American Avant-garde Metal Musical Groups Codexery

Sleepytime Gorilla Museum

American experimental rock band blending classical, industrial, and art-rock.

Formed in 1999, the American experimental rock group Sleepytime Gorilla Museum (often called SGM) originated in Oakland, California.[1] Classical, industrial, and art-rock elements are combined in the band's music, and their stage shows are known for elaborate routines.[1]

Quick Facts

Origin
Oakland, California, United States
Genre
  • Experimental rock
  • avant-garde metal
  • progressive rock
  • progressive metal
Years active
1999–2011, 2023–present
Label
The End Records
Current members
  • Matthias Bossi
  • Nils Frykdahl
  • Carla Kihlstedt
  • Michael Iago Mellender
  • Dan Rathbun
Past members
  • Frank Grau
  • David Shamrock
  • Moe! Staiano

Facts from the source article.

Making and release

After Idiot Flesh disbanded, Nils Frykdahl and Dan Rathbun joined with Carla Kihlstedt and percussionists Moe! Staiano and David Shamrock to form the group.[2] The band’s name comes from a small group of Dadaists, Futurists, and artists called the Sleepytime Gorilla Press.[3] The “museum” opened on June 22, 1916, the same day as the band’s first concert 83 years later.[4] A 2002 Houston Press article states that the 1974 Guinness Book of World Records listed the Sleepytime Gorilla Museum as the “World’s Most Closed Public Institution,” open only 47 days in 34 years.[5]

A music video for “Helpless Corpses Enactment” was posted online before the album’s release.[6][7] A single banana slug (Ariolimax dolichophallus) was the sole audience for their debut performance on June 22, 1999.[2] According to the liner notes for Grand Opening and Closing, the Sleepytime Gorilla Press ran a “museum of the future” described as “anti-artifact, non-historical and closed.”.[3] Three final California shows were announced by the band in February 2011, along with plans for a final album, a short film, and a live DVD.[8]

What the cited sources add

A 2002 Houston Press article describes the band’s performance as a “dadaist court” juggling “a public spectacle of self-destruction, tricky time signatures and improvised racket”.[5] A Tiny Mix Tapes review compares Sleepytime Gorilla Museum to System of a Down but calls the band “infinitely more complicated”.[9] The same review notes the band is part of a trend of “eloquently grim theatricality” applied to loud, heavy rock.[9] A Pitchfork review of Of Natural History states the band’s debut was indebted to Secret Chiefs Three and Meshuggah, producing “truly cracked prog-metal anthems”.[10]

That review also describes the band as “Pagan scientists” attempting to answer questions like “Will the future involve wood?”.[10] The Free Salamander Exhibit website states that the band’s name comes from a 1916 leaflet distributed by Pentecostal snake-handler George Went Hensley.[11] The same source notes that Free Salamander Exhibit gained notoriety by impersonating Sleepytime Gorilla Museum members.[11]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Sleepytime Gorilla Museum" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Bambarger, "Reviews & Previews: Albums - Pop", December 8, 2001, p. 53; "Music Review: Sleepytime Gorilla Museum - Of Natural History", Tiny Mix Tapes, December 14, 2006 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Sleepytime Gorilla Museum" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "sleepytimegorillamuseum.com", Sleepytimegorillamuseum.com (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Sleepytime Gorilla Museum" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Album notes for Grand Opening And Closing, CD 2001. The End Records. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Sleepytime Gorilla Museum" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Album notes for Grand Opening And Closing, CD 2001. The End Records.; La Briola, "Sleepytime Gorilla Museum", Houston Press, May 23, 2002 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  5. La Briola, "Sleepytime Gorilla Museum", Houston Press, May 23, 2002. facts only, no text reused. houstonpress.com
  6. Wikipedia, "Sleepytime Gorilla Museum" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "SLEEPYTIME GORILLA MUSEUM: 'Helpless Corpses Enactment' Video Posted Online", Blabbermouth.net, May 22, 2007; "SLEEPYTIME GORILLA MUSEUM: 'Helpless Corpses Enactment' Video Posted Online", Blabbermouth.net, May 22, 2007 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  7. "SLEEPYTIME GORILLA MUSEUM: 'Helpless Corpses Enactment' Video Posted Online", Blabbermouth.net, May 22, 2007. facts only, no text reused. blabbermouth.net
  8. Wikipedia, "Sleepytime Gorilla Museum" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: The Future Imperfect announcement on Facebook, February 14, 2011. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. "Music Review: Sleepytime Gorilla Museum - Of Natural History", Tiny Mix Tapes, December 14, 2006. facts only, no text reused. tinymixtapes.com
  10. Moore, "Of Natural History by Sleepytime Gorilla Museum review", Pitchfork, 9 November 2004. facts only, no text reused. pitchfork.com
  11. "Free Salamander Exhibit: Discourse on the Exhibit", Freeslamanderexhibit.com, 30 November 2013. facts only, no text reused. freesalamanderexhibit.com

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Sleepytime Gorilla Museum (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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