About Transister
Formed
1995
Genre
Pop
None of the members of Transister were strangers to each other or to the music scene when they decided to form the band. As the frontman for '80s pop group Danny Wilson, co-founder Gary Clark already had one hit under his belt: the love song "Mary's Prayer." After Danny Wilson broke up, Clark lent his skills as an engineer, producer, and songwriter to various big-name artists: Heart, Julia Fordham, and Lauren Christy, among others. He also released a solo album which was well received among the music intelligentsia in the U.K. The other founding member, Eric Pressly, had written songs for Stevie Nicks and Tina Turner, and had performed extensively as the musical director for Cher. Pressly and Clark's first collaboration was the band King L. The band was signed to Virgin in the early '90s. When the label released King L, Clark started work on a second solo album. On impulse, he decided to experiment with a new sort of project. Enter Keeley Hawkes, a female singer/songwriter who had enlisted Pressly's writing services on her own solo album (EMI, 1993). Early collaborations between the three proved to be so successful that they decided to form a band and go the distance. Thus was born Transister.
Pressly eventually returned to his home city of Los Angeles with a demo CD in hand. When the prestigious college radio station KCRW played a few tracks, listener response was tremendous. Within days, several major labels had started a bidding war. Transister eventually decided to sign with Virgin International and Interscope within the U.S. They released a single full-length, self-titled album and followed it with a European tour. For the tour, the band strengthened its ranks, bringing in drummer Sami Tormanen and keyboard player Jeremey Yeremian.
Though the moderate success of the album was not sufficient to keep the band on Virgin, the songs continue to be featured on film soundtracks: Jawbreaker, Wild Things, and Charlie's Angels. In the meantime, all of the members of Transister were busy with numerous solo projects. Pressly is still in Los Angeles, where his songwriting and mixing skills are in high demand. Clark is the co-writer and producer for almost all the songs on Natalie Imbruglia's album White Lilies Island. ~ L. Katz
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