Brad Laner

Brad Laner
Birth name Brad Laner
Born (1966-11-06) November 6, 1966[1]
Los Angeles, California, U.S.[1]
Genres Shoegaze, Noise rock, Industrial rock, Electronica, IDM, neo-psychedelia
Occupation(s) Musician, songwriter, record producer
Instruments synthesizer, drums, guitar, bass guitar, piano, tape recorder, vocals
Years active 1981–present
Labels Onion/American Recordings/Warner Bros. Records, Creation, Supreme/Island/PolyGram Records, Zoo/Volcano, Planet Mu, Beggars Banquet, Hometapes
Associated acts Medicine, Electric Company, Mercury Rev Savage Republic, Los Angeles Free Music Society, Steaming Coils, Lusk, Tool, Failure, Thom Monahan, Vas Deferens Organization Debt of Nature[1][2]
Website

Brad Laner (born November 6, 1966 in Los Angeles, California[1]) is an American musician and record producer best known for his work with the shoegaze band Medicine, which he founded and led.

Prior to Medicine, he was involved in avant-improv bands such as Debt of Nature (at the age of 15), Steaming Coils (at the age of 18)—which also featured members of Los Angeles Free Music Society—and most notably the experimental tribal post-punk outfit Savage Republic,[2] which, according to Pitchfork Media, foreshadowed many ideas later explored in the post-rock genre.[3]

He has also been active as a solo artist, recording under the moniker Electric Company as well as releasing two albums under his own name.

His work has been sampled by artists such as Brian Eno (Eno extensively sampled Electric Company's songs on several tracks from Another Day on Earth), and Caribou.[2] He has collaborated with, among many others, M83 on its 2011 album Hurry Up, We're Dreaming.[2]

His notable fans include Kid606, with whom he also collaborated.[2]

Career

Laner founded his first band, Debt of Nature, at the age of 15 (in 1981).[2] He then continued his musical endeavours with Steaming Coils, an experimental avant-rock band that he also founded in 1984. It released two full-length albums before disbanding in 1989, but its last record was released two years after the break-up.[2]

In the meantime, Laner joined Savage Republic as a percussionist and a keyboard player, and took part in recording two of its albums.[2]

In 1990 he founded shoegaze-noise pop band called Medicine, in which he applied a do-it-yourself ethos to create his signature sound by running his guitar through a 4-track recorder. In 1992 Medicine released its debut album, Shot Forth Self Living. In 1994 the band contributed one track to the soundtrack of the movie The Crow and appeared in the movie itself. The band ceased to exist in 1995, briefly reuniting in 2003 as a duo (with Laner and Shannon Lee).[1]

In 1995 he started his solo project Electric Company, which was devoted to IDM, glitch, and avant-garde electronics with some elements of ambient and drone.[4] As Electric Company, he released ten full-length albums in nine years (before ceasing activity in 2004). The same year, he also founded psychedelic supergroup Lusk with the members of Tool and Failure,[1] with whom he released one album, Free Mars. It received a Grammy Award nomination.

In 1996, he collaborated (under his own name) with Dallas-based musical collective Vas Deferens Organization on the album Transcontinental Conspiracy. Laner co-wrote and co-produced the album; several Mercury Rev members were also involved in the recording and producing process.[2] They collaborated again in 1999, this time under his Electric Company moniker, on the album More Pelvis Wick for the Baloney Boners.

In 2007, Laner released his first album under his own name, Neighbor Singing, with the input of Thom Monahan. He then followed it up in 2010 with his second solo release, Natural Selections.[3]

Discography

with Debt of Nature

cassette releases

compilation appearances

with Earth Dies Burning

with Stahlbau

cassette releases

with Pilgrim State

with Steaming Coils

compilation appearances

note: the song "Blathering Hemispheres" from the "Never Creak" LP appears on both of the above LAFMS comps credited solely to Rick Potts

with To Nije Sala

with Savage Republic

other 1980's releases as Brad Laner

cassette releases

compilation appearances

with Medicine (1990s and present version)

Singles and EPs

Compilation appearances

as Electric Company

EPs

Remixes & Compilation appearances

as Amnesia

as Personal Electronics

Compilation appearance

with Vas Deferens Organization

with Kraig Grady

with Lusk

with Medicine (2002-04 version)

EPs

Remixes & Compilation appearances

with North Valley Subconscious Orchestra

with The Internal Tulips

compilation appearance

post 2000 releases as Brad Laner

Singles and EPs

Remixes & Compilation appearances

Brad Laner guest appearances on other artists' records

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Hometapes "Hometapes: Brad Laner". Retrieved 08 September 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Niklas Records, Jakub Krawczynski (2011, August). "Vas Deferens Organization and Brad Laner: Transcontinental Conspiracy presskit". Retrieved 08 September 2012.
  3. 1 2 Pitchfork Media, Joe Tangari (2010, 16 August). "Brad Laner: Natural Selections album review". Retrieved 09 September 2012.
  4. ↑ Payne, John (November 25, 1998). "Personal Electronics". LA Weekly. Retrieved June 16, 2013.

External links

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