Switchblade Symphony

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Switchblade Symphony
Switchblade Symphony.jpg
General information
Genre (s) Trip-Hop , Alternative Rock , Electropop , Gothic Rock
founding 1989
resolution 1999
Last occupation
Tina Root
Susan Wallace
former members
Robin Jacobs,
George Earth,
Kevin Danczak,
Jerry Breiner
Robin Jacobs,
John Moor
Eric Gebow,
Ken Dewar,
Scott van Shoick

Switchblade Symphony was a rock and trip-hop formation founded in 1989 in San Francisco by singer Tina Root and composer Susan Wallace. The name of the band goes back to Tina Roots love for classical music.

history

Switchblade Symphony was founded in California in the late 1980s. After the two demo cassettes Fable (1991) and Elegy (1992), the debut album Serpentine Gallery was released in 1995 on the US independent label Cleopatra Records . Stylistically, the album moves between electropop, gothic and alternative rock and is characterized by the spherical vocals that are characteristic of the band. In addition there are orchestral synthesizer sounds, melodic guitar parts and a relatively hard use of drum computers . Switchblade Symphony succeeded in creating a strange, remote atmosphere. Music critics rated the work consistently positive and drew comparisons to Siouxsie and the Banshees .

In 1996 Switchblade Symphony completed their first US tour with Christian Death and Big Electric Cat . During this time, George Earth joined the band as live guitarist and Eric Gebow as live drummer. In the following years, Switchblade Symphony appeared as the opening act for well-known Gothic and Metal bands such as The Sisters of Mercy and Type O Negative .

In the course of another tour in the spring of 1997, Switchblade Symphony released the limited Scrapbook EP with material from their early demo releases.

In the fall of 1997 followed with Bread and Jam for Frances the second album, the title of which was borrowed from a children's book by Russell and Lillian Hoban. While Tina Roots singing style remained unchanged, the drum computer that the band used until then was replaced by the two drummers Eric Gebow and Ken Dewar. Not least because of their use, Bread and Jam for Frances turned to trip-hop .

In 1998 work began on the third and final work The Three Calamities , which was interrupted due to a three-month tour - together with Gary Numan . Completed just before release of the album Switchblade Symphony in the spring of 1999 another tour with the Canadian Electrical -Formation Front Line Assembly . The Three Calamities was then licensed for the German market with some bonus tracks under the title The Three Calamities and More .

In November of that year, Switchblade Symphony split due to personal and artistic differences. Tina Root then founded her solo project Tré Lux , while Susan Wallace withdrew completely from the music business.

In 2001 the remix album Sinister Nostalgia was released posthumously . While the vocals remain relatively unchanged, the remixes are significantly faster than the originals, especially with regard to the rhythm, and are strongly influenced by styles such as techno or drum and bass . The remixers include Apoptygma Berzerk and Razed in Black .

Discography

  • Fable , EP (cassette), 1991
  • Elegy , (Cassette), 1992
  • Serpentine Gallery , 1995
  • Clown , 1996
  • Scrapbook , 1997
  • Drool , 1997
  • Bread and Jam for Frances , 1997
  • Bread and Jam for Frances , 1997 (Japan edition + 2 bonus tracks)
  • The Three Calamities , 1999
  • The Three Calamities and More , 1999 (German Edition + 3 bonus tracks)
  • Sinister Nostalgia , 2001
  • Sweet Little Witches (live), 2005

Web links