Technology vs. Horse
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Technology vs. Horse | |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | USA |
| Genre(s) | Pop Rock Experimental Rock Noise Rock |
| Years active | 2004–present |
| Members | |
| Michael Farmer Matt Bitner Rafe Heltsley Josh Hines David Prater |
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| Former members | |
| Skeet Freeman Jeremy London Chris Luther Jamie Pickerill |
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From Bowling Green, Kentucky, Technology vs. Horse began as an avant garde noise rock band. Recently, the band has leaned towards experimental or progressive pop. Their name is quoted from the Spike Jonze movie, Adaptation. in reference to the film True Lies where Arnold Schwarzenegger chases a dirtbike with a horse.
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[edit] Band Lineup
Early 2002 - Matt Bitner, Skeet Freeman, Jeremy London
April 2004 to August 2004 - Matt Bitner, Rafe Heltsley, Chris Luther, Jamie Pickerill
September 2004 to October 2005 - Matt Bitner, Michael Farmer, Rafe Heltsley, Jamie Pickerill
November 2005 to January 2006 - Matt Bitner, Michael Farmer, Rafe Heltsley, Josh Hines, Chris Luther
February 2006 to December 2007 - Matt Bitner, Michael Farmer, Rafe Heltsley, Josh Hines
December 2007 to current - Matt Bitner, Michael Farmer, Rafe Heltsley, Josh Hines, David Prater
[edit] Band Members
[edit] Current members
- Matt Bitner (bass guitar, keyboards, spoken word), formerly in the prog rock band Paris Airshow Disaster, founded a prototype of Technology vs. Horse along with friend Jeremy London (who later played guitar in Paris Airshow Disaster) in early 2002. About 2 years after that project failed to take shape, the band was reinitiated by Matt, Chris, Rafe and Jamie.
- Michael Farmer (vocals, keyboards) joined the band in September 2004. He has gained considerable regional fame for his independent musical projects Mr. Neutron and Kentucky Prophet, as well as for his role as the music geek on the Comedy Central game show Beat the Geeks. He has also worked as a roadie for and in Fall 2006 toured with Frank Black.
- Rafe Heltsley (guitar, vocals)
- Josh Hines (drums) joined the band in November 2005. He was previously in the heavy metal band Commander and currently in the progressive indie outfit Chest Rockwell.
- David Prater (keyboards) joined the band in December 2007. He was previously in rock bands Pornlord and Grandemonster.
[edit] Past members
- Skeet Freeman (vocals)
- Jeremy London (keyboards)
- Chris Luther (bass guitar) played with Technology vs. Horse from April to August 2004, and then again from November 2005 to January 2006. Nearly all of the bass parts in Technology vs. Horse songs are written by Matt Bitner, although Chris is credited with the bass part in "Ethel Can Dance" and a very hearty chunk of "That Episode of the X-Files Where Mulder and Scully Find the Little Girls with Their Eyes Burnt Out Because of Angels." It could be said, that were it not for Chris Luther... everyone in Technology vs Horse would be dead and on heroin. He appears on the live WWHR version of "Ethel Can Dance" on Weasels Ripped My Flesh. He is currently living in Nashville, TN.
- Jamie Pickerill (drums, percussion) played with Technology vs. Horse from April 2004 to October 2005 and appears on The Sandworm Single and Teddy Jam. He is currently involved in the Chinstrap Productions independent record label, performing with such bands as Humongous and Bus Hus.
[edit] Musical Style
Assigning a specific genre to Technology vs. Horse is difficult when looking at their entire catalogue of work, though their individual songs are often structured around clichés from one or more genres. Their first performed work, "That Episode of the X-Files Where Mulder and Scully Find the Girls with Their Eyes Burnt Out Because of Angels," begins with an incomplete cover of the Human Beinz song "Nobody But Me" before descending into elevatoresque lounge muzak, atmospheric keyboard noise, metal, pseudo-gamelan chant, disco, a cinematic overture remniscent of Ennio Moricone, and finally an accapella rendition of Eric Carmen's "All By Myself" interspersed with bombastic guitar noise and blast beats. Few of their other songs demonstrate such an extreme variety of generic conventions, instead simplistically parodying one genre such as "Snakes on a Plane" or "Me Yak," resembling Dio-like hard rock and reggae respectively. Another convention of their earlier live performances was to run songs into each other without end, linking them with blasts of improvised, intentionally poorly played, noise. Such noiser momentes can be heard on the tracks "Preasures on You, Not Me" from Teddy Jam and "669" off of Four Against the Minotaur. Recently, however, such noisy outbursts have become increasingly sparse during live performances with the band playing material displaying more conventional pop structure, and even melodic hooks. Both Rafe and Matt have also incorporated an ever-expanding arsenal of effects pedals which have given much of the band's more current material an ambiguous electronic sound, that sometimes even leads to confusion as to what is being played on guitar and what is being played on bass.
[edit] Lyrical Content
Farmer's vocals in Technology vs. Horse are generally presented in a soulful and traditional manner in contrast to the more dissonant and experimental antics of his counterparts. The lyrical content of the songs is often comedic and narrative, focusing on a story with a distinct beginning, middle, and end or at least upon a central character. This is illustrated in songs such as "Micronesia," which tells the story of a wartime love affair, or "Victor/Victoria," which describes a showdown between two gunslingers, one a carnival she/he and the other an opium addict.
[edit] Influences
On their MySpace[1], the band cites many other groups as influences, including but not limited to: Glenn Branca, Can, Eric Carmen, Ennio Morricone, Fela Kuti, King Crimson, The Last Poets, Mr. Bungle, The Residents, Soft Machine, Sonic Youth, Tears of 1000 Raped Unicorns, Ween, and Yellowman.
[edit] Equipment
Live, both Rafe and Matt use a wide variety of effects pedals. Those identified are listed below.
[edit] Rafe
- Morley Wah
- Dunlop Cry Baby Wah
- Russian Big Muff
- Boss PS3 Pitch Shifter/Delay w/ Expression Pedal
- USA Big Muff Pi
- DOD Delay
- Arion Chorus
- EHX Small Clone
- Behringer Vintage Phaser
- Danelectro Chicken Salad Vibrato
- Boss Flanger 2
- Boss DS1 Distortion
- Danelectro French Toast Octave Distortion
- MXR Blue Box
- Eleca Baseballs
- DOD FX25 Evelope Filter
- EHX Doctor Q
- EHX Mini Q-Tron
- Digitech Synth Wah
- Arion Octave Pedal
- Behringer Slow Motion
- Behringer Compressor
- EHX Frequency Analyzer
[edit] Matt
- EHX Bass Micro Synth
- Mooger Fooger Ring Mod
- Digitech Bass Synth Wah
- Boss Bass Overdrive
- Boss DS1 Distortion
- Boss PH3 Phase Shifter
- DOD FX58 Thrash Master
- Rocktek Flanger
- Dan Electro Tuna Melt Tremolo
- Boss PS2 Pitch Shifter/Delay
- EHX Holy Grail Reverb
- Dunlop Bass Wah
- Boss DD3 Delay
- MXR Bass D.I.
[edit] Josh
Josh Hines uses a 4 Piece Pulse Percussion Drum Kit with various cymbals and a hi-hat. It is held together with duct tape among other methods. It's is the worst drum kit in the USA.
[edit] David
David Prater plays a Roland Juno D and a Korg MicroKorg live.
[edit] Trivia
The 2006 album Teddy Jam is named after R&B group Guy's 1988 single Teddy's Jam. The covers are identical except for the removed "'s" from the title and the name of the band.
The song "That Episode of the X-Files Where Mulder and Scully Find the Little Girls with Their Eyes Burnt Out Because of Angels" is named after the X-Files episode "All Souls," where Agents Mulder and Scully find little girls with their eyes burnt out because of angels. It should be noted that its lyrics contain no references to the episode or even the X-Files in general.
The 2007 album Four Against the Minotaur is named after issue #17 of The Avengers and features cover art by Megan Kelly parodying the cover of said comic.
[edit] Discography
To this day all Technology vs. Horse albums have been self-released and distributed.
[edit] Albums
[edit] EPs, Singles & Compilations
[edit] References
- ^ {{Cite web|url=http://www.myspace.com/technologyvshorse |title= TVH Official MySpace| date=2007| accessdate=2007-12-19}
