zonder
Zonder cohesively blends a wide range of influences and styles. Robin Eckman’s explosive drumming, Michael Shiono’s adept bass playing, and Rus Archer’s sonic juggling combine to create an absurd stream-of-consciousness sci-fi music experience. Characterized by dissonance, odd time signatures, long, unusual melodies, and a polyrhythmic, polytonal approach, Zonder do not play average rock although fans of heavy guitar and driving beats will find plenty to like. Where other eclectic bands often use a pastiche approach to styles such as punk, jazz, metal, world-music, and electronics, Zonder simultaneously merges all these influences and more for an all-out sonic assault. The fiery result impresses listeners variously as “music for traveling through space,” “extreme attention deficit disorder,” and a remarkable exercise in musical mnemonics.
Tell me about your history? How did you get where you are now?
before zonder, rus played for scaterd few, exo iii and no longer music (among others)
michael and rus both played for subarachnoid space for a while
michael currently keeps busy with multiple projects (www.myspace.com/mishiono)
robin currently plays with elder statesmen and burn the fields
Have you performed live in front of an audience? Any special memories?
zonder played live in san francisco. zonder have scattered across the country for the time being and only write and record remotely. maybe in the future...
Your musical influences
stravinsky, bartok, alban berg, voivod, killing joke, bauhaus, king crimson, ruins, naked city, boredoms, prong, jane's addiction, soundgarden, squarepusher, faith no more, bad brains, metallica, fantomas, melvins, mr. bungle, theory of ruin, daniel amos, good for cows, u2, miles davis, kraftwerk, merzbow, primus, john coltrane, tool, deftones, frank zappa, soad, american indian music, japanese music, gamelan
What equipment do you use?
drums, guitars, basses, zvex and line 6 pedals, synths, koto
