Melvins are an American rock band formed in 1983 in Montesano, Washington. Their early work was key to the development of both grunge and sludge metal. Initially, they performed as a trio but later also sometimes appeared as a quartet, with either two drummers or two bassists. Since 1984, vocalist and guitarist Buzz Osborne and drummer Dale Crover have been constant members. The band was named after a supervisor at a Thriftway in Montesano, where Osborne also worked as a clerk; "Melvin" was disliked by other employees, and the band's members felt it to be an appropriately ridiculous name.
Sleep is an American heavy metal band from San Jose, California. Guitarist Matt Pike and bassist and vocalist Al Cisneros have been the only constant members throughout its history, with several changes of drummers throughout their history. Critic Eduardo Rivadavia describes them as "perhaps the ultimate stoner rock band" and notes they exerted a strong influence on metal in the 1990s. The band first gained attention with their second album, Sleep's Holy Mountain (1992). However, conflict with the band's record company contributed to Sleep's breakup by the end of the decade. Sleep's third album, Dopesmoker, was released after the band's dissolution. The band reformed in 2009 and has played sporadic live dates internationally since. In 2018, Sleep surprise-released their comeback album, The Sciences, on Third Man Records, to critical acclaim.
Team Sleep is an American experimental alternative rock/post-rock group led by singer/guitarist Chino Moreno. Moreno is better known for fronting the Sacramento-based alternative metal band Deftones. Other current members include guitarist Todd Wilkinson, turntablist DJ Crook, bass guitarist/keyboardist Rick Verrett, drummer Gil Sharone and bassist Chuck Doom.
Pinback is an American indie rock band from San Diego, California. The band was formed in 1998 by singers, songwriters and multi-instrumentalists Armistead Burwell Smith IV and Rob Crow, who have been its two consistent members. They have released five studio albums and several other releases.
Dale Crover is an American rock musician. Crover is best known as the drummer for Melvins and has also been the drummer for Men of Porn, Shrinebuilder, Crystal Fairy and, for a brief time, Nirvana. He is also guitarist and vocalist for Altamont. He has toured with Fantômas, Off!, and Redd Kross. In 2016, Rolling Stone listed him as the 69th greatest drummer of all time.
Absolutely Kosher Records is an independent California-based record label founded in 1998 in San Francisco by Cory Brown. The label moved to Berkeley in 2002 and then to Emeryville in October 2006 when it partnered with Misra Records. The two labels remain separate entities.
Thingy is an American indie rock band formed after the dissolution of Heavy Vegetable in 1995, by Heavy Vegetable veterans Rob Crow and Eléa Tenuta.
Boris is a Japanese band formed in 1992 in Tokyo and composed of drummer Atsuo, guitarist/bassist Takeshi, and guitarist/keyboardist Wata. All three members contribute vocals. Boris has released more than twenty studio albums on various labels around the world, as well as a wide variety of live albums, compilations, EPs, singles, and collaborative albums. They have collaborated with acts such as Sunn O))), Merzbow, Keiji Haino, and guitarist Michio Kurihara.
Evoken is an American funeral doom metal band from Lyndhurst, New Jersey, United States. Evoken is one of the earliest U.S. doom/death metal bands that are still active today, along with Novembers Doom and Rigor Sardonicous.
Justin Pearson is a vocalist and bassist known for his music career, playing in a number of San Diego-based noise rock, punk and grindcore bands, as well as his record label Three One G Records. Starting off in the punk outfit Struggle in 1994, ensuing projects such as Swing Kids, The Locust, Dead Cross and Retox. He has collaborated with Kool Keith, Gabe Serbian, Karen O, Nick Zinner, Adam Gnade, Invisibl Skratch Piklz, Asia Argento, The Bloody Beetroots, Silent, among many others.
Aspects of Physics is an instrumental experimental music band from San Diego. It was formed in 2000 by ex-members of the enigmatic math rock band Physics. Founding members Jason Soares, JFRE "Robot" Coad, and Thatcher Orbitashi released their debut album Systems of Social Recalibration on July 2, 2002, on San Diego label imputor? They tend to mix indie rock guitar samplings along with minimalist electronic beats and productions.
Mario Rubalcaba is an American drummer from San Diego, notable as a member of numerous rock bands including Clikatat Ikatowi, Thingy, Rocket from the Crypt, Hot Snakes, Earthless, the Sultans, and Off! He has also played on albums by The Black Heart Procession and Pinback and was formerly a professional skateboarder.
Armistead Burwell Smith IV is an American composer and musician. He has recorded with multiple bands, including most notably Pinback, as well on his own, under the name Systems Officer.
Los Campesinos! are a seven-piece indie pop band from Cardiff, Wales, formed in early 2006 at Cardiff University. Though the band formed in Wales, none of the members are Welsh. The band has gone through several lineup changes during their career, with their current lineup consisting of Gareth Paisey, Neil Turner (guitar), Tom Bromley (guitar), Rob Taylor, Kim Paisey, Matt Fidler (bass) and Jason Adelinia (drums); the members replace their surnames with "Campesinos!" as stage names. Gareth Paisey, Turner and Bromley are the only remaining original members still in the band.
Goblin Cock is an American heavy metal band from San Diego, California, United States, started by Rob Crow of the band Pinback. Musically, they play a form of doom metal/drone metal with rather unusual lyrical subjects, including pop culture songs about the films Godzilla's Revenge, Billy Jack, and the Snuffleupagus from the TV show Sesame Street. All members of the band have taken on stage names. The band is currently signed to Joyful Noise Recordings and has released two albums on the Absolutely Kosher record label. They went on tour for the first time in 2006 and played at the 20th annual South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, TX. They also performed on September 15, 2005, at the College Music Journal's annual music festival.
Joyful Noise Recordings is an independent record label from Indianapolis, Indiana. The label was founded in 2003 in Bloomington, Indiana by Karl Hofstetter, who also played drums on many of the label's first releases. Joyful Noise maintains an active roster of over 30 bands playing various musical styles, though according to the label, each artist "in one way or another bridges the gap between pop and noise."
Wolves in the Throne Room is an American black metal band formed in 2002 in Olympia, Washington, by brothers Aaron and Nathan Weaver. They have released seven full-length albums, two live albums, and one EP to date. They have stated one of the founding concepts of the band to be channeling the "energies of the Pacific Northwest's landscape" into musical form.
Chelsea Joy Wolfe is an American singer-songwriter and musician. Her work has blended elements of gothic rock, doom metal, and folk music.
Dead Congregation is a Greek death metal band from Athens formed in 2004. The band have released two full-length albums, two EPs, and a split release with Hatespawn. They released their latest full-length album Promulgation of the Fall on May 5, 2014 through their own label, Martyrdoom Productions, and on November 7, 2016, they released their EP 'Sombre Doom'. The band's name is derived from the title of a song written in their previous band Nuclear Winter.
In the Fishtank 1 is an EP by Vancouver punk rock band Nomeansno. Recording during the band's 1996 European tour, it was the first release in the In the Fishtank series, in which the Netherlands-based De Konkurrent label provided bands with two days of studio recording time and released the final results.
