Bio

Eric Bachmann- vocals, guitar
Matt Gentling- bass
Eric Johnson- guitar
Mark Price- drums

Life has been good to Chapel Hill, North Carolina's Archers of Loaf. In the five years and four full lengths that the band has been in existence, the fellas have managed to record some dazzling music, travel the world with other similarly gifted musicians and have a helluva lot of fun. Besides enjoying themselves, the band has garnered the kind of widespread critical acclaim usually reserved for artists with a longer track record. They have become one of the most critically acclaimed indie rock bands of the 90's . The Archers have set themselves apart from the masses musically by displaying a distinctive style in their songwriting; they maintain their unmistakable sound while continually exploring new territory, especially with their last release "White Trash Heroes". With this release the band has clearly succeeded in keeping their listeners off guard and expanding on their sound with a whole new sophistication. Here's a brief chronological history of each release and some comments about various records from the main songwriter Eric Bachmann, for those who want more detail and those who may not know about this amazing band...

The first record: "Icky Mettle". College radio, the public and the press ate the album up. "Icky Mettle" set the standard for indie rock from 1993 on. The release was tagged as "The Best Indie Rock Album of the Year" by Interview and "a near perfect guitar rock album" by Spin. The first single "Web In Front" gained measurable play on the early Alternative radio format and College Radio. CMJ (A College Radio magazine) had the record on the charts for 22 weeks. The band starts the constant touring (over 200 dates a year) that doesn't end for a quite a long time and that they become well known for...

The EP: "Archers of Loaf vs. the Greatest of All Time" or "G.O.A.T" for short, merited the band even more College radio play and much admiration. For some this EP is the greatest Archers release of all time - it's one of Eric Bachmann's favorite. It's definitely the shortest and best concept album ever released. The Archers head out across the U.S. and Europe for another year; an appearance at England's Reading Festival helps to build the profile of the band considerably. With that, the guys went back in the studio.

The Sophomore release: "Vee Vee" A week long stop at Steve Albini's studio in Chicago to record with Bob Weston, is where the stage is set for recording their biggest record yet. "Vee Vee" goes Top 5 on the College Radio charts. The critics catch "Archers fever" with reviews, features, previews, live reviews, and MTV interviews. Details Magazine noted: "The Archers combine cheerfully dazed guitars with those sulky vocals for an irresistible pop effect..." and Pulse! called their music "enriched, unbleached pop". On "Vee Vee" the song content is suggestive, with a certain element of mystery. Eric Bachmann explains: "I don't like to hit people over the head with stuff; that's not as interesting. If I have something I want to write about, I almost avoid doing it so the song can mean many different things. Each time you listen to it you can get something else out of it." With the touring reaching a record level, the band heads out on National support slots with the Flaming Lips and Weezer before heading back over to Europe and back to yet another headlining US tour.

The "there's too many great songs on 7"s and various Comps that need to be collected" record: "The Speed of Cattle" A Collection of B-sides, 7" singles, alternate versions, extra tracks, live moments and John Peel sessions from '94. Somehow, this "collection" record sounded like it was always supposed to be an album. Cohesive, brilliant. Like the band had a secret plot to release the record one single at a time. "The Speed of Cattle" hit #2 on the CMJ charts and held in the Top 50 for over two months. Spin observed that the album is "a picture of the Archer's at their trashiest." Precisely.

Third time's another charm: "All the Nations Airports" - For this record the band chose to add a more textured, hard edged tone to their songs - as well as a more eccentric sound overall. They chose to work with a new Producer, Brian Paulson (Superchunk, Son Volt, Dinosaur Jr., Jayhawks, Wilco) for "All the Nations Airports" a record that practically implodes with washes of guitars and complex layers. The Archers also included some of their quietest songs to date with the poignant "Chumming the Oceans" and the murky, dreamy lament "Form and File". The development of the band was obvious to fans and critics with "All the Nations Airports". Musician said of "Airports" - "The guitars of Eric Johnson and Eric Bachmann tryst at dissonant intervals, their riffs entering songs like a drunk entering the freeway". Spin noted "The Archers are champions of the day after R.E.M. and Sonic Youth's tomorrow...they play folk-noise punk that's a relief from the secondhand doom, tissue paper sexiness, and wooden rage all around them." A great band was growing and changing within their own sound. An amazing band was getting even better.

The Live EP: "Vitus Tinnitus" 10" only Live recordings of your favorite songs as performed by one of the greatest live bands on the planet today. It was recorded live at Middle East Cafe in Boston, MA on October 20, 1996. This out take from the hardest working band today includes "Harnessed in Slums", "Greatest of All Time", "Form and File", "Nostalgia", "Audio Whore", "Underdogs of Nipomo", as well as re-mixes of "Vocal Shrapnel", and "Scenic Pastures".

"White Trash Heroes" - The band chose Ardent Studios (Memphis, TN) and Sound of Music (Richmond, VA) to record album number four, "White Trash Heroes". They again wanted to work with Brian Paulson with additional mixing by Mitch Easter. The Archer's added new textures to their sound including synth keyboards, vocoder and varied samples. "We allowed for more sonic space in the songs, while in the past we'd cram all kinds of noise into any spaces, " explains Eric Bachmann. Eric B's voice also explores new terrain and at times you may think that it's someone else singing. Eric explained "My vocals have changed quite a bit because I don't scream like I used to. You change the way you go about doing things in order to keep yourself interested." Once again the Archers had grown and changed for the better.

"White Trash Heroes" documents the fearless germination and introspective exploration we've come to expect from this band without losing their penchant for strange amalgams of styles. There are such diverse tracks as the guitar driven, hooky "Fashion Bleeds, " the quietly haunting "Dead Red Eyes" and the distortion laden impending doom of "One Slight Wrong Move" (inspired by the idea of total armageddon and robots taking over the world," according to Bachmann). "Slick Tricks and Bright Lights" is notable for its restraint and poignant vocals, where Eric sings: "Can't call for help when nobody's at home/Had a premonition, and icy cold superstiton...I don't understand how you got the upper hand on me." "White Trash Heroes" takes a turn with the instrumental "Smokers in Love" which Bachmann says was inspired by a story about "young people in Rome smoking and making out on the grass." It's a surreal, bizarre image. The disc closes with the title track, which invokes images of corn mash whiskey, state fairs and video arcades. Unique songs are diced up by a caustic wit and blasting sessions that peel away at indie rock's cocoon and blossom into a totally new genera. It's 13 new songs that are totally new yet completely Archers of Loaf. Enjoy and explore for yourself. And Finally: The Name, The Sound: Archers of What???? Why are they called the Archers of Loaf? Well they didn't want to discuss their band name in every interview so they made up the most non-sense name they could. Of course it's the first question on every interviewer's list. The Archers credit their Southern upbringing for their distinctive sound. "In terms of being from North Carolina as part of the bigger picture--being from the South and taking life a little slower that everybody else--I'm really proud to be from here, " Bachmann says. "It affects the way we write music and do everything else, even it it's watered down...it's not as rustic as the old South. It's newer, but elements [of Southern culture] do survive that have to do with the way you think about things. North Carolina seems to hold a little more of the good than the bad in terms of the old gentleman, Andy Griffith-type character." Well just like the four friends who got together to do what they love, you never know what's going to happen. And now five years later they are still doing what they always wanted to as Eric so tactfully puts it, "I think I want to do this for as long as it's fun."

Check Out Some Archers of Loaf Fan Sites.

www.webinfront.com

http://www.wku.edu/~bob/archers/go_loaf.html

	Arches of Loaf - Limited Edition Tour Poster Very collectible Limited Edition Screen PrintAOL poster From Spaceland show in Los Angeles California, 1996.   $16.00

In a band? Check out Band Special.com