| Sound Tribe Sector 9 (STS9) | |
|---|---|
STS9 at Austin City Limits 2007. |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Santa Cruz, California Atlanta, Georgia |
| Genres | Livetronica |
| Years active | 1998–present |
| Labels | 1320 Records |
| Website | www.sts9.com |
| Members | |
| Hunter Brown Jeffree Lerner David Murphy David Phipps Zach Velmer |
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Sound Tribe Sector 9 (abbreviated as STS9) is an instrumental band known for their live performances. The band’s genre-blending sound is based heavily on instrumental rock and electronic music crossed with elements of funk, jazz, drum and bass, psychedelia, and hip hop. Self-described as "post-rock dance music,"[1] the band mixes standard live rock instrumentation with electronics, favoring group rhythm over individual solos.[2]
STS9 has released 11 albums, one remixed album, and two live DVDs (Live as Time Changes and Axe The Cables) on their own label 1320 Records'. STS9 has toured nationally and internationally, ranking among Pollstar Magazine’s list of top-grossing touring acts, with a heavy presence in the music festival circuit.
Contents |
Hunter Brown (guitar/laptop/midi keyboard)
Jeffree Lerner (percussion/laptop/handsonic)
David Murphy (bass/laptop/midi keyboard)
David Phipps (keyboards/laptop)
Zach Velmer (drums).
Artist Bio
Since forming in Atlanta over a decade ago, instrumental electronic rock band STS9 has risen to the forefront of the jamtronic music scene. Consistently ranked among Pollstar Magazine’s list of top-grossing touring acts, STS9 continues to average nearly 5,000 tickets per city, boasting a list of opening acts such as Snoop Dogg, Bassnectar, Ghostland Observatory, The Glitch Mob, Thievery Corporation, Pretty Lights, Big Boi of Outkast and countless others. The band’s most recent tour culminated with two sold out performances at the legendary Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado, with 18,000 fans in attendance.
STS9 has headlined stages at festivals such as Ultra Music Festival, Bonnaroo, Outside Lands, Lollapalooza and Electric Daisy Carnival. STS9 runs its own record label, 1320 Records. The group has raised significant amounts of money towards activism efforts (including $150,000 recently to The Make it Right Foundation, paving the way to rebuild a house in the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans).
June 2011 brought the release of the bands latest studio EP, When the Dust Settles (the eleventh album in their full discography), keeping with XLR8R Magazine’s exclamation that STS9 is "one of the country's most intriguing, innovative outfits around.” The EP debuted at #1 on the iTunes Electronic Charts and landed in Billboard’s Top 25, while the first single “Scheme” was downloaded over 100,000 times in its first week alone.
STS9’s self-owned record label, 1320 Records was founded on the principles of collaboration, cooperation, and community. The goal is clear: bring the music to the people in the most conscious, unique innovative and savvy ways possible. By doing so, the distance lessens between artists and fans, putting the power back in the hands of those that make music and those that live for it.
STS9 has partnered with a variety of non-profit organizations throughout their career. Over the last several years, they have partnered with Conscious Alliance to bring food drives to various concerts and festivals on their tour. In exchange for fan participation in these events, STS9 and Conscious Alliance thank patrons with limited edition art work posters, often created by the same artists who accompany the band on stage. In 2005, STS9 put on a benefit concert where they raised over $20,000 for Hurricane Katrina victims <citation needed>.
Beginning in Fall 2006, as part of their Live as Time Changes tour, STS9 traveled across the country in a carbon neutral tour bus and powered their live concerts using renewable energy. The band hoped to offset 100%, or about 138,000 pounds, of their carbon dioxide emissions from their tour by donations of Renewable Energy Credits from their partnership with environment-friendly companies.[3]
STS9's remix album “Peaceblaster : The New Orleans Make It Right Remixes”, features 30 remixes of material from STS9’s 2008 album, "Peaceblaster". All proceeds from this album went to the Make It Right Foundation in an effort to build a home in New Orleans, which has since been completed and taken up by a family displaced by Hurricane Katrina . The home is endowed with many eco-friendly features, including solar panels, high efficiency HVAC system, wire-free lighting panels, tankless water heater, dual flush toilets, low e windows & doors, a rainwater collection system and water absorbing native landscaping. And, for future storms, the home comes equipped with walls that can withstand 130mph winds, kevlar hurricane shields for the windows and a roof hatch in case an escape is necessary.
STS9 has gained acclaim, as well as a distinctly loyal fan base in the past decade. Their 2005 album Artifact reached #12 on Billboard's Top Electronic Albums).[4] They have moved from playing and opening in small clubs to headlining major music venues and festivals. In 2003, the band reached new heights by headlining their first amphitheater performance at majestic Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison, Colorado . A special concert scheduled for the night before at the Fox Theater in Boulder, Colorado sold out in less than fifteen minutes . The band has now sold out several Red Rocks shows, playing annually every September.
In the San Francisco Bay Area, the band has built a following with frequent performances at The Fillmore, Warfield Theatre, and the historic Regency Center. They have performed at The Fillmore on 10 occasions including three 2-night stands, a 3-night stand for Halloween in 2004, and a 4-night stand in early 2009. They have performed at the Warfield Theatre on 5 occasions including a 2-night stand. STS9 performed at the Regency Center on 5 occasions including two consecutive New Years Eve shows in 2002 and 2003. The band has also put on performances at the Independent, Great American Music Hall, Golden Gate Park, and the Stern Grove Festival. STS9 also performed at the Boulder Theater in Boulder, CO for a 5-night stand in March 2007.
Santa Cruz, California has been home to various members of the band since moving to California. 'STS9' has performed at the Catalyst on 9 occasions since 2002, including two 2-night stands. Previously, the band had been frequently playing Palookaville until it closed in 2002. In 2003, the band headlined the Santa Cruz Civic Center.
In their home state of Georgia, the band continues to ride their popularity. On October 3, 2006, the band marked the 9th Anniversary of their first ever show with a celebration at the historic Georgia Theatre in Athens, Georgia. The band has performed many 2-night stands at the Georgia Theatre since 2002. For three years in Atlanta until the end of 2009, they have performed at the Tabernacle on New Years Eve as part of a 3-night stand, and extended the run to four nights in 2007 and 2008.
STS9 chose Denver, CO as the host for their three 2009 New Years Eve concerts. The show on the 29th was the bands first acoustic show ever, called 'Axe the Cables.' The band performed two sets at University of Denver's Gates Hall. The remaining two nights were standard 'electric' shows played at the Wells Fargo Theater. STS9 returned to Denver for NYE 2010, playing three shows at the Fillmore Auditorium. The 12/29/2010 show opened and closed with a cover of the Grateful Dead's "Shakedown Street".
This New Year's 2011, STS9 will playing a 5-night run at The Tabernacle in Atlanta, GA.
STS9 has a steady presence in the music festival circuit, headlining several festivals across the country each season.
In 2007, STS9 announced they would return to Deerfields for a new festival titled Re:Generation. The two-day festival included additional performances from The Join and Telefon Tel Aviv. According to the bands website, this event promised to be "a unique celebration of music, nature, family, mind, body, and spirit." In 2011, STS9 re-created Re:Generation festival in its second incarnation held at Horning's Hideout in North Plains, Oregon.
In May 2008 STS9 performed at the Summer Camp Music Festival in Chillicothe, IL.
On Saturday June 7, 2008, STS9 headlined the Sun Down Stage at the Wakarusa Music Festival at Clinton State Park, Lawrence, Kansas.
At Rothbury 2008, STS9 performed a three and half hour show, which packed a capacity crowd.
In June 2011, STS9 performed at Bonnaroo in Manchester, Tennessee. The set began at 2:30 A.M. and was played until the sun rose. STS9 has performed live at the following events:
On several occasions, STS9 has billed themselves under the name Tzolkin. A promotional flyer put out by the band advertising the 2001 performance reads: “A New Sound Expression” from Tzolkin. Tzolkin is all 5 members of STS9. These very experimental concerts have been used to debut brand new material in a live setting without having the audience expectation of hearing existing STS9 material. The term Tzolkin means sequence of days and refers to a 260-day harmonic module calendar cycle.
Tzolkin performed live on:
Landscape and Breath is STS9 members David Phipps (keyboards/laptop) and Hunter Brown (guitar/laptop/midi keyboard). Landscape and Breath is very similar to the sound of STS9. Steeped in ambience and without drums and bass, the sound is softer and lighter. This side project has been known to work through raw material and ideas that eventually become real STS9 compositions.
Landscape and Breath is credited with producing 4 songs on the STS9 2005 release Artifact. The duo also contributed 4 different songs to the Low Pro Lounge 2004 release, The Most Hi-Fi. Other Landscape and Breath compositions can be found on the STS9 2004 release Live At Home, although the songs are credited individually to Phipps and Hunter.
A new album is in the works, and may be released sometime 2009.
Landscape and Breath performed live on:
Santa Cruz Hemp All-Stars (S.C.H.A.S.) is a side project that includes the STS9 rhythm section of Jeffree Lerner (percussion & effects) and Zach Velmer (drums). STS9 member David Murphy (bass) has also appeared with the band on 4 occasions.
S.C.H.A.S. performed live on:
L.I.F.E. (Love In Full Effect) was a short-lived side project that included STS9 member Zach Velmer (drums) plus Max Malone (drums, bass) from The Free Energy Project. According to the band: The intention of L.I.F.E. is to perform music as an uplifting experience of transformation to a higher vibration of love. Through selected tones and rhythms, the music is performed as a cycle of life recognizing our journey from birth to death, spring to winter, as circle, vibrating higher after each revolution to experience Love In its Fullest Effect.[5]
L.I.F.E. performed live on:
Root Science was a short-lived side project that included STS9 members Zach Velmer (drums) and David Murphy (bass). The band also included DJ James Christopher, lyricists Lost and XQR, and female vocalist Syrene. A promotional flyer put out by the band advertising the event reads: “Root Science is a classic drum and bass tracks interpreted live in an improvisational atmosphere. As a group, the performers will recreate and simultaneously reinvent the sounds at the roots of the modern jungle.”
Root Science performed live on:
Pigs on the Wing is a Pink Floyd tribute supergroup composed of STS9 bassist David Murphy, Matt Weiss (Collective Efforts), Coley Dennis (Maserati), Mike Albanese (Cinemechanica), Alfredo Lapuz Jr (Velveteen Pink, Immuzikation), Stanley Walker (Velveteen Pink), Count Kellam, and Tim Conley. The shows featured vivid lights and visuals as well as interpretations of some of Pink Floyd's greatest compositions.
Pigs on the Wing performed live on: