The Lab (band)
Encyclopedia
The Lab were an Australia
n Sydney
-based electronic music
band consisting of keyboardist Paul Mac
, vocalist Yolanda Podolski and vocalist and bassist Warwick Factor. An early line-up included a second bass player. They formed in the late 1980s and initially recorded on the rooArt
label
. Their first release was the track "Heaven" which was included on rooArt's 1990 Young Blood 3 new artists sampler.
The Lab's early work was characterised by a dense, darkwave
-industrial
sensibility mixed with techno and synthpop
elements with vocals provided by Factor and the operatically-trained Podolski. Their early sound displayed influences as varied as Cocteau Twins
to Tackhead
(whom they supported at a 1989 Sydney show) and New Order
. Their sound was also influenced by the classical training of Mac and the operatically trained alto singer Podolski.
Tom Ellard
from Severed Heads
helped produce an album during this era that was never released, and only a smattering of the darker material made its way on to the Ultra and Terminal EPs released in 1992 and 1993, respectively.
The Lab's live performances, mostly at Sydney inner-city venues, were noteworthy for their use of multimedia, beyond any other small live bands of the time. Live performances made use of multiple film and/or video projectors, displaying surreal footage and stills synchronised with each part of each song they were playing .
While The Lab enjoyed good airplay rotation on the youth radio station Triple J
, they never achieved high-level commercial success.
The Lab took a recording hiatus during the mid-1990s as Paul Mac found moderate pop success with his other, more commercially-oriented project, Itch-E and Scratch-E
. Two singles "Beautiful Sadness" (1996) and "I Will Find You" (1997) were released in advance of the debut album proper, 1997's Labyrinth. By this time their sound had evolved into a more ambient
-pop-oriented direction, but the singles had little chart impact. Labyrinth turned out to also be their last album and the group disbanded in the late 1990s as the members pursued solo projects.
Singles
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
-based electronic music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
band consisting of keyboardist Paul Mac
Paul Mac
Paul Mac is a musician, producer and music remixer from Sydney, Australia. He was classically trained at Sydney's Conservatorium of Music. Paul Mac formed the bands Smash Mac Mac, Itch-e And Scratch-e, The Lab, and The Dissociatives, as well as releasing two records under his own name...
, vocalist Yolanda Podolski and vocalist and bassist Warwick Factor. An early line-up included a second bass player. They formed in the late 1980s and initially recorded on the rooArt
RooArt
rooArt was an Australian independent record label, founded in 1988 by INXS's then-manager, Chris Murphy. The label's roster included several well-known Australian bands and artists such as Crow, Ratcat, Screaming Jets, You Am I, Wendy Matthews, The Hummingbirds, The Trilobites and Amanda Brown...
label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
. Their first release was the track "Heaven" which was included on rooArt's 1990 Young Blood 3 new artists sampler.
The Lab's early work was characterised by a dense, darkwave
Darkwave
Dark Wave or darkwave is a music genre that began in the late 1970s, coinciding with the popularity of New Wave and post-punk. Building on those basic principles, dark wave added dark, introspective lyrics and an undertone of sorrow for some bands...
-industrial
Industrial music
Industrial music is a style of experimental music that draws on transgressive and provocative themes. The term was coined in the mid-1970s with the founding of Industrial Records by the band Throbbing Gristle, and the creation of the slogan "industrial music for industrial people". In general, the...
sensibility mixed with techno and synthpop
Synthpop
Synthpop is a genre of popular music that first became prominent in the 1980s, in which the synthesizer is the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s by the use of synthesizers in progressive rock, electronic art rock, disco and particularly the "Kraut rock" of...
elements with vocals provided by Factor and the operatically-trained Podolski. Their early sound displayed influences as varied as Cocteau Twins
Cocteau Twins
Cocteau Twins were a Scottish alternative rock band active from 1979 to 1997, known for innovative instrumentation and atmospheric, non-lyrical vocals...
to Tackhead
Tackhead
Tackhead are an industrial hip-hop group that were most active during the 1980s and early 1990s, and briefly reformed in 2004 for a tour. Their music occupies the territory where funk, dub, industrial music and electronica intersect...
(whom they supported at a 1989 Sydney show) and New Order
New Order
New Order are an English rock band formed in 1980 by Bernard Sumner , Peter Hook and Stephen Morris...
. Their sound was also influenced by the classical training of Mac and the operatically trained alto singer Podolski.
Tom Ellard
Tom Ellard
Thomas Ellard , is an Australian electronic musician best known as the founding member of the electronic and industrial music group Severed Heads.-Early life:...
from Severed Heads
Severed Heads
Severed Heads is an Australian electronic music group based and founded in Sydney in 1979 as Mr. and Mrs. No Smoking Sign. The original members were Richard Fielding and Andrew Wright, and were soon joined by Tom Ellard. Fielding and Wright eventually left the group, leaving Ellard as a singular...
helped produce an album during this era that was never released, and only a smattering of the darker material made its way on to the Ultra and Terminal EPs released in 1992 and 1993, respectively.
The Lab's live performances, mostly at Sydney inner-city venues, were noteworthy for their use of multimedia, beyond any other small live bands of the time. Live performances made use of multiple film and/or video projectors, displaying surreal footage and stills synchronised with each part of each song they were playing .
While The Lab enjoyed good airplay rotation on the youth radio station Triple J
Triple J
triple j is a nationally networked Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners between the ages of 18 and 30. The government-funded station is a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation...
, they never achieved high-level commercial success.
The Lab took a recording hiatus during the mid-1990s as Paul Mac found moderate pop success with his other, more commercially-oriented project, Itch-E and Scratch-E
Itch-E and Scratch-E
Not to be confused with the fictional characters Itchy and Scratchy from The Simpsons.Itch-E and Scratch-E is an Australian electronic music group formed by Paul Mac and Andy Rantzen in Sydney in the early 1990s initially recording on the Volition label...
. Two singles "Beautiful Sadness" (1996) and "I Will Find You" (1997) were released in advance of the debut album proper, 1997's Labyrinth. By this time their sound had evolved into a more ambient
Ambient music
Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...
-pop-oriented direction, but the singles had little chart impact. Labyrinth turned out to also be their last album and the group disbanded in the late 1990s as the members pursued solo projects.
Discography
Albums- Ultra (EP), rooArt (1992)
- Terminal (EP), rooArt (1993)
- Labyrinth, BMGBMGBertelsmann Music Group, , was a division of Bertelsmann before its completion of sale of the majority of its assets to Japan's Sony Corporation of America on October 1, 2008. It was established in 1987 to combine the music label activities of Bertelsmann...
(1997) (included a bonus disc Ultra-Terminal which included the first two EPs, with the exception of the last hidden track on the original Terminal EP)
Singles
- "Heaven" (1990) (only released on Young Blood 3 compilation, a completely different remix/version appeared on Ultra EP)
- "Beautiful Sadness", Ra Records (1996)
- "I Will Find You" (1997)