The Trons | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Genres | Indie |
Years active | 2000s |
Members | Ham (vox and rhythm guitar) Wiggy (lead guitar) Swamp (drums) Fifi (keyboard) |
Website | http://www.myspace.com/thtrons |
The Trons are a New Zealand self-playing robot band created by the musician Greg Locke based in Hamilton. The band consists of four robots, created from scratch using a variety of spare parts and electronic equipment. The band is named after their home city's nickname, "The Tron".
During the 1990s, [1] while a member of the New Zealand musical duo The Emersons, Greg Locke toyed with the concept of developing a robotic drummer. This concept eventually grew into the idea of creating an entire band of robots. [2] [3] The four robots took about nine months to build and were created from electronic components of decommissioned photocopy-card vending machines (which formed part of Locke's daytime career), [4] various scavenged parts and some advanced equipment. The construction of the band was assisted with a grant by the Hamilton Community Arts Council. [2]
The band is managed by its creator, Greg Locke, a New Zealand musician and mechanical engineer who has played in garage bands including The Hollow Grinders. [5] The band contains no human members, consisting only of four robots [2] named Ham, Wiggy, Swamp and Fifi.
Ham plays the rhythm guitar [1] and does the vocals. [3] The vocals are produced through bits of tape loop created on an old tape machine and looped. [4]
Wiggy plays lead guitar which is single-string. It is only possible for the robots to play four chords. [4]
Swamp performs on the drums, using a pie-plate as a snare. Swamp was written several times on the drum set that Locke purchased for this robot (he guesses that it must have been the name of the band who had used it), thus the robot's name. [4]
Fifi plays the keyboard, using only one "hand". She originally played bass but performed poorly at it. [4] [6]
The robots are made from a combination of scrap parts and more complex equipment and are controlled via a computer using a "top-secret" software package. [2] The use of "flimsy material" makes the robots' actions similar to that of a human to create human-like music. [1] [4]
Despite being robots, the members of the Trons are often treated as human by fans [1] to the point where Swamp has received date requests. Locke explains this tendency to treat them as human arises from the "human element" required to create music. [1]
The Trons' first dip into stardom came from their YouTube [7] video, which received over 80,000 hits in two days, [8] going on to amass almost a million hits in only a few months. [9] They have received mostly positive critical acclaim, being described as "pure genius" and as being better than Grammy Award-winning British band Coldplay. [2] [10]
Kraftwerk are a German electronic band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Widely considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music, Kraftwerk were among the first successful acts to popularize the genre. The group began as part of West Germany's experimental krautrock scene in the early 1970s before fully embracing electronic instrumentation, including synthesizers, drum machines, and vocoders. Wolfgang Flür joined the band in 1973 and Karl Bartos in 1975, expanding the band to a quartet.
Coldplay are a British rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer and percussionist Will Champion, and manager Phil Harvey. They are best known for their live performances, and for impacting popular culture through their music, advocacy and achievements.
Daft Punk was a French electronic music duo formed in 1993 in Paris by Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. They achieved early popularity in the late 1990s as part of the French house movement, combining elements of house music with funk, disco, techno, rock and synth-pop. They are regarded as one of the most influential acts in dance music.
"Yellow" is a song by the British rock band Coldplay. The band wrote the song and co-produced it with British record producer Ken Nelson for their debut album, Parachutes (2000). The song was released on 26 June 2000 as the second UK single from Parachutes, following "Shiver", and as the lead single in the United States.
"The Scientist" is a song by British rock band Coldplay. The song is credited to all the band members on their second album, A Rush of Blood to the Head. It is built around a piano ballad, with lyrics telling the story about a man's desire to love and an apology. The song was released in the United Kingdom on 11 November 2002 as the second single from A Rush of Blood to the Head and reached number 10 in the UK Charts. It was released in the United States on 15 April 2003 as the third single and reached number 18 on the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart and number 34 on the Adult Top 40 chart.
"Trouble" is a song by British rock band Coldplay, for their debut album, Parachutes (2000). The band wrote and co-produced it with British record producer Ken Nelson. The song's arrangement is built around the acoustic piano. It was released on 23 October 2000 as the album's third single, reaching number 10 on the UK Singles Chart and becoming the band's second top 10 single in the country. Although "Trouble" failed to chart in the United States, the music press deemed it almost as successful as its predecessor, "Yellow".
"God Put a Smile upon Your Face" is a song by British rock band Coldplay. It was written by all members of the band for their second studio album, A Rush of Blood to the Head (2002). The song is built around prominent acoustic and electric guitar riffs with accompanying up-tempo drumming. The song was released on 1 July 2003 as the fourth and final single from the album.
"Don't Panic" is a song by the British rock band Coldplay. Originally titled "Panic", the earliest known version of the song existed in 1998, performed live during the band's first gig in the same year. It had a different melody, and was included in the band's second EP, The Blue Room. The track was reproduced by Coldplay and British producer Ken Nelson for the band's debut album, Parachutes.
Jonathan Mark Buckland is a British musician and songwriter. He is best known as the lead guitarist and co-founder of the rock band Coldplay. Raised in Pantymwyn, he started to play guitar at an early age, taking inspiration from groups such as My Bloody Valentine, the Stone Roses and U2. His compositions are noted for being sparse and delicate, using delay pedals and slide bars with a timbre that led to comparisons to the Edge.
William Champion is an English musician and songwriter. He is best known as the drummer and percussionist of the rock band Coldplay. Raised in Southampton, he learned to play numerous instruments during his youth, being influenced by Nick Cave, Bob Dylan, Tom Waits and traditional Irish folk music. His energetic drumming style is largely focused on the essential elements of the songs and he occasionally takes lead vocal duties on live performances.
"Talk" is a song by the British rock band Coldplay. Built around a motif from Kraftwerk's 1981 song "Computer Love", it was written by all members of the band and appeared on their third album, X&Y. In the United States, the song entered at number 86 on the Billboard Hot 100 and elsewhere in the world its success varied. It peaked at number one in the Netherlands on both the Dutch Top 40 and Single Top 100 charts, becoming the band's first number-one single there.
"The Hardest Part" is a song by British rock band Coldplay. It was written by all four members of the band for their third album, X&Y. A piano-based ballad song, it begins with a piano melody, followed with electric guitar lines, that accompanies slow-tempo drumming.
"Calling All Girls" is a song by the British rock band Queen, from the album Hot Space. It was written by drummer Roger Taylor. It was the third US single from the album, released in the summer of 1982, where it peaked at number 60. It was also released in Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
"Sally" is the pilot episode of the American television sitcom Flight of the Conchords. It first aired on HBO on June 17, 2007. In this episode, New Zealanders Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie of the band Flight of the Conchords have moved to New York City to try to make it in the United States. At a party, Jemaine falls for, and subsequently begins dating, Sally—Bret's former girlfriend. As Jemaine's attentions focus on Sally, a lonely Bret is forced to deal with the advances of Mel, the band's obsessed—and only—fan. Meanwhile, Murray, the band's manager, helps the band film their first music video, although they cannot afford decent costumes or proper video equipment.
"Violet Hill" is a song by British rock band Coldplay. It was written by all members of the band for their fourth album, Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends (2008). Built around a repeating guitar sound, it utilises a marching tempo, supported by the pianos and rhythms that accompany the song's lyrics. The song was initially made available as a free download on the band's website and was downloaded more than two million times.
The Hamilton Underground Film Festival was an annual film festival held in Hamilton, New Zealand between 2006 and 2013. Run on the basis of a DIY ethos the festival was open to all and had no admission fee for film entries. Each entrant received a DVD which contains all the entered films. The festival was the longest running festival of its kind in Australasia until recent usurped by the Melbourne underground film festival.
The Big Muffin Serious Band (BMSB) is a ukulele-based music performance group from Hamilton, New Zealand. It was started in 1983 by Jim Fulton, Graeme Cairns and Ian Coldham-Fussell when all three were members of a Project Employment Program (PEP) scheme. These schemes were initiatives instigated by the then National Government to undertake public works and provide vocational experience for the unemployed. This specific PEP scheme was run by the Hamilton City Council and involved creating performances and art in public spaces and schools.
"Paradise" is a song by the British rock band Coldplay, released on 12 September 2011 as the second single from their fifth album, Mylo Xyloto. The song received its radio debut at 7:50 a.m. on The Chris Moyles Show on 12 September 2011. According to Coldplay's official website, the single was not initially chart eligible in the United Kingdom, because it was available on iTunes as an "instant grat" when pre-ordering the album. Following the release of the album on 30 October 2011, the song became chart eligible in the UK and entered the UK Singles Chart at number 14, before taking the number 1 spot on its tenth week, becoming the band's second number-one single after "Viva la Vida" in 2008.
The Mylo Xyloto Tour was the fifth concert tour undertaken by British rock band Coldplay. It was announced in support of their fifth album, Mylo Xyloto (2011), and began on 3 December 2011 at Scotland's SEC Centre, following a series of promotional and festival performances, including Austin City Limits, Glastonbury, Lollapalooza, and Rock in Rio.
Ronnie van Hout is a New Zealand artist and musician living in Melbourne, Australia. He works across a wide variety of media including sculpture, video, painting, photography, embroidery, and sound recordings.