| a.P.A.t.T. | |
|---|---|
Dorothy Wave, Field Marshall Stack General Midi, Master Fader, The Count In |
|
| Background information | |
| Origin | Liverpool, United Kingdom |
| Genres | All |
| Years active | 1998–present |
| Labels | Post Music |
| Associated acts | Kling Klang (band), Zombina,Indica Ritual, Stig Noise, Hammerfist, Right Right Hand |
| Website | apatt.com |
| Members | |
| General Midi Dorothy Wave Master Fader Field Marshall Stack Doctrine |
|
a.P.A.t.T. (no set pronunciation) is an experimental organizational form best known for avant-garde music and multimedia works. They are notable for compositional and organizational philosophies that value purposive change, bricolage, contradiction, détournement, dérive, deterritorialization, personal challenge and discomfort to members of a.P.A.t.T. and audiences, inclusiveness, participatory action, outwardness, and an imaginative attention to musical and social conventions, and this is visible throughout all a.P.A.t.T. operations, public performances and releases.[1] The letters a.P.A.t.T. seemingly stand for nothing fixed, but might be related to the compositional and organizational philosophies involved in a.P.A.t.T. Music composition by a.P.A.t.T. generally falls into two categories: deconstructions of Western popular music, or complex conceptual pieces, composed around a theme, theory, plot, or event. They are noted for surrealistic lyrics and sound, strange and unsettling behaviour on stage, a disregard for conventional musical composition, and modes of music business, and an unflinching relationship to aesthetics, often embodied in challenging musical pieces.[2][3] Other work involves slap stick humour and might seek to annoy and frustrate just as much as entertain. Every a.P.A.t.T. performance involves the individual members seemingly attempting to disarm themselves in front of audiences through the use of a white uniform dress code. Emerging in 1997/1998, a.P.A.t.T. spent the first four years largely stylizing their performance and developing a public front. From 2002, a.P.A.t.T. performed more regularly (running a.P.A.t.T. Island' upstairs in the Zanzibar Coffee House), and worked on releasing EPs and albums through various labels and distributors. In more recent years a.P.A.t.T. has initiated and collaborated on a wide range of public performances and other multimedia works. Albums like 'Black & White Mass' released in 2008 and other formative releases involve the collective sampling vigorously from popular culture, everyday life, and musical and social imagery, often incorporating samples and re-compositions of common musical life in intricate webs of reference.[1] 'Black and White Mass', an album described as a "Mad hatters tea party for avant-rock heads",[4] was BBC Radio 1 DJ Huw Stevens' 'Album of the Week' in 2008. a.P.A.t.T. has been associated with the endurance of an alternative musical scene in Liverpool, being named alongside bands such as Ladytron, Clinic, Hot Club de Paris, and Kling Klang. They tour about once a year, recently in France, Germany, and Switzerland, and premiered at the opening of a performance based arts initiative in Lille, France, in December 2010.[5] A new album is rumoured to be nearing completion for release in 2011. The collective continues to compose new material, play live performances and stage public events, and members are deeply involved in North West England music.
The a.P.A.t.T. Orchestra, an orchestra of no fixed size, style of performance, or mode of production, has recently experimented with participatory musical experiences, and with spatiality and musical composition.[6]
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The current members of a.P.A.t.T. originate from Liverpool, England, and North West England. a.P.A.t.T. became a musical entity in 1998 when General Midi and Field Marshall Stack wrote some words on a cassette tape they had recorded sounds upon after becoming disassociated with bands and 'songs'. Their intention back then was to make, find, imagine, and create 'secret music', and to learn more about their instruments, constraints and possibilities experience. For much of the early years, the members concentrated on developing their personal knowledge and public image, developing the performance image/sound that endures today, learning new/old instruments and cutting edge technological systems, and developing their organizational and compositional philosophy. Further down the road, a.P.A.t.T. felt comfortable enough to release music and ideas to the public, in the form of EPs and albums. Around this time they began work on a feature film, and a documentary about a.P.A.t.T.; each of which seemingly embodies the compositional and organizational philosophies involved with a.P.A.t.T. They also performed much more, becoming well known in the U.K. music scene. 'Members' have come and gone since a.P.A.t.T. emerged, and during this time the organizational form has been able to accommodate these changes and continue to diversify into new music and multi-media spaces. Today, the a.P.A.t.T. includes musical and non-musical members, and is involved in multiple projects and collaborations simultaneously, more or less musical in nature.
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