| We've had 526 visitors to this page. |
| Systems Theory | Total Plays: 1184 of 4 songs --> tapegerm home |
| Systems Theory is an internet project that started at the rec.music.progressive usenet newsgroup. It consists of Greg Amov (from San Diego), Steven Davies-Morris (from London) and Mike Dickson (from Edinburgh). The project performs a highly cinematic progressive-electronic / world music / prog-rock / fusion hybrid, welding high-tech modern electronica, moody ambience and acoustic ethnic styles with spacerock aggression, a dash of free-jazz exploration, and a splash of old-fashioned symphonic-prog bombast. So this makes Systems Theory an odd "Indie / Avant / Experimental" band, though it could just as easily be classified as "Electronic", "Cinematic" or "World-Fusion". The official project web-site is located at: http://systemstheory.net The project Soundclick page is at: http://soundclick.com/systemstheory The project CD Baby page for the one released CD is at: http://cdbaby.com/systemstheory Greg's solo soundclick page is at: http://www.soundclick.com/bands/8/gregamov.htm Mike's Mellotron samples page is at: http://www.blackcat.demon.co.uk/tron/ Mike's free download solo album page is at: http://mikedickson.org.uk/six_consequences/ Why this name? We're all computer programmers by trade, and it seemed to reflect that which puts food on the table, clothes the kiddies and pays the mortgage, while stretching beyond the borders of science and technology into other areas and systems-driven disciplines. Do you play live? No. We get asked this all the time. We're an internet project with members in the US and the UK. That's not likely to change in the forseeable future. It's a bit hard to rehearse with the North Atlantic Ocean in between! There's no conceivable way we'd have hooked up without the magic of the internet (usenet). Being able to post MP3s for download allowed us to share our creations with an audience that would otherwise not exist. We had to do it initially based on the largesse of friends and an FTP site offering free progressive rock MP3 downloads. We realized early on that we could reach a lot of people using MP3s and usenet newsgroups. Web-based music sharing sites offer us an even more up to date delivery system. We see independent artists controlling the selling and or giving away of their material as the next logical evolution of the music industry. Survival of the fittest, etc. None of us in Systems Theory will shed any tears over the eventual demise of the huge music conglomerates, as more and more "name" artists decide to take matters into their own hands, offering some or perhaps most of an album's tracks as downloadable MP3s. Some free, and some -- probably the hottest tracks -- as a buyable commodity with no vampyric middlemen. Band History: Step back to spring 1977...somewhere in America there is a woman who insisted that Greg Amov should meet this fellow in her history class, one Steven Davies-Morris. She arranged this meeting one fine morning before the two lads respective 10 o'clock classes. At 9:32am in the Cafeteria of Grossmont Junior College in El Cajon, the two shook hands for the first time. Neither of them made it to their classes for the rest of the day. There simply was too much music that needed discussion. Thank you, dear lady, wherever you are! "Usurper" - circa 1977. The first incarnation of what is today Systems Theory. This band was hard-edged rock a la Wishbone Ash and UFO, with Kansas-ish prog-rock aspirations. Greg felt a little left out, simply because there wasn't a lot in the way of "power chords" that he could play on his violin, but he adapted, adding guitar and synth to his arsenal. "Cerberus" - circa 1977 to 1978 The second incarnation, evolving out of "Usurper", formed by Steven and Mark Dittman. Steven and Greg began the song writing collaboration which has continued up until today. There was less emphasis on cover tunes, and those that were in the repertoire were pretty cool FM-rock a la Rush, Styx, Yes, Jethro Tull, Argent, Procol Harum, etc. This was also the first attempt they made to record tracks for an album. Several weekends, and one week-long recording session at a house in Lemon Grove produced a set of master tapes (now lost) with the first incarnations of "Spanish Sketch" and "The Witch" among others. "Silent Watcher" - circa 1979 After the splintering of Cerberus, Steven had joined a new 100% progressive rock outfit. Disagreements over musical direction [stupid now, in hindsight] led to this splitting into two units, one of which kept the name Silent Watcher, and the very cool band t-shirts with a Bogart-like character smoking a cigarette. The final incarnation of this band, before Greg left to get his music degree at Cal State Northridge, saw Greg guesting on violin. Some recordings were made, but what happened to the tapes is anyone's guess. (hello, dumpster...) During this time Steven was introduced to computers, being successfully prodded by Greg's Dad into thinking about programming as a career. This shaped the employment directions of both Steven and Greg, as well as ultimately influencing the name of their current collaborative incarnation. During this period, the ambitious boys attempted to finance their progressive rock projects by writing a set of pop-music tunes for the then very hot Kristy and Jimmy McNichol. Steven disavows all knowledge of such classic works as "Three Wishes" and "Five And Dime Lovesong", but Greg still has the original handwritten lead sheets and threatens to bring them out into daylight. "Systems Theory" - 1984/1985 Greg was back from college, broke, and like every true music major, essentially unemployable. Steven had finished a two-year computer-science degree and was working as a programmer. For Christmas 1984 he gave Greg photocopied manuals from a Pick operating system computer (Microdata Reality 3.2B) and told him to read them as many times as was necessary to join him in his new line of work. Some 20+ years later, both of them are professionals in the Pick/multi-valued database arena. In 1985 Steven decided that the time had come to put aside the music aspirations, leaving Greg to continue writing new-age/ambient music for direct to video VHS projects. "Systems Theory" - 1997 though today The discovery by Steven of PC based music tools led to his decision to begin composing again, after helping friends in Under The Sun work on their own demos. Once he had a few (mostly bad) pieces written, he approached Greg about resurrecting Systems Theory as more than just an idea. It took two years, but Greg eventually got on board with the program, and they produced the first tunes as Systems Theory that they'd let anyone else hear in 1999 ("Under Oriental Skies" and "The Boy Who Gazed At Stars"). Not even a two man project is an island: the chaps enjoy the assistance and support of various other excellent musicians in the Los Angeles/Orange/Ventura areas of Southern California, and all the way across the states...even as far afield as the UK. Mike Dickson, Mellotron and Hammond maestro in Edinburgh, joined up in 1999 after hearing "Under Oriental Skies", first as a sideman, but later as an equal member. His contributions have been invaluable in shaping the Systems Theory sound. This trio is the core of the Systems Theory project. In addition, Greg's wife, Diane, has provided flute for a few tracks, and flute samples that have been programmed into compositions by Steven. Paul Beecham (ex-bassist of Thieves Kitchen) and Kurt Barabas (bassist of Under The Sun) have recently provided bass samples used in newer compositions. Violin teacher Cyndee Lee Rule has appeared on two tracks for the debut album. Brian Daly and Dun Strummin have provided guitar work for a couple of tunes. Michael Futreal of The Offramps provided dulcimer for one tune. Influences on Systems Theory are many. Draw a hexagon and put these names on each side: King Crimson, Tangerine Dream, Can, Jade Warrior, Mike Oldfield, David Torn. Inside the lines put 20th century classical, free-jazz, spacerock and world-beat. The fusion of these reference points, with the "inside the box" labels as added texture, might give you an idea of the music produced by the synthesis of Greg, Mike and Steven's ideas. We are a "fusion" project, and we understand how hard that makes us to categorize (and market). But it also allows us to create a very interesting musical hybrid where the lines blur between genres, producing avant-space-jazz, ambient-metal-improv, world-noise-prog, hard-lounge-techno, etc. Equipment used: Mike owns a Mellotron M400, a Hammond T500, and various cheap synths (Casio mostly). All tron and organ voices are real as opposed to digital emulations (which vary from OK to fairly useless). He also uses a PC with various soft-synths and ACID Pro. Mike is eyeing (as always) more Mellotron tape frames. Greg owns a MaGa 5 string electric violin, a no-name mandolin, a no-name electric guitar, a Rhodes 73, a Roland XP30, a Korg 61 polysnth and an Ebow. He also uses a PC with various soft-synths, Cubase and ACID Pro. He is eyeing a Fender Stratocaster. Steven has currently sold off all his equipment except for his Roland rack keyboard module, a cheap Casio keyboard, a no-name acoustic guitar and a no-name electric guitar. He also uses a PC with various soft-synths and ACID Pro. He is eyeing a Carvin electric guitar, a Carvin bass and a Martin acoustic guitar. |
|
Songs in this week's top 100
: TRACK LISTING
This is a first look new demo. Originally it was intended for the pool of candidate tracks for the 2008 Systems Theory album "Overful Noise Cascade", but that looks to be set. So it will be re-routed to a Systems Theory-related solo album project (our 'lil sister ViolinCyndee), just entering the recording stage. There are two Tapegerm samples in this mix. The first is "biotch1", a vocal sample. It is reversed and placed at the start of the tune, mixed in with another vocal sample. The second is "amb1", an ambient keys sample. It is in the intro and exit matched with a descending string synth patch. Credits: S.Davies-Morris, free loop sample packs by hebephrenic.
253 plays 05:04 Genre: Instrumental Album: New Demos This is a first look new demo. When written it was possible that it might go into the pool of candidate tracks for the 2008 Systems Theory album "Overful Noise Cascade". That project looks to be set with 9 tracks at about 74 minutes, so this will instead be re-routed to a Systems Theory-related solo album project (ace viper-wielding instrumentalist ViolinCyndee). There is one Tapegerm sample in this mix. That is "guit6", an electric guitar sample. It has been dropped in to fit between the scratched guitars. Credits: S.Davies-Morris, free loop sample packs by hebephrenic.
174 plays 06:51 Genre: Instrumental Album: New Demos This is a first look new demo. This tune will be the title track of the 4th official Systems Theory release in either late 2008 or early 2009 (we're writing that far ahead). A different mix (without Tapegerm samples) is with Mike Dickson in Scotland for Mellotron overdubs and some new sequencer lines. There are five Tapegerm samples in this mix. "FM7_oscillocore" a synthesizer sound bed added to the intro to the tune, "Ergot-1", and "12drums-all110", both percussion samples, "FM7_didgeridoos_on_dope-2", an effects sample used at the start of the second half (at 4:20), and "arthur0806_voc2", a vocal sample (duplicated and pitch-shifted) used in the second half (at 4:58). Credits: S.Davies-Morris, Arthur Loves Plastic Open Loops, David Fuglewicz Open Loops and Heuristics Inc. Open Loops.
245 plays 08:11 Genre: Instrumental Album: New Demos This is a first look new demo. It was written on August 21st-22nd in honour of a youngest son's birthday, and at this time nothing further is planned, other than reworking the drums and maybe upping the tempo slightly. If Greg and Mike like it, it will probably go to the 4th Systems Theory album in 2009. If not then it will go to a solo album by SDM along with other tracks that didn't pass muster with the rest of the guys in the project. There are three Tapegerm samples in this mix. "arthur0806_tamb" a tambourine (at 3:24 and 7:09), "MApadsequence", a synth line (at 4:05 and 7:09), and "MAeffem2", a synth pad/bed used in the quiet mid-break (at 4:05). Credits: S.Davies-Morris, Arthur Loves Plastic Open Loops and Mental Anguish Open Loops.
|
MEMBERS LOCATION INFLUENCES SOUNDS LIKE Click Here to send Systems Theory a message! Recent feedback...
Mental Anguish listened to New Shoes And Floppy Hat on 08/20/07 06:01:54 and said: "Taking a life all its own my new shoes & floppy hat are soaking in the the groove & jazziness of this piece. One of the best free loop sample pack mixes I have heard in a while. Look forward to more Tapegerm related tracks by you in the future. Welcome aboard!"
SPOTLIGHT TRACK
New Shoes And Floppy Hat |
|
