Fischerspooner
Encyclopedia
Fischerspooner is an electroclash
duo and performance troupe formed in 1998 in New York
. The name is a portmanteau of the founders' last names, Warren Fischer and Casey Spooner
. Spiking retro
electropop tendencies (arguably similar to Kraftwerk
, early Pet Shop Boys
, and Gary Numan
) Fischerspooner utilizes a modern approach to programming.
, the group grew to over 20 performers, most of whom are dancers and guest vocalists. "We started as a performance art piece about entertainment that ultimately became legitimate entertainment", said Casey Spooner, when talking about the group's origins in an April 2009 interview.
, has been released on several record labels, including International DJ Gigolo, Ministry of Sound
and Capitol Records
, and includes their hit singles "Sweetness", "Emerge", and a cover of Wire
's "the 15th
". In the final months of 2004, Fischerspooner opened up their FS Studios in New York City
to the public for a few hours once a week, allowing people to meet the band and production team, as well as preview new video, music and dance projects that they were working on.
, but more accurately electropop. "Odyssey was really about being on Capitol, which was this icon of classic American music, trying to embrace that cliché and find a way to embody it and infiltrate it and take it apart at the same time", says Spooner.
The lead single, "Just Let Go
", featured live drums and guitars, a very different sound than heard on their first album. It was featured on Season 2 Episode 15 of Nip/Tuck
as was "All We Are" on Season 3, Episode 1. The second single, "Never Win", went on to become the album's biggest hit, and was well received in both clubs and radio, as well as being used in the 2005 Happy Madison
movie, Grandma's Boy. "A Kick in the Teeth" was rumored to be the album's third, and possibly final, single but was only pressed on 12" that included a remix by Tiefschwarz
. This was followed quietly by a 12" of "We Need a War" with a mix by DJ Hell. Other remixes believed to have been done are of "All We Are" and "Get Confused".
After the album's release, Fischerspooner toured a new, more elaborate show in Europe, but the band found themselves without the funds to tour the show fully in North America. "I was incredibly frustrated because I had worked two years on this huge record and I was only able to perform for three months", recalls Spooner, who subsequently retreated to his theatrical roots, joining experimental New York performance ensemble The Wooster Group
. During this period it was unclear whether the band would record together again, and in May 2007 they were released from their Capitol Records
recording contract.
. The track includes a remix package from the likes of Autokratz
, Tocadisco, Alex Gopher, The Passions and Tony Senghore. Fischerspooner also released "Danse en France" as a single on the Kitsuné label.
Warren and Casey subsequently began to work on more material for a new album while Casey was performing the role of Ophelia's brother Laertes in The Wooster Group's production of Hamlet (Fischerspooner also contributed two original songs to the production).
Released in North America via the band's own label FS Studios on May 4, 2009, Entertainment is their third full-length album and was produced by Jeff Saltzman (The Killers, The Black Keys, The Sounds).
The album's cover was listed on Pitchfork's worst album covers of 2009.
Electroclash
Electroclash is a style of music that fuses New Wave and electronic dance music. It emerged in New York and Detroit in the later 1990s, pioneered by acts including I-F and those associated with Gerald Donald, and is associated with acts including Peaches, Adult, and Fischerspooner...
duo and performance troupe formed in 1998 in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. The name is a portmanteau of the founders' last names, Warren Fischer and Casey Spooner
Casey Spooner
Casey Spooner is an American artist and musician. He was born in Athens, Georgia and resides in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Spooner is openly gay. While attending the Art Institute of Chicago he met Warren Fischer. The two went on to cofound Fischerspooner in New York in 1998.Spooner has submitted...
. Spiking retro
Retro
Retro is a culturally outdated or aged style, trend, mode, or fashion, from the overall postmodern past, that has since that time become functionally or superficially the norm once again. The use of "retro" style iconography and imagery interjected into post-modern art, advertising, mass media, etc...
electropop tendencies (arguably similar to Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk is an influential electronic music band from Düsseldorf, Germany. The group was formed by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider in 1970, and was fronted by them until Schneider's departure in 2008...
, early Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys are an English electronic dance music duo, consisting of Neil Tennant, who provides main vocals, keyboards and occasional guitar, and Chris Lowe on keyboards....
, and Gary Numan
Gary Numan
Gary Numan is an English singer, composer, and musician, most widely known for his chart-topping 1979 hits "Are 'Friends' Electric?" and "Cars". His signature sound consisted of heavy synthesizer hooks fed through guitar effects pedals.Numan is considered a pioneer of commercial electronic music...
) Fischerspooner utilizes a modern approach to programming.
Career
Originally a duo formed by classically trained musician Warren Fischer and video-artist and experimental theater performer Casey Spooner for an impromptu rendition of their makeshift track "Indian Cab Driver" at the Astor Place StarbucksStarbucks
Starbucks Corporation is an international coffee and coffeehouse chain based in Seattle, Washington. Starbucks is the largest coffeehouse company in the world, with 17,009 stores in 55 countries, including over 11,000 in the United States, over 1,000 in Canada, over 700 in the United Kingdom, and...
, the group grew to over 20 performers, most of whom are dancers and guest vocalists. "We started as a performance art piece about entertainment that ultimately became legitimate entertainment", said Casey Spooner, when talking about the group's origins in an April 2009 interview.
#1 (2001)
Their debut album, #11 (Fischerspooner album)
#1 is the first full length album by electroclash duo Fischerspooner released in 2001. The album originally received a limited run on International Deejay Gigolos Records, and contained "The 15th", a cover of a Wire song from their album 154. #1 has been re-pressed several times with a different...
, has been released on several record labels, including International DJ Gigolo, Ministry of Sound
Ministry of Sound
Ministry of Sound London, commonly referred to as simply Ministry of Sound or MoS, is a nightclub based in London, United Kingdom and an associated record label. It was ranked fourth in the 2010 DJ Magazine top 100 clubs poll 2010. As well as the nightclub in London, there is another in Egypt and...
and Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
, and includes their hit singles "Sweetness", "Emerge", and a cover of Wire
Wire (band)
Wire are an English rock band, formed in London in October 1976 by Colin Newman , Graham Lewis , Bruce Gilbert , and Robert Gotobed...
's "the 15th
The 15th
The 15th is a song from the 1979 album 154 by the English rock band Wire. It was written by Colin Newman.-Fischerspooner cover:Electroclash band Fischerspooner covered The 15th as the second single from their debut album #1.-Charts:...
". In the final months of 2004, Fischerspooner opened up their FS Studios in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
to the public for a few hours once a week, allowing people to meet the band and production team, as well as preview new video, music and dance projects that they were working on.
Odyssey (2005)
In 2005, Odyssey, the band's second album, was released to critical acclaim. The album featured more structured songs that weren't really electroclashElectroclash
Electroclash is a style of music that fuses New Wave and electronic dance music. It emerged in New York and Detroit in the later 1990s, pioneered by acts including I-F and those associated with Gerald Donald, and is associated with acts including Peaches, Adult, and Fischerspooner...
, but more accurately electropop. "Odyssey was really about being on Capitol, which was this icon of classic American music, trying to embrace that cliché and find a way to embody it and infiltrate it and take it apart at the same time", says Spooner.
The lead single, "Just Let Go
Just Let Go
"Just Let Go" was the first single from Fischerspooner's second album Odyssey.It was featured on Season 2 Episode 15 of Nip/Tuck.-Credits:Produced by FischerspoonerMixed by Mark ‘Spike’ Stent at Olympic StudiosVocals and Lyrics: Casey Spooner...
", featured live drums and guitars, a very different sound than heard on their first album. It was featured on Season 2 Episode 15 of Nip/Tuck
Nip/Tuck
Nip/Tuck is an American drama series created by Ryan Murphy, which aired on FX in the United States. The series focuses on McNamara/Troy, a plastic surgery practice, and follows its founders, Sean McNamara and Christian Troy...
as was "All We Are" on Season 3, Episode 1. The second single, "Never Win", went on to become the album's biggest hit, and was well received in both clubs and radio, as well as being used in the 2005 Happy Madison
Happy Madison
Happy Madison Productions is an American film/television production company founded by actor/comedian Adam Sandler in 1999 that is best known for comedy films. Happy Madison takes its name from the films Happy Gilmore and Billy Madison, two box office successes starring Sandler himself, both...
movie, Grandma's Boy. "A Kick in the Teeth" was rumored to be the album's third, and possibly final, single but was only pressed on 12" that included a remix by Tiefschwarz
Tiefschwarz
Tiefschwarz is an electro house group comprising brothers, Alexander "Ali" and Sebastian "Basti" Schwarz, which formed in Stuttgart in 1996. Peter Hoff, who runs the Benztown studios in Stuttgart, joined later, and completed the first Tiefschwarz production team...
. This was followed quietly by a 12" of "We Need a War" with a mix by DJ Hell. Other remixes believed to have been done are of "All We Are" and "Get Confused".
After the album's release, Fischerspooner toured a new, more elaborate show in Europe, but the band found themselves without the funds to tour the show fully in North America. "I was incredibly frustrated because I had worked two years on this huge record and I was only able to perform for three months", recalls Spooner, who subsequently retreated to his theatrical roots, joining experimental New York performance ensemble The Wooster Group
The Wooster Group
The Wooster Group is a New York City-based experimental theater company known for creating numerous original dramatic works. It gradually emerged during 1975-1980 from Richard Schechner's The Performance Group and took its name in 1980...
. During this period it was unclear whether the band would record together again, and in May 2007 they were released from their Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
recording contract.
Entertainment (2009)
Early European gig recordings of "The Best Revenge" surfaced on the internet during summer 2007. "The Best Revenge" was released on January 14, 2008 with French label Kitsune MusicKitsuné Music
Kitsuné is a French fashion label and electronic music record label created in 2002 by Gildas Loaëc, Masaya Kuroki and the London-based company Åbäke...
. The track includes a remix package from the likes of Autokratz
AutoKratz
autoKratz are a London based electronic duo composed of David Cox and Russell Crank. They are signed to the French electronic label Kitsuné Music....
, Tocadisco, Alex Gopher, The Passions and Tony Senghore. Fischerspooner also released "Danse en France" as a single on the Kitsuné label.
Warren and Casey subsequently began to work on more material for a new album while Casey was performing the role of Ophelia's brother Laertes in The Wooster Group's production of Hamlet (Fischerspooner also contributed two original songs to the production).
Released in North America via the band's own label FS Studios on May 4, 2009, Entertainment is their third full-length album and was produced by Jeff Saltzman (The Killers, The Black Keys, The Sounds).
The album's cover was listed on Pitchfork's worst album covers of 2009.
Band members
- Warren Fischer – composerComposerA composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
- Casey SpoonerCasey SpoonerCasey Spooner is an American artist and musician. He was born in Athens, Georgia and resides in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Spooner is openly gay. While attending the Art Institute of Chicago he met Warren Fischer. The two went on to cofound Fischerspooner in New York in 1998.Spooner has submitted...
– songwriterSongwriterA songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
, vocals - Sam Kearney – guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
- Peanuts, aka Jeremiah Clancy – attendant to Casey, actorActorAn actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
- Cindy Greene – vocals
- Lizzy Yoder – vocals
- Ian Pai – musical director, drums
- Vanessa Walters – choreographer, dancer
- Stephanie Dixon – dancer
Albums
- Bootleg (self-titled, with PS1 Cover Artwork) (1998)
- Fischerspooner (2000) – "For Those Who Know" release
- #1 or Best Album Ever1 (Fischerspooner album)#1 is the first full length album by electroclash duo Fischerspooner released in 2001. The album originally received a limited run on International Deejay Gigolos Records, and contained "The 15th", a cover of a Wire song from their album 154. #1 has been re-pressed several times with a different...
, originally titled Best Album Ever, "International DJ Gigolos" release in 2001, Ministry of Sound release in 2002, Capitol Records reissue with DVD in 2003 - Odyssey (2005) US #172
- Entertainment (2009)
Singles
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
U.S. Dance |
|||
| 2001 | "Emerge Emerge (song) "Emerge" is an electroclash song and the first single from debut album #1 by Fischerspooner. The song was originally released in 2001 through International DeeJay Gigolo Records and later jointly rereleased in 2002 by Fischerspooner's imprint label FS Studios and Ministry of Sound... ” |
127 | — | #1 or Best Album Ever |
| 2002 | "Emerge Emerge (song) "Emerge" is an electroclash song and the first single from debut album #1 by Fischerspooner. The song was originally released in 2001 through International DeeJay Gigolo Records and later jointly rereleased in 2002 by Fischerspooner's imprint label FS Studios and Ministry of Sound... " (rerelease) |
25 | 18 | |
| "The 15th The 15th The 15th is a song from the 1979 album 154 by the English rock band Wire. It was written by Colin Newman.-Fischerspooner cover:Electroclash band Fischerspooner covered The 15th as the second single from their debut album #1.-Charts:... " |
— | 21 | ||
| 2003 | "L.A. Song" / "Sweetness" | — | — | |
| 2005 | "Just Let Go Just Let Go "Just Let Go" was the first single from Fischerspooner's second album Odyssey.It was featured on Season 2 Episode 15 of Nip/Tuck.-Credits:Produced by FischerspoonerMixed by Mark ‘Spike’ Stent at Olympic StudiosVocals and Lyrics: Casey Spooner... " |
20 | 7 | Odyssey |
| "Never Win" | 55 | 17 | ||
| "A Kick In The Teeth" / "All We Are" | — | — | ||
| 2006 | "We Need A War" | — | — | |
| 2008 | "The Best Revenge" | — | — | Entertainment |
| "Danse En France" | — | — | ||
| 2009 | "Supply & Demand" | — | — | |
| "We Are Electric" | — | — | ||
| 2011 | "Infidels Of The World Unite" | — | — |
Music videos
- "Emerge" – Original version (2000)
- "Emerge" – Skin version (2003)
- "The 15th" (2003)
- "Sweetness" (2003)
- "Just Let Go" (2005)
- "Never Win" (2005)
- "Never Win" – Mirwais version (2005)
- "All We Are" (made for a Coca-Cola project by Rex & Tennant) (2006)
- "Get Confused" (2008)
- "We Are Electric" (2009)
- "The Best Revenge" (2011)