| Name | Lightning Bolt |
|---|---|
| Background | group_or_band |
| Origin | Providence, Rhode Island, United States |
| Genre | Noise rockexperimental rock |
| Years active | 1994–present |
| Label | Load |
| Url | www.laserbeast.com |
| Current members | Brian ChippendaleBrian Gibson |
| Past members | Hisham Bharoocha |
Lightning Bolt are known for their guerrilla-style live performances, where they typically play on the ground rather than a stage, with the crowd gathered around them. The band's sound is typically loud and aggressive, though the group cites composers Philip Glass and Sun Ra as compositional influences.
In 2006, Lightning Bolt was deported from Japan days after they arrived to continue their tour from the UK. Band members were detained on arrival on the grounds that they did not have work permits. Their official appeal was rejected after 48 hours, and they were deported back to the United States.
The band starred in the 2003 tour-DVD The Power of Salad directed by Peter Glantz and Nick Noe. Lightning Bolt have also performed in DVD compilations such as Pick a Winner (2004) and Sleep When You are Dead by performance artists Mighty Robot (2007).
Rumors have persisted concerning the release of an improvisational album entitled Frenzy. A post on Lightning Bolt's official website in early 2004 read "The next Lightning Bolt album, Frenzy, is currently in the works over at Load Records. It is expected to be available at the end of the summer." No further word was given, and the next Lightning Bolt album released was in fact Hypermagic Mountain in 2005. In an early 2007 interview, Chippendale said "When it comes to weird improv stuff, sometimes we're just at a weird stalemate." It has been the band's first release in almost four years since Hypermagic Mountain.
As the group's vocalist, Chippendale eschews a conventional microphone, instead using the type of microphone built into a household telephone receiver, held in his mouth or attached to a hood, which is then run through an effects processor to further alter the sound. Chippendale has also used a KMD 8021 Drum Exciter, a simple drum-synth module, triggered by the bass drum.
Gibson plays his bass guitar tuned to cello standard tuning, in intervals of fifths (C G D A), using a banjo string for the high A. He used this four-string setup for several years, but has recently been seen using a five-string setup, tuned to C G D A E, with banjo strings for the A and E. Gibson also uses several effects pedals, including overdrive pedals, an octaver, a delay pedal, and a whammy pedal (pitch shifter).
Like many noise rock bands, Lightning Bolt mostly plays extremely loud, aggressive music. In the film The Power of Salad, Gibson attributes much of their success to volume:
We used to get more negative reactions when [we] didn't have as loud of stuff. It's just, be super loud and you're all set. (laughs) The rock and roll has been revealed. I do feel that that's the message - if there's any message, that's what it is. This is kinda what we do to keep ourselves excited these days. In these days - everyone knows what I'm talking about. (laughs)
The band has reportedly never been a fan of the studio recording process. When they recorded five tracks for their eponymous debut album released in 1999, they discarded four of them and replaced them with lo-fidelity tracks recorded at various live shows from 1997 and 1998.
Lightning Bolt's lyrics, when decipherable, are generally tongue-in-cheek, covering such topics as fairy tales, heavy metal clichés, terrorism, anarchy, and superheroes. They delve occasionally into more political subjects, such as the anti-Bush "Dead Cowboy" from Hypermagic Mountain.
Category:American noise rock music groups Category:Musical groups from Rhode Island Category:Musical groups established in 1994 Category:1990s music groups Category:2000s music groups Category:2010s music groups
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