HTRK
Encyclopedia
HTRK is an Australian band formed in 2003.
and based in London since 2007, HTRK started playing in 2003 when guitarist Nigel Yang and bassist Sean Stewart invited vocalist Jonnine Standish to create music inspired by Lynchian
imagery, protopunk
and post industrial ideas. Using a very slow drum machine, minimal bass grooves and highly textured noise, their attitude clashed with the rock 'n roll
status quo
in Australia. HTRK’s first release was the Nostalgia EP
in 2004, originally intended as a demo but later self-released in a limited 500 disc run.
Their live shows soon caught the attention of underground icon Rowland S. Howard
and popular Australian producer Lindsay Gravina, who invited them to record their debut album at Gravina's Birdland Studios. Entitled Marry Me Tonight
and considered something of a pop effort by the band, the album was held in limbo for several years due to a protracted rights dispute.
In 2006, a few months after recording Marry Me Tonight, the trio relocated to Berlin, toured with fellow expatriates Devastations and played their first UK gig at the 20jazzfunkgreats club in Brighton. Upon witnessing a show at the Brixton Windmill, UK label Fire Records
signed HTRK to give the Nostalgia record a wider international release. A 27-date European tour supporting Liars
, and a performance at Glasgow's Optimo
followed in 2007.
In 2008, they began to be managed by Paul Smith
, who organised London shows with Lydia Lunch
and Alan Vega
. Stewart and Standish spent part of the year in Melbourne recording on Rowland S. Howard's final album "Pop Crimes".
Marry Me Tonight finally saw a release in 2009 on Smith's independent label Blast First Petite
and found critical favor from the UK press, scoring 8/10 in NME
, making Artrocker's
best of 2009 list and an office ambience listing in The Wire
. Artist and porn actress Sasha Grey
also named the album in her top three albums in a Stereogum
end of year poll. That year, HTRK were invited by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
, The Horrors
and Fuck Buttons
to embark on various European tours. Their increased profile led to a headline show at Cargo in London in January 2010, which coincided with the release of the first of a series of free mixtapes and appearances in US magazines Alternative Press and Nylon
.
Tragedy struck on 18 March 2010 when Stewart was found dead in his London home from suspected suicide
. Speculation on the Australian music website Mess+Noise was later confirmed in a statement sent to the media. NME published an obituary on 24 April 2010 with tributes from Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Nick Zinner
and The Horrors' Faris Badwan
. Standish and Yang have continued to remain active with a comeback show at the ICA
in London on 29 November 2010 and a new album entitled "Work (work, work)" released on 12 September 2011.
Biography
Originating in MelbourneMelbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
and based in London since 2007, HTRK started playing in 2003 when guitarist Nigel Yang and bassist Sean Stewart invited vocalist Jonnine Standish to create music inspired by Lynchian
David Lynch
David Keith Lynch is an American filmmaker, television director, visual artist, musician and occasional actor. Known for his surrealist films, he has developed his own unique cinematic style, which has been dubbed "Lynchian", and which is characterized by its dream imagery and meticulous sound...
imagery, protopunk
Protopunk
Protopunk is a term used retrospectively to describe a number of musicians who were important precursors of punk rock in the late 1960s to mid-1970s, or who have been cited by early punk musicians as influential...
and post industrial ideas. Using a very slow drum machine, minimal bass grooves and highly textured noise, their attitude clashed with the rock 'n roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
status quo
Status quo
Statu quo, a commonly used form of the original Latin "statu quo" – literally "the state in which" – is a Latin term meaning the current or existing state of affairs. To maintain the status quo is to keep the things the way they presently are...
in Australia. HTRK’s first release was the Nostalgia EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
in 2004, originally intended as a demo but later self-released in a limited 500 disc run.
Their live shows soon caught the attention of underground icon Rowland S. Howard
Rowland S. Howard
Rowland Stuart Howard was an Australian rock musician, guitarist and songwriter, he played electric guitar in the post-punk group The Birthday Party. Howard died of liver cancer in December 2009, aged 50 years....
and popular Australian producer Lindsay Gravina, who invited them to record their debut album at Gravina's Birdland Studios. Entitled Marry Me Tonight
Marry Me Tonight
Marry Me Tonight is the debut album by Berlin-based Australian band HTRK, released on 2 February 2009. Produced by Lindsay Gravina and Rowland S. Howard of The Birthday Party the album is the group's first full-length release and was distributed through record label Blast First Petite...
and considered something of a pop effort by the band, the album was held in limbo for several years due to a protracted rights dispute.
In 2006, a few months after recording Marry Me Tonight, the trio relocated to Berlin, toured with fellow expatriates Devastations and played their first UK gig at the 20jazzfunkgreats club in Brighton. Upon witnessing a show at the Brixton Windmill, UK label Fire Records
Fire Records (UK)
Fire Records is an independent record label in London, England. The label was founded by Clive Solomon in 1986 and is currently run by James Nicholls.-Current roster:*Giant Sand*Guided By Voices*Howe Gelb*Josephine Foster*Wooden Wand*Bobby Conn...
signed HTRK to give the Nostalgia record a wider international release. A 27-date European tour supporting Liars
Liars (band)
Liars is a three-piece band formed in 2000 consisting of Angus Andrew , Aaron Hemphill , and Julian Gross...
, and a performance at Glasgow's Optimo
Optimo
Optimo was a weekly Sunday-night club based in Glasgow, Scotland at the Sub Club on Jamaica Street, as well as a collective moniker for the night's resident DJ duo. Having run every week since it was founded in 1997, on Thursday 11 March 2010, it was announced on the official facebook page that...
followed in 2007.
In 2008, they began to be managed by Paul Smith
Paul Smith (music industry)
Paul Smith is probably best known as the founder and manager of Blast First, the British alternative record label that released artists such as Sonic Youth, the Butthole Surfers, Big Black and Dinosaur Jr. in the UK. He continued to manage the artists and work in the music industry when Blast First...
, who organised London shows with Lydia Lunch
Lydia Lunch
Lydia Lunch is an American singer, poet, writer, and actress whose career was spawned by the New York No Wave scene...
and Alan Vega
Alan Vega
Alan Vega For several years other sources stated that he was born in 1948 – see 'Myth' section is an American vocalist, primarily known for his work with electronic protopunk duo, Suicide...
. Stewart and Standish spent part of the year in Melbourne recording on Rowland S. Howard's final album "Pop Crimes".
Marry Me Tonight finally saw a release in 2009 on Smith's independent label Blast First Petite
Blast First
Blast First is a sub label of one-time independent record label, Mute Records, founded in approximately 1985. It was named after a phrase taken from the first number of the radical Vorticist journal Blast, published by Wyndham Lewis in 1914...
and found critical favor from the UK press, scoring 8/10 in NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
, making Artrocker's
ArtRocker
Artrocker is a UK-based collective involved in music promotion and publishing. It was started by Paul Cox and Tom Fawcett who had been co-promoters of a London night called The Sausage Factory...
best of 2009 list and an office ambience listing in The Wire
The Wire (magazine)
The Wire is a British avant garde music magazine, founded in 1982 by jazz promoter Anthony Wood and journalist Chrissie Murray. The magazine initially concentrated on contemporary jazz and improvised music, but branched out in the early 1990s to various types of experimental music...
. Artist and porn actress Sasha Grey
Sasha Grey
Sasha Grey is an American former pornographic actress, who has since turned to mainstream acting, modeling and music....
also named the album in her top three albums in a Stereogum
Stereogum
Stereogum was one of the first MP3 blogs. It was created by Scott Lapatine in January 2002 with a focus on independent and alternative music news, downloads, videos, and gossip. Stereogum has received several awards and citations, including the 2008 Plug Award for best music blog, Blender's...
end of year poll. That year, HTRK were invited by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Yeah Yeah Yeahs are an American indie rock band formed in New York City in 2000. The group is composed of vocalist and pianist Karen O, guitarist and keyboardist Nick Zinner, and drummer Brian Chase. They are complemented in live performances by second guitarist David Pajo, who joined as a touring...
, The Horrors
The Horrors
The Horrors are an English band from Southend on Sea, formed in 2005. Their debut Strange House, was released in 2007 and reached number thirty-seven on the UK Albums Chart, their second album Primary Colours was released in 2009 and peaked at number 25 in the UK...
and Fuck Buttons
Fuck Buttons
Fuck Buttons are a two-piece electronic group formed in Bristol in 2004 by Andrew Hung and Benjamin John Power.-Biography:Hung and Power grew up in Worcester. Hung was influenced by Aphex Twin, while Power was a fan of Mogwai. They developed a friendship in 2004 while attending art school in...
to embark on various European tours. Their increased profile led to a headline show at Cargo in London in January 2010, which coincided with the release of the first of a series of free mixtapes and appearances in US magazines Alternative Press and Nylon
Nylon (magazine)
Nylon is an American magazine that focuses on pop culture and fashion. Its coverage includes art, beauty, music, design, celebrities, technology and travel...
.
Tragedy struck on 18 March 2010 when Stewart was found dead in his London home from suspected suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
. Speculation on the Australian music website Mess+Noise was later confirmed in a statement sent to the media. NME published an obituary on 24 April 2010 with tributes from Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Nick Zinner
Nick Zinner
Nicholas Joseph Zinner is the guitarist for the New York rock band Yeah Yeah Yeahs. He is known for his "unmistakable" wild hair, skinny physique, and pale appearance...
and The Horrors' Faris Badwan
Faris Badwan
Faris Badwan is a British musician, best known for being the lead vocalist for the English Alternative Rock band The Horrors, and more recently one half of his side project Cat's Eyes with Rachel Zeffira.-Early life:...
. Standish and Yang have continued to remain active with a comeback show at the ICA
Institute of Contemporary Arts
The Institute of Contemporary Arts is an artistic and cultural centre on The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. It is located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps and Admiralty Arch...
in London on 29 November 2010 and a new album entitled "Work (work, work)" released on 12 September 2011.
Members
- Jonnine Standish - vocals, percussion
- Sean Stewart (died 18 March 2010) - bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, programmingProgramming (music)Programming is a form of music production and performance using electronic devices, often sequencers or computer programs, to generate music. Programming is used in nearly all forms of electronic music and in most hip hop music since the 1990s. It is also frequently used in modern pop and rock... - Nigel Yang - 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...
, programmingProgramming (music)Programming is a form of music production and performance using electronic devices, often sequencers or computer programs, to generate music. Programming is used in nearly all forms of electronic music and in most hip hop music since the 1990s. It is also frequently used in modern pop and rock...
, electronicsElectronic musical instrumentAn electronic musical instrument is a musical instrument that produces its sounds using electronics. Such an instrument sounds by outputting an electrical audio signal that ultimately drives a loudspeaker....
Studio albums
- Marry Me TonightMarry Me TonightMarry Me Tonight is the debut album by Berlin-based Australian band HTRK, released on 2 February 2009. Produced by Lindsay Gravina and Rowland S. Howard of The Birthday Party the album is the group's first full-length release and was distributed through record label Blast First Petite...
(Blast First PetiteBlast FirstBlast First is a sub label of one-time independent record label, Mute Records, founded in approximately 1985. It was named after a phrase taken from the first number of the radical Vorticist journal Blast, published by Wyndham Lewis in 1914...
, 2009) - Work (work, work) (Ghostly InternationalGhostly InternationalGhostly International is an American independent record label. Chief artists include Matthew Dear, Dabrye , Mobius Band, and Skeletons & The Girl-Faced Boys, all of which are innovative contributors to the world of music....
, 2011)
EPs
- Nostalgia (self-released, 2004; re-released through Fire RecordsFire Records (UK)Fire Records is an independent record label in London, England. The label was founded by Clive Solomon in 1986 and is currently run by James Nicholls.-Current roster:*Giant Sand*Guided By Voices*Howe Gelb*Josephine Foster*Wooden Wand*Bobby Conn...
, 2007) - Keep Mother 6 (Fire Records, 2007)
Singles
- HA/Panties (live) (Blast First Petite, 2008)
- Disco/Suitcase (Blast First Petite, 2009)
External links
- yourcomicbookfantasy.com Official site
- htrk.tumblr.com Official blog