Equatronic
Equatronic is a German synth pop band that has been shaping the musical development in the field of electronic music since the early 1990s . The band initially consisted of different line-ups. Equatronic has consisted of Oliver Thom and Dirk Gerlach since 2003.
history
After the band leader and singer Oliver Thom had already had success with his band "New Substance" in the early 1990s, but this band broke up in 1992, Equatronic was founded in 1993. Right from the start, Equatronic expanded its fan base, which until mid-1996 was only achieved through recorded tapes and concerts, particularly in Saarland.
In 1996 the band decided to go into the studio for the first CD. A 5-track ep with its own titles should be recorded. This project threatened to fail when Barbara Bay surprisingly announced her withdrawal from Equatronic one day before the start of recording. Now Equatronic was faced with the problem of being in the studio without backing vocals. Oliver Thom and Christian Scherer asked Dirk Gerlach, who had previously performed as a guest musician with Equatronic at a concert, whether he could take on this part for the recordings. So Equatronic was able to finish the CD in the summer of 1996 and then release it under the title "Shadowland ep".
Due to the success of the sold out debut CD, Equatronic recorded a complete album as a successor called "Shadowland" in 1997 under contract with the indie label "Zoth Ommog". This was followed just a year later by the successor "Motivation" and in 1999 its US release "Motivation (US Edition)", which turned out to be a bestseller in the USA. The "US-Edition" contained the original album "Motivation" with a new cover and remixes and new songs as additional tracks.
Equatronic intensified their live performances and appeared in Europe, so they went on tour as the opening act for the Canadian synth popper "Psyche". The album "Plas: tique" followed in 2001 and another tour. After that it was quiet about Equatronic.
Before the recordings for the best-of album "Too close, too far and gone - the best of Equatronic remixed", planned for mid-2003, there was a tour in Scandinavia that threatened to fail because the background singer Dorothea Brandt was due to scheduling reasons could not attend. Bandleader Oliver Thom asked Dirk Gerlach, who spontaneously jumped in for Barbara Bay in 1996 for the recordings of the debut album "Shadowland ep", if he could go on the tour. So the concerts could take place in Scandinavia.
Due to the success of the concerts and the good cooperation, Oliver Thom decided to make a trio out of Equatronic again and to take Dirk Gerlach into the band.
During the following recordings for the said best-of album, Dorothea Brandt surprisingly left the band. Since then, at the beginning of 2003, Equatronic has consisted of the duo Oliver Thom and Dirk Gerlach. As a female voice was missing for the album, Svenja Koidl took over these parts for the recordings and subsequently also appeared as a guest singer at a few concerts. The album "Too close, too far and gone - the best of Equatronic remixed" was released in 2004.
After a single from the album ("Always the same"), there were concerts, but no new material. It took until the late summer of 2007 for Equatronic to present the album "Endorphine" as part of a concert on the Radio Salü stage at the "50 Years of Saarland" festival in Saarbrücken.
Another "Best-Of" with 38 tracks followed in 2008 and is available for download. It contains its own originals, remixes and cover versions.
In 2014, for the band's 20th anniversary, the CD "The Imperial" was released. The single "The Cave" from the album stayed in the DAC (German Alternative Charts) for 5 weeks. For the last appearance of "The Imperial Tour", the duo was complemented by Dominik Mattes on drums and Will Koch on guitar. The band is currently in the studio and will be back on stage at the end of 2015.
Dominik Mattes and Will Koch have been an integral part of the band since 2016.
Discography
| Album name | Publishing year | medium |
|---|---|---|
| Shadowland ep | 1996 | CD (5-track ep) |
| Shadowland | 1997 | CD |
| motivation | 1998 | CD |
| Motivation (US Edition) | 1999 | CD |
| plas: tique | 2001 | CD |
| Too close, too far and gone - the best of Equatronic remixed | 2004 | CD (in DVD case) |
| Always the same (12 ") | 2005 | mp3 only with downloadable CD artwork |
| Endorphins | 2007 | CD |
| La mode dépêche - the best of 1993 - 2008 | 2008 | mp3 only |
| The Imperial | 2013 | CD |
| pulsatile | 2017 | CD |
occupation
| Surname | Band member from / to | task |
|---|---|---|
| Oliver Thom | 1993 - today | Singing, programming, composition, lyrics |
| Dirk Gerlach | 1996 (short) and 2003 - today | Background vocals, lyrics, composition, synthesizer |
| Dorothea Brandt | 1998 - 2003 | Background vocals, synthesizer |
| Christian Scherer | 1994-1998 | Synthesizer, programming, texts |
| Barbara Bay | 1993-1996 | Background vocals |
| Melanie Mege | 1993-1995 | Background vocals |
| Christian bookness | 1993-1995 | Background vocals |
| Will cook | 2015 - 2018 | Electric guitar |
| Dominik Mattes | 2015 - today | Drums |
Equatronic live
Equatronic performed and performed very often live. They serve the European market live, with the last concerts outside Germany taking place in 2003.
Since 2003 Equatronic have also been playing at larger festivals (e.g. Electricity Festival, Tanzritual Festival, Mystic Festival) and appear at individual concerts with well-known bands and artists. There have been several appearances with the English band Client (band) , the English musician Anne Clark as well as with Karl Bartos (former member of Kraftwerk (band) ) or The Twins (band) .
A special feature is that Equatronic do not use a fixed live set , but rather spontaneously select the songs to be played at a concert on the stage, depending on the mood and the occasion of the performance.
Videos
So far there are four Equatronic videos. The video for the song "Heart of Stone" from the album "plas: tique" was made in 1999, "Shame" and "Always the same" from the album "Too close, too far and gone - the best of Equatronic" were remixed in 2003 and 2003 respectively. Filmed in 2004 and the video for the current single "Me, myself and I" from the album "Endorphine" was made at the end of 2007. The video for "The Cave" was released in 2014.
Since Equatronic see videos as "goodies" for their fans, they are not sold but are available for free download.