The Lab (band)
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| The Lab | ||
|---|---|---|
| Background information | ||
| Origin | Sydney, Australia | |
| Genre(s) | Synthpop, Electronica | |
| Years active | 1989-circa1998 | |
| Label(s) | rooArt, BMG | |
| Members | ||
| Paul Mac Yolanda Podolski Warwick Factor |
||
The Lab were an Australian Sydney-based electronic music band consisting of keyboardist Paul Mac, vocalist Yolanda Podolski and vocalist and bassist Warwick Factor. They formed in the early 1990s 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 and New Order. 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, way beyond any other small live bands of the time. Invariably their gigs would make heavy use of multiple film and/or video projectors, displaying surreal footage and stills carefully synchronised with each part of each song they were playing, which in combination with the music would deliver a highly mind-altering visual and musical experience. Their live audiences would often include a contingent of hallucinogenic drug enthusiasts.
Despite the influences mentioned above, The Lab occupied a unique position in the musical spectrum, owing largely to the classical training of sonwriter/producer/keyboardist Paul Mac and the operatically trained alto singer Yolanda Podolski. While fitting into electronica/darkwave/industrial/dance genres at a superficial level, these expressions were underpinned by a much deeper and more intricate musical foundation.
At its worst, The Lab's music was innovative and musically satisfying fringe. At its best, the complex rhythmic and harmonic interplays within the songs' well-crafted builds and breakdowns, together with Yolanda's soaring ethereal vocals and the compositional detail of the lightshow and projected video would talk directly to the soul and lift one way beyond everyday mundane reality.
While The Lab enjoyed good airplay rotation on the indie radio station Triple J, they were too far outside of musical norms to achieve high-level commercial success - at least, within Australia. Arguably it was an impossible task to capture more than a small portion of the essence of The Lab's multimedia peformances within the limited medium of stereo audio-only recording.
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.
[edit] Discography
Albums
- Ultra (EP), rooArt (1992)
- Terminal (EP), rooArt (1993)
- Labyrinth, BMG (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)
