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Six Finger Satellite
Six Finger Satellite (a.k.a. 6FS) is an American rock band from Providence, Rhode Island. Described by former member John MacLean as "a post-punk band utilizing dance music elements", Six Finger Satellite's eclectic sound is driven synthesizers as well as more traditional rock instrumentation.
Six Finger Satellite formed in 1989 around a line-up of J. Ryan (singer/keyboards), John MacLean (guitar), Peter Phillips (guitar), Chris Dixon (bass), and Rick Pelletier (drums).
Sub Pop co-founder Jonathan Poneman witnessed one of the band's earliest out-of-town shows at the New Music Seminar in New York City, and expressed interest in their music. The band handed him a demo tape, which was released by Sub Pop as the Weapon EP. Contrary to popular belief, Six Finger Satellite did not set out to trick the label by handing in a demo that did not reflect their musical ambitions. According to Ryan:
I wouldn’t necessarily call that demo a hoax in the way people talk about it. If anything, the hoax is that we were already changing after we had submitted it. (...) We were playing those songs live. It wasn’t like we were like, "Oh, let’s spend a bunch of years studying grunge music and try to fool Sub Pop." It was more like we made this music.
Six Finger Satellite's first full-length album, The Pigeon Is the Most Popular Bird, was released in 1993, with Kurt Niemand replacing Dixon on bass. The record more accurately represented the band's vision of noisy, cyborg-esque post-punk, and was recorded by Bob Weston, whose band Shellac named their 1994 single, The Bird is the Most Popular Finger in tribute. In 1994, 6FS released the Machine Cuisine EP, which was recorded entirely with synthesizers, suggesting the band's future direction. Their 7" single supposedly recorded "live at the A.C.I." was not actually recorded live at the Rhode Island Adult Correctional Institute prison, as purported in its tongue-in-cheek liner notes.
In the meantime, Phillips had left the band and Niemand had died of a drug overdose. James Apt joined on bass. Around this time, the band began using their advance money from Sub Pop to buy recording equipment and build their own studio called The Parlour in an industrial space. The band released Severe Exposure, which represented a fusion of their synth- and guitar-driven sounds, in 1995.
Over the course of the next 3 years, the studio underwent a few physical renovations and upgrades in recording gear. The band became adept at recording and Ryan, Pelletier and MacLean were involved in recording projects with local Providence bands; Les Savy Fav, Astoveboat, Landed, Men's Recovery Project, flicker, The Olneyville Soundsystem, to name a few. The low-budget music video for the song "Parlour Games" from Severe Exposure (directed by Guy Benoit of Thee Hydrogen Terrors) was featured in an episode of Beavis and Butt-head.
Paranormalized was a quick follow-up to Severe Exposure, and while it continued in the same sonic vein, the album was decidedly less guitar focused, with more emphasis on layered synthesizers. The touring for this record was much more effective as the band played with Shellac, The Jesus Lizard, and Trans Am and was on the road for most of that year. A few of the songs became live set staples ("Slave Traitor", "The Greatest Hit").
Six Finger Satellite
Six Finger Satellite (a.k.a. 6FS) is an American rock band from Providence, Rhode Island. Described by former member John MacLean as "a post-punk band utilizing dance music elements", Six Finger Satellite's eclectic sound is driven synthesizers as well as more traditional rock instrumentation.
Six Finger Satellite formed in 1989 around a line-up of J. Ryan (singer/keyboards), John MacLean (guitar), Peter Phillips (guitar), Chris Dixon (bass), and Rick Pelletier (drums).
Sub Pop co-founder Jonathan Poneman witnessed one of the band's earliest out-of-town shows at the New Music Seminar in New York City, and expressed interest in their music. The band handed him a demo tape, which was released by Sub Pop as the Weapon EP. Contrary to popular belief, Six Finger Satellite did not set out to trick the label by handing in a demo that did not reflect their musical ambitions. According to Ryan:
I wouldn’t necessarily call that demo a hoax in the way people talk about it. If anything, the hoax is that we were already changing after we had submitted it. (...) We were playing those songs live. It wasn’t like we were like, "Oh, let’s spend a bunch of years studying grunge music and try to fool Sub Pop." It was more like we made this music.
Six Finger Satellite's first full-length album, The Pigeon Is the Most Popular Bird, was released in 1993, with Kurt Niemand replacing Dixon on bass. The record more accurately represented the band's vision of noisy, cyborg-esque post-punk, and was recorded by Bob Weston, whose band Shellac named their 1994 single, The Bird is the Most Popular Finger in tribute. In 1994, 6FS released the Machine Cuisine EP, which was recorded entirely with synthesizers, suggesting the band's future direction. Their 7" single supposedly recorded "live at the A.C.I." was not actually recorded live at the Rhode Island Adult Correctional Institute prison, as purported in its tongue-in-cheek liner notes.
In the meantime, Phillips had left the band and Niemand had died of a drug overdose. James Apt joined on bass. Around this time, the band began using their advance money from Sub Pop to buy recording equipment and build their own studio called The Parlour in an industrial space. The band released Severe Exposure, which represented a fusion of their synth- and guitar-driven sounds, in 1995.
Over the course of the next 3 years, the studio underwent a few physical renovations and upgrades in recording gear. The band became adept at recording and Ryan, Pelletier and MacLean were involved in recording projects with local Providence bands; Les Savy Fav, Astoveboat, Landed, Men's Recovery Project, flicker, The Olneyville Soundsystem, to name a few. The low-budget music video for the song "Parlour Games" from Severe Exposure (directed by Guy Benoit of Thee Hydrogen Terrors) was featured in an episode of Beavis and Butt-head.
Paranormalized was a quick follow-up to Severe Exposure, and while it continued in the same sonic vein, the album was decidedly less guitar focused, with more emphasis on layered synthesizers. The touring for this record was much more effective as the band played with Shellac, The Jesus Lizard, and Trans Am and was on the road for most of that year. A few of the songs became live set staples ("Slave Traitor", "The Greatest Hit").