Ultraspank
Encyclopedia
Ultraspank was an industrial
nu metal
band in the late 1990s and early 2000s. They released two albums, a self-titled
album in 1998, and a follow-up, "Progress", in 2000. The band disbanded shortly after the release of "Progress" in 2001 due to being dropped by their label due to poor sales of both albums.
While not recognized while active, after their demise they have been given more recognition, with music website Sputnikmusic calling their second album "one of the best albums in the entire nu-metal genre"
suggested they should call themselves Ultraspank, and the band ended up taking his suggestion.
. The band decided to go with this label due to them being famous at the time for previously breaking other heavy bands such as Korn
and Rage Against the Machine
into mainstream popularity.
Their debut, self-titled album was released on March 31, 1998. While the president of the company at the time of their signing fully supported the band, he was shortly afterwards fired, and the band received less support from the new president. Despite the lack of support, the band still toured tirelessly for two years, mostly on their own support, even using their own tour van, which racked up over 100,000 miles during the time.
The band became demoralized with all the work being put into without any backing from the label. However, the band received another break. They were able to get one of their songs, "Five", on the Playstation 1 video game 3Xtreme
. This brought the band a ton of exposure, as it was quoted as selling "400,000 units" and "far more than their first album sold. This brought them more support from Epic, so the band started work on a follow-up album.
The name of the album represented a number of things for the band. Jerry Oliviera expanded on this in an interview, saying it's "...a statement on where we're heading together as a society. The cover is a real photo, from a genetic engineering project, of a mouse with a human ear growing out of its back. It's supposed to be like, 'we're growing ears out of animals' backs. Yeah, that's progress.'". The album name also represented the album's matured sound in comparison to the first, in its using of acoustic guitar, and using programming more to their advantage.
Murray claims that the recording sessions were so intense, that there were many times where he or Godfrey would need to leave for a break, and that the album can still be hard for them to listen to on an emotional level.
Progress was released on May 30, 2000, but didn't sell very well, yet again due to a lack of promotion. As a result, the band was dropped by their record label, leading to a breakup.
and Motograter
for a short period. After leaving those bands, he went on to form Lo-Pro
with former vocalist Pete Murray in 2002. The band has released two albums, a self-titled
release in 2003 and The Beautiful Sounds of Revenge
in 2010, and the band is still presently together.
In 2008, rumors arose about the band reuniting. However, things had been taken out of context, as what was being referenced to was the fact that guitarist Jerry Oliviera was joining Lo-Pro as a replacement bassist, making it so now Lo-Pro had three Ultraspank members in the band. The "reuniting" was the fact that Murray, Godrey, and Oliviera all played on Lo-Pro's 2010 release The Beautiful Sounds of Revenge as they had in both Ultraspank releases.
Industrial metal
Industrial metal is a musical genre that draws from industrial music and many different types of heavy metal, using repeating metal guitar riffs, sampling, synthesizer or sequencer lines, and distorted vocals. Founding industrial metal acts include Ministry, Godflesh, and KMFDM.Industrial metal's...
nu metal
Nu metal
Nu metal is a subgenre of heavy metal. It is a fusion genre which combines elements of heavy metal with other genres, including grunge and hip hop...
band in the late 1990s and early 2000s. They released two albums, a self-titled
Ultraspank (album)
Ultraspank is the debut album by American industrial metal band Ultraspank, released in 1998.-Track listing:# "No Man, My Hands are Dirty" - 0:19# "5" - 4:55# "Butter" - 3:38# "Slip" - 4:26# "Suck" - 3:19# "Wrapped" - 4:07# "Perfect" - 4:07...
album in 1998, and a follow-up, "Progress", in 2000. The band disbanded shortly after the release of "Progress" in 2001 due to being dropped by their label due to poor sales of both albums.
While not recognized while active, after their demise they have been given more recognition, with music website Sputnikmusic calling their second album "one of the best albums in the entire nu-metal genre"
Formation (1995-1996)
The band was formed soon after the breakup of the band Indica, which contained three of the five original Ultraspank members; Tyler Clark, Dan Ogden, and Pete Murray, not to be confused with Australian singer Pete Murray. The three of them want to continue making music together, they wanted to change their sound, so they enlisted the help of Neil Godfrey, and eventually Jerry Oliveria, a bandmate of his in a previous band named "Good Mourning". They originally formed the band as "Spank", but due to legal reasons they were forced to change it. Rob ZombieRob Zombie
Rob Zombie is an American musician, film director, screenwriter and film producer. He founded the heavy metal band White Zombie and has been nominated three times as a solo artist for the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance.Zombie has also established a career as a film director, creating the...
suggested they should call themselves Ultraspank, and the band ended up taking his suggestion.
Self-titled (1997-1999)
In 1997, the band signed to Epic RecordsEpic Records
Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...
. The band decided to go with this label due to them being famous at the time for previously breaking other heavy bands such as Korn
Korn
Korn is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, formed in 1993. The current band line up includes four members: Jonathan Davis, James "Munky" Shaffer, Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu, and Ray Luzier. The band was formed as an expansion of L.A.P.D.The band released their first demo album,...
and Rage Against the Machine
Rage Against the Machine
Rage Against the Machine is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1991, the group's line-up consists of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim Commerford, guitarist Tom Morello and drummer Brad Wilk...
into mainstream popularity.
Their debut, self-titled album was released on March 31, 1998. While the president of the company at the time of their signing fully supported the band, he was shortly afterwards fired, and the band received less support from the new president. Despite the lack of support, the band still toured tirelessly for two years, mostly on their own support, even using their own tour van, which racked up over 100,000 miles during the time.
The band became demoralized with all the work being put into without any backing from the label. However, the band received another break. They were able to get one of their songs, "Five", on the Playstation 1 video game 3Xtreme
3Xtreme
3Xtreme is a racing game released for the PlayStation in 1999. As with 2Xtreme, 3Xtreme contains skateboarding, skating, and biking options to reach the goal before opponent players. Unlike 2Xtreme, however, 3Xtreme's characters are composed of polygons as opposed to sprites...
. This brought the band a ton of exposure, as it was quoted as selling "400,000 units" and "far more than their first album sold. This brought them more support from Epic, so the band started work on a follow-up album.
Progress (2000-2001)
After the heavy touring in support of their first album, the band returned to the studio for a follow named. Sonically, vocalist described the goal of the album was that he "wanted to go further out on the melodic tip. As a band, our groove is one of the things we pride ourselves on the most, but there's a lot more melody on this record. It's not happy melody, but it's still emotional music."The name of the album represented a number of things for the band. Jerry Oliviera expanded on this in an interview, saying it's "...a statement on where we're heading together as a society. The cover is a real photo, from a genetic engineering project, of a mouse with a human ear growing out of its back. It's supposed to be like, 'we're growing ears out of animals' backs. Yeah, that's progress.'". The album name also represented the album's matured sound in comparison to the first, in its using of acoustic guitar, and using programming more to their advantage.
Murray claims that the recording sessions were so intense, that there were many times where he or Godfrey would need to leave for a break, and that the album can still be hard for them to listen to on an emotional level.
Progress was released on May 30, 2000, but didn't sell very well, yet again due to a lack of promotion. As a result, the band was dropped by their record label, leading to a breakup.
Post Breakup (2002-present)
After this, Pete Murray took some time away from music, while guitarist Neil Godfrey joined downthesunDownthesun
Downthesun is a six-piece music group from Kansas City, Missouri.The band was formed by bassist Lance "Kuk" Collier and samples operator Nathan Church who were in the band together that opened for Slipknot in mid-1999. This put them in touch with Slipknot's Shawn "Clown" Crahan...
and Motograter
Motograter
Motograter was an American Nu-Metal band formed in 1995. They are best known for their homemade instrument the "motograter" - designed with industrial cable and guitar pieces that creates a very deep bass sound...
for a short period. After leaving those bands, he went on to form Lo-Pro
Lo-Pro
Lo-Pro is an American five-piece hard rock band. They released a self-titled album in 2003. However, after touring in support of the album, they were dropped from the Geffen record label. The band then spent years working on new material, and streaming many new songs on their Myspace...
with former vocalist Pete Murray in 2002. The band has released two albums, a self-titled
Lo-Pro (album)
Lo-Pro is the self-titled debut album of Lo-Pro, released on September 30, 2003. It had one single in "Sunday" which garnered considerable radio play upon release...
release in 2003 and The Beautiful Sounds of Revenge
The Beautiful Sounds of Revenge
The Beautiful Sounds of Revenge is the second full-album by Lo-Pro, originally scheduled to be released was May 25, 2010, but was delayed to June 8, 2010, in order to add more songs to it. It is their third formal release of music, after their self-titled release in 2003 and the Letting Go EP in...
in 2010, and the band is still presently together.
In 2008, rumors arose about the band reuniting. However, things had been taken out of context, as what was being referenced to was the fact that guitarist Jerry Oliviera was joining Lo-Pro as a replacement bassist, making it so now Lo-Pro had three Ultraspank members in the band. The "reuniting" was the fact that Murray, Godrey, and Oliviera all played on Lo-Pro's 2010 release The Beautiful Sounds of Revenge as they had in both Ultraspank releases.
Discography
- UltraspankUltraspank (album)Ultraspank is the debut album by American industrial metal band Ultraspank, released in 1998.-Track listing:# "No Man, My Hands are Dirty" - 0:19# "5" - 4:55# "Butter" - 3:38# "Slip" - 4:26# "Suck" - 3:19# "Wrapped" - 4:07# "Perfect" - 4:07...
(1998) - ProgressProgress (Ultraspank album)Progress is the second and last album by American industrial metal band Ultraspank.-Track listing:# "Push" - 3:52# "Crumble" - 3:46# "Stuck" - 3:34# "Feed" - 4:12# "Smile" - 3:59# "Click" - 4:24# "Jackass" - 3:40# "Crack" - 3:31...
(2000)
Song Appearances
- The song "Five" was featured on the 3Xtreme Video Game. A music video featuring the band playing live can be seen by successfully completing the game.
- The songs "Click" and "Crumble" are present in ATV Offroad FuryATV Offroad FuryATV Offroad Fury is a hit PlayStation 2 racing game, released in February 2001. ATV Offroad Fury and its sequel ATV Offroad Fury 2 were developed by Rainbow Studios, whose work includes the Splashdown series, MX Unleashed, and the PC series Motocross Madness.-Gameplay:Basic gameplay is very simple,...
.
Members
- Pete Murray – 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...
, programmingProgramming (music)Programming is a form of music production and performance using electronic devices, often sequencers or computer programs, to generate music. Programming is used in nearly all forms of electronic music and in most hip hop music since the 1990s. It is also frequently used in modern pop and rock...
(1996–2001) - Neil Godfrey – lead guitarLead guitarLead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
(1996–2001) - Jerry Oliviera – rhythm guitarRhythm guitarRhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
(1996–2001) - Dan Odgen – bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
(1996–2001) - James "Fed" Carroll – 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 ....
(1998–2001) - Tyler Clark – 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 ....
(1996–1998)