Babyland

History

Babyland got its start in 1989 when Dan Gatto, who handled vocals and programming, teamed up with percussionist Michael Smith. Both were from Los Angeles and deeply rooted in the DIY punk ethos, earning respect across industrial, punk, indie rock, and electronic scenes. The two met in college and first worked together on a project for a musical culture class, producing an audio-visual piece that sparked the idea for the band. Their debut EP arrived in 1991, titled 1991, followed later that year by the single Reality Under Smrow-Toh on the LA punk label Flipside.

In 1992, the track "Mindf_" appeared on the compilation The Cyberflesh Conspiracy, and in 1993 they contributed a cover of Madonna's "Burning Up" to Re-Constriction Records' Shut Up Kitty: A Cyber-Based Covers Compilation. Flipside continued to put out their early work, including the first three albums: You Suck Crap (1992), A Total Letdown (1994), and Who's Sorry Now (1995). Critics praised these records, with Alternative Press noting the band captured the confusion, resentment, anger, and frustration of an entire generation.

The fourth album, Outlive Your Enemies, came out on Mattress Recordings in 1998. The group also took part in several Mojave Desert events organized by Flipside. Later releases were handled by their own label, Mattress. The fifth full-length, The Finger, and a compilation of earlier songs, Decade One, were issued in Europe by dependent.

A deal with Metropolis Records led to wider commercial distribution for the sixth album, Cavecraft. On October 9, 2009, a Myspace post confirmed the band had broken up, exactly 20 years after forming. In 2013, the live album Live Execution was released, capturing a performance from January 1, 2009, at The Smell in Los Angeles.

Live performances

Babyland built their reputation on chaotic live shows, often sharing bills with acts like The Offspring, Ethyl Meatplow, Grotus, Legendary Pink Dots, Dystopia, Foetus, Add N to (X), Nitzer Ebb, VNV Nation, and Psychic TV. They performed mostly in underground venues such as LA's Jabberjaw, Kontrol Faktory, and The Smell, Long Beach's Bogart's, and 924 Gilman in Berkeley. Their sets reflected an industrial ethic: the band would construct stage environments from scaffolding and working televisions, then systematically demolish them with hand and power tools during the performance.

Other projects

While working on Babyland, Dan Gatto teamed up with Daniel Vahnke, a Vampire Rodents composer, to create the side project Recliner. Their tracks "Trilobite" and "Nosedive" first appeared on the 1993 compilation Rivet Head Culture before being included on Vampire Rodents' album Lullaby Land that same year. A later Recliner piece, "Zygote," came out on the 1994 compilation Scavengers in the Matrix and was later featured on Vampire Rodents' 1995 album Clockseed. In 2012, Gatto launched a synth-pop project called Continues.