DNA (no-wave band)
| DNA | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Genre (s) | No wave |
| founding | 1978 |
| resolution | 1982 |
| Founding members | |
| Arto Lindsay , Robin Crutchfield | |
| Last occupation | |
| Arto Lindsay | |
Keyboard , vocals |
Robin Crutchfield (until 1978) |
| Ikue Mori | |
| Tim Wright (from 1978) | |
DNA was a no-wave band formed in 1978 by guitarist Arto Lindsay and keyboard player Robin Crutchfield . Instead of playing their instruments the traditional way, they focused on creating unique and unusual sounds. Their music was described as barren, noisy and angular and compared to that of Captain Beefheart or even Anton Webern .
history
DNA originally consisted of Lindsay, Crutchfield, Gordon Stevenson, and Mirielle Cervenka. The group name was taken from a track by Mars , another no-wave band. Mirielle Cervenka was the younger sister of the punk singer Exene Cervenka of X . This constellation only existed for a very short time and never occurred. After Stevenson and Cervenka quickly disappeared, Lindsay and Crutchfield hurriedly recruited Ikue Mori (then called Ikue Ile ) as a drummer , who at the time had no command of English or drumming.
With this line-DNA played occasionally at CBGB and Max's Kansas City and took a 7 " - Single on. Within their first year, the band had cemented their reputation as a paradigmatic no-wave band; at that time chose Brian Eno them as one of the four groups of the LP " No New York " from the first frame, the No Wave groups of a public outside of Lower Manhattan presented. The other three bands on the album were The Contortions , Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, and Mars .
Shortly after recording for No New York , Crutchfield left DNA to form a new band, Dark Day . He was replaced by bassist Tim Wright from Pere Ubu . The fact that Crutchfield's keyboard was replaced by a bass, and that Wright mastered the conventional playing technique, changed the sound of DNA drastically. The music became even more sparse and angular, and Wright's bass lines created a sometimes threatening sound as the basis for Lindsay's scratchy, atonal guitar and Mori's irregular rhythms. Their song structures became tighter, more solid, more abstract.
The Lindsay-Mori-Wright cast of DNA developed a kind of cult following between 1979 and 1982 ; however, more fans came from the art world than from rock listeners. Live performances were frequent at this time, but hardly outside of the CBGB / Mudd Club / Tier 3 circle in Lower Manhattan.
The ten-minute debut album A Taste of DNA was recorded in 1980 for Kip Hanrahan's label American Clavé ; later it appeared on Rough Trade . Some live recordings of DNA appeared on compilation albums when the band still existed.
In 1982 Lindsay, Mori and Wright decided to break up the band. It is a sign of the band's cult following that the farewell concerts at the CBGB were sold out on three consecutive nights. The last encore was a cover version of “Whole Lotta Love” ( Led Zeppelin ). However, this is not included in the CD Last Live at CBGB , which was released over ten years later on John Zorn's label Avant .
The band appears (like some other new and no-wave bands) in the feature film New York Beat ( Downtown 81 , with Jean-Michel Basquiat ).
DNA on DNA , a comprehensive CD chronicle by the band, was released in 2005 on No More Records .
Lindsay and Mori, and to a lesser extent Crutchfield, have remained active in the music field.
Discography
Albums
- No New York : various artists (four DNA-tracks) 1978 - Antilles, AN 7067 (LP)
- A Taste of DNA 1981 - American Clavé, AMCL 1003EP (12 ")
- The Fruit of Original Sin : various artists (three DNA-tracks) 1981 - Les Disques Du Crepuscule, twi 035 (2xLP)
- Last Live at CBGB 1993 - Avant (Japan), Avant 006 (CD)
- American Clavé Sampler : various artists (a DNA track) 1993 - American Clave (USA), AMCL 1020/1026 (2xCD)
- DNA on DNA 2004 - No More Records, NoCD12
Singles
- You & You b / w Little Ants 1978 - Lust / Unlust Music, 11-CAN-234
Individual evidence
- ↑ McGonigal, Mike: "Same Ol 'Samo" ( Memento from July 9, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ), ArtForum, summer 2000.