Disco Inferno (band)

For other uses, see Disco Inferno.

Disco Inferno
(left to right): Ian Crause, Rob Whatley and Paul Wilmott
Background information
Also known as	D.I.
Origin	Essex, England
Genres	Experimental rock, post-punk, post-rock
Years active	1989–1995
Associated acts	Bark Psychosis
Past members
Daniel Gish Ian Crause Paul Willmott Rob Whatley

Disco Inferno was an English experimental rock band, formed in Essex in the late 1980s, by Ian Crause (guitar and vocals), Paul Wilmott (bass), Rob Whatley (drums) and Daniel Gish (keyboards).

History

After the departure of Gish (who would later join Bark Psychosis) the three-piece Disco Inferno recorded the single, *"Entertainment/Arc in Round" with record producer Charlie McIntosh. Their first album, Open Doors, Closed Windows, was released in 1991 on Che and received positive reviews. The album was characterized for having influence of late 1970s post-punk bands, particularly Joy Division and Wire. Disco Inferno's manager, Michael Collins, had previously managed Wire during the 1970s.

"Entertainment", Open Doors, Closed Windows and the "Science" EP, would later be collected on the 1995 compilation album, In Debt.

In 1992, the band released "Summer's Last Sound", which saw the band's increasing use of samples.

The band's use of sampling combined with traditional instruments - particularly Wilmott's bass - continued on the EPs "A Rock to Cling to" and "The Last Dance", and reached its peak on their second album D.I. Go Pop.

The melody on the album's eight tracks was often carried by the bassline, while an array of samples (including running water, breaking glass, car crashes, fax machines) built the musical collages; the music on D.I. Go Pop was harsh and concise. After D.I. Go Pop the band opted for restraint on "Second Language", which also had a new-found optimism in Crause's lyrics.

Their final single, "It's a Kid's World" sampled the drumbeat from Iggy Pop's "Lust for Life" and added in a series of old children's TV themes, but despite critical acclaim the band attracted little commercial success and split before their final album, Technicolour was released in 1996.

After the split, Ian Crause formed Floorshow who recorded some material for an unreleased album which was to be called 'The Vertical Axis'. Some of these songs later appeared on his solo singles "Elemental" and "Head Over Heels", which featured drummer Ritchie Thomas (Dif Juz, The Jesus and Mary Chain).

Paul Wilmott formed Transformer, who recorded a cover of Wire's "Outdoor Miner", which appeared on the Wire tribute album, Whore (1996), before making recordings under the name Lisp.

In 1999, the Tugboat label released the "The Mixing It Session", which featured six instrumental tracks the band had recorded for radio, while One Little Indian reissued D.I. Go Pop and gave Technicolour a belated US release in 2004.

In September 2011, One Little Indian Records released a compilation called The 5 EPs, featuring tracks from all five now out-of-print EPs released between 1992 and 1995. The compilation had previously been available as a bootleg.

Discography

Albums

• Open Doors, Closed Windows (Che, 1991)
• D. I. Go Pop (Rough Trade and Bar/None [US], 1994)
• Technicolour (Rough Trade, 1996)

Compilations

• In Debt (Che, 1995)
• The 5 EPs (One Little Indian, 2011)

Singles and EPs

• "Entertainment/Arc in Round" (Che, 1990 single)
• "Science" (Che, 1991 single)
• "Summer's Last Sound" (Cheree, 1992 EP)
• "A Rock to Cling to" (Rough Trade, 1993 EP)
• "The Last Dance" (Rough Trade, 1993 EP)
• "Second Language" (Rough Trade, 1994 EP)
• "It's a Kid's World" (Rough Trade, 1994 EP)
• "The Mixing It Session" (Tugboat, 1999 EP)

External links

• Disco Inferno on Facebook
• Starbound - Flash-based Disco Inferno site