Health (band)
| Health | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Los Angeles, California, USA |
| Genres | Noise rock, experimental rock, dance punk, indie electronic |
| Years active | 2006–present |
| Labels | Lovepump United Trouble Records Flemish Eye No Pain In Pop City Slang |
| Website | http://www.myspace.com/healthmusic |
| Members | |
| Benjamin Jared Miller Jake Duzsik John Famiglietti Jupiter Keyes Logan Burgett (Former Drums/ Samples) |
|
Health (usually stylized as HEALTH) is an American noise rock band from Los Angeles, California. The band's 2007 release with Crystal Castles charted at position nine in the UK indie singles chart.[1]
Contents |
[edit] History
Early in their career, Health became popular playing multiple concerts for free,[2] leading to a variety of venues requesting to book them.[2] The band's favourite setting, LA's The Smell, has been their chosen place to record their full length album, "during empty mornings",[3] although the band have already recorded a live album at the Smell, released on DNT Records.
In 2008, Boston newspaper The Phoenix named them the Best New Band from California.[4]
Health opened for Nine Inch Nails on part of the Lights in the Sky tour in the fall of 2008.[5]
The name of the band was chosen after the band's members agreed that they wanted to use an "everyday word." They created a list of words and went through to see which was taken, and the word "health" was the only one left.[6]
Health have been described as having "artfully crafted noise and raw synth, haunting monotone vocals, and drum skills that are borderline insane".[7] Guardian Unlimited writer, Louis Pattison, chose the Crystal Castles version of "Crimewave" as the pick of the week, describing the song as "melancholy electro-pop built from pixelated synths and depressed vocals that hint at a past programme of busy and sustained serotonin depletion".[8] Jim Carroll of The Irish Times also chose the song as tune of the week.[9]
The band describes the role of lyrics as being "purposely kept vague for the listener"[10]:
"...[Lyrics] sort of begin to bring out this more individual quality to the whole thing like, ‘These are the lyrics, and this is the guy is singing them, so I can relate to that.’ Which is really not something we want.[10] We wanted the vocals to have an even, unaffected feel. A softness, like a Zombies melody, or even a Gregorian chant. We aren’t just interested in being a noisy screaming band."[10]
The band's unusual sound can be partially accredited to the use of the Zoothorn, which is a permutation of microphone and guitar pedal[3] and an occasional atonal sound without a symmetrical structure.[3]
In piece for Dummymag.com, Health described their love of sounds from the guitar solo on All Along the Watchtower to an elk's yelp.[11]
To promote their 2009 album, Get Color, the band held a sweepstakes contest, in which a winner of a golden ticket was awarded a free trip to Los Angeles to go to Magic Mountain with the band. Other prizes included locks of the band members' hair and posters autographed in blood.[12] In late 2009, the band was chosen as one of Beyond Race Magazine's "50 Emerging Artists," resulting in a spot in BRM's #11 issue as well as an exclusive online Q&A.[13]
An album remixing the tracks from Get Color, entitled Disco2, was released on June 22, 2010.[14]
Health plans to debut an internet television show entitled HealthVision, which will star members of the band. They will also debut a clothing line in early 2010, which will feature high-quality, hand-sewn, one-of-a-kind designer items.[15]
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
- 2007 Health - Lovepump United
- 2009 Get Color - Lovepump United
[edit] Singles
- 2006 Health/Elphaba 7" Split - Rome Plow Records
- 2007 Crystal Castles vs. Health - Crimewave - Trouble Records (#9 UK indie singles charts)
- 2007 Crystal Castles//Health 7" Split - Lovepump United
- 2008 Perfect Skin +RMX 7" - Suicide Squeeze
- 2008 Heaven +RMXS 12" - Flemish Eye
- 2008 Triceratops//Lost Time +RMXS 12" - Tough Love Records
- 2008 //M\\ 7" - No Pain in Pop
- 2009 Die Slow 7" - Lovepump United
[edit] Remix Albums
- 2008 Health//Disco - Lovepump United
- 2010 Health::Disco2 - Lovepump United
[edit] Videography
- 2007 "Heaven"
- 2008 "Crimewave"
- 2009 "Die Slow"
- 2009 "We Are Water" (Directed by Eric Wareheim)
- 2010 "USA Boys"
[edit] References
- ^ BBC - Radio 1 - Chart Show - Indie Singles
- ^ a b Music Glob » Blog Archive » Health making noise in Los Angeles
- ^ a b c L.A. Record » Blog Archive » Health: He’S Approving Friend Requests
- ^ 50 Bands, 50 States, The Phoenix. Published July 4, 2008.
- ^ "Boris, Health, the Bug to Open for Nine Inch Nails". Pitchfork Media. http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/news/145220-boris-health-the-bug-to-open-for-nine-inch-nails. Retrieved 2008-09-12.
- ^ Jones, Kenya (2009-09-17). "Interview: Health". Impose Magazine. http://www.imposemagazine.com/interview-health/2238/. Retrieved 2009-09-10.
- ^ Rock Insider: Health - BLOWIN' UP
- ^ "Louis Pattison's new releases review". The Guardian (London). August 18, 2007. http://music.guardian.co.uk/pop/reviews/story/0,,2150345,00.html. Retrieved May 4, 2010.
- ^ Carroll, Jim. "On The Record » Tune of the Week - “Crimewave”". The Irish Times. http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/ontherecord/2007/07/19/tune-of-the-week-crimewave/#comment-2042.
- ^ a b c Paper Thin Walls :: Independent Music Community
- ^ Dummymag.com: Health's favourite noises
- ^ Health on MySpace Music
- ^ http://beyondrace.com/articles/features/2279-health
- ^ http://pitchfork.com/news/38469-health-get-second-remix-album/
- ^ Health band interview - REDEFINE MAGAZINE, Redefine Magazine. Published November 28, 2009.
