This article relies largely or entirely on a single source .(May 2017) |
Portastatic | |
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Origin | Chapel Hill, North Carolina, US |
Genres | Rock and roll, indie rock, Brazilian, film scores |
Years active | 1992–present |
Labels | 18 Wheeler, Matador, Hello, Esther, Merge |
Associated acts | Superchunk |
Website | mergerecords.com/portastatic Portastatic myspace |
Members | Mac McCaughan |
Portastatic is an American indie rock band founded in the early 1990s as a solo project of Mac McCaughan, singer and guitarist of the indie rock band Superchunk. [1] The project has since expanded into a full band, sometimes including Superchunk guitarist Jim Wilbur and McCaughan's brother Matthew.
Tom Scharpling of the 18 Wheeler fanzine released McCaughan's solo material under the fanzine's own imprint in 1993, the "Starter" 7". Since then, McCaughan has recorded several records as Portastatic, covering genres including indie rock, lo-fi, soundtrack and Brazilian music.
The name "Portastatic" is derived from the TASCAM Portastudio home recording device. [2]
Superchunk is an American indie rock band from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States, consisting of singer-guitarist Mac McCaughan, guitarist Jim Wilbur, bassist Laura Ballance, and drummer Jon Wurster. Formed in 1989, they were one of the bands that helped define the Chapel Hill music scene of the 1990s. Their energetic, high-velocity style and do-it-yourself ethic is influenced by punk rock.
Mineral is an American emo band originally from Houston, Texas. Soon after their formation, they relocated to Austin. All four members of Mineral were signed to Interscope Records on individual contracts. After disbanding in 1998, its members worked on other musical projects, including The Gloria Record, Pop Unknown, and Zookeeper.
Merge Records is an independent record label based in Durham, North Carolina. It was founded in 1989 by Laura Ballance and Mac McCaughan. It began as a way to release music from their band Superchunk and music created by friends, and has expanded to include artists from around the world, with records reaching the top of the Billboard music charts.
Polvo is an American indie rock band from Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The band formed in 1990 and is fronted by guitarists/vocalists Ash Bowie and Dave Brylawski, with Steve Popson playing bass guitar and Brian Quast playing drums. Eddie Watkins was the band's original drummer, but did not rejoin the band upon its reunion in 2008, after breaking up in 1998.
Laura Sandra MacFarlane is a multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter and audio engineer. Since 1996 she is the founding mainstay of the Australian indie rock band, ninetynine. MacFarlane also performs solo and has been in other bands, including as an early drummer and singer with United States rock group, Sleater-Kinney (1994–96).
Karate was an American band, formed in Boston, Massachusetts in 1993 by Geoff Farina, Eamonn Vitt and Gavin McCarthy, with Jeff Goddard joining in 1995. The band split up in 2005.
Versus is an American indie rock band formed in 1990 by Richard Baluyut, Fontaine Toups, and Edward Baluyut in New York City, United States. Richard and Fontaine were to remain the two core members throughout the band's history. The band was noted for their marriage of indie pop songwriting and vocal harmonies to the "loud-soft" dynamics of grunge and alternative rock. They were also noted for their proficient and disciplined musicianship and for their credo of "meat, sports, and rock", none of which had much currency in the early 1990s American indie scene. They named themselves after the Mission of Burma album Vs.
The Rosebuds were an American indie rock band from Raleigh, North Carolina, United States, that recorded and performed from 2001 to 2014. Its current members are Ivan Howard (vocals/guitar/drums/bass/keyboards/programming) and Kelly Crisp (vocals/keyboard/drums/guitar/accordion). Billy Alphin had played drums on the album The Rosebuds Make Out, Wes Phillips played drums on the E.P."Unwind", Lee Waters played drums on the record Birds Make Good Neighbors, and Matt McCaughan played the drums on Night of the Furies, Life Like and Loud Planes Fly Low. Rob Lackey was behind the drum kit during the taping of The Rosebuds Live at the Cats Cradle, a charity only recording sold at cytunes.org to help fight for the prevention of cancer, as well as on the track "Second Birds of Paradise" on "Loud Planes Fly Low."
Comet Gain are a British indie pop band, formed by singer-songwriter and guitarist David Feck in 1992, with musical influences including post-punk and northern soul.
Laura Jane Ballance is the bassist in the rock band Superchunk and co-founder of Merge Records along with Mac McCaughan. In 2013 she announced that she would no longer be touring with the band due to her worsening hyperacusis.
Ralph Lee "Mac" McCaughan is an American musician and record label owner, based in North Carolina. His main musical projects have been Superchunk since 1989 and Portastatic since the early 1990s. In 1989 he founded the independent record label Merge Records with Superchunk bandmate Laura Ballance.
The following is a list of releases by Merge Records. Merge Records was established in 1989 and released its first album in 1992. By 2012, the label had released more than 450 releases.
Spent was an American Indie Rock band from Jersey City, New Jersey consisting of singer/guitarist John King, guitarist/singer/keyboardist Annie Hayden, bassist/occasional vocalist Joe Weston and drummer Ed Radich.
The Nature of Sap is Portastatic's third studio album. It was released on Merge Records on March 11, 1997.
Hello CD of the Month EP: February 1994 is a CD EP by the band Portastatic. It was released on the Hello label in 1994.
Scrapbook EP is a double 7-inch single and CD EP by the band Portastatic. It was released on the Merge Records label in 1995.
De Mel, De Melão is CD EP by the band Portastatic. It was released on the Merge Records label in 2000.
The Perfect Little Door is CD EP by the band Portastatic. It was released on the Merge Records label in 2001.
"Slack Motherfucker" is a song by American rock band Superchunk. It was the first single released from the band's debut, self-titled album (1990). The song was penned by vocalist and guitarist Mac McCaughan in reference to an indolent co-worker he had at the time. Credited to all four band members, it was the band's second single and first to be released under the name Superchunk.
Bricks were an indie rock band founded in New York City in the late 1980s. The group was formed by Merge Records co-founder Mac McCaughan while he was studying at Columbia University, along with Nashville-born singer-songwriter Laura Cantrell, plus classmates Andrew Webster and Josh Phillips. The foursome recorded at least 18 lo-fi songs between 1988 and 1990, which they released on a cassette and two 7" singles before disbanding. Their first single, "Girl With The Carrot Skin", enjoyed college radio airplay and was also made into a music video. Shot on super-8 film, the video featured the band eating and playing with copious amounts of carrots.