If Thousands
Duluth drone band aiming to relax audiences into drooling.
via Wikipedia: If Thousands · see source
If Thousands is a drone band from Duluth, Minnesota. They released their first album, Candice Recorder, in 2001 and later toured the United States with Low. Their music has appeared on NPR. Christian McShane played with Charlie Parr in Devil's Flying Machine, while Aaron Molina came from the rock band Small Engine City. Rivulets' Nathan Amundson contributed to their album Yellowstone. The band's sound is built on electric guitar and the drone of a Hammond M3 organ, the only keyboard McShane could afford when they started.
Quick Facts
- Origin
- Duluth, Minnesota, US
- Instrument
- Vocals
- guitar
- organ
- Genre
- Drone
- trance
- ambient
- Years active
- Since 2000
- Label
- Silber Records
- Dreamlan Recordings
- Finding Datura Records
- Ambolthue Records
- Chairkickers' Union Music
- Current members
- Christian McShane; Aaron Molina
Facts from the source article.
Background
If Thousands, an American drone band from Duluth, Minnesota, formed with a specific goal in mind. Christian McShane, a classically trained vocalist who had been in several local bands and co-created "Experimental Tuesdays" with Low's Alan Sparhawk, stated their purpose was to relax audiences "to a point where they are drooling." This mission took extreme forms: a 25-hour drone piece called Elegy, honoring artist Michael Lenz, aimed for catharsis through relentless sound, while a performance titled Slumber invited listeners to bring pillows and blankets to sleep.
Aaron Molina, previously in punk bands, sought a new direction. The band's debut album, Candice Recorder, came out in 2001, and they later toured the US with Low. Their music has appeared on NPR. McShane also played with Charlie Parr in Devil's Flying Machine, and Molina was in Small Engine City. Nathan Amundson of Rivulets contributed to their album Yellowstone.
Did You Know?
- McShane found a MicroMoog synthesizer discarded in a snow bank in the middle of the Superior National Forest (Superior, Wisconsin).
- To transport their Hammond M3 organ to early shows, they cut it in half and McShane reassembled it onstage; he once electrocuted himself but was revived.
- McShane formed "Experimental Tuesdays" with Low's Alan Sparhawk at the Norshor theatre in Duluth, MN.
More in American Ambient Music Groups
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