Bands that sound like Portishead ...
| On Project Opus since: | May 4, 2009 |
| Last seen: | 33 weeks 6 days ago |
| Biography: | SUPERMASSIVE QUAzAR BIO SQ is literally a one-man musical army. Led by Dominic Lamarre, who by the time he was 34 years old, recorded more than 300 songs, from cool ROCK to very radio-friendly POP to great BALLADS to orchestrated INSTRUMENTALS to indie SOUNDTRACK to just about anything you can imagine. Growing up with a keen hear, his roots were soaked into CLASSICAL music, ROCK and POP greats like THE BEATLES, QUEEN, PAT BENATAR, DURAN DURAN and also (gasp!) ABBA (not even afraid to admit it the least!). Inspired by a wide number of artists and styles – from NIRVANA, SMASHING PUMPKINS, GREEN DAY, TRAIL OF DEAD, QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE and RADIOHEAD to metal’s finest OPETH to lesser known geniuses like AKIRA YAMAOKA and sElf, always admiring a great female voice/female-fronted band like WITHIN TEMPTATION, NINA GORDON, XANDRIA, AFTER FOREVER, SANDRINE, videogame music guru NUBUO UEMTASU as well as magnificent composer such as DANNY ELFMAN, JERRY GOLDSMITH And JOHN WILLIAMS. Self-taught, Dominic had never touched a guitar until he saw NIRVANA’s UNPLUGGED in April 1994. Then bought a friend’s cheap acoustic guitar (who had electric strings on it, a trademark he carries to this very day) for 60$, had another write basic guitar chords on a piece of paper, and then started writing songs the day after. Then came HAPPIER THAN YOU, in 1997. His first band. Something special between 4 friends at the time but that never truly came to fruition. He decided to pursue on his own, creating (properly) SUPERMASSIVE QUAzAR, in 2006. But SQ wasn’t meant to only be a band of one. It was meant to be a musical industry by itself. 300+ songs (recorded, 600+ written) in a mere 6 years is just too much for one band to handle. Plus since SUPERMASSIVE QUAzAR (band) is more into heavy-rock-melodic-pop, not all songs could fit into this category (though to explore musically is a motto nevertheless). Aside for his publishing deal, many, many recordings and the soundtrack for indie film “DECADENCE PSYCHOTIQUE’, he also joined forces briefly with one of the band members of HAPPIER THAN YOU in 2008 and created a little side project (that created about 20-25 recordings in one year, still) named TEARS OF HEL. PULzE, SUPERMASSIVE QUAzAR’s first self-produced album was released in 2008. More to come... |
| Albums: | PULzE |
| Reviews Received: |
| On Project Opus since: | January 31, 2006 |
| Last seen: | never |
| Biography: | "...in the realm of Sonic Youth or Fugazi..." - Max Kauffman Hailing from Culver, Indiana, plankton is comprised mainly of Matt Pare and Tina Pare on bass, vocals, and guitar. 2006 began with plankton appearing on WNIT's "Open Studio," a program on local public television focusing on talent in the station's viewing area. Because of that appearance, plankton was invited to play a show at a popular club with crowd-drawing bands from the South Bend/Mishawaka area. At the time plankton had no drummer. Chris Nespo (Evil 10 Submission, US Thrash Company, Dorks With Glasses) had been sought out to play the TV spot but was unable to play the date of the club gig. From an ad placed in the forum of a venue's web site,Tim Post (Wichita Kansas Trailer Park Conspiracy) agreed to play the show and ended up staying with the band for a stretch of accomplishments. These include breaking into many venues formerly unreachable by the band and being selected to participate in the Chicago Bodog Battle of the Bands. Tim left the band in September 2006 for personal reasons. Plankton wishes Tim the best and everyone is looking forward to keeping in touch. For the time being, catch Chris Nespo or Jerry Mitchell (Jet Stream, Bad Habbit) on drums with the band! Matt was in a band in 1992 when he met Tina. That band went bust, but Tina and Matt stayed together. Tina began to learn bass. Matt and Tina searched for a drummer to suit their music. For one reason or another, people never worked out. In January of 2003 plankton was joined by Eric Scott on drums (Eric left the band in late 2005). Right away they new they could have something special if they practiced hard. Festivals, battles of the bands, private parties, and a free public performance on the Fulton County Court House (Indiana) lawn sponsered by the Fulton County Public Library have all contributed to the band’s growth and progress. They have been working their butts off to craft their originals into a crowd pleasing set of shock, amazement, and yes, even the occasional offense. So...what do you call THAT? Boyd Nutting, owner of now-defunct-but-always-in-our-hearts Club Cackle in South Bend, Indiana, described plankton as "Post-Punk / Art Rock." Something that helps to set plankton’s music apart, Matt and Tina switch off on bass and guitar. They both played drums in other bands. Adding to that, they write all the songs, and do all the recording themselves in their studio, Splatcat Records, with Matt acting as the band's ample engineer. Being a totally DIY band, Tina makes all the band's t-shirts - dying and printing them by hand. Influences run up and down these lines: King Crimson, Talking Heads, Beck, Midnight Oil, Laurie Anderson, Shellac, Big Black, Throwing Muses, Pixies, Miles Davis, Thelonius Monk, Danny Elfman, Tim Burton, Wire, Firehose, Tool, Ella Fitzgerald, The Modern Jazz Quartet, XTC, Brian Eno, Joe Jackson, The Fall, Cure, New Order, Joy Division, Duran Duran, Juliana Hatfield... Bands plankton has been compaired to include Ween, Cake, Portishead, Pixies, PJ Harvey, The Breeders, Pink Floyd, and for some reason... The Cranberries. |
| Albums: | |
| Reviews Received: |