| Worriedaboutsatan | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Leeds, England |
| Genres | Electronica Post Rock |
| Years active | 2006-present |
| Labels | Iapetus Recordings (2006-07) Gizeh Records (2008-2010) |
| Members | |
| Gavin Miller Tom Ragsdale |
|
Worriedaboutsatan (stylized as worriedaboutsatan) are an electronica band who originated in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England.
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The band comprises of charismatic front-man Gavin Miller and rhythm master Tom Ragsdale, who met whilst both attending Leeds College of Music in 2005. Worriedaboutsatan began as a side project for Miller, but later became the joint focus of Miller and Ragsdale after their other band, Johnny Poindexte, split up.
The band's mixture of rock and electronic genres can be attributed to Miller and Ragsdale's musical influences, which give equal importance to post-rock bands such as Explosions in the Sky and Mogwai as well as electronic dance music artists, such as Underworld and Trentemøller. Worriedaboutsatan's sound, in reflection of their musical tastes, is in their own words, an attempt 'to fuse elements of everything we listen to - glitch, techno, electronica, rock [and] metal'.[1] Worriedaboutsatan also employ the use of samples from a wide variety of sources, such as a speech given by Patricia Hearst (as featured in the EP1 track, 'Patty Hearst') and a spoken performance of a Siegfried Sassoon poem, sampled in a new track called "Evil Dogs".
Worriedaboutsatan's music has appeared on several BBC Radio shows, including Steve Lamacq's show on BBC 6 Music and Tom Robinson's Introducing[2] and Mary Anne Hobbs' Experimental Show, both on BBC Radio 1. Since 23 July 2008, their music has also been featured in episodes of the British soap opera, Coronation Street.
The band have so far released one album, one remix album, two EPs and one single. The first EP, self-titled but known as EP1, was released in 2006 and is now out of print. It is currently available online.[3] The single, "An Infinity of Oncoming Lights" was released in 2006, and is also available on Last.fm.
The second EP, entitled EP02, was released in late 2007 to a largely positive critical response, with solid recommendation from Traffic magazine (March 2008) and The Silent Ballet.[4] The track "Relative Minors", featured the vocals of local singer-songwriter, Paul Marshall. It was mastered at Transition Studios,[5] who have also worked with Burial and Kode9.
The debut album Arrivals was released on 25 May 2009, through Gizeh Records.[6] It has received good critical response, including a 7.6 score on Pitchfork.[7]
A remix album, Arrivals Remixed was released in December 2009.[8]
Worriedaboutsatan are also featured on both of the On The Bone Records[9] compilations, along with other popular Leeds artists such as This Et Al, Pulled Apart By Horses and Benjamin Wetherill.
Worriedaboutsatan remixed a Maybeshewill track, "Takotsubo", which is available on their remix CD, Amateur Grammatics : The Remixes Vol. 2.
The band started out using a desktop PC with the software package Reason to run the electronic elements, whilst the two members either played guitar or controlled the PC via a MIDI controller. This changed in 2008 to using an iMac with the software package Ableton Live. The band now use two laptops: Ragsdale's runs the electronic elements via Ableton Live, whilst Miller's runs the software package Guitar Rig, which he plays live guitar through.
Earlier shows found the band performing on the floor directly in front of the audience, giving Ragsdale the ability to walk out into the crowd whilst playing guitar.[10] However, recent performances have seen the role of guitarist given solely to Miller, whilst Ragsdale takes control of the computer and electronic elements.[11]
Amongst the many bands that Worriedaboutsatan have performed with include 65daysofstatic. iLiKETRAiNS, Dälek, Yndi Halda, Ólafur Arnalds and Maybeshewill.
The band's name, Worriedaboutsatan, is taken from a song of the same name by Belgian rock band Deus. It was a B-side to their 1996 single "Theme From Turnpike".[12]