Hovercraft (band)
Hovercraft was an American instrumental experimental rock group that formed in Seattle, Washington in 1993. It was co-founded by its core duo of guitarist/samplist/tape-looper Ryan Shinn and bassist Beth Liebling. Shinn and Liebling would use the pseudonyms "Campbell 2000" and "Sadie 7", respectively, throughout the duration of the band's history. Hovercraft has been cited as one of the most abrasive, non-commercial sounding bands ever to receive major-label distribution for its albums. Though somewhat overlooked and sometimes heavily criticized because of the band's early association with Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder,[1] the group was largely well respected and well received by critics and developed a cult following.
Hovercraft
History[edit]
Early history[edit]
Beth Liebling and Ryan Shinn met in an anatomy class for surgical students.[2] Prior to forming the trio Hovercraft, Liebling and Shinn played together in Space Helmet. Space Helmet broke up when Shinn moved to New York and the other members of Space Helmet, including Shinn's brother, formed the band Magnog. Shinn's departure for New York was short and upon his return, Hovercraft was formed.
Hovercraft's material consisted of lengthy songs featuring an avant-garde and moody sound that was a direct reaction to the local grunge scene.[2] Hovercraft's sound came to be characterized by the sounds a bee makes, which made heavy use of delay and reverb on Shinn's main guitar, a Fender Stratocaster. The use of looping effects enabled Shinn to often simulate the simultaneous playing of multiple guitarists, though he was always the lone guitarist, both in the studio and onstage. Leibling generally played single-note, ominous, pulsating bass lines, played "clean" (with no effects). Early drum beats were generally sparse, yet jazzy. The band arrangement became more complex over the years.
On January 8, 1995, recordings by Hovercraft and Magnog were played back to back on Pearl Jam's Self-Pollution satellite radio broadcast, a four-and-a-half-hour-long pirate broadcast out of Seattle, Washington which was available to any radio stations that wanted to carry it.[3] The tracks which followed immediately after Pearl Jam's final set are described by Eddie Vedder as a "cleansing of the palate."[4] The recording would appear on Hovercraft's first release, a seven-inch single on the band's own Repellent Records, run by David Meinert who also managed the band. Recorded in August 1994, "Zero Zero Zero One" featured Bobby Tamkin aka "Paul 4" on drums and on "box of nails." No track titles were given, but "0001-A" and "0001-B" are etched into either band of the vinyl sides. It was also released as a VHS tape "video single" in a simple black slipcase. Pearl Jam's Self-Pollution broadcast also featured humorous, holiday answering machine messages from Bobby Tamkin and Matt Lukin of Mudhoney.
The single was initially handed out at gigs; stickers affixed to the plastic slip of ones sold in stores and put on by the distributor boasted, "Featuring Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam". However, the single featured Bobby Tamkin on drums, not Vedder as rumored. All the singles were pulled out of the stores at the demand of Repellent Records, and the stickers removed. "Paul 4" is the pseudonym of early member Bobby Tamkin, currently with his own band, Xu Xu Fang, and former drummer of The Warlocks and Kerosene 454. In 1995, Hovercraft accepted a slot opening for Mike Watt on his U.S. tour, joined by Vedder and Tamkin on drums.[2] Hovercraft, and Dave Grohl's new band Foo Fighters, played short sets before both Grohl and Vedder would join headliner Watt as members of his band. This was Hovercraft's first tour, as well as the first major tour for Grohl since the suicide of Kurt Cobain. Hovercraft toured later that year with Sky Cries Mary.
Though Vedder donned a long wig in order to conceal his face somewhat, his true identity soon become widely known. Subsequent Hovercraft tours would often be flooded with fans of the Pearl Jam frontman. During the Watt tour, Vedder was replaced by Bobby Tamkin's return to the band. Tamkin left the band following the tour, and was soon replaced by former Pearl Jam drummer, Dave Krusen, who adopted the stage name "Karl 3-30." Hovercraft toured in 1995 opening for Sweet 75. (Like Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic's first tour following Cobain's suicide featured Hovercraft). Hovercraft would join Sky Cries Mary and Sweet 75 for Microsoft and World Domination Recordings' joint "Transmissions from Space" tour in November 1995, an interactive, multi-media exposition highlighting the new CD Plus technology.[5]
Angular momentum (live performances, motifs)[edit]
Live shows were marked by a stage prepared in advance of entrance by crowds. When the band did enter, not a word was uttered, and eye contact was never made with spectators. The stage was shrouded in darkness as a projector played black & white scientific films and space-themed documentary clips from the reel-to-reel era (1940s-1970s), and free-use stock footage, somewhat synchronized to the music.[2] Examples of film material include insects mating, time-lapse footage of flowers blooming, and asteroids crashing. Though often featuring fragments of album tracks, each live show was played as a single forty- to forty-five-minute-long semi-improvised piece with no breaks. The film collages were created by Shinn and Liebling, and were altered for each tour the band went on. According to Shinn, the band used films in their concerts "since the very first show."[6]
The group's artwork, album and song titles ("Haloparidol", "Vagus Nerve", "Phantom Limb", "Endoradiosonde", "Benzedrine", "De-Orbit Burn") featured foreboding themes of medical, astronautical and scientific experimentation, satellite imagery, hallucinations, and medical conditions. Though these are common in the post-rock, space rock and avant-garde music scenes, Hovercraft's are likely bolstered by Shinn and Liebling's medical/scientific training, as well as their youths: