Artist description Take four people, who came of age listening to everything from Metallica and Tool to Radiohead and Depeche Mode, and leave them to perform unspeakable acts on otherwise innocent computers, samplers and guitars and the result is a caustic, 21st Century, hard rock juggernaut.

Music Style Industrial

Musical Influences Nick Cave, Skinny Puppy, Dead Can Dance, Nine Inch Nails.

Artist History Black Snake Moan began in 1995 as the studio project of Paige Lawrence. Paige has long been a fixture in the fledgling Bay Area goth/industrial/metal scenes, working with such bands as Murder Death Kill (MDK), Burning Down and Melancholy Fae, in addition to fronting BSM. Paige's stint in MDK came about after a chance meeting between Paige and MDK-founder Ed Clare at a local Guitar Center. Ed would end up engineering and co-producing BSM's first release Rattle in the Sand, while Paige would play guitar for MDK. Paige worked with both BSM (whose line-up was often in-flux) and MDK, playing dates around the Bay Area until 1999 when, after some internal conflicts within the band, he decided to take BSM off the road and began working on the band's next album with Ed. During the same four-year period, MDK changed its name to Burning Down and added drummer Scott Reese (who would later join BSM) to its line up. In late '99, Paige, Ed, Scott and a number of other Bay Area musicians decided to pool their resources into a collective/independent record label and production company known as the SF Midi Mafia (www.sfmidimafia.com). Together, they released a compilation in the winter of 2000 which featured new studio recordings from BSM, the re-christened Burning Down and a number of other local acts. One of the new bands to emerge from the first SFMM compilation was Melancholy Fae - a side project of Ed and vocalist/songwriter Maria Rodriguez. Paige, Scott and bassist Robert Hanson were drafted by Maria to fill out a live band, and they played a handful of shows in the fall of 2000. The following year, amidst a number of personal tragedies, professional set backs and a less-than-ideal creative climate, several of the SFMM acts, including Burning Down and M. Fae, choose to hang things up and regroup. Paige, who was eager to get BSM back on the road, enlisted the help of Scott (this time to play lead guitar) and drummer William Hanson. With more than two dozen new songs to choose from, the trio rehearsed in seclusion for the better part of 2001. In need of a second guitarist and keyboard player, Paige brought Robert back into the fold, who also ended up sharing many of the engineering and production duties with Paige. The new incarnation of BSM has been working non-stop on the band's next album, Ixtlan, as well as preparing for a tour that is scheduled to start later this year.

Group Members Paige (vocals/guitar), Robert (guitar/keyboard/bass/vocals), Scott (lead guitar), William (drums).

Instruments Tools we use everyday: Propellerhead Reason, Cakewalk Sonar, Cubase VST/32, Universal Audio UAD-1.

Albums Rattle In The Sand

Additional Info New album due out this fall. Check our website (www.blacksnakemoan.com) for updates.

Location Berkeley, CA - USA

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