Radio Massacre International
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Radio Massacre International are a trio of British musicians, Steve Dinsdale (Keyboards and Drums), Duncan Goddard (Keyboards and Bass), and Gary Houghton (Guitar, Synth). They specialize in improvisational experimental electronic music, utilizing vintage synthesizers and sampled sounds alongside electric guitar. They are also leading exponents of the mellotron keyboard. More recently they have begun to incorporate Bass Guitar and Drums by varying degrees in an attempt to stretch musical boundaries within the confines of a three piece. Their music has been described alternatively as ambient music, space rock, Krautrock, Berlin School, and various other terms, although the band itself prefers the label "organic music". Points of reference include bands ranging from Tangerine Dream to Hawkwind.
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[edit] Name
The unusual name dates back to the early 80s, and Steve and Duncan's early experiments with primitive sounds. The name was coined by Steve to describe cathartic sessions by the band, working away from traditional write/arrange/rehearse methods. Lacking anything but the most basic equipment, the band plugged keyboards & guitars straight into a cassette deck for a more abrasive sound than that achieved with the (mostly borrowed) equipment used in the making of their early recordings as "DAS". Therefore, there is no deeper meaning in the name. It was adopted as the main name for the band in 1990, as recording in the "DAS" style was wound up. There are 12 DAS "albums" although only the first was ever published (as a cassette album); some of the later titles feature other musicians and any plan to release these recordings would mean hunting down the participants to obtain clearance.
[edit] History
The history of the band dates back to the 80s, when Steve and Duncan went to college together. They formed the band “DAS” with Gary, and recorded 12 albums between 1980 and 1987 which were never released.
Steve, who is originally a drummer, went on to play in a couple of ‘scene’ bands after moving to London in 1988, while Duncan started to amass synthesizers, and recorded the first solo projects. When he finally found a space for him and Steve - who got disillusioned with the music business at that time - to work in, they recorded a first session in 1993, which was later released as “Startide”. Gary joined in 1994 with his guitar, and the band as we know it today was born.
Their first official release was the double CD “Frozen North” on Centaur in 1995. They also debuted Radio Massacre International as a live act at the Emma festival in Sheffield in the same year.
In 1996, they were invited to perform on MTVs "Party Zone", making them probably the first and only band to play a live piece on the dance-orientated show that did not contain a single discernible beat. The same month they were the first electronic artists to play at the famous Jodrell Bank observatory, in the shadow of the radio dish. This was later released as the humorously titled live CD `Knutsford In May'.
1997 saw them play at the famous (but now defunct) KLEMdag festival in Nijmegen, Netherlands, in front of the band's largest ever live audience.The year 2000 brought appearances at the Alfa Centauri festival in Holland, and another visit to Jodrell Bank. The band's music was also featured in the BBC-TV programme “Don’t Look Down” about the 300 ft radio telescope.
The first Hampshire Jam festival of electronic music in Liphook in 2001 saw them appear together with other artists of the genre like Air Sculpture, Paul Nagle and Free System Project. In November 2002, they played their fist ever dates in the United States, at the Progwest Festival in LA and at The Gatherings Concert Series in Philadelphia. Furthermore, they appeared twice live on radio, on Alien Air Music on KXLU in LA, and on Star's End on WXPN in Philadelphia. True to form, the band released a 2CD collection documenting this tour (Solid States).
Further live events included the E-Live festival in Eindhoven, Holland in late 2003 and the Virtaa Arts Festival in Tapiola (nr Helsinki), Finland in early 2004. Manchester's Night and Day Cafe witnessed a 2004 collaborative performance which saw RMI and Can luminary Damo Suzuki perform together for the first time.
A return visit to Philadelphia in 2004 at the invitiation of Chuck Van Zyl resulted in a recording contract with USA label Cuneiform Records for which the debut release was 2005's 'Emissaries',a double CD which also featured a full colour comic strip story by artist Matt Howarth
Since 2003, they have given annual performances at the UK National Space Centre in Leicester, performing with fellow artist Ian Boddy as a guest of the band on the last of these occasions in March 2006. RMI then released the `Septentrional' CD on Boddy's DiN label which was again characterised by a collaborative spirit, with Boddy treating and remixing the material.
In December 2006, they finally released the long awaited 6 CD compilation "Lost in Space", a career retrospective but containing entirely unreleased material from 1987 to 2003.
In September 2007 they released two CDs. The first, "Rain Falls in Grey" is a release which the band describe in the sleevenotes as "a way of saying goodbye and thanks to a genuine one off", referring to Syd Barrett. The cover art for this release was drawn by Daevid Allen, famous as a member of the group Gong (band). The second release, "Blacker" is on their own Northern Echo record label. Later that year the band also released a download only version of the full October Gallery concert from 9th February 1997 that had previously only been available as a CDR made available to the audience of that night. This was followed in 2008 by another download only release of a 2005 show from the Brunel Social Club in Leeds. Continuing the bands regular use of pun and wordplay in song and CD titles, this was called Anitsocial.
[edit] Discography
The band has been incredibly prolific, largely due to the improvised and lengthy nature of their musical explorations, releasing over 25 albums over the past decade or so.
| Album | Year | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Frozen North | 1995 | |
| Republic | 1996 | |
| Knutsford in May (Live) | 1997 | |
| Burned & Frozen | ||
| Diabolica | Recorded in 1994 | |
| Organ Harvest | ||
| Gulf | 1998 | |
| A Bridge Too Far (Live) | Recorded in 1997 | |
| Borrowed Atoms | ||
| Live at the October Gallery (Live) | Ltd. edition for visitors of the concert only | |
| Bothered Atmos | 1999 | Sequel to Borrowed Atoms |
| Upstairs Downstairs (Live) | 2000 | |
| Been There Done That (Live) | Recorded in 1997 | |
| The God Of Electricity | Recorded in 1994 | |
| Zabriskie Point | ||
| Planets in the Wires | 2001 | |
| Startide | Recorded in 1993 | |
| Maelstrom | 2002 | Recorded in 1999 |
| Greenhousing | 2003 | |
| Solid States (Live) | ||
| E-Live 2003 (Live) | ||
| People would really like Space Rock if they would only give it a try (Live) |
2004 | |
| Walking on the Sea (Live) | ||
| Hog Wild (Live) | ||
| Emissaries | 2005 | |
| Septentrional | 2006 | |
| Lost in Space 6 CD Boxed Set | ||
| Rain Falls in Grey | 2007 | |
| Blacker | ||
| October Gallery (redux) | Download-only release of complete 1997 concert | |
| Antisocial | 2008 | Download-only release of 2005 concert |
[edit] RMI on Various Artists Compilations
- Adrenal - Hollow Words (1996) Radio Music Intermission
- Is there anybody out there? (1998) RMI-Pyramid
- Concerts At Jodrell Bank (2000) 1CD of RMI Live at Jodrell Bank/Alfa Centauri Festival
- Hampshire Jam Preserved (2001) RMI-Pipe / Everybody Say Yeah / Roxette lost in Liphook
- E-dition CD sampler #4 (2004) Nucleotide Diversities (excerpt)
- E-dition CD sampler #8 (2005) The Emissaries Suite
- Awakenings 2005 (2005) Sherwood's Special
- Star's End 30th Anniversary Anthology (2007) Philadelphia Rain
- Resonance: The Echoes Living Room Concerts vol. 13 (2007) Gibraltar
