Cypher (Perth Band)
Encyclopedia
Cypher is a three piece instrumental band from Perth
, Australia
.
, Noise
and Shoegaze
. Although their music can contain elements of any of these categories, they don't fall into any specific one.
Their sound is often characterised by multiple delay
effects on the guitar, causing a 'wall of sound'. The guitar and bass riffs are often repeated at great length, ebbing and flowing in volume and intensity. The songs can be quite long, sometimes exceeding 15 minutes in length. Live, the band often performs at loud volumes.
The band (now a three piece) released their debut album What's a World Without Laughter in 1999 on the Toronto
based Aporia Records label. Some songs on the album utilised keyboards, so in order to perform the songs live, the band recruited Karli Rob on keyboards.
An album of remixes and some new material was released in 2000. The band performed a small number of performances before Karli left and was replaced on keyboards by Ian Roberston. More performances followed, included a slot on RTRFM
's annual fund raiser 'In the Pines' during which the band were noted for their use of a whipper snipper as an instrument and cooking pancakes onstage for the crowd during their set.
From the end of 2003, the band experienced a hiatus until re-emerging as the current three piece line-up at the end of 2005. An album of previously recorded material Life Changing Sunnies was released in late 2006.
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
Music
Cypher have been variously classified as Post Rock, Space RockSpace rock
Space rock is a subgenre of rock music; the term originally referred to a group of early, mostly British, 1970s progressive and psychedelic rock bands such as Hawkwind and Pink Floyd, characterised by slow, lengthy instrumental passages dominated by electric organs, synthesizers, experimental...
, Noise
Noise music
Noise music is a term used to describe varieties of avant-garde music and sound art that may use elements such as cacophony, dissonance, atonality, noise, indeterminacy, and repetition in their realization. Noise music can feature distortion, various types of acoustically or electronically...
and Shoegaze
Shoegazing
Shoegazing is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged from the United Kingdom in the late 1980s. It lasted there until the mid 1990s, with a critical zenith reached in 1990 and 1991...
. Although their music can contain elements of any of these categories, they don't fall into any specific one.
Their sound is often characterised by multiple delay
Delay (audio effect)
Delay is an audio effect which records an input signal to an audio storage medium, and then plays it back after a period of time. The delayed signal may either be played back multiple times, or played back into the recording again, to create the sound of a repeating, decaying echo.-Early delay...
effects on the guitar, causing a 'wall of sound'. The guitar and bass riffs are often repeated at great length, ebbing and flowing in volume and intensity. The songs can be quite long, sometimes exceeding 15 minutes in length. Live, the band often performs at loud volumes.
Band history
Formed in 1998 as a five piece, the original line-up included Mark Cossom (guitar) and Rob Agostini (vocals). This line-up played several performances and recorded a single in 1998 before Mark and Rob left the band amicably. Their departure caused the style of the music to become focused around longer songs with fewer sections, which gradually built up from quiet beginnings into overpowering crescendos and back down again.The band (now a three piece) released their debut album What's a World Without Laughter in 1999 on the Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
based Aporia Records label. Some songs on the album utilised keyboards, so in order to perform the songs live, the band recruited Karli Rob on keyboards.
An album of remixes and some new material was released in 2000. The band performed a small number of performances before Karli left and was replaced on keyboards by Ian Roberston. More performances followed, included a slot on RTRFM
RTRFM
RTRFM is a not-for-profit, community radio station based in Perth, Western Australia. It is self-funded, largely through listener subscription and fund-raising events, however it does carry some "advertising material" at a maximum of 5 mins per hour. It broadcasts 24 hours a day, on 92.1 in the...
's annual fund raiser 'In the Pines' during which the band were noted for their use of a whipper snipper as an instrument and cooking pancakes onstage for the crowd during their set.
From the end of 2003, the band experienced a hiatus until re-emerging as the current three piece line-up at the end of 2005. An album of previously recorded material Life Changing Sunnies was released in late 2006.
Discography
- "Hi Monica" / "Aquatic Song" (single) (1998)
- What's a World Without Laughter (LP) Aporia (1999)
- Remixes (EP) (2000)
- Life Changing Sunnies (LP) Unit 6 (2006)
External links
- Official Band site
- Band's MySpace site
- Cypher @ MusicBrainzMusicBrainzMusicBrainz is a project that aims to create an open content music database. Similar to the freedb project, it was founded in response to the restrictions placed on the CDDB...