Swans is an American experimental rock band formed in 1982 by singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Michael Gira. One of the few acts to emerge from the New York City-based no wave scene and stay intact into the next decade, Swans have become recognized for an ever-changing sound, exploring genres such as noise rock, post-punk, industrial and post-rock. Initially, their music was known for its sonic brutality and misanthropic lyrics. Following the addition of singer, songwriter and keyboardist Jarboe in 1986, Swans began to incorporate melody and intricacy into their music. Jarboe remained the band's only constant member except Gira and semi-constant guitarist Norman Westberg until their dissolution in 1997.
Mortiis is an electronic band from Notodden, Norway fronted by Håvard Ellefsen, who is also known as the namesake of the band. The name is a misspelling of the word "mortis", which is the pronunciation used by the band. Mortiis started as the solo project of Ellefsen as a means to convey a story. This aspect was lost over time and Mortiis slowly formed into a band. Ellefsen previously played bass in the black metal band Emperor (1991–1992), prior to forming this project in 1993. The time he spent in his previous band laid the groundworks for mixing black metal elements with various electronic genres, with these being touched upon across each "era" of the band.
Michael James Ness is an American musician who is the lead guitarist, lead vocalist and songwriter for the punk rock band Social Distortion, which was formed in 1979.
Electric Six is an American rock band formed in Detroit in 1996. They are known for combining elements of comedy rock, disco, garage rock, metal, new wave, and punk rock. Since achieving widespread recognition in 2003 with the singles "Danger! High Voltage" and "Gay Bar", they have released 15 studio albums, two rarities albums, one live album and one live DVD. Each band member is given a unique stage name; the line-up has undergone changes over the years; co-founder, lead vocalist, and primary songwriter Dick Valentine has been the only constant member. The current line-up consists of Valentine, lead guitarist Johnny Na$hinal, keyboardist Tait Nucleus?, rhythm guitarist Herb S. Flavourings, drummer Dr. J and bassist Smorgasbord.
Belinda Jo Carlisle is an American singer. She gained fame as the lead vocalist of the Go-Go's, the most successful all-female rock band of all time, and went on to have a prolific career as a solo artist.
Runrig were a Scottish Celtic rock band formed on the Isle of Skye in 1973. From its inception, the band's line-up included brothers and songwriters Rory MacDonald and Calum MacDonald (percussion). The line-up during most of the 1980s and 1990s also included Donnie Munro (vocals), Malcolm Jones (guitar), Iain Bayne (drums), and Pete Wishart (keyboards). Munro left the band in 1997 to pursue a career in politics and was replaced by Bruce Guthro. Wishart left in 2001, also to pursue a career in politics, and was replaced by Brian Hurren. The band released fourteen studio albums, with a number of their songs sung in Scottish Gaelic.
Doves are an English indie rock band, formed in Manchester in 1998. The band is composed of twin brothers Jez and Andy Williams, and Jimi Goodwin. Additionally, the band employs Martin Rebelski, as a touring and session musician on keyboards. The band released five studio albums between 2000 and 2020, three of which reached #1 on the UK album charts. A compilation album, The Places Between: The Best of Doves, was released in April 2010.
Social Distortion is an American punk rock band formed in 1978 in Fullerton, California. The band currently consists of Mike Ness, Jonny Wickersham, Brent Harding, David Hidalgo Jr. (drums), and David Kalish (keyboards).
Sex, Love and Rock 'n' Roll is the sixth album by American punk rock band Social Distortion. It is their first studio album in eight years, since the release of White Light, White Heat, White Trash in 1996. The album was originally scheduled to be released in the fall of 2000, but was not yet completed, and it was officially released on September 28, 2004. This album is Social Distortion's first to feature guitarist Jonny Wickersham, following the death of original guitarist Dennis Danell in February 2000. The album's opening track, "Reach for the Sky", was released in late 2004 and became one of Social Distortion's biggest hits.
Combichrist is an American aggrotech / industrial metal band formed in 2003 by Norwegian vocalist Andy LaPlegua, who also founded the bands Icon of Coil, Panzer AG, Scandinavian Cock and Scandy. Combichrist was formed in Atlanta, Georgia and is now based in Las Vegas, Nevada. The band consists of only LaPlegua in the studio, with a changing lineup of live performing members. Releases by the band have been very successful in terms of sales and charted in top positions for dance and alternative charts worldwide.
Ole Anders Olsen, known professionally as Andy LaPlegua, is a Norwegian singer and songwriter, originally known for being founder and lead vocalist of futurepop band Icon of Coil. He also gained fame in the aggrotech and electro-industrial scenes as founder and lead vocalist of Combichrist and Panzer AG.
RockNess was an annual music festival which took place in Scotland at Clune Farm, Dores, on the banks of Loch Ness near Inverness in the Scottish Highlands. The first Rockness festival took place on 24 June 2006 and continued to grow in size every year until 2013, which was the last running year of the festival. In June 2008 AEG took over as the main promoter of the festival. The festival was known as "the most beautiful festival in the world" and "the only festival with its own monster" due to its scenic location at Loch Ness which is the alleged home of the cryptozoological Loch Ness Monster. Despite the festival's name it was not solely a rock festival but presented music from all genres, especially mainstream and electronic music.
Chase & Status are an English electronic music duo composed of Saul Milton (Chase) and Will Kennard (Status). In addition, Andy Gangadeen is the drummer when the band performs live. MC Rage formerly performed as MC with the group, but left in July 2021 to focus on solo ventures. The duo are from London, and formed in 2003 after meeting at university in Manchester. The duo have since released six studio albums and collaborated with major artists such as Plan B, CeeLo Green, Rihanna, Example, and Tinie Tempah. They run the independent record label MTA Records.
Saving Abel is an American rock band from Corinth, Mississippi, founded in 2004 by Jared Weeks and Jason Null. The band is named after the biblical story of Cain and Abel, in which a man named Cain kills his brother Abel. Band member Jason Null thought up the band title saying "I Googled the story of Cain and Abel and found a line about 'there was no saving Abel,' which just jumped out at me."
William Control is an American music project founded in 2008 in Seattle, Washington. It was the side project of Aiden's William Francis before Aiden's hiatus, and he later operated as William Control full-time. 'William Control' therefore refers to both the band as a whole and to Francis as his stage name. Francis was signed to Victory Records before starting his own independent label, Control Records, and, as William Control, has released five full-length albums, an EP, two acoustic albums, two live DVDs and a remix album (Remix). The first part of Revelations, The Pale, was released on October 14, 2016. The second EP The Black followed on February 17, 2017, and the third, entitled The Red, followed that with a release date of July 14 of the same year. The album was completed by The White on November 24.
Mark Gemini Thwaite, also known as MGT, is an English musician who has been the guitarist for a number of rock bands and artists, including The Mission, trip hop pioneer Tricky, Peter Murphy of Bauhaus, New Disease, Spear of Destiny & Theatre of Hate, Mob Research, and Canadian band National Velvet plus various live and recorded appearances with Gary Numan, Al Jourgensen of Ministry, Revolting Cocks, Roger Daltrey of the Who, P.J. Harvey, Alanis Morissette, Raymond Watts and PIG, Primitive Race, Ricky Warwick of Thin Lizzy, Ginger of The Wildhearts, Stan Lee of Marvel Comics, Franz Treichler of The Young Gods, Miles Hunt & The Wonder Stuff, Burton C. Bell of Fear Factory, American rapper DMX, Laurence "Lol" Tolhurst and Porl Thompson of The Cure and Ville Valo of Finnish band HIM.
Kurt Travis is an American singer, musician, and songwriter from Sacramento, California. He is currently part of the post-hardcore bands Royal Coda and Push Over and the math rock duo Gold Necklace and was formerly a vocalist in the rock bands Dance Gavin Dance and A Lot Like Birds.
Paul Thomas Cook is an English drummer and musician. He is best known as the drummer and a founding member of the punk rock band the Sex Pistols, in addition to being a member of The Professionals. He is nicknamed "Cookie" by friends in the punk music scene.
Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes is the seventh and latest studio album by American punk rock band Social Distortion, released on January 18, 2011. It is the band's first album recorded with bassist Brent Harding, their first album of new material since 2004's Sex, Love and Rock 'n' Roll, and their first release on Epitaph Records. Work on the album began in 2006 and it was originally forecast for a 2007 release, but was pushed back several times while the band continued touring and writing new material. After four years of writing, Social Distortion recorded the album from February to July 2010 at Ocean Studios in Burbank, California. Drummer Atom Willard left the group during the recording sessions in favor of his other band, Angels & Airwaves. He was temporarily replaced by Scott Reeder before David Hidalgo, Jr. joined as the band's new permanent drummer. Despite being listed as a band member on the album, Hidalgo did not actually play on it; instead, the band hired session musician Josh Freese to record the drum tracks.
Tilian Pearson, also known mononymously as Tilian, is an American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer born in Clearwater, Florida. Since 2012 he has been the third clean vocalist for the post-hardcore band Dance Gavin Dance. Pearson began his music career as the lead vocalist and guitarist in the progressive rock band Tides of Man, releasing an extended play and two studio albums before leaving in 2010.
