S.P.O.C.K

Last updated
S.P.O.C.K
S.P.O.C.K Nocturnal Culture Night 13 2018 23.jpg
S.P.O.C.K at Nocturnal Culture Night 2018 in Deutzen
Background information
Origin Sweden
Genres Electro-industrial, synthpop
Years active 1988 – present
Labels Energy Rekords
SubSpace Communications
Bloodline Records
MembersAlexander Hofman (Android)
Valdi Solemo (Val Solo)
Johan Malmgren (Yo-Haan)
Past membersJohan Billing (Plasteroid)
Finn Albertsson (Cybernoid)
Eddie Bengtsson (Eddie B. Kirk)
Christer Hermodsson (Crull-E)

S.P.O.C.K (aka Star Pilot On Channel K) is a Swedish synthpop band which formed around 1988.

Contents

Background

The band's original lineup was songwriter Eddie Bengtsson (formerly a founding member of Page), Finn Albertsson, and vocalist Alexander Hofman. Over time the members of the band have shifted: Johan Billing was a member of the band from 1994 to 1998, but with the release of S.P.O.C.K: 1999 (in 1999) the band's lineup changed to one with Alexander Hofman (the band's only remaining founding member), Johan Malmgren (former member of Elegant Machinery and Aaron Sutcliffe) and Christer Hermodsson. [1]

In 1988, Eddie Bengtsson wrote a handful of songs to be performed at Finn Albertsson's birthday party, with Alexander Hofman performing vocals; the three young men dubbed the band Mr. Spock (after the name for the character Spock of Star Trek). After the performance at the party, the band continued for several months to play at other house parties, but soon managed to secure some event bookings. In 1989, the band members contacted Paramount Pictures for permission to use the name "Mr. Spock". When Paramount demanded a heavy compensation for the privilege, the band renamed themselves using the initials S.P.O.C.K, which are an acronym for Star Pilot On Channel K. [2]

S.P.O.C.K's commercial success began in 1990 when the Swedish record label Accelerating Blue Fish published "Silicon Dream" as a limited-edition 7-inch single. [3] The lyrical subject matter of S.P.O.C.K's songs frequently centers on science fiction stories, (in particular, Star Trek ). Other topics include alien-human relations and life in space. Representative songs include: "Alien Attack", "E.T. Phone Home", "Never Trust a Klingon", "Not Human", "In Space No One Can Hear You Scream", "Mr. Spock's Brain", "Dr. McCoy" and "Astrogirl".

On stage the band members adopted a cyberpunk/sci-fi-esque personae, with Eddie Bengtsson calling himself "Eddie B. Kirk", Alexander Hofman as "Android", and Finn Albertsson as "Cybernoid". Together with such bands as Page, Elegant Machinery, Sista Mannen På Jorden and Kiethevez, S.P.O.C.K helped to define the sound of the Swedish synthpop movement.

In 1997, members of S.P.O.C.K started their own recording label SubSpace Communications. The band's 1999 album, 1999, ranked #25 on the German Alternative Chart's (DAC) 1999 Top 50 Albums chart. [4]

In 2010 Christer Hermodsson left the band in order to focus on other musical endeavors. He was then replaced by Valdi Solemo. The band's current line up is vocalist Alexander Hofman (a.k.a. Android - the only remaining founding member), keyboardist Valdi Solemo (aka Val Solo), and keyboardist Johan Malmgren (aka Yo-Haan).

During the last years S.P.O.C.K has focused more on live gigs. Mostly in Germany, but also in Sweden, Canada & Estonia.

Johan Malmgren and Eskil Simonsson of the band Covenant formed the band Aaron Sutcliffe in 1999 to perform synthpop covers of Elvis Presley songs. [5]

Discography

Albums

Singles

Videos

Compilation appearances

Related Research Articles

The Swamp Terrorists were a Swiss electro-industrial music group that was formed in 1988 by STR, Ane H, and Francis H. Their music is harsh pounding electro-industrial/industrial hip hop beats, turntables and occasional rapping mixed with grinding metal guitar riffs, and produces a sound similar to Die Warzau, KMFDM and White Zombie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leæther Strip</span> Danish musical project

Leæther Strip is a Danish musical project founded on 13 January 1988 by Claus Larsen. Its influence has been most felt in the electronic body music and electro-industrial genres. Leæther Strip was one of the earliest and most prominent acts on Germany's now defunct Zoth Ommog record label. For distribution outside of Europe, the music has been licensed to the U.S. labels Cleopatra Records and Metropolis Records. After the demise of Zoth Ommog in 1999, Larsen signed to Bloodline Records, which only released a single before also going out of business. In 2005, Leæther Strip signed with the Belgian-based label Alfa Matrix. On 3 June 2011 Larsen announced his split from Alfa Matrix in order to self-release future material.

Echo Image is a Norwegian synthpop band from Fredrikstad. The band started in the summer of 1997 when Pål Magnus Rybom and Jon-Ivar Berg started experimenting with electronic music. That summer the two of them recorded a demo. Berg left the group after they failed attract the attention of record labels and went to focus on his music project Biozide. Later that year Fredrik Hansen joined and Echo Image was officially formed with Trine Bilet joining towards the end of the year providing backing vocals, keyboards, and synthesizers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Preston (musician)</span> American musician

Joe Preston is an American bass guitarist and a former band member of the rock bands Earth, Melvins, Men's Recovery Project, The Need and High on Fire. Preston has also played with Sunn O))), and has his long-running solo project called Thrones. In 2007, he joined Harvey Milk in the studio for the recording of Life... The Best Game in Town and toured with them during their 2008 US and European tours. He is currently serving as a touring member of Sumac. He is the uncle of actor Dominic Janes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kill Switch...Klick</span>

Kill Switch...Klick, also known as KsK and Kill Switch is the name of an American industrial rock band. The band is best known for its releases on Cleopatra Records and Go-Kustom Rekords. KsK was formed in 1991 by D.A. Sebasstian, a writer, film maker, musician and artist who had relocated from San Bernardino, California, to Seattle, Washington, late in 1989 where he currently resides.

<i>Good Humor</i> (album) 1998 studio album by Saint Etienne

Good Humor is the fourth studio album by English alternative dance band Saint Etienne. It was released on 4 May 1998 by Creation Records. The American spelling of humor is used in the title as the band were, according to Sarah Cracknell, "fed up with the 'quintessentially English' tag, so there was a bit of a backlash against that."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Qntal</span> German electro-medieval band

Qntal is a German "electro-medieval" band founded in 1991 by Michael Popp and Ernst Horn. They later added vocalist Syrah to complete the band. It has roots in Estampie, an acoustic band based on "authentic" Early music, whereas Qntal is a dark electronic "crossover" project. Michael Popp and Syrah are the principal members. Horn left the group in 1999, to concentrate on his other band, Deine Lakaien. He later formed Helium Vola in 2001. Philipp Groth then joined Qntal. In 2008, singer and violist Sarah M. Newman (Mariko) left the New York-based band Unto Ashes to work with Qntal and Estampie in Germany.

Recoil is a musical project created by English musician and former Depeche Mode member Alan Wilder. Essentially a solo venture, Recoil began whilst Wilder was still in Depeche Mode as an outlet for his experimental, less pop-oriented compositions. Once he announced his departure from the group in 1995, Recoil became Wilder's primary musical enterprise.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KiEw (band)</span>

KiEw is a German electro-industrial project from Lüneburg in Lower Saxony, Germany. It was founded in late 1990 by Andreas "Thedi" Thedens in order to make music inspired by Thedis lyrics, that made him a local hero of Lüneburg underground culture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grendel (band)</span>

Grendel is a Dutch music group formed in 1997. Their music is in the electro-industrial genre. Their name originates from the beast in Beowulf.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melotron</span> German futurepop and synthpop band

Melotron is a futurepop and synthpop band from Germany. In 1995 Andy Krueger, Edgar Slatnow and Kay Hildebrandt left their former band, The Vermin, to form Melotron. The band found success with their first single, "Dein Meister," in 1998. Their 2007 single "Das Herz" charted at no. 81 in the German mainstream charts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toy (German band)</span> German electronic music band

T.O.Y. is a German futurepop/synthpop band headed by Volker Lutz. The project originated as electro-industrial band Evils Toy until a change in membership and sound style precipitated the rebranding in the year 2000.

yelworC was an electro-industrial band from Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mentallo and the Fixer</span> Project name of Gary and Dwayne Dassings band (1988-1999)

Mentallo and the Fixer is the project name used by Texan electro-industrial musicians Gary Dassing (Mentallo) and Dwayne Dassing from 1988 to 1999, and by Gary Dassing alone from 1999 to the present day. The band has several releases on the American record label, Metropolis Records. They are named after two Marvel Comics characters.

Red Flag is a synthpop act founded in 1984 in San Diego by brothers Chris and Mark Reynolds. After the death of Mark in 2003, Chris has continued as a solo act since 2007 under the name Red Flag.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Armageddon Dildos</span> German electronic music band

Armageddon Dildos is a German electro-industrial-duo originally consisting of Uwe Kanka (vocals) and Dirk Krause (synthesizer). The act was formed in 1988 in Kassel Germany, and the name comes from the slang term for intercontinental ballistic missiles. They perform songs in both German and English.

Energy Rekords is a record label formed in 1990 by the merging of the three labels: Front Music Production, Electronic Beat Association, and Energy - all small labels run from the Swedish town of Älmhult. By banding together these labels' founders Håkan Ehrnst, Krister Svensson and Per Faeltenborg formed a foundation for the Swedish electronic music in the 1990s by signing up new emerging artists like S.P.O.C.K and Daily Planet as well as veterans such as Page, Blue for Two, and Oil in the Eye from the UK.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crocodile Shop</span> German EBM band

Crocodile Shop is an electro-industrial aggrotech EBM band formed in Berlin, Germany in 1987 by Mick Hale and R. A. Werner from New Jersey.

The discography of VNV Nation, an Irish electronic music project, consists of ten studio albums, two compilation album, three extended plays, and twelve singles.

The Breath of Life is a Belgian rock band.

References

  1. S.P.O.C.K. Biography 1988
  2. S.P.O.C.K Biography 1989
  3. S.P.O.C.K Biography 1990
  4. 1 2 "DAC Top 50 1999". Trendcharts oHG. AMC Alster Musik Consulting GmbH. 2000. Archived from the original on 18 April 2001. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
  5. Aaron Sutcliffe profile at SubSpace Communications
  6. Helms, Colin (28 December 1998). "RPM" (PDF). CMJ New Music Report. Great Neck, NY: College Media, Inc. 57 (600): 26. ISSN   0890-0795 . Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  7. Comer, M. Tye (8 November 1999). "RPM" (PDF). CMJ New Music Report . Great Neck, NY: College Media, Inc. 60 (642): 30. ISSN   0890-0795 . Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  8. "DAC Top 100 Singles 2000". Trendcharts oHG. AMC Alster Musik Consulting GmbH. 2001. Archived from the original on 23 April 2001. Retrieved 20 January 2022.