Eat Static

Eat Staticis anelectronic musicproject fromFrome,Somerset,Englandformed in 1989 by Merv Pepler and Joie Hinton.Hinton left thegroupin February 2008 after 18 years to spend more time with his family.

Eat Static
Origin	Frome,Somerset,England
Genres	Electronica
Years active	1989–present
Spinoff of	Ozric Tentacles
Members	Merv Pepler
Past members	Steve Everitt Joie Hinton
Website	EatStatic.co.uk

History

Merv Pepler and Joie Hinton met asdrummerandkeyboardplayer (respectively) forOzric Tentacles,a long-standingpsychedelic rockband from Somerset.Although Ozric Tentacles incorporated elements of electronic music, Pepler and Hinton were drawn towards therave-oriented dance music. In 1988 they collaborated on a project under the name of Wooden Baby which hinted at early rave andacid housesounds as well as numerous other styles, and by 1990, the project had evolved into Eat Static.Pepler explained: "There we were in Ozrics doing all this technically impressive, weird music with mad timings, and getting really involved with it, and this experiment that became Eat Static was a good excuse to ignore all that, get the synths out, and be as stupid as we could!"Theduotouredin parallel with Ozric Tentacles for several years until 1994, when they left the band to pursue Eat Static full-time.Pepler and Hinton are often joined in thestudioby Eat Static's third member Steve Everitt. Pepler is featured on the 2006 Ozric TentaclesalbumThe Floor's Too Far Away,playingpercussionon the track "Armchair Journey".

Their first album release,Abduction,immediately established theextraterrestrial/U.F.O.theme which is a running motif in theirsamples,track and album titles, and release artwork.The band's name is taken from a sample (as found on the track "Eat Static" ) fromStar Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

On 6 February 2008, Pepler announced on the Eat Staticwebsitethat Hinton was leaving as "he has had enough of all the travelling and being away from home and family". However, Pepler stated that he would continue to perform and produce under the Eat Static name as a solo project. He also hinted that there would be more scope for collaborations in the future.

Members

Current members

• Merv Pepler – keyboards, synthesizers, programming, bass, drums (1989–present)

Former members

• Joie Hinton – synthesizers, programming (1989–2008)
• Steve Everitt – engineering, programming (1989–1997, studio only)

Discography

Although most often associated with thepsychedelic trancegenre, the band actually span almost all forms of dance music, includingtrance,techno,gabber,drum and bass,andbreakbeat.As such they are well-compared to other leaders of theBritishrave scene, likeThe Prodigy,Underworld,Orbital,Aphex TwinandLeftfield.

Eat Static are also notable within dance music for their frequent use oftime signaturesother than 4/4.

Albums

• Prepare Your Spirit(Alien Records (UK) 1992, re-released Mesmobeat Records 2000 & 2009)
• Abduction(Planet Dog Records1993)
• Implant(Planet Dog Records 1995)
• Science of the Gods(Planet Dog Records 1997)
• Crash and Burn!(Mesmobeat Records 2000)
• Prepare Your Spirit(Mesmobeat Records 2000)
• In The Nude!(Mesmobeat Records 2001)
• De-Classified(Solstice Music International 2007)
• Back to Earth(Interchill Records 2008)
• Dead Planet/Human Upgrade(Mesmobeat 2015)
• Last Ship to Paradise(Interchill 2017)

Singles and E.P.s

• "Inanna" (Alien Records (UK) 1991)
• "Monkey Man" (Alien Records (UK) 1991)
• "The Alien E.P." (Alien Records (UK) 1991)
• "Almost Human" (Alien Records (UK) 1992)
• "Lost in Time" (Planet Dog Records 1993)
• "Gulf Breeze Mixes EP" (Planet Dog Records 1994)
• "Survivors" (Planet Dog Records 1994)
• "Dionysiac" (Mammoth Records(U.S.) 1995)
• "Epsylon EP" (Planet Dog Records 1995)
• "Bony Incus" (Planet Dog Records 1996)
• "Hybrid" (Planet Dog Records 1997)
• "Hybrid Remixed" (Planet Dog Records 1997)
• "Interceptor" (Planet Dog Records 1997)
• "Interceptor Remixes" (Planet Dog Records 1997)
• "Contact..." (Planet Dog Records 1998)
• "Contact...Remixes" (Planet Dog Records 1998)
• "Critical Mass/Second Sight" (Atomic Records 2000)
• "Mondo A Go-Go!" (Mesmobeat Records 2000)
• "Epidemic" (Mesmobeat Records 2001)
• "Implant" (TIP.World 2002)
• "Chewier" (Magna Carta 2004)

Collections

• Epsylon(Planet Dog Records 1995) – The "Epsylon" and "Lost in Time" EPs
• B-World(Planet Dog Records 1998) – A collection of live performances, 97–98
• Alien EPs(Mesmobeat Records 1999) – The "Inanna", "Monkey Man" and "The Alien E.P." releases.
• DecaDance(Mesmobeat Records 1999) – A collection of rare and unreleased out-takes and live classics, 89–99
• Alien Artifacts(Mesmobeat Records 2004) – A selection of unreleased rarities, 88–92
• ReVisitation: Singles 1993 – 1998(Planet Dog Records 2009)
• Live in Frome(Direct sale from website 2011) – Live, at the Memorial Theatre, Frome, 11 November 1994

Music videos

• Gulf Breeze
• Interceptor
• Contact
• Mondo A Go-Go!

Other projects

Eat Static also produced thesoundtrackfor theRTS game,Conquest Earth,published byEidos Interactive.Thegame mediaalso contains the music inRed Book audio format,allowing it to be played back in any standaloneCD player.

Pepler released asoloalbum under the name Dendron. The album was calledSupernatural Jazzand was released on their own Mesmobeat label. Pepler also teamed up with Steve Jolliffe ofTangerine Dreamto form Hi Fi Companions and released the 2004 albumSwingers in ParadiseonTwisted Records.This project is often classed underlounge musicand has a 1950s feel mixed with modern electronica.Jolliffe had previously teamed up with Eat Static appearing on theirCrash and Burn!andScience of the Godsalbums. In 2005 Pepler's collaboration with Will White of thePropellerheads,called Flexitones, released their debut albumJoyrideragain through Twisted Records. Will White had previously teamed up with Eat Static on the tracks "Dervish Funk", appearing on theCrash and Burn!album, as well as on theMondo A Go-Go!track "Wall Banger". Pepler and White had previously released tracks under the name Champaigne Charlie. Pepler has also teamed up with Shane Thomson and Jamie Nott to form Cosmic Journey Project. Pepler's project with Simon Posford (Hallucinogen,Shpongle) called Metal Sharon has so far released one track, "Balloon Dance" once again through Twisted Records.

Hinton has released an album under the nameNodens Ictus.Hinton teamed up withEd Wynnefrom Ozric Tentacles for this ambient project. The album was calledSpacelinesand was a collection of tracks recorded earlier in their careers, although it featured two tracks written in 2000. Pepler appears in a smaller role on the album and used to play live with Hinton and Ed. Joie is also a member of space rock band Dream Machine, together with former Ozric Tentacles frontman Jon Egan. Hinton also plays live with Ozric's bassplayer Zia's side project ZubZub and plays synths for Here & Now.

Steve Everitt, Eat Static's studio based third member, has released two tracks onPlanet Dogcompilationsunder the name Alien Progeny, and one track "Mirrorball" under his own name.

Strontium Dogs is a project featuring Merv from Eat Static and Nektarios from Martian Arts, "Born,'cos of their mutual love for old school acid and modern day modular synthesis".

Other album projects released –

• Nodens Ictus– Spacelines (Stretchy Records) 2000
• Dendron – Supernatural Jazz (Mesmobeat Records) 2003
• Hi Fi Companions – Swingers in Paradise (Twisted Records) 2004
• Flexitones – Joyrider (Twisted Records) 2005

External links

• EatStatic.co.uk– official website
• Eat Static's Bandcamp site
• Eat StaticatDiscogs
• Planet Dog website– detailed Planet Dog discography