Pitchshifter

Pitchshifter are a British five-piece electronic-metal band from Nottingham, United Kingdom formed in 1989. The band was started by bassist and vocalist Mark Clayden, lead guitarist and programmer Johnny A. Carter and rhythm guitarist Stuart Toolin.

The band gained attention with their 1998 release www.pitchshifter.com for its fusion of electronic music like drum 'n bass with metal and rock, which has been compared with other electronic groups like The Prodigy. The band is also known for the early industrial metal sound with downtuned guitars and the use of drum machines and being cited as one of the originators of the genre along with Godflesh.

Albeit the band has found little mainstream success, the band managed to gain a platinum with the release of the Mortal Kombat: Annihilation soundtrack and their 2000 release Deviant peaking at 39 in Billboard 200.^[1] Since its formation, the band has released six studio albums, three EPs and eight music videos. The band has played in various festivals around the world including Ozzfest, Phoenix Festival and Damnation Festival.^[2]

History

Formation and Industrial (1989–1991)

The band was formed in 1989 by bassist Mark Clayden with his brother and vocalist JS Clayden, with guitarists Johnny Carter and Stuart Toolin. During this time, the band played with local bands and soon gained attention of the Peaceville Records. During this time, JS went to live in France to sell paintings.

During 1990, the band started recording their début album, Industrial, with the main vocalist being Mark Clayden instead of JS, who contributed with backing vocals. The band later went on a small tour with bands like Napalm Death.

Submit, Desensitized and Phoenix Festival (1992–1995)

The band later joined the British label Earache Records where they released their EP Submit. Later, Stuart Toolin left the band, and the band hired Matt Godfrey to fill his place for some shows. Matt later left the band and they hired drummer D.J. Walters, now being a four-piece band. Later, the band released their second album, Desensitized.

The band played at the Phoenix Festival in Long Marston, UK in 1995. The band's manager, armed with a tractor, arranged for an enormous crop circle replica of the band's famous “eye” symbol to appear in the adjoining field to the festival site during the night prior to their performance there. The crowd's enthusiasm for the band when they performed was so high that they rushed the stage, making Pitchshifter's performance the first in the history of the festival to be stopped early.^[2]

Remix War and Infotainment? (1995–1996)

The band later released the remix album, The Remix War, which had appearances of other groups like Biohazard and Therapy?. The band then started working on the third album, Infotainment? and later played at the Dynamo Open Air. The band later left Earache and joined Geffen Records.

Spelling change and www.pitchshifter.com (1997–1999)

During this time, the band changed the spelling of their name from 'Pitch Shifter' to 'Pitchshifter', and also recruited former The Prodigy live guitarist Jim Davies, with the band returning to their five-piece form. The band later released their single Genius, which was later included in Test Drive 5 and Mortal Kombat: Annihilation soundtrack, which helped the band to gain platinum.^[2]

In 1998, the band released their fourth album www.pitchshifter.com, which is also their best selling album, selling around 60,000 copies.^[3] The band later played in Ozzfest 1998 and Livid in support of their album. During 1999, they played on Reading Festival and again at Dynamo.

Deviant (2000–2001)

In 2000, founder Johnny Carter and drummer D.J. Walters left the band, and the band hired guitarist Matt Grundy and drummer Jason Bowld. The band later release fifth album Deviant, which had appearances of drummer John Stanier and Jello Biafra. The band also played in that year's Ozzfest. During 2001, Matt left the band the group latter in 2002 hired Dan Rayner. The cover used a picture of one of Gee Vaucher's Paintings, who did artwork for Crass and Carcass. The painting shows a cross between the Pope John Paul II and Queen Elizabeth II, and because of this, the album was banned in Poland, due to the some of the publics response and complaints to the image saying "Why did you insult the Pope?!". MCA Records forced the band to change the album cover in Poland and replaced it with another image.

PSI and hiatus (2002–2003)

Around 2002, the band joined Sanctuary and released their sixth album PSI. The band then went to a few more shows until their last show in 2003 where the band went on a "indefinite hiatus".

Side projects (2003–2006)

During this time, Jim Davies returned to The Prodigy, while Dan went to work on Drawbacks, with his brother Tim Rayner, who later joined Pitchshifter as well. Jon formed the alternative rock group Doheny with former The Cult guitarist Billy Morrison. Mark later left The Blueprint and with Jason, they formed This Is Menace, a supergroup featuring members from various other bands including Carcass, Napalm Death, Sikth, Send More Paramedics, Funeral for a Friend and earthtone9.

Doheny later broke up and JS went to form his own label, PSI Records, and in 2004 released the compilation album Bootlegged, Distorted, Remixed and Uploaded and the DVD P.S.I.entology. In 2005, This Is Menace released their début album No End in Sight through PSI Records.

During this time as well, Jon also worked as a teacher at the Los Angeles Recording School teaching Music Business Communications and also was a featured guest for a U.S. Pigface tour where he performed vocals for songs including Pigface's "Insect/Suspect" and Pitchshifter's classic "Genius."

Return and None for All and All for One (2006–2008)

During late 2006, there were rumours that band was going to return, which were later confirmed and the band announced the "Back From the Dead" tour, supported by various bands including Funeral for a Friend. Jim didn't return to the band to pursue a solo carer and was replaced by Tim Rayner. The band also released the None for All and All for One EP, with some copies given away for free in certain shows. There were some rumours that the band was working on a new album, but the band has denied.

In 2008, the band along with Carcass and Cathedral, headlined the Damnation Festival.

Recent activity and new album (2008 onward)

In 2009, the band announced in their official website that they were working on a new album. Frontman JS Clayden stated that "It's been refreshing to get back in the demo studio. We are taking this record in a few places we haven't been before in terms of guitar work. Brian Harrah [Professional Murder Music and Tura Satana] is writing with me on guitar at The Manor Studios, and Jason is jamming at his place. So far we are having a blast and kicking ass. There are a few new moves in terms of song timing and vocals that have us all jazzed. I guess you'll just have to wait and see what we came up with."^[4] In late 2009, guitarist Tim Rayner was diagnosed with b cell lymphoma while on vacation on Australia and underwent treatment.^[4] In February 2010, he arrived in the UK and started radiotherapy.^[5]

The band also headlined the Wakefield Rock Festival on May 15, 2010.^[4][6]

Band members

Timeline

Discography

• Industrial (1991)
• Desensitized (1993)
• Infotainment? (1996)
• www.pitchshifter.com (1998)
• Deviant (2000)
• PSI (2002)

References

External links

• Official website
• Pitchshifter on Myspace
• PSI Records