Summerhead
Mixing ambience with strong beats and noise with melody, the Salt Lake City band Summerhead is defining a new direction in electronica. The band has been recognized for adding a beauty to their music that is not always found in other dance music. The core duo James Holmes and Gary Svedin first began working together in 1991 in a band that appreciated The Smiths and the other British artists of that time. Holmes and Svedin later mixed many other sounds showing influences such as the minimalist composer Michael Nyman, Cocteau Twins (to whom Summerhead owes their name), Air, Moby, Groove Armada, and the UK trip hop act Faithless.
While being fond of using multiple guest vocalists, the band has not been afraid to leave many songs without vocals. Samples of people talking and other looped sounds nearly replaced sung vocals completely in their 2002 release Watershed. But just as fans got used to the gentle flowing sound of Watershed, Summerhead has taken a new direction by collaborating with Hip Hop favorite, Josiah in their forthcoming release Liberadora.
Summerheads albums can be purchased online at: www.summerhead.com
Have you performed live in front of an audience? Any special memories?
We have played once up at the University of Utah and plan to do more in the coming months and years.
Your musical influences
Our major influences are Faithless, Moby, William Orbit, Enigma, Telepopmusik and Air. We also like to experiment with mixing genra's like hip-hop with ambient/electronica, opera with drum 'n bass, etc.
What equipment do you use?
We use ProTools, Bias Deck, Mac laptops, Korg and Alesis Keyboards, Amadeus II, Peak, Ableton Live and whatever else we can get our hands on.
Anything else?
We like the idea of being vegetarian but can't stop eating at McDonald's.
