Eat Static was formed in 1989 by Merv Pepler and Joie Hinton as a creative outlet for the diverse range of electronic music that the pair were writing… This year see’s them reach the magical 30 years of performing! Always primarily intended as a live band, Eat Static can legitimately claim to be one of the UK’s first live techno outfits. Eat Static quickly developed a spectacular live show that included a huge light-show and a giant illuminated brain. A loyal following quickly formed, with the crowds realising that dance could be performed live at a time when ‘live’ performances by other bands were often mimed PA’s. Since that time Eat Static have played hundreds of gigs headlining festivals and shows around the world.
Early Eat Static releases were on the band’s own imprint – Alien Records, and laid the foundations of the band’s sound with inventive editing, B Movie samples and a sense of humour and unpredictability. They then signed to Michael Dog’s legendary label Planet Dog, which captured the spirit and idealism of a heady time. The album Abduction was a particularly strong release and the band went on to enjoy chart success with a number of their EP’s on the label. At the same time Eat Static were headlining Megadog nights and festivals as well as Glastonbury.
With their departure from Planet Dog the band formed their own label – Mesmobeat and a number of album releases followed, including the standouts Crash and Burn and In the Nude, where the band explored a wider palette of sounds, including Big Beat, 70’s kitsch, psychedelic Latin and subtly twisted lounge music. Merv also started a side project Hi-Fi Companions with ???
As well as recording and releasing on their own label the band also worked with Solstice, BNE, Twisted,TIP World and Interchill and a handful of other labels. The tracks on Interchill compilations provided an outlet for downtempo and chillout.
Merv’s collaborations are numerous; Hi Fi Companions,The Flexitones, Strontium Dogs, MX Experiment,System Static… collabs include music recorded with Steve Joliffe (Tangerine Dream), Steve Hillage (as System Static), Robert Hjeinen (Psychick Warriors of Gaia), Robert Smith of The Cure, Georgina Brett and many more… Eat Static also have a long list of remixes to their name including Suns of Arqa, Shpongle, Kaya Project, Front Line Assembly, System 7, Joujouka, Uzumaki and many more…
After the 2007 summer festival touring season ended, keyboardist Joie Hinton left the band and it was then just Merv left to fly the Alien flag! But more recently, he has been rejoined in the studio by original member Steve Everitt who made strong appearances on the acclaimed albums “Last Ship to Paradise” and “Dead Planet”
2008 saw the release of Eat Static’s first ever full length down-tempo album, Back To Earth, with Canada’s Interchill label. The album was infused with dashes of Arabian and jazzy influences alongside solid rhythmic elements of dub/breaks and spaced out other-worldly electronica.
