Sister Machine Gun
Encyclopedia
The early years
Sister Machine Gun was formed by Chris RandallChris Randall (musician)
Chris Randall is an American musician, and the former frontman of Sister Machine Gun. In 1998, he created a side-project called Micronaut, focusing on more instrumental music that was not necessarily appropriate for Sister Machine Gun....
and Guilherme Machado 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...
. They performed at New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
's Pipeline, and New York's Limelight. The band went on a short hiatus after Chris Randall joined KMFDM's tour as a stage technician. After the tour, Randall left New York City and relocated to Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. He then found work in the mailroom of Wax Trax! Records
Wax Trax! Records
Wax Trax! Records was an independent record label in the United States. Wax Trax! began as a record shop in Denver, Colorado opened by Jim Nash and Dannie Flesher. They sold the store in 1978 and, in November of that year, opened a new one under the same name at 2449 North Lincoln Avenue in...
, and began recording a demo with Jim Marcus
Jim Marcus
James Marcus is a musician, artist, political activist, and respected typographer who is best known for his work as the lead singer and founder of the Industrial band Die Warzau...
and Van Christie of Die Warzau
Die Warzau
Die Warzau was an industrial music band formed in 1987 by performance artists Jim Marcus and Van Christie.-History:...
. The rough demo was given to Sascha Konietzko
Sascha Konietzko
Sascha Konietzko , also known as Sascha K and Käpt'n K, is a German musician and producer. He is the founder, frontman, and "anchor" of industrial rock band KMFDM. Konietzko jokingly purports himself to be the father of industrial rock...
of KMFDM
KMFDM
KMFDM is an industrial band led by German multi-instrumentalist Sascha Konietzko, who founded the group in 1984 as a performance art project...
for mixing. Konietzko passed the demo along to Jim Nash, head of Wax Trax! Records, where Randall worked. The label then signed the band to a record deal.
The Wax Trax! Years
Sister Machine Gun's debut album Sins of the Flesh was released on Wax Trax! in 1992. During this time, Chris Randall assembled a group of musicians to tour in support of the album. Tom Gaul and Steve Stoll joined the band, alongside Kelly and Randall. Stoll left the band after this tour, and work on the next album began.The Torture Technique was released in 1994. Tom Gaul left midway through the recording process, after contributing to the album. New members were recruited for the upcoming tour. Guitarist Greg Lucas (later a member of Final Cut
The Final Cut (band)
The Final Cut is an industrial music group, consisting mainly of Detroit's Tony Srock.-Bio:The Final Cut has been an international underground electronic music enigma since emerging from the late 80's Detroit underground. Final Cut began when Anthony "Asrock" Srock, then a radio and club DJ, began...
) joined, as well as drummer Scott Churilla (later a member of The Reverend Horton Heat
The Reverend Horton Heat
The Reverend Horton Heat is the stage name of American musician Jim Heath as well as the name of his Dallas, Texas-based psychobilly trio. Heath is a singer, songwriter and guitarist....
's band). Sister Machine Gun went on to join the Angstfest tour with KMFDM and Chemlab
Chemlab
Chemlab is a coldwave and industrial rock band formed in Washington D.C., USA, in 1989 by Dylan Thomas More, Joe Frank , and Jared Louche . Influenced by the pioneers of the industrial genre, such as Throbbing Gristle, Chemlab mixed experimental sounds with rock and metal, which they dubbed...
.
After this tour, Chris Kelly left the band. Prior to the recording of Burn, Sister Machine Gun went on another tour. The lineup during this time consisted of Chris Randall, bassist Bob Jones, drummer Tom DeSalvo (former member of Chemlab), and Chris Smits on guitar.
The band then began work on the album Burn. Guitarist Geno Lenardo (of Filter
Filter (band)
Filter is a rock group formed in 1993 in Cleveland by singer Richard Patrick and guitarist/programmer Brian Liesegang. Filter has released five studio albums, the most recent being The Trouble with Angels, which was released on August 17, 2010....
) joined in the studio. Burn was released in 1995. The title track became one of the band's most recognizable songs, as it later appeared on the Mortal Kombat
Mortal Kombat (film)
Mortal Kombat is a 1995 American action and adventure film directed by Paul Anderson. Based on the Mortal Kombat series of fighting games, the film was the first part of the Mortal Kombat film series...
soundtrack
Mortal Kombat (soundtrack)
Mortal Kombat Soundtrack is a compilation album featuring music by different artists to accompany the movie Mortal Kombat.- Album information :...
.
The tour line-up at this time consisted of Chris Randall, bassist Richard Deacon, and drummer Kevin Temple (formerly of Die Warzau
Die Warzau
Die Warzau was an industrial music band formed in 1987 by performance artists Jim Marcus and Van Christie.-History:...
and later Apartment 26
Apartment 26
Apartment 26 was an alternative metal band from Leamington Spa, England. They played Ozzfest in 1999 and split up in 2004.They worked with Tchad Blake, at Real World Studios, on their self-financed Music For The Massive, having scrapped "Album 1.5" after two years of production...
). This line up remained mostly consistent throughout the touring for Burn and Metropolis, with guitarists Pat Sprawl and Brian Sarche joining at various times.
The final Sister Machine Gun album on Wax Trax!, Metropolis, was released in 1997. Reeves Gabrels
Reeves Gabrels
Reeves Gabrels is an American guitarist, known for virtuosity, versatility, and originality. His compositions and improvisations defy genre and "explore sonic extremes with a great, adaptive intuition for what each song needs most."...
did guitar work on the album.
The Positron! Years
After 1997's1997 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1997.-January:*January 9 – David Bowie performs his 50th Birthday Bash concert at Madison Square Garden, New York City, USA with guests Frank Black, The Foo Fighters, Sonic Youth, Robert Smith of The Cure, Lou Reed, and Billy...
Metropolis album, Sister Machine Gun left Wax Trax. The rest of the band's material was released on Chris Randall's Positron! Records
Positron! Records
Positron Records is an independent record label based in Chicago, Illinois. The label was founded in 1998 by Chris Randall, frontman of the industrial band Sister Machine Gun. Positron describes itself as an "anti-label" because they release only a handful of albums and give as much support to each...
, the record label he founded and operates with his wife, Lisa. The band's sound changed considerably after their move to the new label.
In 2007, Sister Machine Gun officially disbanded and Chris Randall began a solo career.
Primary Member History
Guilherme Machado joined Randall in Chicago for the recording of the band's debut album, Sins of the Flesh. After recording some guitar parts, Machado left the band. After the completion of the album, Chris Kelly joined the band. After Kelly's departure in 1995, Randall continued the band primarily as a solo project. Miguel Turanzas joined the band in 1999, and continued as a member until it was disbanded in 2007.Studio albums
- Sins of the Flesh (1992; WaxTrax! Records)
- The Torture Technique (1994; WaxTrax!/TVT Records)
- BurnBurn (Sister Machine Gun album)Burn is an album by industrial rock band Sister Machine Gun.-Track listing:# Red# Overload# Hole in the Ground# Disease# Burn# Dispossessed# Better Than Me# Snake# I Don't Believe# Inside-Notes:...
(1995; WaxTrax!/TVT Records) - MetropolisMetropolis (Sister Machine Gun album)Metropolis is an album by industrial rock band Sister Machine Gun.-Track listing:# This Metal Sky – 2:28# Desperation – 3:45# Temptation – 4:38# Think – 3:49# Living Without You – 3:51# Torque – 4:05# White Lightning – 4:52...
(1997; WaxTrax!/TVT Records) - [R]evolutionRevolution (Sister Machine Gun album)[R]evolution is an album by industrial rock band Sister Machine Gun.# Libertad# Carbon Copy# Got To Be# Smash Your Radio!# Transient One# Transient Two# Closer To Me# Wrong# Vibrator# Autoloader# Strange# Bring You Down [Take You Higher]...
(1999; Positron! Records) - 6.06.06.0 is an album by industrial rock band Sister Machine Gun.-Track listing:#Automaton#Loser#The Best That You Can Do#Never#Machine I#Ten Minute God#Machine II#Gonna Be Right#Down on Me#What I'm Waiting For#Release#Machine III#Machine...
(2000; Positron! Records) - Influence (2003; Positron! Records)