Lo Presher
Encyclopedia
Lo Presher is an American rock band formed in 1992 in Brevard County, Florida
. The band released three studio albums and toured extensively, including performances on the Vans Warped Tour. The band is usually classified under Surf Rock, but fans are credited with labeling their style as Tribal Alternative, a musical movement popular in the U.S. underground independent scene of the late nineties, of which the band is credited for influencing. They are best known for their work on musical soundtracks for extreme sports videos and for their live, theatrical percussion performances in which they play homemade instruments. The band's name is sometimes credited as Lo Pressure or Low Pressure
, by brothers Thaddeus and Nate Cranston and lifelong neighborhood friend Jimi Beach
. Drummer Patrick Wilkey became a member in 1994. The group made their indie record debut in 1992 with The Dreamstorm Collection, which found favor in the underground surf community. Songs from the album appeared on various feature length surf films and attained international distribution.
After shunning interest from a variety of independent record labels, the band decided to create their own production company and formed Everything Records (EVREC) in 1995. Throughout the mid-nineties the band, acting as the production company, produced several showcases and events that promoted other up and coming bands and DJ's throughout the state of Florida (US). Earthvibe held in June 1995 at the Volusia County Fairgrounds in Daytona Beach, Florida helped to mark the early careers of such notable DJs as Andy Hughes
, Chang, and DJ Sandy.
In late 1995, the band teamed up with world champion surfer/musician Tom Curren
on a national tour to promote Ocean Aid, a non-profit environmental awareness agency. The tour was visually archived by Sonny Miller, one of the surf culture
's most celebrated and respected cinematographers. Tour stops along the East Coast often spawned impromptu jams and cameo appearances by several noted musicians such as world champion surfer/musician Kelly Slater
and David Setgast founder of the famous surf music haunt, the Groove Tube in Indialantic, Florida.
The band continued to create music for extreme sports and movie soundtracks including the Surf NRG series by Surfer magazine's Kevin Welsh who claimed "Lo Presher is one of my favorite bands, those guys are definitely a unique, creative group of individuals."
In 1996, the band teamed with manager Jim Hayek to record their second LP Icon Jungle in Miami, Florida. Hayek approached Warped Tour
founder Kevin Lyman
with the band's proposal for an Independent Artist Stage and sponsor area known as the Surf Compound. The band went on to manage, produce and perform on this independent stage throughout the 1996 tour. That year, the stage notoriously showcased the talents of several notable underground bands such as The Tom Curren Band, Donovan Frankenreiter's Sunchild, Mark McGrath
's Sugar Ray
, Peter King, and the X-Members featuring Ray Bones of the famous Bones Brigade skate posse.
In 1997 the band toured again with the Vans Warped Tour, sharing the tour bus with Swedish punk band, Millencolin
. During this period the band was sponsored by Jägermeister
, and contributed to an indie promotional program called the Jägermeister Music Tour
. Notable performances included a show at Hollywood California's famed Opium Den, where the band introduced their homemade percussive instruments known as "spikestands" to the press.
In 1999 the band recorded Indigenous Species at Full Sail Studios in Orlando, Florida. The album was dedicated to the firefighters that fought to save Lo Presher's wooded studio from the Florida firestorms that raged across the state that year.
Lo Presher's last live performance was at the House of Blues
in Orlando on July 26, 2003. Plans for a reunion show are said to be in the works. Thad and Nate Cranston continue to produce soundtracks for Everything Records and Jimi Beach has become a recognized artist responsible for creating the designer brands Bluworld of Water and Bong Spirit Vodka
.
, the band constructed electronically wired percussive instruments, called spikestands, out of natural elements found in their rural surroundings. Bamboo, alligator & hog skulls, and turtle shells all provided eye-catching striking surfaces that were then wired with MIDI triggers and routed to a sampler. In a tribute to natural rhythm, all four members would come off their traditional instruments and play a percussion finale called "The Spear".
These exciting rhythmic performances naturally fit in with the emerging rave/electronica scene developing in Florida in the mid-nineties, as Lo Presher headlined several prominent concert events such as Cosmos, Earthvibe, the Zen Festival, and performances at Orlando's notorious rave club Visage. Percussion performances were often accompanied by Hawaiian Fire Knife
dancers and visual projections.
. Many of Lo Presher's songs were centered on environmental issues. The band's name is derived from "low pressure", symbolic spirals found throughout the natural world, that generate energy.
Brevard County, Florida
Brevard County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida, along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2007 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, the population is 536,521, making it the 10th most populous county in the state. Influenced by the presence of the John F. Kennedy Space Center, Brevard...
. The band released three studio albums and toured extensively, including performances on the Vans Warped Tour. The band is usually classified under Surf Rock, but fans are credited with labeling their style as Tribal Alternative, a musical movement popular in the U.S. underground independent scene of the late nineties, of which the band is credited for influencing. They are best known for their work on musical soundtracks for extreme sports videos and for their live, theatrical percussion performances in which they play homemade instruments. The band's name is sometimes credited as Lo Pressure or Low Pressure
Biography
Lo Presher was formed in 1992 in Titusville, FloridaTitusville, Florida
Titusville is a city in Brevard County, Florida in the United States. It is the county seat of Brevard County. Nicknamed Space City, USA, Titusville is on the Indian River, west of Merritt Island and the Kennedy Space Center and south-southwest of the Canaveral National Seashore...
, by brothers Thaddeus and Nate Cranston and lifelong neighborhood friend Jimi Beach
Jimi Beach
James Beach Drummond is an artist, entrepreneur and concert promoter based in Orlando, FL. He is the creator and Executive Producer of the , which was named "Best New Event Launch of 2010" by...
. Drummer Patrick Wilkey became a member in 1994. The group made their indie record debut in 1992 with The Dreamstorm Collection, which found favor in the underground surf community. Songs from the album appeared on various feature length surf films and attained international distribution.
After shunning interest from a variety of independent record labels, the band decided to create their own production company and formed Everything Records (EVREC) in 1995. Throughout the mid-nineties the band, acting as the production company, produced several showcases and events that promoted other up and coming bands and DJ's throughout the state of Florida (US). Earthvibe held in June 1995 at the Volusia County Fairgrounds in Daytona Beach, Florida helped to mark the early careers of such notable DJs as Andy Hughes
Andy Hughes
Andy Hughes was an English electronic music producer from Harrow, Middlesex . He is most known for his work with The Orb, where he helped mix and produce Orbus Terrarum, Orblivion, and Cydonia, as well as The Orb's singles from this period. Hughes left The Orb during the production of Cydonia,...
, Chang, and DJ Sandy.
In late 1995, the band teamed up with world champion surfer/musician Tom Curren
Tom Curren
Tom Curren Tom Curren Tom Curren (born July 3, 1964, in Santa Barbara, California is an American surfer. He was born to father Pat (big-wave legend and shaper) and mother Jeanine. His brother Joe is also a professional surfer and popular photographer and he also has a sister, Anna....
on a national tour to promote Ocean Aid, a non-profit environmental awareness agency. The tour was visually archived by Sonny Miller, one of the surf culture
Surf culture
Surf culture includes the people, language, fashion and life surrounding the art of surfing.The culture began early in the 20th century, spread quickly during the 1950s and 1960s, and continues to evolve. It affected fashion, music, literature, films, jargon, and more...
's most celebrated and respected cinematographers. Tour stops along the East Coast often spawned impromptu jams and cameo appearances by several noted musicians such as world champion surfer/musician Kelly Slater
Kelly Slater
Robert Kelly Slater is an American professional surfer known for his competitive prowess and style. He has been crowned ASP World Champion a record 11 times, including 5 consecutive titles from 1994–98. He is the youngest and the oldest to win the title...
and David Setgast founder of the famous surf music haunt, the Groove Tube in Indialantic, Florida.
The band continued to create music for extreme sports and movie soundtracks including the Surf NRG series by Surfer magazine's Kevin Welsh who claimed "Lo Presher is one of my favorite bands, those guys are definitely a unique, creative group of individuals."
In 1996, the band teamed with manager Jim Hayek to record their second LP Icon Jungle in Miami, Florida. Hayek approached Warped Tour
Warped Tour
The Warped Tour is a touring music and extreme sports festival. The tour is held in venues such as parking lots or fields upon which the stages and other structures are erected. The BMX/skateboarding shoe manufacturer Vans, among others, has sponsored the tour every year since 1995, and it is...
founder Kevin Lyman
Kevin Lyman
Kevin Lyman is creator of a touring music and extreme sports festival called the Warped Tour, the Taste of Chaos, and the Mayhem tours. He also is a partner at SideOneDummy Records. He owns 4FINI which annually produces the above-mentioned tours as well as produced past tours such as the Down From...
with the band's proposal for an Independent Artist Stage and sponsor area known as the Surf Compound. The band went on to manage, produce and perform on this independent stage throughout the 1996 tour. That year, the stage notoriously showcased the talents of several notable underground bands such as The Tom Curren Band, Donovan Frankenreiter's Sunchild, Mark McGrath
Mark McGrath
Mark Sayers McGrath is an American singer of the rock band Sugar Ray. McGrath is also known for his work as a co-host of Extra, and he was the host of Don't Forget the Lyrics! in 2010...
's Sugar Ray
Sugar Ray
Sugar Ray is a band from Orange County, California. The band, starting off more as an alternative metal band, first gained fame in 1997 with their release of the song "Fly". This song's success, coupled with its pop rock sound that was quite different from the rest of their material at the time,...
, Peter King, and the X-Members featuring Ray Bones of the famous Bones Brigade skate posse.
In 1997 the band toured again with the Vans Warped Tour, sharing the tour bus with Swedish punk band, Millencolin
Millencolin
Millencolin is a punk rock band that was formed in October 1992 by Nikola Šarčević, Mathias Färm, and Erik Ohlsson in Örebro, Sweden. In early 1993, drummer Fredrik Larzon joined the band...
. During this period the band was sponsored by Jägermeister
Jägermeister
Jägermeister is a German 70-proof digestif made with 56 different herbs and spices. It is the flagship product of Mast-Jägermeister SE, headquartered in Wolfenbüttel, south of Braunschweig, Lower Saxony, Germany.- History :...
, and contributed to an indie promotional program called the Jägermeister Music Tour
Jägermeister Music Tour
The Jägermeister Music Tour is a hard rock, hardcore punk, and heavy metal music tour that has been held twice a year in the United States since 2002. It is owned by the American importer of Jägermeister, Sidney Frank Importing.-History:...
. Notable performances included a show at Hollywood California's famed Opium Den, where the band introduced their homemade percussive instruments known as "spikestands" to the press.
In 1999 the band recorded Indigenous Species at Full Sail Studios in Orlando, Florida. The album was dedicated to the firefighters that fought to save Lo Presher's wooded studio from the Florida firestorms that raged across the state that year.
Lo Presher's last live performance was at the House of Blues
House of Blues
House of Blues is a chain of 13 live music concert halls and restaurants in major markets throughout the United States. House of Blues first location was in Cambridge's Harvard Square. It was opened in 1992 by Isaac Tigrett, co-founder of Hard Rock Cafe, and Dan Aykroyd, star of The Blues Brothers...
in Orlando on July 26, 2003. Plans for a reunion show are said to be in the works. Thad and Nate Cranston continue to produce soundtracks for Everything Records and Jimi Beach has become a recognized artist responsible for creating the designer brands Bluworld of Water and Bong Spirit Vodka
Bong Spirit Vodka
Bong Spirit Vodka is a super premium vodka, sold in a bottle shaped like a bong. It is made from European grain, distilled six times and filtered through four processes, using reverse osmosis and charcoal filtering. It is distributed in the United States by Southern Wine & Spirits, , and...
.
Homemade instruments and the electronic music scene
Lo Presher's popularity has been attributed by many to the tribal percussive performances that the band closed each live show with. Raised in the wooded swamps and seashores of Central FloridaCentral Florida
Central Florida is a regional designation for the area surrounding Orlando in east central Florida, United States. The area represents the third largest population concentration in Florida, after the South Florida and Tampa Bay regions, respectively....
, the band constructed electronically wired percussive instruments, called spikestands, out of natural elements found in their rural surroundings. Bamboo, alligator & hog skulls, and turtle shells all provided eye-catching striking surfaces that were then wired with MIDI triggers and routed to a sampler. In a tribute to natural rhythm, all four members would come off their traditional instruments and play a percussion finale called "The Spear".
These exciting rhythmic performances naturally fit in with the emerging rave/electronica scene developing in Florida in the mid-nineties, as Lo Presher headlined several prominent concert events such as Cosmos, Earthvibe, the Zen Festival, and performances at Orlando's notorious rave club Visage. Percussion performances were often accompanied by Hawaiian Fire Knife
Fire Knife
The fire knife is a traditional Samoan cultural implement that is used in ceremonial dances. It was originally composed of a machete wrapped in towels on both ends with a portion of the blade exposed in the middle. Tribal performers of fire knife dancing dance while twirling the knife and doing...
dancers and visual projections.
Pro-environment
Lo Presher was known throughout the surf and music industry for supporting environmental causes. As long standing members of the Surfrider Foundation, the band often played benefit concerts and sponsored beach cleanups. In 1995 the band toured in support of Ocean Aid with professional surfer and musician Tom CurrenTom Curren
Tom Curren Tom Curren Tom Curren (born July 3, 1964, in Santa Barbara, California is an American surfer. He was born to father Pat (big-wave legend and shaper) and mother Jeanine. His brother Joe is also a professional surfer and popular photographer and he also has a sister, Anna....
. Many of Lo Presher's songs were centered on environmental issues. The band's name is derived from "low pressure", symbolic spirals found throughout the natural world, that generate energy.
Members
- Thaddeus Cranston - lead vocals, guitars, spikestands
- Nate Cranston - guitars, vocals, didgeridoo
- Jimi Beach - bass, percussion, vocals
- Patrick Wilkey - drums
- Lee Towles – (1993) drums
- David Mancini – (1992) drums
- Chris Pariso – (2002-3) guitar, producer
- Jim Hayek - (1996–1998) manager
- Monica Cieri – tour manager
- Sean Drummond – road manager
- Clint Siddens – stage manager
Trivia
- In 1994, the band worked a part-time stint for MGM Studios and served as the house band for the Mickey Mouse ClubMickey Mouse ClubThe Mickey Mouse Club is an American variety television show that began in 1955, produced by Walt Disney Productions and televised by the ABC, featuring a regular but ever-changing cast of teenage performers. The Mickey Mouse Club was created by Walt Disney...
(MMC). The band played on the live set in support of a young Justin TimberlakeJustin TimberlakeJustin Randall Timberlake is an American pop musician and actor. He achieved early fame when he appeared as a contestant on Star Search, and went on to star in the Disney Channel television series The New Mickey Mouse Club, where he met future bandmate JC Chasez...
, Britney SpearsBritney SpearsBritney Jean Spears is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears began performing as a child, landing acting roles in stage productions and television shows. She signed with Jive Records in 1997 and released her debut album...
, Christina AguileraChristina AguileraChristina María Aguilera is an American recording artist and actress. Aguilera first appeared on national television in 1990 as a contestant on the Star Search program, and went on to star in Disney Channel's television series The Mickey Mouse Club from 1993–1994...
, JC Chasez, and Keri Russel. - Surf legend Tom CurrenTom CurrenTom Curren Tom Curren Tom Curren (born July 3, 1964, in Santa Barbara, California is an American surfer. He was born to father Pat (big-wave legend and shaper) and mother Jeanine. His brother Joe is also a professional surfer and popular photographer and he also has a sister, Anna....
used to "chill out" for extended periods at Lo Presher's hidden wooded studio in Florida during the mid-nineties. - Lo Presher's recording and rehearsal studio, known as the "Bat Cave" was surrounded by an out-of-control fire storm in 1999. Forestry helicopters airlifted water from a nearby river and saved the complex.
- Former band manager, Jim Hayek formed one of today's largest "adult entertainment" talent agencies after parting with Lo Presher.
- Lo Presher's transportation on their first national tour was a leased Hertz-Penske moving van. The unheated box truck met with New York's blizzard conditions, forcing members to don their wetsuits in the back of the truck.
- Guitar Player, Nate Cranston was wrongfully accused of child molestation by his crazy, drug-addicted, ex-wife. Through the perils of such an experience Nate has risen stronger, and is fully committed to his relationship with God, and his family.
Albums
| Year | Title | Label | Format | Other information |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | The Dreamstorm Collection | Everything Records | CD/Cassette | First album. |
| 1996 | Icon Jungle | CD | Recorded in Miami, Florida. | |
| 1999 | Indigenous Species | Recorded at Full Sail Studios, Orlando, Florida. |
Compilation albums
| Year | Title | Label | Format | Other information |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | New Music for a Jägermeistered Society | Sidney Frank Importing Co. | CD | Produced and arranged by Jeff Agdern / Sidney Frank Co. |
Videography
| Year | Title | Label | Format | Other information |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | SurfNRG Volume 1 | SurfNRG Videos | VHS | Produced by Kevin Welsh |
| 1992 | IslandNRG | |||
| 1993 | LiquidNRG | |||
| 1994 | NuclearNRG | |||
| 1995 | Feral Kingdom | Rip Curl - World Wave Productions | Produced by Sonny Miller | |
| BlueNRG | SurfNRG Videos | Produced by Kevin Welsh | ||
| 2000 | NRG2000 | |||
| 2002 | Red Tide< | One Eyed Prodictions | ||
| 2003 | Pure Surf |