Artist description Electronic POP that spans a variety of moods, sounds and styles. Strong pronounced melodies, intertwining arrangements and interesting lyrics.

Music Style Electronic Pop, Synth Pop

Musical Influences John Barry, Air, OMD, Duran Duran, The Beatles, David Arnold, Depeche Mode, Erasure, Pet Shop Boys, Pulp, New Order

Similar Artists OMD, Duran Duran, John Barry, Air, Erasure, Pet Shop Boys, Pulp, The Beatles, David Arnold, Depeche Mode, New Order

Artist History The year is 1984, an era when Duran Duran ruled the world, New Order were "alternative" and Peter Cooper and Craig Simmons meet for the first time in a bus queue on the way to school. After a short but potent conversation on the historical uses of ginger as an anal supplement for horses, they discovered they had a mutual passion for synth pop. Soon after this, the boys made a pact to rid the world of cock-rock and fill it with electro-pop....and so "The Squad" was formed.For a while this task was relatively easy but as the years rolled over into the late eighties, everything changed. Electronic music had been forced underground producing what we would later call House Music. The remnants of mainstream electronic music had become one-dimensional, Cock-Rock was experiencing a disturbing resurgence and best electronic bands from the early eighties had been ditched by the public at large.This was probably a bad time to try and re-ignite synth-pop. But since when has a bad idea ever stopped a musician? At first, they went under the name Kensington Street, then Prussian Blue and then Dr. No, but it was no good - these were good songs with commercial potential, but the timing was all wrong. Peter became deeply involved in uni life as an academic and writer, and Craig studied design, got a job in record company as a graphic designer and became interested in underground dance music. In 1996, Craig released his first intelligent-house album - "Suffocating Sally" under the name Chiba. This album was critically acclaimed in the Australian dance scene, but commercially a minor disaster. Disillusioned with the whole contemporary dance scene they set about on a project of a completely different nature.1998 saw the recording of the first ElectroSquad album called "Epsionage". The influences on this album derived from the classic electro-pop bands of the eighties - bands such as: New Order, Erasure, Pet Shop Boys, OMD, Duran Duran, Scritti Politti, Depeche Mode, The Human League, ABC and Kraftwerk. The visual identity (album art and video clip) for this album was influenced by the James Bond Legacy, particularly the 60s movies - the girls, the locations, the sets, the innuendoes, the music, the gadgets, Bond, the villains, the abstract opening titles - all extremely hip and somehow very now. Espionage was finally released in February 2000.ElectroSquad's second album "operation: k" takes the Bond influence from the visual to the musical, as well. There are references to the great film composer John Barry with his perculiar mix of 60s spy, romance, drama and chill flavours, within the overall framework of contemporary electronic pop. But it's not too obscure, there are some great pop songs here too - Kylie, Cowgirl In My Mind, Cowboy Hats, to name a few (BTW there's a bit of a Cowboy theme happening here also)."operation: k" was recorded through-out 2000 and released in March 2001. In addition to the analogue synths which defined "Espionage", you will hear guitars, orchestral string and horn sections, solo flutes and cellos, timpani drums, Mellotron and Hammond B3 keyboards, ethnic instruments like the Sitar, Santoor, Sarod, and other Dulicmers. The end result - quite a unique sound we feel.

Group Members Craig Simmons - Keyboards, Programming, Vocals, ProductionPeter Cooper - Vocals

Instruments Synthesizers, Samplers, Electronic Effects

Albums "Espionage", "operation: k"

Press Reviews Issue #16, 2000 of Lexicon Magazine (great US New Wave music mag) contains an excellent CD review of Espionage (p.22). Described as "By far the best synthpop record of the batch... Bright, poppy and well-produced...".

Location Sydney, NSW - Australia

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