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Bowery Electric

NOVEMBER 11 2021 MARKS THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF NEW YORK DUO BOWERY ELECTRIC’S SEMINAL ALBUM BEAT. THE RELEASE EARNED CRITICAL ACCLAIM FOR EXPERIMENTATION AND MUSICAL STYLES SPANNING AMBIENT, TRIP-HOP, POST ROCK AND SHOEGAZE.

DESPITE THE BANDS CRITICAL SUCCESS AND EXTENSIVE TOURING, ONLY TWO ITEMS OF MERCHANDISE WERE EVER MADE, BOTH ELUDING THE BEAT ERA. 

TEEJERKER IS PROUD DELIVER A LIMITED EDITION OFFICIALLY LICENSED BEAT CAPSULE, AVAILABLE THURSDAY 11.11.21 6PM BST.


A CONVERSATION WITH LAWRENCE CHANDLER, 2021

EARLIER THIS YEAR WE WERE DISCUSSING THE PRINT ON A WARHOL RETROSPECTIVE T-SHIRT AND YOU MENTIONED MEETING MARTHA WHILST WORKING AT ANDY’S INTERVIEW MAGAZINE; HOW DID YOU END UP AT INTERVIEW AND WHAT WAS THAT EXPERIENCE LIKE AS A WHOLE?

AN INSPIRATION FOR BOTH OF US TO COME TO NEW YORK HAD BEEN ANDY WARHOL, THE FACTORY, THE VELVET UNDERGROUND AND THAT SCENE. I HAD JUST MOVED TO NEW YORK, WAS LIVING ON AVENUE C IN THE EAST VILLAGE, AND FOUND THE JOB LISTING IN THE VILLAGE VOICE. MARTHA HAD BEEN WORKING AT INTERVIEW WHILE SHE WAS STUDYING AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY AND RETURNING AFTER A SEMESTER STUDYING PAINTING IN FLORENCE.

IT WAS A BIT SURREAL. ON MY FIRST DAY I FOUND A COPY OF THE PHILOSOPHY OF ANDY WARHOL, SIGNED WITH A CAMPBELL’S SOUP CAN DRAWN ON THE TITLE PAGE, IN THE WASTE BIN UNDER MY DESK. WARHOL SUPERSTAR BRIGID BERLIN WAS A RECEPTIONIST AT THE WARHOL FOUNDATION ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE BUILDING. HER PUGS FAME AND FORTUNE HAD THE RUN OF THE PLACE AND WOULD JOIN US FOR LUNCH EVERYDAY. THERE WERE CELEBRITIES COMING AND GOING, LOADS OF PARTIES AND DAYS WE WOULD JUST NAP UNDER OUR DESKS.

HOW DID YOU AND MARTHA’S RELATIONSHIP PROGRESS FROM A JOURNALISTIC WORK BASED ONE, TO FORMING BOWERY ELECTRIC?

WE WERE MEETING A LOT OF INTERESTING CREATIVE PEOPLE. IT WAS HELPFUL TO MEET THEM IN PERSON, DEMYSTIFY THEIR PUBLIC PERSONAS AND REALISE THEY WERE RELATIVELY NORMAL PEOPLE LIKE US. AND WHILE IT WAS COOL TO A POINT TO REALISE IT WAS DEBBIE HARRY SQUEEZING IN NEXT TO YOU ON THE SOFA AT A PARTY, WE BOTH WANTED TO BE DOING SOMETHING OURSELVES - MAKING ART, MUSIC, WRITING.

WHAT KIND OF STUFF WERE YOU GUYS LISTENING TO AND INFLUENCED BY AT THE TIME?

WE WERE BOTH HUGE MUSIC FANS AND HAD FAIRLY CATHOLIC TASTES. IN THE EARLY DAYS WE WERE TUNED INTO THINGS LIKE COCTEAU TWINS, JESUS & MARY CHAIN, JOY DIVISION / NEW ORDER, LOOP, PIL, SPACEMEN 3, SUICIDE, THE VELVET UNDERGROUND.

AND KRAUTROCK! ASH RA TEMPEL, CAN, FAUST, KRAFTWERK, NEU. IT SEEMED NEW PEOPLE “DISCOVERED” IT ABOUT EVERY FIVE YEARS. WE WERE LISTENING TO CONTEMPORARIES LIKE CODEINE,LABRADFORD, FLYING SAUCER ATTACK, JESSAMINE, MAIN, STEREOLAB AND TH’ FAITH HEALERS, WHO SHARED SIMILAR AESTHETICS TO OURS.

WE WERE ALSO INTO MINIMALISM (PHILIP GLASS, STEVE REICH, TERRY RILEY, LA MONTE YOUNG, ET AL) AND HEARD SIMILARITIES IN THE REPETITION IN HIP HOP. THE PRODUCER KRAMER HAD PICKED UP ON THIS WHILST RECORDING OUR FIRST EP AND INTRODUCED ME TO LA MONTE YOUNG IN 1994.

BEAT AND ALL THE BOWERY RELEASES ARE HELD IN HIGH REGARD AS GENRE BLENDING, IMPORTANT RELEASES OF THE 90S - WHAT DID YOU FIND THE CRITICAL RECEPTION TO BE LIKE AT THE TIME? WAS IT WHAT YOU AND MARTHA EXPECTED?

WE WERE SURPRISED BY THE CRITICAL RECEPTION TO BEAT, PARTICULARLY IN THE UK AND EUROPE.

MELODY MAKER PUBLISHED AN OVER-THE-TOP REVIEW: “GOOD GOD, THIS IS IT. MY BLOODYVALENTINE CAN F*** RIGHT OFF, THEY’VE BEEN BEATEN TO IT. THERE’S GONNA BE AN AWFUL LOT OF NO-CLUES INCORPORATING HIP HOP INTO THEIR SOUND . . . WE CAN ALL LOOK BACK TO THIS LP, WHICH SURPASSED THEM ALL WITHOUT EVEN GIVING THEM A CHANCE. BOWERY ELECTRIC HAVE MADE SOMETHING UTTERLY ASTONISHING HERE . . . ROCK LP OF THE YEAR”.

THE WIRE CALLED IT “GENRE-DEFINING, A BENCHMARK ALBUM”.

THERE WAS AN INTERESTING CHANGE OF TEMPO, AND I ASSUME INFLUENCE BETWEEN BEAT AND BLOW UP, CAN YOU SPEAK ABOUT YOUR WRITING DURING THAT TIME?

LEADING UP TO BEAT, WE HAD BEEN LISTENING TO THE MACRO DUB INFECTION COMPILATION, A LOT OF WHAT CAME TO BE KNOWN AS IDM - AUTECHRE, BOARDS OF CANADA, LUKE VIBERT (AKA WAGON CHRIST AND PLUG), SEEFEEL, SQUAREPUSHER, DRUM ‘N’ BASS LIKE SPRING HEEL JACK AND MATT ELLIOT’S THIRD EYE FOUNDATION. I THOUGHT THESE THINGS SOUNDED LIKE MUSIC OF THE FUTURE, LIKE THE FRONTIER AND I WANTED TO GO THERE. HOWEVER, MARTHA AND I HAD DIFFERENT CREATIVE VISIONS. SHE PREFERRED MORE TRADITIONAL SONG STRUCTURE. THE RESULT IS THAT TO ME BEAT SOUNDS LIKE TWO EPS -ONE WHERE WE WERE COMING FROM AND THE OTHER WHERE I WAS HEADING. THE VERTIGO REMIXES AND BLOW UP WERE MORE IN LINE WITH WHERE I WANTED TO BE WORKING AT THAT TIME.

VERTIGO, THE BEAT REMIX ALBUM, WAS ONE OF THE FIRST REMIX ALBUMS RELEASED BY AN INDIE BAND AND FEATURED A REMARKABLE ROSTER OF EXPERIMENTAL ELECTRONIC ARTISTS INCLUDING MARK CLIFFORD (SEEFEEL), MATT ELLIOT (THIRD EYE FOUNDATION), ROBERT HAMPSON (MAIN), COLIN NEWMAN(WIRE), MARK NICHOLSON (OSYMYSO), JOHN ROOME (WITCHMAN) AND OTHERS.

THE FOLLOW-UP, A DRUM ‘N’ BASS 12” CALLED BLOW UP, DEBUTED AT NUMBER ONE ON THE NME VIBE OF THE WEEK CHART (THE THEN ELECTRONIC MUSIC SECTION) AND THE BAND WAS FEATURED ON THE COVER OF THE SECTION.

THERE’S QUITE A LIMITED RECORD OF BOWERY ELECTRIC PLAYING LIVE ONLINE, AND EVEN LESS SO FROM THE SELF TITLED AND BEAT ERA - CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT YOUR LIVE SHOWS?

WE DID SELECT SHOWS, ONE OF OUR FIRST SHOWS WAS IN SUPPORT OF MAZZY STAR AT CBGB, AND WE TOURED QUITE A BIT. WE PLAYED MOST OF THE SMALL AND MEDIUM SIZED CLUBS IN COLLEGE TOWNS AND MAJOR CITIES ACROSS THE US BUT PREFERRED ALTERNATIVE VENUES LIKE CHURCHES AND WAREHOUSES. AFTER THE FIRST ALBUM WE TOURED THE US AND CANADA TWICE, THE SECOND TIME CO-HEADLINING WITH PETE KEMBER’S (AKA SONIC BOOM) EAR.

PEOPLE WERE SURPRISED WE ONLY HAD ONE GUITAR. I PLAYED WITH LOADS OF EFFECTS PEDALS AND IN STEREO WITH TWO CRANKED MARSHALL JCM 800 HEADS AND 4 X 12 CABINETS. MARTHA HAD AN AMPEG SVT BASS AMP AND 8 X 10 CABINET. WE WERE GENERALLY VERY LOUD - I NEEDED EXTREME VOLUME TO GET THE GUITAR OVERTONES GOING. WE SUPPORTED LOW AT THE MIDDLE EAST IN CAMBRIDGE, MA AND LEFT THE STAGE WITH GUITARS FEEDING BACK AND PEDALS MAKING VARIOUS NOISES. THEY WOULDN’T SPEAK TO US AFTERWARDS.

MELODY MAKER NOTED “FOR TWO PEOPLE TO BE ABLE TO CREATE SUCH A HUGE, ROLLING EPIC SOUND IS SURPRISING; WHAT REALLY HITS HARD IS JUST HOW HUGE IT CAN BE, HOW THE INARGUABLE AND PULVERISING BEAUTY OF BOWERY ELECTRIC’S SOUND SIMPLY FORCES A SLACKED OUT CROWD INTO ITS SWELL.”

FOLLOWING THE RELEASE OF BEAT THE BAND TOURED THE US AND CANADA, CO- HEADLINING WITH MAIN, AND FINISHED CO-HEADLINING THE MUSIC IN THE ANCHORAGE FESTIVAL WITH MOGWAI IN NEW YORK IN JUNE 1997.

THE UK DEBUT, BEFORE THE EUROPEAN TOUR, WAS A SOLD-OUT SHOW UPSTAIRS AT THE GARAGE IN LONDON WITH WITCHMAN IN JULY 1997.

FOR BEAT I ADDED A SAMPLER, LAPTOP AND MIXER.

WE PLAYED A LOT OF ALTERNATIVE SPACES IN EUROPE - A WAREHOUSE BY THE RIVER IN BERLIN, A COLLECTIVE IN DRESDEN, A THEATER IN BARCELONA, A GALLERY IN SAN SEBASTIAN, A SPACE THAT FELT LIKE THE INSIDE OF A WOODEN BOAT IN COPENHAGEN. ANOTHER HIGHLIGHT WAS PLAYING THE THINK STAGE OF THE PHOENIX FESTIVAL ALONGSIDE AUTECHRE, BOARDS OF CANADA, LUKE VIBERT, SQUAREPUSHER, U-ZIQ AND OTHERS.

AFTER THE RELEASE OF LUSH LIFE IN 2000 THERE WAS A HEADLINING TOUR IN NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA, SOME LOVELY PEOPLE IN SANTIAGO, CHILE WERE UNDER THE ILLUSION WE WERE AS BIG AS PORTISHEAD, THEY FLEW US DOWN AND TREATED US AS IF WE WERE. WE PLAYED UK AND EUROPE WITH SUPPORT FROM LOCAL DRUM & BASS DJS. THE BAND’S FINAL PERFORMANCES WERE AT END FEST 2000 IN SEATTLE FOLLOWED BY A SOLD OUT HOMECOMING SHOW AT THE KNITTING FACTORY IN NEW YORK ON JUNE 17, 2000.

BY THE TIME OF LUSHLIFE I HAD PRETTY MUCH QUIT PLAYING GUITAR THOUGH I DID SAMPLE MYSELF FOR A FEW TRACKS. FOR THE TOUR I TOOK AN ALESIS ADAT 8 TRACK RECORDING WITH STEMS FROM OUR RECORDING SESSIONS ALONG WITH A MACKIE MIXER AND DID LIVE MIXES.

SO AT THIS POINT THE BAND WENT ON HIATUS WITH BOTH YOU AND MARTHA BEGINNING WORK ON SEPARATE PROJECTS - DID THIS JUST FEEL LIKE A NATURAL END TO THE PROJECT AND TIME TO GO AND DEEPEN YOUR PERSONAL WORK?

I THINK WE WERE BOTH A BIT FATIGUED BY THE BUSINESS SIDE OF THINGS. WE WERE OFFERED TOURS WITH. EVERYTHING BUT THE GIRL AND ALSO UNDERWORLD BUT COULDN’T GET THE TOUR SUPPORT NEEDED. BEGGARS BANQUET US SUGGESTED A CO-HEADLINE, SMALL CLUB TOUR OF THE US WITH SUPER FURRY ANIMALS. IT JUST WASN’T WHERE OUR HEADS WERE.

I READ SOMEWHERE YOU WORKED WITH PHILIP GLASS AFTER THE BOWERY YEARS, WHAT WAS IT LIKE WORKING WITH SUCH A RENOWNED MODERN COMPOSER?

I WORKED AT HIS STUDIO WHILST STUDYING AT JUILLIARD. IT WAS AN AMAZING EXPERIENCE.I DEVELOPED A DEEP RESPECT FOR HIM AND HIS WORK ETHIC. I DID A LITTLE BIT OF EVERYTHING. I COLLECTED AND TRANSCRIBED HIS HANDWRITTEN SCORES INTO SIBELIUS, ENGINEERED RECORDINGS OF HIS WORKS, SEQUENCED DEMOS FOR FILM PRODUCERS, PREPARED SCORES FOR PERFORMANCES AND MANAGED THE ARCHIVE.

IN OUR FIVE YEARS OF LOOKING FOR OLD T-SHIRTS AND MERCHANDISE, I’VE ONLY SEEN ONE ORIGINAL BOWERY ELECTRIC T-SHIRT, IT WAS SELF TITLED ARTWORK I BELIEVE RELEASED IN ‘95. CAN YOU FILL US IN ON YOUR MERCH OUTPUT?

OUR LABELS, KRANKY AND BEGGARS BANQUET, NEVER DID MERCH. I THINK WE DID TWO T-SHIRTS. THE FIRST WAS BLACK WITH A BLACK & WHITE PRINT OF THE COVER ART FROM THE FIRST ALBUM. THE SECOND WAS AN ADIDAS STRIPE BAR LOGO OVER BOWERY ELECTRIC ON A SKY BLUE T-SHIRT.