About Minus
Hometown
United States of America
Formed
1998
Genre
Rock
Minus was formed in 1994. For the first year the band's focus was on free improvisation as was their first self-titled album. As they progressed, they drew their inspiration from no particular genre, finding it in multiple styles ranging from free jazz to heavy metal and including funk, noise, math rock, and techno-dub. Mark France (guitar, effects, and vocals for Minus) first joined Dave Trenkel when they were students in the Oregon State University Music Department. At the university they studied jazz with the trumpeter and Nine Winds recording artist, Rob Blakeslee. Trenkel (who plays bass, keyboards, and electronics for Minus) and Henry Franzoni (drummer for Minus) were in the progressive rock band Das Neonderthrall with guitarist and vocalist Eldon Hardenbrook. In 1994 the group disbanded, so Trenkel and Franzoni thought a collaboration with France a logical choice. In 1995, Minus officially released their self-titled debut album of improvisational material, mixed and edited by France and Trenkel. In 1997, they focused on composed material and hit the road with their new format. During this period they shared the stage with Kilgore Trout, Tim Young's Very Special Forces, Village Idiots, Thousand Pieces, and NSP. Franzoni was a co-founder of the band Caveman Shoestore, with whom he recorded three albums for the Tim/Kerr label. Other bands he has been associated with are Boodlers, Tone Dogs, and Face Ditch. Trenkel has always found pleasure in improvisational music. Past groups include Shovedevil and the Northwest Creative Music Orchestra. As a recording engineer and producer he has worked on releases by the Tone Sharks, Rob Blakeslee Quartet, the Arrieu Wind Quintet, and many others. France performs regularly around the Northwest as a member of Thousand Pieces and in the mutant blues/R&B group Mottburger. He has also performed with Rob Blakeslee's sextet, as a solo performer on classical guitar, and appeared on singer/songwriter Aiko Shimada's first recording. In 2001, France could be found teaching guitar at Oregon State University, as well as maintaining a full schedule teaching private students. And in 2001, Minus released their second album, Dark Lit, which more than adequately displayed the fresh new musical direction the band was focusing on. ~ Larry Belanger
Similar to: Minus
Discover more music and artists similar to Minus, like Minus, SGL, Djamazing
