Entertainment (band) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Entertainment is an American post-punk band founded in 2002 in Athens

Athens, Georgia

Athens-Clarke County is a consolidated city–county in U.S. state of Georgia, in the northeastern part of the state, comprising the former City of Athens proper and Clarke County. The University of Georgia is located in this college town and is responsible for the initial growth of the city...

, Georgia

Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

Biography

Entertainment (originally spelled "eNTERTAINME.nt") was formed in 2002 by Trey Ehart and Bari Donavan Watts after the two met and played together in the early Atlanta dark music scene. Disenchanted with the current state of music and wanting to pursue different sonic ideas, the two formed their own project. The origin of the band name is unknown, but speculations range from a college friend of Ehart's graffiti moniker, to the 1979 release by English post-punk band Gang of Four

Gang of Four

The Gang of Four was the name given to a political faction composed of four Chinese Communist Party officials. They came to prominence during the Cultural Revolution and were subsequently charged with a series of treasonous crimes...

, to even the mental image of "...hard to please concertgoers folding their arms to the idea of being entertained."
After the departure of original bassist Andrew Gleason, the band continued with various other bass players filling in until Ehart and Watts discovered veteran bass player Kimberley Saint Thomas playing in a Bauhaus

Bauhaus (band)

Bauhaus was an English rock band formed in Northampton in 1978. The group consisted of Peter Murphy , Daniel Ash , Kevin Haskins and David J . The band was originally Bauhaus 1919 before they dropped the numerical portion within a year of formation...

cover band at a Halloween party in Athens, GA. To this day, the band continues to tour and play with a series of second guitarists.
Part of the new crop of US underground acts updating the gothic rock aesthetic, Entertainment have toured the US extensively and have performed with both legendary and up and coming artists such as Nina Hagen, Lene Lovich, TV on the Radio, Christian Death, Radio Berlin, Glass Candy, The Prids, Veil Veil Vanish, Faith + the Muse, IAMX, Dead Confederate, Alaric, Dream Affair, Religious to Damn, King Dude, and White Ring.

Releases

After the release of their first single "Safe at One," the band were signed by now-defunct Luminal Records, who released their second single "Patroness." A split 12-inch EP release with Canadian "progressive deathrock" band A Spectre Is Haunting Europe

A Spectre is Haunting Europe

A Spectre Is Haunting Europe is a progressive deathrock band hailing from Vancouver, Canada.-History:A Spectre Is Haunting Europe formed in 2002, during the height of Vancouver's post-punk revival, and were initially billed as Decora...

would soon follow, this time issued by Atlanta label Stickfigure Records

Stickfigure Records

Stickfigure Records is an American record label based in Atlanta, Georgia.It was created in the winter of 1992 to cater to the underground scene of independent music. Its roots were in the new sub-culture rising in the 90s. Many of musical genres, such as hardcore punk, math rock, and emo, were...

. Entertainment released their debut album Gender in 2008 through Stickfigure. It went on to receive extensive critical acclaim and was voted the 2008 deathrock album of the year by Deathrock.com. A remastered 180-gram vinyl version of Gender was then released the following year on New York label Duchess Archive.
In 2011, Entertainment signed to influential Witch House label Disaro Records, and expect to release a new EP in the fall of 2011.

Influences

Influences include The Doors

The Doors

The Doors were an American rock band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, California, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger...

, Love

Love

Love is an emotion of strong affection and personal attachment. In philosophical context, love is a virtue representing all of human kindness, compassion, and affection. Love is central to many religions, as in the Christian phrase, "God is love" or Agape in the Canonical gospels...

, Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...

, Bauhaus

Bauhaus

', commonly known simply as Bauhaus, was a school in Germany that combined crafts and the fine arts, and was famous for the approach to design that it publicized and taught. It operated from 1919 to 1933. At that time the German term stood for "School of Building".The Bauhaus school was founded by...

, Public Image Limited, The Cure

The Cure

The Cure are an English rock band formed in Crawley, West Sussex in 1976. The band has experienced several line-up changes, with frontman, vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter Robert Smith being the only constant member...

, Gang of Four

Gang of Four (band)

Gang of Four are an English post-punk group from Leeds. Original personnel were singer Jon King, guitarist Andy Gill, bass guitarist Dave Allen and drummer Hugo Burnham. They were fully active from 1977 to 1984, and then re-emerged twice in the 1990s with King and Gill...

, Christian Death

Christian Death

Christian Death is an American deathrock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1979. The band was founded and fronted by Rozz Williams. Christian Death is most notable for their first album Only Theatre of Pain....

, Joy Division

Joy Division

Joy Division were an English rock band formed in 1976 in Salford, Greater Manchester. Originally named Warsaw, the band primarily consisted of Ian Curtis , Bernard Sumner , Peter Hook and Stephen Morris .Joy Division rapidly evolved from their initial punk rock influences...

, The Birthday Party

The Birthday Party (band)

The Birthday Party were an Australian rock band, active from 1973 to 1983.Despite being championed by John Peel, The Birthday Party found little commercial success during their career...

, dub

Dub music

Dub is a genre of music which grew out of reggae music in the 1960s, and is commonly considered a subgenre, though it has developed to extend beyond the scope of reggae...

, and krautrock

Krautrock

Krautrock is a generic name for the experimental music scenes that appeared in Germany in the late 1960s and gained popularity throughout the 1970s, especially in Britain. The term is a result of the English-speaking world's reception of the music at the time and not a reference to any one...

Discography

Albums

Singles

EPs

Compilations

External links

Interviews/Reviews

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