Naked Lunch (band)
Encyclopedia
Naked Lunch is a band from Klagenfurt
, Austria
, founded in 1991
. They started out as an alternative rock
band mixing hard rock guitars and fragile vocals. In the nineties, they connected with the German The Notwist
/Weilheim
musical scene with whom they still have their ties. In fact, their producer, Olaf Opal, is also working for The Notwist.
The Carinthian
group's album Songs for the Exhausted
was recorded after a long hiatus (a time when the band nearly collapsed) and saw the band abandon their rock roots and turn to a more experimental, electronic approach to their songs.
Today, they have a cult following in Austria and Germany. In 2007, a new album, This Atom Heart of Ours, was released.
by William S. Burroughs
. The first incarnation of the band was made up of Oliver Welter (vocals and guitar), Georg Timber-Trattnig (bass) and Peter Hornbogner (drums).
Soon after their formation, they sent out demos and were signed on the spot by German Big Store Records, where a first release came out, the 6-track-mini-LP Naked. The year after that, a full-length album followed, titled Balsam. After that, bassist Trattnig left the band to focus on his writing. He died in 2000 due to alcoholism
. The song "King George" on Songs for the Exhausted
is written about his death.
Trattnig was replaced with Herwig Zamernik (of Disharmonic Orchestra
). Zamernik and Welter remained the core of the band to this day.
After a first few successes, the band became hungry for an international breakthrough, but despite playing showcases for major record companies, it took a few years before they were signed by Mercury Records
.
, New York City
and San Francisco. They shot a high-profile video for "Tambourine" (the single was mixed by Alan Moulder
) in Brazil
, where they also damaged equipment on stage; they were arrested in London, where some of the members had relocated. But still, big success did not take place.
Soon after that, Stefan Deisenberger joined on keyboards and synths.
In 1999, Love Junkies was released and the single "Closed today" was a minor hit internationally (and also the band's biggest so far), but the album did not sell well. Naked Lunch cut their ties with their label and signed with Virgin Records
, where the same record got re-released. But it also flopped on second try and Virgin dropped them.
Back to life, Naked Lunch entered the studio again and were all set to record another, perhaps their final album. The old indie rock-concepts were abandoned in favour for a new working technique involving intensive work with computers. Songs for the Exhausted
was recorded in Herwig Zamerniks own studio, the "Fuzzroom" in Klagenfurt
over the course of a year. Prior to the recording, drummer and founding member Peter "Bogs" Hornbogner left the band - he was later replaced by Thorsten Thonhauser (although most drum tracks on the album were played by session drummers or were programmed). Shortly before the completion of the session, the studio burned down. Zamernik has subsequently built a new "Fuzzroom".
After the recording was finished, the band faced new problems. They were unable to find a record company willing to release the record, which was considered too sad, depressing and generally non-commercial. Finally in 2004, Motor Music Records put their effort out and Naked Lunch were facing generally very good reviews and surprisingly good sales.
In the aftermath, Naked Lunch put out an EP, Stay in 2005 and contributed music to befriended film-maker Thomas Woschitz's project Sperrstunde, which was screened to live backing music by the band. Also, Herwig Zamernik released a solo record, dubbed Fuzzman on Wohnzimmer Records.
In 2006, they composed the music for the episode "Bis in den Tod" of the Austrian mystery serial 8x45 and in 2007 the music for the Elisabeth Scharang TV movie Franz Fuchs - Ein Patriot starring Karl Markovics
.
A new album, This Atom Heart of Ours was released on January 19, 2007. It is the first to include new drummer, Alex Jezdinsky (formerly of Angelika Express
), following the departure of Thorsten Thonhauser. Yet it is uncertain if Jezdinsky is a full member, hence he does not appear on any of the promotion photos for the new record nor in the video to the single "Military of the Heart".
The album entered the Austrian longplay charts at #25. In 2008, they composed the film score of Universalove
by Thomas Woschitz.
Klagenfurt
-Name:Carinthia's eminent linguists Primus Lessiak and Eberhard Kranzmayer assumed that the city's name, which literally translates as "ford of lament" or "ford of complaints", had something to do with the superstitious thought that fateful fairies or demons tend to live around treacherous waters...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, founded in 1991
1991 in music
See also:* 1991 in music Record labels established in 1991-Summary:The year 1991 is the year that grunge music made its popular breakthrough. Nirvana's Nevermind, led by the surprise hit single "Smells Like Teen Spirit", becomes the most popular U.S. album of the year...
. They started out as an alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band mixing hard rock guitars and fragile vocals. In the nineties, they connected with the German The Notwist
The Notwist
The Notwist are a German indie rock band. Formed in 1989, the band moved through several musical incarnations despite maintaining a relatively stable lineup...
/Weilheim
Weilheim in Oberbayern
Weilheim in Oberbayern is a town in Germany, the capital of the district Weilheim-Schongau in the south of Bavaria.Weilheim has an old city-wall, historic houses and a museum.-Sport:...
musical scene with whom they still have their ties. In fact, their producer, Olaf Opal, is also working for The Notwist.
The Carinthian
Carinthia (state)
Carinthia is the southernmost Austrian state or Land. Situated within the Eastern Alps it is chiefly noted for its mountains and lakes.The main language is German. Its regional dialects belong to the Southern Austro-Bavarian group...
group's album Songs for the Exhausted
Songs for the Exhausted
Songs for the Exhausted is the fourth full-length studio album by Austrian indie-band Naked Lunch. It was received with critical praise in Germany and Austria and sold surprisingly well. It was the bands first album after a five year-hiatus, following the flopping of Love Junkies, which caused them...
was recorded after a long hiatus (a time when the band nearly collapsed) and saw the band abandon their rock roots and turn to a more experimental, electronic approach to their songs.
Today, they have a cult following in Austria and Germany. In 2007, a new album, This Atom Heart of Ours, was released.
Early days (1991-1996)
Naked Lunch was named after the novelNaked Lunch
Naked Lunch is a novel by William S. Burroughs originally published in 1959. The book is structured as a series of loosely-connected vignettes. Burroughs stated that the chapters are intended to be read in any order...
by William S. Burroughs
William S. Burroughs
William Seward Burroughs II was an American novelist, poet, essayist and spoken word performer. A primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodernist author, he is considered to be "one of the most politically trenchant, culturally influential, and innovative artists of the 20th...
. The first incarnation of the band was made up of Oliver Welter (vocals and guitar), Georg Timber-Trattnig (bass) and Peter Hornbogner (drums).
Soon after their formation, they sent out demos and were signed on the spot by German Big Store Records, where a first release came out, the 6-track-mini-LP Naked. The year after that, a full-length album followed, titled Balsam. After that, bassist Trattnig left the band to focus on his writing. He died in 2000 due to alcoholism
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
. The song "King George" on Songs for the Exhausted
Songs for the Exhausted
Songs for the Exhausted is the fourth full-length studio album by Austrian indie-band Naked Lunch. It was received with critical praise in Germany and Austria and sold surprisingly well. It was the bands first album after a five year-hiatus, following the flopping of Love Junkies, which caused them...
is written about his death.
Trattnig was replaced with Herwig Zamernik (of Disharmonic Orchestra
Disharmonic Orchestra
Disharmonic Orchestra is an Austrian death metal/grindcore band that was formed in Klagenfurt, in 1987. Two demos were recorded. A gig in Germany with Pungent Stench led to a deal with Nuclear Blast in 1989. The first outcome of that deal was a split with country-mates Pungent Stench...
). Zamernik and Welter remained the core of the band to this day.
After a first few successes, the band became hungry for an international breakthrough, but despite playing showcases for major record companies, it took a few years before they were signed by Mercury Records
Mercury Records
Mercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...
.
Superstardom (1997-2000)
After finally being signed to a big-time label, Naked Lunch took on recording their second album, which should bring them what they predicted with the over-ambitious title, Superstardom. Recordings took place in WeilheimWeilheim
Weilheim is the name of several towns in Germany:*Weilheim in Oberbayern, capital of the district Weilheim-Schongau*Weilheim, Baden-Württemberg, a municipality in the district of Waldshut*Weilheim an der Teck, a town in the district Esslingen...
, 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...
and San Francisco. They shot a high-profile video for "Tambourine" (the single was mixed by Alan Moulder
Alan Moulder
Alan Moulder is one of Britain's premier alternative rock record producers. He has worked with such artists as Depeche Mode, Erasure, Elastica, Gary Numan, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Curve, Ride, Lush and My Bloody Valentine, Lostprophets, Shihad, Ivyrise and Placebo, as well as with many American...
) in Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, where they also damaged equipment on stage; they were arrested in London, where some of the members had relocated. But still, big success did not take place.
Soon after that, Stefan Deisenberger joined on keyboards and synths.
In 1999, Love Junkies was released and the single "Closed today" was a minor hit internationally (and also the band's biggest so far), but the album did not sell well. Naked Lunch cut their ties with their label and signed with Virgin Records
Virgin Records
Virgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny...
, where the same record got re-released. But it also flopped on second try and Virgin dropped them.
Songs for the Exhausted (2001-today)
After the events surrounding the two releases of Love Junkies, Naked Lunch went on hiatus. Oliver Welter had to return to his hometown and lived on the streets and "out of his car", so to speak, for half a year. He often remarks that this phase was one of the hardest in his life and he was sometimes close to the edge. Perhaps the long-time-suicide of Georg Trattnig (as he called his long-term alcoholism which ultimately led to this death) showed Welter that it is better to choose life over death. Also, he fathered a daughter and more recently, a son. Herwig Zamernik is also a father (of four children).Back to life, Naked Lunch entered the studio again and were all set to record another, perhaps their final album. The old indie rock-concepts were abandoned in favour for a new working technique involving intensive work with computers. Songs for the Exhausted
Songs for the Exhausted
Songs for the Exhausted is the fourth full-length studio album by Austrian indie-band Naked Lunch. It was received with critical praise in Germany and Austria and sold surprisingly well. It was the bands first album after a five year-hiatus, following the flopping of Love Junkies, which caused them...
was recorded in Herwig Zamerniks own studio, the "Fuzzroom" in Klagenfurt
Klagenfurt
-Name:Carinthia's eminent linguists Primus Lessiak and Eberhard Kranzmayer assumed that the city's name, which literally translates as "ford of lament" or "ford of complaints", had something to do with the superstitious thought that fateful fairies or demons tend to live around treacherous waters...
over the course of a year. Prior to the recording, drummer and founding member Peter "Bogs" Hornbogner left the band - he was later replaced by Thorsten Thonhauser (although most drum tracks on the album were played by session drummers or were programmed). Shortly before the completion of the session, the studio burned down. Zamernik has subsequently built a new "Fuzzroom".
After the recording was finished, the band faced new problems. They were unable to find a record company willing to release the record, which was considered too sad, depressing and generally non-commercial. Finally in 2004, Motor Music Records put their effort out and Naked Lunch were facing generally very good reviews and surprisingly good sales.
In the aftermath, Naked Lunch put out an EP, Stay in 2005 and contributed music to befriended film-maker Thomas Woschitz's project Sperrstunde, which was screened to live backing music by the band. Also, Herwig Zamernik released a solo record, dubbed Fuzzman on Wohnzimmer Records.
In 2006, they composed the music for the episode "Bis in den Tod" of the Austrian mystery serial 8x45 and in 2007 the music for the Elisabeth Scharang TV movie Franz Fuchs - Ein Patriot starring Karl Markovics
Karl Markovics
Karl Markovics is an Austrian actor and film director.He starred as Salomon Sorowitsch in Stefan Ruzowitzky's 2007 film The Counterfeiters, which was awarded the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film for that year...
.
A new album, This Atom Heart of Ours was released on January 19, 2007. It is the first to include new drummer, Alex Jezdinsky (formerly of Angelika Express
Angelika Express
Angelika Express is a German pop and punk band. The band was formed in 2002 by Robert Drakogiannakis. It broke up in 2005, but reunited in 2008.-2002-2005:...
), following the departure of Thorsten Thonhauser. Yet it is uncertain if Jezdinsky is a full member, hence he does not appear on any of the promotion photos for the new record nor in the video to the single "Military of the Heart".
The album entered the Austrian longplay charts at #25. In 2008, they composed the film score of Universalove
Universalove
Universalove is a 2008 Austrian romantic tragedy film directed by Thomas Woschitz. It debuted in Canada at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival on September 5, 2008, and, after a re-edit which involved substituting the New York episode, was awarded the Max-Ophüls Preis at the 30th...
by Thomas Woschitz.
Albums
- Balsam (1992)
- Superstardom (1997)
- Love Junkies (1999)
- Songs for the ExhaustedSongs for the ExhaustedSongs for the Exhausted is the fourth full-length studio album by Austrian indie-band Naked Lunch. It was received with critical praise in Germany and Austria and sold surprisingly well. It was the bands first album after a five year-hiatus, following the flopping of Love Junkies, which caused them...
(2004) - This Atom Heart of Ours (2007)
- UniversaloveUniversaloveUniversalove is a 2008 Austrian romantic tragedy film directed by Thomas Woschitz. It debuted in Canada at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival on September 5, 2008, and, after a re-edit which involved substituting the New York episode, was awarded the Max-Ophüls Preis at the 30th...
(Louisville Records, 2009)
EPs and singles
- Naked (Mini-LP, 1991)
- Balsam (Single, 1992)
- WOM Demos (EP, 1995)
- Spark (Single, 1997)
- Tambourine (Single, 1997)
- Me (Single, 1997)
- Closed Today (Single, 1999)
- On a Sunny Day (Single, 1999)
- Disco Sadness (Single, 1999)
- Stay (EP, 2005)
- Military of the Heart (Single, 2006)
- Universalove (Brooklyn) (Single, 2009)
Music samples
Click here to download the song "Colours" (from This Atom Heart of Ours), courtesy of Louisville Records. http://www.louisville-records.deInternet links
- http://www.nakedlunch.de - official website (in English and German)
- http://www.myspace.com/nakedlunchmusic (MySpace site - in English)
- http://www.fuzzman.fm - the Fuzzman website (in German)
- http://www.myspace.com/fuzzmaninthehouse (Fuzzman MySpace site - in English)
- http://film.kgp.co.at/sperrstunde (Sperrstunde/Closing Time - Film Concert - in German and English)