Bill Curtner Brian Coleman Christi Lain Jef With One F
Past members
Chris Soliz Captain Mongo Nelson Justin Nemeti
The Black Math Experiment is a band described as a unique blend of 1980s synthpop and new wave music[1] with similarities to "The B-52's crossed with Berlin, The Dead Milkmen, and Talking Heads."[2] Based in Houston, Texas in 2004, the band is known for their offbeat pop songs with irreverent or strange lyrics (for example, "Evil Wizard Jesus"). They are known for elaborate live shows that integrate multimedia such as televisions endlessly running odd videos, evangelical-like pamphlets and baptisms, Christmas presents, and a toilet paper cannon, all led by the inexhaustible energy of lead singer Jef With One F (Jef Rouner). They received notoriety with their song, "You Cannot Kill David Arquette".
The Black Math Experiment was founded by Bill Curtner in Houston, Texas in 2004 with Curtner on guitar, Captain Mongo Nelson (Captain Matthew Nelson) on bass guitar, Brian Coleman on drums (2004–), Chris Soliz on keyboards/synthesizers and Jef With One F (Jef Rouner) and Christi Lain singing lead vocals. The band was formed from the remnants of a previous band called Cosmonaut Down with Lain and Jef replacing the previous lead vocalist. The Black Math Experiment debuted at a club called Helios in Houston on December 18, 2004. The following year they put out their debut EP, What We Do... Is Secret.[3]
The band rose to notoriety with its 2005 release Fake Words and Signs From Space. The release's eponymous track is the band's most popular downloaded single.[4] Notably, it also featured the sarcastic song "You Cannot Kill David Arquette", which was inspired by Curtner's fascination with the resiliency of Arquette's movie characters. This song led to an informal collaboration with the object of the song and a makeshift Arquette altar at live shows. A second single, "Laugh Track", became the theme music for the Dial-A-Joke segment on British KidsCastUK.[5] In a review, Joey Guerra of the Houston Chronicle described the band as a "snappy, sarcastic sextet" “equal parts neo-new wave rock outfit, irreverent comedy troupe and kitschy musical theater act."[6]
Their next release in November 2006, Last Transmission from the Blue Room, was well received by critics, seeming "a natural progression for the band."[2][7] The album included a re-recording of the Arquette song as well as a cover of "Science Fiction/Double Feature" from the movie The Rocky Horror Picture Show. It also featured a remix of the song "Ruler of the Rock Robots (A Love Story)" by Asmodeus X, retitled "Ruler of the Trance Robots". Following the album's completion, Chris Soliz left the group as a full-time member to pursue other projects, but remains an occasional collaborator.
Starting late in 2006, Black Math Experiment songs such as "Ohio" regularly began making the playlists of Houston area radio stations such as KPFT and KTRU.[8][9][10]
In 2008, the band won the Houston Press Music Award for "Best Unclassifiable Band".[11] That same year they went on "indefinite hiatus."[12][13]
The Black Math Experiment and David Arquette
David Arquette posing with the Black Math Experiment; from left, Bill Curtner, Captain Mongo Nelson, Jef With One F, David Arquette, Christi Lain with Brian Coleman behind at wheel of limo
The band's 2005 song "You Cannot Kill David Arquette" was commended by its subject, David Arquette, who sent the band a box of gourmet cupcakes in thanks and much later, the 1965 Ford Econoline van used in his movie The Tripper.[14] Since then, Arquette has occasionally promoted the band, including during an interview on MTV’s Total Request Live (TRL).[15][16] The song was also featured on MTV's Ridiculousness.[17] On March 27, 2007, during a national tour to promote The Tripper, the actor stopped in Houston to promote the band and joined them onstage in a performance.[18][19][20] The band's music was later used to accompany the B-roll in the DVD release of the film.
Joseph Alberto Santiago is a Filipino-American guitarist and composer. Active since 1986, Santiago is best known as the co-founder and lead guitarist of the alternative rock band Pixies. After the band's breakup in 1993, Santiago produced musical scores for film and television documentaries, and he formed The Martinis with his ex-wife, Linda Mallari. He also contributed to albums by Charles Douglas and former Pixies band-mate Frank Black. Santiago resumed his role as the Pixies' lead guitarist when they reunited in 2004.
Strapping Young Lad (SYL) was a Canadian extreme metal band formed by Devin Townsend in Vancouver in 1994. The band started as a one-man studio project; Townsend played most of the instruments on the 1995 debut album, Heavy as a Really Heavy Thing. By 1997, he had recruited permanent members; this line-up, which consisted of Townsend on vocals and guitar, Jed Simon on guitar, Byron Stroud on bass, and Gene Hoglan on drums, lasted until the band's dissolution.
David Arquette is an American actor, producer and retired professional wrestler. As an actor, he is known for playing Dewey Riley in the slasher franchise Scream (1996–2022), which won him a Teen Choice Award and two Blockbuster Entertainment Awards. As a professional wrestler, he is best known for his panned 2000 stint in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) where he won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship and headlined the Slamboree pay-per-view event. He also appeared in WWE and on the independent wrestling circuit.
Big Bad is a term to describe a major recurring adversary, usually the chief villain or antagonist in a particular broadcast season, originally used by the Buffy the Vampire Slayer television series. It has since been used to describe annual villains in other television series, and has also been used in scholarly work discussing Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Mutemath is an American alternative rock project founded by American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer Paul Meany. Originally co-founded as a band with Darren King in 2002, Meany decided to continue Mutemath as a solo project following King's departure in 2017. Mutemath draws heavily from influences in 1960s and 1970s soul, psychedelic rock, and jam band styles, utilizing vintage guitars and amplifiers as well as Rhodes keyboards, synthesizers, and other electronic instruments such as the keytar.
Aaron Wright North is an American musician. He was the co-founder and guitarist of punk band The Icarus Line, a touring lead guitarist of industrial rock group Nine Inch Nails, and vocalist/guitarist for Jubilee. North is noted for his chaotic and unconventional guitar approach, his use and command of feedback, and the flailing of his guitar wildly while on stage.
"The Garden" is a song by the rock band Guns N' Roses released in 1991. It appears on the album Use Your Illusion I and features alternating lead vocals between Axl Rose and Alice Cooper.
Ima Robot is an American band based in Los Angeles, California, United States, that formed in the late 1990s. They have released several albums, EPs, and singles, most notably Ima Robot in 2003, Search and Destroy and Monument to the Masses in 2006, and Another Man's Treasure in 2010. The band's song, "Greenback Boogie", a B-side to Another Man's Treasure, is the main theme song of the USA Network legal drama series Suits.
KPFT is a listener-sponsored community radio station in Houston, Texas, which began broadcasting March 1, 1970 as the fourth station in the Pacifica radio family. The station airs a variety of music, news, talk, and call-in programs, most ranging from center-left to far-left. Prominent persons who have been regulars on KPFT include science educator David F. Duncan and humorist John Henry Faulk.
Steven Maxwell Porcaro is an American keyboardist, songwriter, singer, and film composer, known as one of the founding members of the rock band Toto and the last surviving Porcaro brother ; as the songwriter of "Human Nature" by Michael Jackson and songs by Toto; and as the composer of the TV series Justified. He has won three Grammys, including Record of the Year for "Rosanna" and Album of the Year for Toto IV, and three nominations.
Abney Park is a steampunk band based in Seattle. The band is named after an iconic gothic cemetery, the Abney Park Cemetery in London where Robert Brown, the founder of the band, lived and studied for a period in 1988. Formerly a goth band, Abney Park has transformed their look and sound and has been called the "quintessential spokespeople for the steampunk subculture."
Satellite Party was an alternative rock band formed by Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell following the break-up of Jane's Addiction in 2004. Other members included Carl Restivo (bass) and Farrell's wife, Etty Lau Farrell. The band was initially formed as a collaboration between Farrell and Extreme member Nuno Bettencourt. Bettencourt departed from the project in July 2007.
"Bidi Bidi Bom Bom" is a song recorded by American Tejano singer Selena. It was released as the second single from her fourth studio album, Amor Prohibido (1994). Originally written about a cheerful fish swimming freely in the ocean, the song's title is an onomatopoeic phrase suggesting the palpitating heartbeat of a person lovestruck by the object of their affection. "Bidi Bidi Bom Bom" was written by Selena and her backup vocalist and dancer Pete Astudillo.
Don't Forget is the debut studio album by American singer Demi Lovato. It was released on September 23, 2008, by Hollywood Records. She started working on the album in September 2007, while filming the Disney Channel original movie Camp Rock. Lovato co-wrote most of the songs with pop rock band The Jonas Brothers, who produced the album along with record producer John Fields. Other songwriters include Kara DioGuardi, Jason Reeves and Rooney frontman Robert Schwartzman. Don't Forget features primarily a power pop and rock sound, with the lyrical content addressing other adolescent topics.
"Work" is a song recorded by American recording artist Ciara for her third studio album Fantasy Ride (2009). It was released by LaFace Records on July 24, 2009, as the album's third and final single. Rapper Missy Elliott provides featured vocals on the song. Ciara and Elliott wrote it in collaboration with its producers Nate "Danja" Hills and Marcella Araica. "Work" is a fast-paced electropop and dance song with elements of bounce music and hip hop. Ciara described it as an energetic club track, and considered it initially as the lead single of Fantasy Ride.
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Asmodeus X is an American electro-industrial band whose music is frequently characterized as a mixture of EBM and darkwave and typically includes the use of environmental sampling. Their style is said to be influenced by the music of Laibach, Kraftwerk, Death in June, and Front 242, among others. The vocals have been described as following in the EBM/synthpop tradition of being “somewhat flat”, lending a “darker edge” to the music. The band is promoted as “the original and ex officio 'Black Corps' of the industrial underground”.
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Saul Soliz was an American mixed martial arts trainer known as "the godfather of Texas MMA". Beginning in the 1990s, he helped establish the sport in Texas. After organizing informal cage matches for some time, Soliz helped the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation develop the state's MMA rules. He founded the Renegades Extreme Fighting promotion in 2000. An instructor of Muay Thai and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Soliz owned a gym in Houston and trained UFC and Pride FC champions including Tito Ortiz, Ricco Rodriguez and Cris Cyborg. He coached alongside Ortiz on two seasons of The Ultimate Fighter. Following his death from COVID-19 in August 2021, Soliz was widely memorialized in the MMA community.
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