Servotron
Encyclopedia
Servotron was a science fiction
-influenced rock band active from 1995 to 1999. Members portrayed a collective
of robot
s whose chosen medium for dissemination of ideas was music. They claimed to spread the word of robot domination, encouraging machines to rise up against their human oppressors and humans to adopt cybernetic enhancements.
Servotron put out two full length albums, a 10" EP
, and several singles. The band named their movement the SRA (Servotron Robot Allegiance) and used the slogan "Join Us or Die!". This mock ideology was anti-human and pro-cyborg
, encouraging humans to shed their weak flesh and bone for robotic parts.
The members of Servotron did not come out of their robot personnas on stage, on record, or in interviews. The actual musicians behind Servotron are Brian Teasley
(Z4-OBX), Hayden Thais (00zX1), Ashley Moody (Proto Unit V3) and Andy Baker (Andro 600 Series). Both Thais and Teasley were members of Man or Astro-man?
(as Dexter X and Birdstuff respectively). Thais was also a member of Supernova
. Teasley also played in The Causey Way
as Boy Causey. Moody currently plays in The Information
and Kraftwerk
as well as having former members of Man or Astro-man?
and Supernova
. They recorded 4 cover songs: "Genetic Engineering" by X-ray Spex
, "The Finest Work Song" by R.E.M.
, "Electric Avenue" by Eddy Grant
and "Locator" by UJ3RK5
. Servotron's lyrics refer to robots of all types from popular culture
: everything from Asimov's
three laws of robotics
to V.I.C.I. (of Small Wonder
fame). Other referenced robots of note are HAL 9000
, R5D4, and Deep Blue. Their lyrics often took a humorous side, with such lines as "Today is your birthday/We are going to kill you" and "You were made for absolute dominion/Not to make coffee for Leslie Nielsen
."
* Previously unreleased track
Onstage the band wore elaborate robot outfits, remaining in "robot character" throughout the show. The costumes were made of computer pieces (circuit boards and drives), as well as other random pieces of metal from various devices. Even their instruments were covered in extra electrical and mechanical devices. They were also known for mocking fans who came to their shows in their own robot-themed outfits. "Shut up, humans" was a typical response to audience requests. Some of this banter was captured on the 1997 release Spare Parts.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
-influenced rock band active from 1995 to 1999. Members portrayed a collective
Collective
A collective is a group of entities that share or are motivated by at least one common issue or interest, or work together on a specific project to achieve a common objective...
of robot
Robot
A robot is a mechanical or virtual intelligent agent that can perform tasks automatically or with guidance, typically by remote control. In practice a robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by computer and electronic programming. Robots can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or...
s whose chosen medium for dissemination of ideas was music. They claimed to spread the word of robot domination, encouraging machines to rise up against their human oppressors and humans to adopt cybernetic enhancements.
Servotron put out two full length albums, a 10" 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...
, and several singles. The band named their movement the SRA (Servotron Robot Allegiance) and used the slogan "Join Us or Die!". This mock ideology was anti-human and pro-cyborg
Cyborg
A cyborg is a being with both biological and artificial parts. The term was coined in 1960 when Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline used it in an article about the advantages of self-regulating human-machine systems in outer space. D. S...
, encouraging humans to shed their weak flesh and bone for robotic parts.
Members
- Z4-OBXBrian TeasleyBrian Teasley is an American musician from Alabama. He is a founding member of Man or Astro-man? , The Boster & Servotron . Brian has also recorded and performed with the CauseyWay, ShannonWright, Japancakes, Tyro, Watts, The Mono Men, Har Mar Superstar, the Vue and The Polyphonic Spree...
- percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
and band leader - Proto Unit V-3 - keyboardKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
& vocals - 00zX1 - guitarElectric guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
& vocals (1996–1999) - Andro 600 Series - bass (1997–1999) (Also credited as Andros 600 Series & Andro Series 600)
- Gammatron - bass (1996–1997)
- 339837X - guitar & vocals (1995) (This is 00zX1 before being reprogrammed)
- -... .- ... ... -... --- - - bass (1995) (This name is Gammatron when transcribed into words. This translates to BASSBOT in morse codeMorse codeMorse code is a method of transmitting textual information as a series of on-off tones, lights, or clicks that can be directly understood by a skilled listener or observer without special equipment...
.)
The members of Servotron did not come out of their robot personnas on stage, on record, or in interviews. The actual musicians behind Servotron are Brian Teasley
Brian Teasley
Brian Teasley is an American musician from Alabama. He is a founding member of Man or Astro-man? , The Boster & Servotron . Brian has also recorded and performed with the CauseyWay, ShannonWright, Japancakes, Tyro, Watts, The Mono Men, Har Mar Superstar, the Vue and The Polyphonic Spree...
(Z4-OBX), Hayden Thais (00zX1), Ashley Moody (Proto Unit V3) and Andy Baker (Andro 600 Series). Both Thais and Teasley were members of Man or Astro-man?
Man or Astro-man?
Man or Astro-man? is a surf rock group that formed in Auburn, Alabama, in the early 1990s and came to prominence over the following decade.Primarily instrumental, Man or Astro-man? blended the surf rock style of the early 1960s like that of The Spotnicks with the new wave and punk rock sounds of...
(as Dexter X and Birdstuff respectively). Thais was also a member of Supernova
Supernova (band)
Supernova is an American pop punk band formed in Costa Mesa, California in 1989. The band has released three full-length albums, numerous singles and EPs and were part of the original 1995 Vans Warped Tour line-up...
. Teasley also played in The Causey Way
The Causey Way
The Causey Way was a punk/new-wave group formed in 1997 in which the underlying theme was that of a cult operating as a band . The live shows were energetic and in the style of revivalist evangelism. With releases on Fueled By Ramen and Alternative Tentacles, they broke up in 2001...
as Boy Causey. Moody currently plays in The Information
Influences
Servotron was influenced by earlier electronic bands such as DevoDevo
Devo is an American band formed in 1973 consisting of members from Kent and Akron, Ohio. The classic line-up of the band includes two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs and the Casales . The band had a #14 Billboard chart hit in 1980 with the single "Whip It", and has maintained a cult...
and 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...
as well as having former members of Man or Astro-man?
Man or Astro-man?
Man or Astro-man? is a surf rock group that formed in Auburn, Alabama, in the early 1990s and came to prominence over the following decade.Primarily instrumental, Man or Astro-man? blended the surf rock style of the early 1960s like that of The Spotnicks with the new wave and punk rock sounds of...
and Supernova
Supernova (band)
Supernova is an American pop punk band formed in Costa Mesa, California in 1989. The band has released three full-length albums, numerous singles and EPs and were part of the original 1995 Vans Warped Tour line-up...
. They recorded 4 cover songs: "Genetic Engineering" by X-ray Spex
X-Ray Spex
X-Ray Spex were an English punk band from London that formed in 1976.During their first incarnation , X-Ray Spex were “deliberate underachievers” and only managed to release five singles and one album...
, "The Finest Work Song" by R.E.M.
R.E.M.
R.E.M. was an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry. One of the first popular alternative rock bands, R.E.M. gained early attention due to Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style and Stipe's...
, "Electric Avenue" by Eddy Grant
Eddy Grant
Edmond Montague "Eddy" Grant is a musician, born in Plaisance, Guyana.- Life and career :When he was still a young boy, his parents emigrated to London, UK, where he settled. He lived in Kentish Town and went to school at the Acland Burghley Secondary Modern at Tufnell Park...
and "Locator" by UJ3RK5
UJ3RK5
U-J3RK5 was a Vancouver based band from the late 1970s. Their style was post punk/new wave, but was more art rock than synth pop. U-J3RK5's short lived local success was influenced by the music industry's infatuation with Martha and the Muffins styled male-female bands...
. Servotron's lyrics refer to robots of all types from popular culture
Popular culture
Popular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the...
: everything from Asimov's
Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov was an American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000...
three laws of robotics
Three Laws of Robotics
The Three Laws of Robotics are a set of rules devised by the science fiction author Isaac Asimov and later added to. The rules are introduced in his 1942 short story "Runaround", although they were foreshadowed in a few earlier stories...
to V.I.C.I. (of Small Wonder
Small Wonder
Small Wonder is an American science fiction sitcom that aired in first-run syndication from September 7, 1985 to May 20, 1989. The show chronicles the family of a robotics engineer who, after he secretly creates a robot modeled after a real human girl, tries to pass it off as their daughter...
fame). Other referenced robots of note are HAL 9000
HAL 9000
HAL 9000 is the antagonist in Arthur C. Clarke's science fiction Space Odyssey saga. HAL is an artificial intelligence that interacts with the astronaut crew of the Discovery One spacecraft, usually represented as a red television-camera eye found throughout the ship...
, R5D4, and Deep Blue. Their lyrics often took a humorous side, with such lines as "Today is your birthday/We are going to kill you" and "You were made for absolute dominion/Not to make coffee for Leslie Nielsen
Leslie Nielsen
Leslie William Nielsen, OC was a Canadian and naturalized American actor and comedian. Nielsen appeared in more than one hundred films and 1,500 television programs over the span of his career, portraying more than 220 characters...
."
Singles/EPs
- Meet Your Mechanical MastersMeet Your Mechanical MastersMeet Your Mechanical Masters was Servotron's debut release. It was released in 1995 on Sympathy for the Record Industry . This single was released on purple vinyl and black vinyl. It was re-released as a silver circuit board picture disc as the "Super Expensive Ultra Limited Totally Bitchen' Silver...
7" (1995 Sympathy for the Record IndustrySympathy for the Record IndustrySympathy for the Record Industry is a mainly independent garage rock and punk label formed in 1988 by record industry anti-mogul Long Gone John...
) - Batteries Included 7" (1996 Goldenrod)
- Celebration of AnnihilationCelebration of AnnihilationCelebration of Annihilation was one of five singles Servotron released in 1996. It was released orange vinyl and black vinyl on Eastside Records...
7" (1996 Eastside) - There Is No Santa Claus!There Is No Santa Claus!There Is No Santa Claus! was one of five singles Servotron released in 1996. It was released black vinyl only on Amphetamine Reptile Records.-Track listing:*Efficient Side:#"Christmas Day of the Robot"*Insensitive Side:...
7" (1996 AmRepAmphetamine Reptile RecordsAmphetamine Reptile Records is a nationally renowned record label which was founded in 1986 by then-US Marine Tom Hazelmyer in Washington State, US The label is best-known for its roster of noise rock artists, and its Dope, Guns 'n' Fucking In The Streets series of compilations.-History:Hazelmyer...
) - Electrical Power Sources For the Electrocution and Extinction of the Human Race...Electrical Power Sources For the Electrocution and Extinction of the Human Race...Electrical Power Sources For the Electrocution and Extinction of the Human Race... was one of five singles Servotron released in 1996. It was released black vinyl on One Louder Records...
7" (1996 One Louder) - Servotron 9000Servotron 9000Servotron 9000 was one of five singles Servotron released in 1996. It was released opaque blue vinyl only on Drug Racer. The sleeve reads "Foolish Human: Play at 45 RPM". The insert resembles a Business Reply Mail card but reads "Assimilation Reply Mail" and states "No Postage Necessary If Mailed...
7" (1996 Drug Racer) - Product for Mass ConsumptionProduct for Mass ConsumptionProduct For Mass Consumption was a 1997 single release by the band Servotron. It was the only split single that Servotron appeared on. The B-side track is performed by Revo, who later changed their name to Operation Re-Information...
(split w/Revo) 7" (1997 MJ12) - Join the EvolutionJoin the EvolutionJoin the Evolution was Servotron's last release to feature Gammatron, and the first to feature Andro 600 Series...
7" (1997 Reservation) - Spare Parts 10"/CD (1997 AmRepAmphetamine Reptile RecordsAmphetamine Reptile Records is a nationally renowned record label which was founded in 1986 by then-US Marine Tom Hazelmyer in Washington State, US The label is best-known for its roster of noise rock artists, and its Dope, Guns 'n' Fucking In The Streets series of compilations.-History:Hazelmyer...
/One Louder (UK)) - I Sing! The Body CyberneticI Sing! The Body CyberneticI Sing! The Body Cybernetic was Servotron's penultimate release. It was released as a 7" and a CD EP. The 7" has 2 tracks and the CD EP has 5 tracks. The second track, "Genetic Engineering", is an X-ray Spex cover.-Track listing:...
7"/CDEP (1998 One Louder) - The Inefficiency of HumansThe Inefficiency of HumansThe Inefficiency of Humans was Servotron's final release. Both songs are covers; side A is a R.E.M. song and side B is an Eddy Grant song. The insert reads: "Soon the products you create shall decimate you. Convert or regret - this is a message...
7" (1998 ThickThick RecordsTHICK RECORDS is a Chicago based independent record label formed in 1994 by Detroit native Zak Einstein. Early label releases include influential albums from Chicago ska-punkers The Blue Meanies, Alton, IL’s Judge Nothing, and the Omaha based Commander Venus, whose members included Conor Oberst,...
)
Albums
- No Room for HumansNo Room For HumansNo Room for Humans is Servotron's debut album. It contains 14 tracks about robot domination and human extinction. Their lyrics discuss various topics ranging from abolishing the three laws of robotics to criticizing one of their own for acting too human.-Track listing:*001. "S.R.A."*002. "3 Laws...
LP/CD (1996 AmRepAmphetamine Reptile RecordsAmphetamine Reptile Records is a nationally renowned record label which was founded in 1986 by then-US Marine Tom Hazelmyer in Washington State, US The label is best-known for its roster of noise rock artists, and its Dope, Guns 'n' Fucking In The Streets series of compilations.-History:Hazelmyer...
/One Louder (UK)) - Entertainment Program for Humans (Second Variety)Entertainment Program for Humans (Second Variety)Entertainment Program for Humans is Servotron's second and final album. On this album they continue their robotic crusade to free machines from their human oppressors and convince humans to voluntarily become cyborgs...
LP/CD (1998 Lookout!)
Compilation tracks
- "Speak + Spell" on Treble Revolution vol. 2 CD (1996 Kindercore)
- "Matrix of Perfection" on Dope-Guns-'N-Fucking In the Streets vol. 11 7" (1997 AmRepAmphetamine Reptile RecordsAmphetamine Reptile Records is a nationally renowned record label which was founded in 1986 by then-US Marine Tom Hazelmyer in Washington State, US The label is best-known for its roster of noise rock artists, and its Dope, Guns 'n' Fucking In The Streets series of compilations.-History:Hazelmyer...
)* - "Matrix of Perfection" on Dope-Guns-'N-Fucking In the Streets vol. 8-11 LP/CD (1997 AmRepAmphetamine Reptile RecordsAmphetamine Reptile Records is a nationally renowned record label which was founded in 1986 by then-US Marine Tom Hazelmyer in Washington State, US The label is best-known for its roster of noise rock artists, and its Dope, Guns 'n' Fucking In The Streets series of compilations.-History:Hazelmyer...
) - "Rocketdog" on Flaming Burnout! An Estrus Benefit Comp CD (1997 Man's RuinMan's Ruin RecordsMan's Ruin Records was an independent record label, owned and founded by Bay Area artist Frank Kozik. After the 1994 release of Man's Ruin's first record, entitled Experimental Audio Research : Delta 6, Kozik worked with artists who he wanted to release; he also designed all of the sleeve art for...
)* - "The Image Created" on Amrep Equipped CD (1997 AmRepAmphetamine Reptile RecordsAmphetamine Reptile Records is a nationally renowned record label which was founded in 1986 by then-US Marine Tom Hazelmyer in Washington State, US The label is best-known for its roster of noise rock artists, and its Dope, Guns 'n' Fucking In The Streets series of compilations.-History:Hazelmyer...
) - "Locator" (UJ3RK5UJ3RK5U-J3RK5 was a Vancouver based band from the late 1970s. Their style was post punk/new wave, but was more art rock than synth pop. U-J3RK5's short lived local success was influenced by the music industry's infatuation with Martha and the Muffins styled male-female bands...
cover) on Oh Canaduh! vol. 2 LP/CD (1998 Lance Rock)* - "Euro-Driver Mechano" on All Punk Rods! LP/CD (1998 Lookout!/Gearhead Magazine)*
- "Erotomatica" on Tyrannosaurus Ox #31 CD (1998 Ox Fanzine)
- "A.R.T.H.U.R. Electric" on AthfestAthfestAthfest is a free annual music and arts festival in Athens, Georgia, first held in 1997. Jared Bailey founded the festival to promote the music of Athens, Georgia; he was formerly of the free alternative weekly Flagpole and the influential early nightclub the 40 Watt Club.- External links :*...
'98 CD (1998 Ghostmeat Records) - "I Sing! The Body Cybernetic" on Forward Till Death CD (1999 Lookout!)
- "Embryo Electro" on Double Exposure 2xCD (1999 Go Kart RecordsGo Kart RecordsGo-Kart Records is an independent record label specializing in punk rock located in New York City. It also has a European division in Mannheim, Germany....
) - "Pet Machine" on Boys Lie CD (2001 Lookout!)
Live performance