20 years to tell him what's going on.
First proceeds to go through boxes of cassette and reel-to-reel tapes, listening to tracks he hasn't heard in years in order to compile the best possible archival material for the Ecstatic Peace! release.
In 2004 as the album gets closer to release, The Notekillers begin talking about reuniting the band. By summer of the same year, they begin doing shows in the Philadelphia area. In October 2004 The Notekillers perform at a release party at Tonic in New York City. The bill included Thurston Moore, Jim O’Rourke, Maryanne Amacher, Magik Markers, and Mouthus. In the ensuing years since the release of Notekillers 1977-1981, there were two SXSW shows, multiple shows with Tortoise, Mayo Thompson, Enon, Gary Lucas' Gods & Monsters and participation in All Tomorrow’s Parties – the Nightmare Before Christmas - a three-day festival curated by Thurston Moore
at Butlins in the UK.
Work on their soon to be released return We're Here To Help started in early 2006. Two songs were recorded at their rehearsal studio and released to radio as well as digitally - Airport & Ants. Two more tracks Papers & Rebuttal were recorded during this period but were never released. Work ceased at that point when their recording engineer left town suddenly. In the fall of 2006, four more tracks were recorded in Manayunk, Pa. - Crash, Flamenco, Foster and Jumper. Nothing more happened until the fall of 2007 when some new songs were developed and recorded at their studio - Modern Jazz, Dreambook and Misslebones. Work began in earnest to finish all tracks and release the new album. Guest artists were included on some tracks - including Shelly Hirsch, voice, Lenny Pickett, baritone sax, and John Clark, French horn. First does major reworkings of basic songs by overdubbing guitars and electronics. During this time, the album cover - conceived by First and Halkin is created. Front cover drawings are commissioned from two cartoon artists Halkin meets at a local punk rock book fair and the back cover photograph is taken by Halkin. The front and back is designed by Sara Hodgson.
All track mixing is finished by the fall of 2008. They begin mixing anew with new mixing engineer, Steve Silverstein (Christmas Decorations, The Bleaks, a.o.). After mixing and mastering is completed, the band is decidedly unsatisfied, deciding that though the tracks are good, the overdubs don't represent enough what they do as a live band. They decided to shelve the album for the time being, completely start over and during the summer of 2009 - with Steve Silverstein doing the recording - Notekillers record a mixture of brand new tracks and newer versions of some of the previous songs that they are finally happy with. In the winter of 2009 a much sparer set of overdubs is completed and in early 2010 mixing is begun by sound engineer Yianni Papadopoulos. Mixing is completed on April 12th, 2010. Sadly, Yianni Papadopoulos dies suddenly of a heart attack at age 43 the next day. The album was released in the fall of 2010 on Prophase Records (http://prophasemusic.com/default.aspx/).
Recently the Notekillers contributed a track - Cream Puff War - to a Grateful Dead tribute album TBR in the fall of 2011 by Prophase Records.
No Wave
No Wave was a short-lived but influential underground music, film, performance art, video, and contemporary art scene that had its beginnings during the mid-1970s in New York City. The term No Wave is in part satirical word play rejecting the commercial elements of the then-popular New Wave genre...
acts of 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...
at the time. After a nearly thirty year hiatus, the band has recently released their long awaited first full length album We're Here To Help on Prophase Records.
Before The Notekillers, formation and early history: 1968 - 1979
The Notekillers early history began when high-schoolers David First, Barry Halkin, and Stephen Bilenky began Dead Cheese, a local psychedelic rockPsychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...
band that played small gigs at local Philadelphia clubs and coffee houses between 1968 and 1971. Between 1971 and 1976 the members went their separate ways leaving Dead Cheese behind. During this break David First plays in an ensemble formed by avant-jazz legend Cecil Taylor
Cecil Taylor
Cecil Percival Taylor is an American pianist and poet. Classically trained, Taylor is generally acknowledged as one of the pioneers of free jazz. His music is characterized by an extremely energetic, physical approach, producing complex improvised sounds, frequently involving tone clusters and...
that performed at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
. Also during this time First studies guitar & jazz theory with renowned instructor Dennis Sandole
Dennis Sandole
Dennis Sandole , 1913-2000, was a jazz guitarist, composer and music educator from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As a music educator and performer he left his fingerprint on music history. His students most notably included John Coltrane and Pat Martino, as well as lesser-known musicians such as...
and analog & computer synthesis through auditing classes at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
. He befriends a grad-student there who admires his nascent constructions and arranges to allow him unlimited access to the largely abandoned classical electronic music studio and tape machines where, driving up from Philadelphia, he creates his first works for the medium in after-hours sessions.
In 1976, after a 5-year, break Halkin returns to Philadelphia. Halkin and First begin playing together once again. Soon, after years of mostly playing free-improv, First begins creating song-structures for the two of them inspired by what he had been listening to in the ensuing years- minimalist composers, long-time hero John Fahey
John Fahey (musician)
John Fahey was an American fingerstyle guitarist and composer who pioneered the steel-string acoustic guitar as a solo instrument. His style has been greatly influential and has been described as the foundation of American Primitivism, a term borrowed from painting and referring mainly to the...
, free jazz
Free jazz
Free jazz is an approach to jazz music that was first developed in the 1950s and 1960s. Though the music produced by free jazz pioneers varied widely, the common feature was a dissatisfaction with the limitations of bebop, hard bop, and modal jazz, which had developed in the 1940s and 1950s...
, funk music, reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
& various world musics and the emerging 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...
movement. In early 1977 Halkin & First play their first show – a private party for friends – as Notekillers. In late 1977 Stephen Bilenky joins on bass and the band begins playing in Philadelphia in clubs such as the Hot Club, Artemis, Grendel’s Lair, Omni, Starlight Ballroom as well as a few local colleges. Mostly they are met with confusion or disdain, but they make one important ally in David Carroll – Philadelphia’s punk rock impresario who continues to book them despite the lack of local support.
The band continues to play, mostly with local Philadelphia bands, but also open up for the Misfits in Bethlehem, Pa and DNA in Philadelphia. The band was scheduled to open for Sid Vicious
Sid Vicious
Sid Vicious was an English musician best known as the bassist of the influential punk rock group Sex Pistols...
, yet a week prior to the show Vicious dies and the show is canceled. In 1978 the band adds a fourth member, Thomas Johnson on congas. Johnson spends various lengths of time with the band, often coming and going from the line-up.
Early Releases: 1979 - 1981
After more than two years of rehearsing six nights a week in the basement of Bilenky’s father’s hair salon (Beauty on a Budget) and being met mostly with resistance from the Philadelphia scene- The Notekillers feel physically and emotionally burnt out. The group decide to record a single with sound man Richard Bloom in a last-ditch attempt at making an impact. After finishing the recording, they take what is planned to be a six-month break to assess their lives and try to allow First to heal from repetitive stress/carpal tunnel syndrome, an ailment that had nagged him since soon after the band's inception. In 1980 The Notekillers release The Zipper b/w Clockwise on their own label – AmericanBushmen Records.After a subsequent trip to New York City to shop the record to different outlets, store owner/label manager Ed Bahlman
Ed Bahlman
Ed Bahlman is founder of the independent record shop 99 Records in New York. This was also the name of the record label he started. 99 specialised in Indie/dub/new wave music and was founded in 1980....
of 99 Records
99 Records
99 Records was an independent record label active from 1980-1984. 99 was run out of a record store with the same name, located at 99 MacDougal Street in New York City's Greenwich Village, and owned by Ed Bahlman...
contacts the band, booking them for a show in New York City with Glenn Branca
Glenn Branca
Glenn Branca is an American avant-garde composer and guitarist known for his use of volume, alternative guitar tunings, repetition, droning, and the harmonic series. In 2008 he was awarded an unrestricted grant from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts.-Beginnings: 1960s and early 1970s:Branca...
. Despite First's hand not having healed the band decides to return from the short hiatus. The band plays shows at Hurrah
Hurrah (nightclub)
Hurrah was a nightclub located at 32 West 62nd Street in New York City from 1976 until 1980. Under the management of Jim Fouratt it became known as the first rock disco in New York, and pioneered the use of music videos in nightclubs, placing video monitors around the club, over a year before the...
, CBGB
CBGB
CBGB was a music club at 315 Bowery at Bleecker Street in the borough of Manhattan in New York City.Founded by Hilly Kristal in 1973, it was originally intended to feature its namesake musical styles, but became a forum for American punk and New Wave bands like Ramones, Misfits, Television, the...
, Maxwell's
Maxwell's
Maxwell's is a music club in Hoboken, New Jersey that also has a restaurant. The intimate venue often attracts a wide variety of acts looking for a change from the New York City concert spaces across the river.-History:...
, amongst other locations in Philadelphia. During this period they play shows with the likes of such bands as The Feelies
The Feelies
The Feelies are a rock band from Haledon, New Jersey. They formed in 1976 and disbanded in 1992 having released four albums. The band reunited in 2008 and most recently released an album in 2011....
and The Bush Tetras.
Break Up and Hiatus: 1981 - 2001
In 1981, despite getting favorable reviews in NYRocker[1] for the Hurrah show and in The Village Voice[2], Trouser Press[3], and Op Magazine for their single, The Notekiller’s stop playing live shows. A second pair of songs, Run Don’t Stop/Juggernauts, is recorded but never released. They continued to be cited (often without finding out till years later) after their breakup, including mentions in reference books Volume: International Discography of the New Wave[4], Who's New Wave in Music: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1976-1982[5], Between Montmartre and the Mudd Club[6], American Music in the 20th Century[7], and Spin Magazine[8].In 1982 First leaves Philadelphia and in 1984 moves to NYC and begins to establish himself as composer of experimental music. During this early period time he led bands & ensembles such as Flatland Oscillators, The World Casio Quartet, and The Koan Pool. His ensembles included such artists as violinist Mark Feldman
Mark Feldman
Mark Feldman is an American jazz violinist.Feldman worked in Chicago from 1973 to 1980, and in Nashville, Tennessee from 1980 to 1986. He worked in New York City and Western Europe from 1986. Feldman often works with John Zorn, Sylvie Courvoisier, John Abercrombie, The Masada String Trio, Dave...
, cellist Jane Scarpantoni
Jane Scarpantoni
Jane Scarpantoni is a classically trained cello player who has played on a number of alternative rock albums.She was a member of Hoboken, New Jersey's Tiny Lights in the mid-'80s, then went on to play with other musicians especially those associated with the Hoboken underground rock scene of the...
, Trumpeter Frank London
Frank London
Frank London is a New York City-based trumpeter, bandleader, and composer active in klezmer and world music. He also plays various other wind instruments and keyboards, and occasionally sings backup vocals. With The Klezmatics, he won a Grammy award in Contemporary World Music for "Wonder Wheel...
& Saxophonist Ulrich Krieger
Ulrich Krieger
Ulrich Krieger is a German contemporary composer, performer, improviser and experimental rock musician based in Los Angeles....
. As the 90's began, and up to the present, First continued developing an international reputation, receiving numerous grants, awards and much critical acclaim ("a fascinating artist with a singular technique" in The New York Times, and "a bizarre cross between Hendrix and La Monte Young" in The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
.) for his electronic and instrumental microtonal compositions and guitar improvisations. He performed often in New York as well as throughout Europe. In 1995 he created an opera about the AIDS crisis entitled, The Manhattan Book of the Dead which was presented both in NYC and Potsdam, Germany.
During the hiatus, Halkin continues to build his name and reputation in the Photography community, while Bilenky starts Bilenky Cycle Works
Bilenky Cycle Works
Bilenky Cycle Works is an American handmade bicycle manufacturer formed in 1983. It is in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It makes both frames and complete bicycles and restores and repairs bikes. The company is owned by Stephen Bilenky, a member of the musical group The Notekillers. It makes tandem...
- an internationally renowned bicycle frame boutique
Boutique
A boutique is a small shopping outlet, especially one that specializes in elite and fashionable items such as clothing and jewelry. The word is French for "shop", via Latin from Greek ἀποθήκη , "storehouse"....
shop.
Reformation: 2001 - present
After experimenting with adding beats to his drone music for a couple of years and doing some crossing over into the ambient techno scene, First begins in 1998 recording what he calls his "pop" album - Universary - subtitled "Songs, Drones and Refrains of life" that features Jane Scarpantoni, Shelly Hirsch, Michael Blake, Ulrich Krieger, Roy Campbell, Zeena Parkins, Bob Hoffnar, Tom Chiu, and First on guitar, vocals & programming. It is his first foray into songwriting in fifteen years. Unbeknownst to him, during this same period, after a long period of no musical activity, Halkin & Bilenky each independently return to playing in bands - Halkin playing drums in an r&b/soul horn band and Bilenky playing guitar in an original rock band led by his then wife - a singer.In Late 2001 Halkin received a call from an old friend informing him that Thurston Moore
Thurston Moore
Thurston Joseph Moore is an American musician best known as a singer, songwriter and guitarist of Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside of Sonic Youth, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label...
mentioned The Notekillers in an article in the winter 2001 issue of Mojo
Mojo (magazine)
MOJO is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer, monthly in the United Kingdom. Following the success of the magazine Q, publishers Emap were looking for a title which would cater for the burgeoning interest in classic rock music...
Collections magazine, as part of a mix-tape saying “This is the tape I made for the band when we were starting out” and “we have to find out who these guys are”. First contacted Moore – who he knew from his time spent in the New York City scene, and tells him that he, in fact, was a member of the band. Moore tells First that he used to hang around 99 and that Ed Bahlman played him The Zipper in 1980. Moore asked about other recorded materials as plans are born to release a CD of material on Moore's Ecstatic Peace! label. First - who had remained in contact with Halkin over the years - calls Bilenky to talk to him for the first time in almost 20 years to tell him what's going on.
First proceeds to go through boxes of cassette and reel-to-reel tapes, listening to tracks he hasn't heard in years in order to compile the best possible archival material for the Ecstatic Peace! release.
In 2004 as the album gets closer to release, The Notekillers begin talking about reuniting the band. By summer of the same year, they begin doing shows in the Philadelphia area. In October 2004 The Notekillers perform at a release party at Tonic in New York City. The bill included Thurston Moore, Jim O’Rourke, Maryanne Amacher, Magik Markers, and Mouthus. In the ensuing years since the release of Notekillers 1977-1981, there were two SXSW shows, multiple shows with Tortoise, Mayo Thompson, Enon, Gary Lucas' Gods & Monsters and participation in All Tomorrow’s Parties – the Nightmare Before Christmas - a three-day festival curated by Thurston Moore
Thurston Moore
Thurston Joseph Moore is an American musician best known as a singer, songwriter and guitarist of Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside of Sonic Youth, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label...
at Butlins in the UK.
Work on their soon to be released return We're Here To Help started in early 2006. Two songs were recorded at their rehearsal studio and released to radio as well as digitally - Airport & Ants. Two more tracks Papers & Rebuttal were recorded during this period but were never released. Work ceased at that point when their recording engineer left town suddenly. In the fall of 2006, four more tracks were recorded in Manayunk, Pa. - Crash, Flamenco, Foster and Jumper. Nothing more happened until the fall of 2007 when some new songs were developed and recorded at their studio - Modern Jazz, Dreambook and Misslebones. Work began in earnest to finish all tracks and release the new album. Guest artists were included on some tracks - including Shelly Hirsch, voice, Lenny Pickett, baritone sax, and John Clark, French horn. First does major reworkings of basic songs by overdubbing guitars and electronics. During this time, the album cover - conceived by First and Halkin is created. Front cover drawings are commissioned from two cartoon artists Halkin meets at a local punk rock book fair and the back cover photograph is taken by Halkin. The front and back is designed by Sara Hodgson.
All track mixing is finished by the fall of 2008. They begin mixing anew with new mixing engineer, Steve Silverstein (Christmas Decorations, The Bleaks, a.o.). After mixing and mastering is completed, the band is decidedly unsatisfied, deciding that though the tracks are good, the overdubs don't represent enough what they do as a live band. They decided to shelve the album for the time being, completely start over and during the summer of 2009 - with Steve Silverstein doing the recording - Notekillers record a mixture of brand new tracks and newer versions of some of the previous songs that they are finally happy with. In the winter of 2009 a much sparer set of overdubs is completed and in early 2010 mixing is begun by sound engineer Yianni Papadopoulos. Mixing is completed on April 12th, 2010. Sadly, Yianni Papadopoulos dies suddenly of a heart attack at age 43 the next day. The album was released in the fall of 2010 on Prophase Records (http://prophasemusic.com/default.aspx/).
Recently the Notekillers contributed a track - Cream Puff War - to a Grateful Dead tribute album TBR in the fall of 2011 by Prophase Records.
External links
- Official site
- Pitchfork interview w/Notekillers guitarist David First
- Pitchfork review of We're Here to Help
- Review in Deli Magazine
- Review of David First XI CD in New Music Box
- Phila Inquirer Sunday Arts & Entertainment Article
- Review of Notekillers in Wired Magazine - SXSW Bands that Blew Us Away
- NYTimes Review of Notekillers Ecstatic Peace Album
- Village Voice Review
- Dusted Magazine Review
- Phila City Paper Article
- Notekillers Ecstatic Peace webpage
- NY Nighttrain Article