CEvin Key
Encyclopedia
cEvin Key is the pseudonym of Kevin William Crompton (born February 13, 1961), who was a founding member of the industrial music
band Skinny Puppy
, along with Nivek Ogre
. In addition to his work with Skinny Puppy, cEvin Key has had several side projects, including Doubting Thomas, Cyberaktif
, and Hilt
. He was also at one point a drummer and song-writer for synthpop
group, Images in Vogue
. After Skinny Puppy disbanded in 1995, cEvin Key's main project was electronic noise group Download
, as well as some solo releases. He also embarked on a side project with Phil Western
, PlatEAU
, and continued his project Tear Garden with the assistance of the Legendary Pink Dots for new material released in the mid-to-late '90s. These post 1995 projects continue to this day.
Much of 2001-3 was spent on his own solo material, Music For Cats, The Ghost Of Each Room and The Dragon Experience, as well as an undertaking of an exclusive subscription-only music service entitled the From the Vault series—seven CDs of previously unreleased material from his various projects (Skinny Puppy, Download, Tear Garden, PlatEAU, and Hilt) Key also served as a drummer on ohGr
's 2001 tour.
2004 brought about the reformation of Skinny Puppy for a new album, The Greater Wrong Of the Right, and they embarked on a worldwide tour that carried on into 2005. Work began underway for their next LP, Mythmaker, shortly thereafter, and was released in 2007.
cEvin worked on another From the Vault series for 2007–2008, before embarking on yet another Skinny Puppy tour. The releases included new, unreleased and re-released work by Download, Doubting Thomas, PlatEAU, Tear Garden, Hilt, and Skinny Puppy.
2009 saw cEvin working on new Skinny Puppy and also on several new albums by his existing side projects, as well as the creation of several new projects. cEvin collaborated with long-time friend and engineer Ken 'Hiwatt' Marshall on a project entitled Scaremeister, which focuses on "mini-scores" for television, movies and video games. cEvin also 'translated' through MIDI the musical works of a mythical, time-traveling creature known only as Bananasloth. cEvin through Subconscious Communications is set to release the Beyond the Vault series of albums, featuring several of his own side-projects as well as albums from new artists and friends he has come to admire in recent years. cEvin also went on a series of Download/platEAU-based DJ sets across America as well as Japan. Most notably in 2009, cEvin is set to embark upon the Skinny Puppy In Solvent See tour across the US.
cEvin is the sole owner and operator of Subconscious Communications
, "a California-based records label, musician collective, remix team, 32-track digital studio and analogue synthesizer collection".
with Download
with platEAU
with The Tear Garden
with Images in Vogue
with Doubting Thomas (Canadian band)
with Hilt
with Cyberaktif
Solo
Industrial music
Industrial music is a style of experimental music that draws on transgressive and provocative themes. The term was coined in the mid-1970s with the founding of Industrial Records by the band Throbbing Gristle, and the creation of the slogan "industrial music for industrial people". In general, the...
band Skinny Puppy
Skinny Puppy
Skinny Puppy is a Canadian industrial musical group, formed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in 1982. The group is widely considered to be the founders of the electro-industrial genre....
, along with Nivek Ogre
Nivek Ogre
Nivek Ogre is a Canadian musician, performance artist and actor best known as a founding member of the industrial band Skinny Puppy. Since that band featured another Kevin and was produced by another Ogilvie Nivek Ogre (born Kevin Graham Ogilvie December 5, 1962) is a Canadian musician,...
. In addition to his work with Skinny Puppy, cEvin Key has had several side projects, including Doubting Thomas, Cyberaktif
Cyberaktif
Cyberaktif was a one-time musical collaboration project between Bill Leeb of the band Front Line Assembly, and cEvin Key and Dwayne Goettel of Skinny Puppy...
, and Hilt
Hilt (band)
Hilt was a collective group of Vancouver musicians, usually referred to as a side project of the group Skinny Puppy. The group comprised Alan Nelson, a seminal member of many local Vancouver rock and punk groups, on vocals, with cEvin Key and D.R...
. He was also at one point a drummer and song-writer for synthpop
Synthpop
Synthpop is a genre of popular music that first became prominent in the 1980s, in which the synthesizer is the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s by the use of synthesizers in progressive rock, electronic art rock, disco and particularly the "Kraut rock" of...
group, Images in Vogue
Images in Vogue
Images in Vogue was a Canadian New Wave group in the 1980s.The band was formed in 1981 in Vancouver, and originally consisted of vocalist Dale Martindale, guitarist Don Gordon , synth players Joe Vizvary and Glen Nelson, bassist Gary Smith and percussionist Kevin Crompton...
. After Skinny Puppy disbanded in 1995, cEvin Key's main project was electronic noise group Download
Download (band)
Download is an electronic music group formed by Dwayne Goettel and cEvin Key of Skinny Puppy in 1994. The initial lineup also included Off & Gone's Phil Western and Mark Spybey of Dead Voices on Air, but has since been particularly fluid, with Key and Western being the only constant members...
, as well as some solo releases. He also embarked on a side project with Phil Western
Phil Western
Phil Western is a Vancouver-based musician who is a founding member of the bands Download, PlatEAU, Frozen Rabbit, and Off And Gone....
, PlatEAU
Plateau (band)
PlatEAU is an electronic music project featuring cEvin Key and Phil Western. The project resembles a very loose approach to the Download project featuring the same members. The song names and album titles refer to the coffeeshop culture of Amsterdam in The Netherlands implying a "trip" throughtheir...
, and continued his project Tear Garden with the assistance of the Legendary Pink Dots for new material released in the mid-to-late '90s. These post 1995 projects continue to this day.
Much of 2001-3 was spent on his own solo material, Music For Cats, The Ghost Of Each Room and The Dragon Experience, as well as an undertaking of an exclusive subscription-only music service entitled the From the Vault series—seven CDs of previously unreleased material from his various projects (Skinny Puppy, Download, Tear Garden, PlatEAU, and Hilt) Key also served as a drummer on ohGr
OhGr
ohGr is a band formed by Nivek Ogre, of Skinny Puppy, and musician/engineer Mark Walk. Although the pedigree of the group's members might suggest otherwise, early ohGr releases differed in sound to its related industrial bands, drawing more on hip-hop and electro-pop influences, incorporating more...
's 2001 tour.
2004 brought about the reformation of Skinny Puppy for a new album, The Greater Wrong Of the Right, and they embarked on a worldwide tour that carried on into 2005. Work began underway for their next LP, Mythmaker, shortly thereafter, and was released in 2007.
cEvin worked on another From the Vault series for 2007–2008, before embarking on yet another Skinny Puppy tour. The releases included new, unreleased and re-released work by Download, Doubting Thomas, PlatEAU, Tear Garden, Hilt, and Skinny Puppy.
2009 saw cEvin working on new Skinny Puppy and also on several new albums by his existing side projects, as well as the creation of several new projects. cEvin collaborated with long-time friend and engineer Ken 'Hiwatt' Marshall on a project entitled Scaremeister, which focuses on "mini-scores" for television, movies and video games. cEvin also 'translated' through MIDI the musical works of a mythical, time-traveling creature known only as Bananasloth. cEvin through Subconscious Communications is set to release the Beyond the Vault series of albums, featuring several of his own side-projects as well as albums from new artists and friends he has come to admire in recent years. cEvin also went on a series of Download/platEAU-based DJ sets across America as well as Japan. Most notably in 2009, cEvin is set to embark upon the Skinny Puppy In Solvent See tour across the US.
cEvin is the sole owner and operator of Subconscious Communications
Subconscious Communications
Subconscious Communications is an independent record label based in Toluca Lake, California. Originating in Vancouver B.C., Canada, it was founded in 1993 by Dwayne Goettel of Skinny Puppy and Phil Western of Download...
, "a California-based records label, musician collective, remix team, 32-track digital studio and analogue synthesizer collection".
Discography
with Skinny PuppySkinny Puppy
Skinny Puppy is a Canadian industrial musical group, formed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in 1982. The group is widely considered to be the founders of the electro-industrial genre....
- BitesBites (album)-Personnel:*Nivek Ogre vocals, synthesizer, metallic percussions, treatments and objects*cEvin Key - bass guitar, synthesizer, sequencers, tapes, sampler, treatments, acoustic and metallic percussions, drums*Dave Ogilvie - production, engineering...
(1985) - Mind: The Perpetual IntercourseMind: The Perpetual Intercourse"Dig It" is replaced by its 12" version on the CD; it lasts 7:40. On vinyl, "Burnt with Water" ended with a locked groove repeating the phrase "Amen, Lord, hear my prayer" endlessly until the needle was lifted....
(1986) - Cleanse Fold and ManipulateCleanse Fold and Manipulate- Notes :Cleanse Fold and Manipulate is a cyclical album, the end of the track 10, "Epilogue" segues into the beginning of track 1, "First Aid."...
(1987) - VIVIsectVIVIVIsectVI-Notes:"Dogshit" was released as a single under the title "Censor"."Who's Laughing Now?" was included on the soundtrack of the 1990 film Bad Influence.A note in liner notes is a reference to playing music at a very loud volume, or else...
(1988) - Rabies (1989)
- Too Dark ParkToo Dark Park-Personnel:*Nivek Ogre – vocals*cEvin Key – drums, synthesizer, guitar, objects, treatments*Dwayne Goettel – synthesizer, keyboards, guitar, bass*Mr. D. Pleven – fretless bass , stick bass *Green Guy – 12 string *Greg Reely – piano , mixing...
(1990) - Last RightsLast Rights (album)-Personnel:*Nivek Ogre - vocals*cEvin Key - synthesizer, drums, percussion, guitar, bass, production*Dwayne Goettel - keyboards, synthesizer, guitar*Dave Ogilvie *Ken Marshall *Anthony Valcic...
(1992) - The Process (1996)
- The Greater Wrong of the RightThe Greater Wrong of the RightThe Greater Wrong of the Right is the ninth studio album by Skinny Puppy. It was their first new full-length LP since 1996's The Process. It was also their first album since 1985's Bites without the support of deceased keyboardist Dwayne Goettel...
(2004) - MythmakerMythmakerMythmaker is the tenth studio album by industrial group Skinny Puppy. It was released on January 30, 2007.Lead vocalist Nivek Ogre said the band took a simplified approach, but that it was a difficult record to make...
(2007) - HanDoverHanDover- Personnel :* Ogre: vocals, synths* Cevin Key: synths, percussion, electronics, guitar, theremin* Mark Walk: programming, guitar, bass* Ken "Hiwatt" Marshall: programming, synths, FX* Traz Damji: additional programming, synths* Saki Kaskas: guitar-Charts:...
(Oct. 25, 2011)
with Download
Download (band)
Download is an electronic music group formed by Dwayne Goettel and cEvin Key of Skinny Puppy in 1994. The initial lineup also included Off & Gone's Phil Western and Mark Spybey of Dead Voices on Air, but has since been particularly fluid, with Key and Western being the only constant members...
- FurnaceFurnace (album)-Personnel:*Dwayne Goettel*Philth*Mark Spybey*cEvin Key*Genesis P. Orridge...
- MicroscopicMicroscopic (EP)Microscopic is a 1996 EPs by the industrial music group Download. It was one of the first releases with a lenticular cover. Their previous LP, Furnace, also made use of this new type of packaging.-Track listing:-Personnel:*Dwayne Goettel*Philth...
- Charlie's FamilyCharlie's FamilyCharlie's Family is the third LP release by the industrial music group Download. It was initially released through Download's 1996 tour in a limited run of 2,000 copies, though it was later re-issued as a digipak through Metropolis Records in 1997...
- SidewinderSidewinder (EP)Sidewinder is an EP by Industrial music group Download released in 1996.-Track listing:# "Sidewinder " – 5:52# "Glassblower " – 3:30# "Base Metal " – 4:29# "Chalice" – 3:06# "Shemaesin" – 5:42# "IM5" – 3:25...
- The Eyes of Stanley PainThe Eyes of Stanley PainThe Eyes of Stanley Pain is an album by Download.-Track listing:# "Suni C" – 5:29# "Possession" – 4:07# "The Turin Cloud" – 4:31# "Glassblower" – 3:01# "H Sien Influence" – 4:45# "Base Metal" – 5:00# "Collision" – 10:37# "Sidewinder" – 4:18...
- IIIIII (Download album)III is an IDM album by Download.-Tracklist:# "Toooly Hooof" – 4:36# "Cunning" – 6:02# "Moth" – 6:59# "Tunnel" – 3:49# "Mzeo B" – 4:31# "Streaked" – 4:33# "Flight Of the Luminous Insects" – 6:11# "Beauty In the Eyes" – 6:12# "Sleeping Solus" – 6:21...
- EffectorEffector (album)- Track listing :# "Carrier Tone" – 4:02# "Muscaria" – 5:09# "Vagator" – 6:12# "Ego Dissolve" – 5:31# "The Guide" – 5:27# "Chrysanthemum" – 5:03# "Ayahuasca" – 3:55# "Two Worlds Collide" – 6:44# "Affirmed" – 4:04...
- Inception
- III Steps ForwardIII Steps ForwardIII Steps Forward is a 2002 album by the band Download. It is a collection of new material, as well as outtakes from their albums III and Effector.-Track listing:# "Sticky Glandstin" – 3:14# "Dakota" – 4:30...
- Fixer
- HElicopTErHelicopterA helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
with platEAU
Plateau (band)
PlatEAU is an electronic music project featuring cEvin Key and Phil Western. The project resembles a very loose approach to the Download project featuring the same members. The song names and album titles refer to the coffeeshop culture of Amsterdam in The Netherlands implying a "trip" throughtheir...
- Music For Grass BarsMusic for Grass Bars-Track listing:#"Schipol" – 2:53#"Noorderlight" – 5:12#"Dutch Flowers" – 7:29#"Crypto" – 4:54#"White Widow" – 4:00#"Urban Chillage" – 4:30#"Chateau Plateau" – 4:52#"The Kind" – 4:58#"Superskunk #3" – 3:09#"Purple Passion" – 4:20#"Stench" – 3:13-Notes:...
- SpacecakeSpacecakeSpacecake is an album by Plateau, released in 1999.-Track listing:# "Jack Herrer" – 4:37# "Nam" - 5:12# "Blueberry" – 3:35# "Nocruisin" – 3:46# "Super Silver Haze" – 5:54# "The Search" – 2:12# "K2" – 2:40# "De Fog" – 6:48# "Phuket" – 4:31...
- IceolatorIceolatorIceolator is an album by Plateau, released in 2002. The fourth release of cEvin Key's subscription-only "From the Vault" collection, it is a collection of old and newly released material.-Track listing:# "Iceolator"# "Champagne"# "Manali Cream"...
- KushbushKushbushKushbush is an album by Plateau, released in 2007. It was released as part 4 of 7 of the From the Vault Series 2 series of releases from Subconscious Studios, in a limited edition of 1000...
- Gort Spacebar
with The Tear Garden
The Tear Garden
The Tear Garden is a psychedelic/gothic/electronic band, formed by Edward Ka-Spel of The Legendary Pink Dots and cEvin Key of Skinny Puppy in 1985 after Key served as a sound engineer on tour in Canada for Ka-Spel...
- Tired Eyes Slowly BurningTired Eyes Slowly BurningTired Eyes Slowly Burning is a 1987 LP by The Tear Garden. It is their first full release, with only the EP The Tear Garden released prior...
- The Last Man to FlyThe Last Man to FlyThe Last Man to Fly is The Tear Garden's second full release, released five years after the first.This time cEvin Key's band mate D. Rudolph Goettel from Skinny Puppy became a permanent member of Tear Garden...
- To Be An Angel Blind, The Crippled Soul DivideTo Be an Angel Blind, The Crippled Soul DivideTo Be An Angel Blind, The Crippled Soul Divide is the third album by The Tear Garden, released four years after The Last Man To Fly.This is the first Tear Garden album without Dwayne Goettel, with his death a year previously...
- Crystal MassCrystal MassCrystal Mass is the fourth album by The Tear Garden, released four years after To Be An Angel Blind, The Crippled Soul Divide. It has the same line-up as the previous release.This was their last Crystal Mass album released on Nettwerk....
- The Secret Experiment
- Have a Nice Trip
with Images in Vogue
Images in Vogue
Images in Vogue was a Canadian New Wave group in the 1980s.The band was formed in 1981 in Vancouver, and originally consisted of vocalist Dale Martindale, guitarist Don Gordon , synth players Joe Vizvary and Glen Nelson, bassist Gary Smith and percussionist Kevin Crompton...
- In the House
with Doubting Thomas (Canadian band)
- The Infidel
with Hilt
Hilt (band)
Hilt was a collective group of Vancouver musicians, usually referred to as a side project of the group Skinny Puppy. The group comprised Alan Nelson, a seminal member of many local Vancouver rock and punk groups, on vocals, with cEvin Key and D.R...
- The Flu, 1987, EP (as the Flu)
- Patsy: A Collection Of Absolute Insanity, 1988, LP (as the Flu)
- Call the Ambulance (Before I Hurt Myself), 1989, LP
- Orange Pony, 1991, EP
- Journey to the Center Of the Bowl, 1991, LP
- The Worst Of the Flu, 2003, LP
- Minoot Bowl Dropped the Ball, 2007, LP
with Cyberaktif
Cyberaktif
Cyberaktif was a one-time musical collaboration project between Bill Leeb of the band Front Line Assembly, and cEvin Key and Dwayne Goettel of Skinny Puppy...
- Tenebrae Vision
Solo
- Music for CatsMusic for CatsMusic For Cats is the first solo album by cEvin Key released in 1998.-Track listing:All tracks composed by cEvin Key.# "Musik Für Cats" – 1:31# "Wind On Small Paws" – 6:43# "Meteorite" – 10:18# "Bird" – 8:35# "Blotter" – 4:29...
(1998) - The Ghost of Each RoomThe Ghost of Each RoomThe Ghost of Each Room is the second solo album by cEvin Key released in 2001.- Track listing :All tracks by cEvin Key.# "Bobs Shadow" – 4:59# "Tatayama" – 5:52# "Horopter" – 6:01# "15th Shade" – 3:42# "Sklang" – 3:10# "Frozen Sky" – 3:52...
(2001) - The Dragon ExperienceThe Dragon ExperienceThe Dragon Experience is an album by cEvin Key & Ken 'hiwatt' Marshall released in 2003.The model on the cover is Spencer Elden, who was also the baby on the cover of Nirvana's 1991 album Nevermind.- Track listing :#"Shortwave Connector" – 5:14...
(2003, with Ken Marshall)
External links
- Subconscious Communications, the official cEvin Key web site
- Scaremeister, a scoring & remix team based out of Subconscious Studios
- cEvin Key's Official Facebook Page
- cEvin Key discography at Discogs.com
- cEvin Key at Last.fmLast.fmLast.fm is a music website, founded in the United Kingdom in 2002. It has claimed 30 million active users in March 2009. On 30 May 2007, CBS Interactive acquired Last.fm for UK£140m ....
- Interview at Billboard Magazine