Artist description Four Theremins --- One Guitar --- All Heart

Music Style Experimental, Psychedelic, Electronic

Musical Influences The last 30 seconds of "I Am The Walrus"

Artist History In July of 1996, Kris Thompson showed up for a barbecue at Jon Bernhardt's new home in Somerville, Massachusetts. Kris has played in several Boston area bands, the most recent being Abunai!. Jon has been hosting a morning indie-rock program on community radio station WMBR-FM since 1984. Between bites of his sausage sandwich, Jon mentioned to Kris that he had recently built a theremin. "What a coincidence," replied Kris, "for I have recently built one too. Why, wouldn't it be fun if we found some other thereminists and assembled a theremin orchestra?" ++++ Jump ahead to April, 1997. Now joined by guitarist Ramona Herboldsheimer (previously the drummer for bands like Orans, Twig, and Wild Stares), and third thereminist Brendan Quinn (also of Abunai!), The Lothars play their third ever gig at the first Terrastock festival in Providence, Rhode Island. Despite seeing audience members run from the room with their hands over their ears, and having Brendan quit, the band perseveres. New thereminists are found, and there are some better received gigs opening for the likes of Luna, Pere Ubu and the High Llamas, as well as a trip to San Francisco to perform at Terrastock 2. ++++ Finally, in November 1998, they release their debut CD "Meet The Lothars" on the Australian "Camera Obscura" label.

Group Members Jon Bernhardt, Ramona Herboldsheimer, Jon Hindmarsh, Dean Stiglitz, Kris Thompson

Instruments Theremins, Guitar, Violin, Samples, Electronics

Albums Meet The Lothars

Press Reviews Maybe not quite what Leon Theremin had in mind when he demonstrated his wonderful new device in the presence of V.I. Lenin back in the days when a new art for the masses required new instruments, The Lothars conspire to create a monstrous edifice of noise. Ramona Herboldsheimer’s purposeful electric strumming just about manages to hold together the joyfully bizarre arrangements of audio squiggles and deep space scrawls which Kris Thompson,Jon Bernhardt and Brendan Quinn produce on their theremins. --- Ken Hollings, The Wire ++++ The [CD] isn't quite the cacophony of electronic bloops you might expect. Instead they get into some muscular psychedelic jams... That said, you wouldn't mistake The Lothars for a boogie band. The Beatles reference in their album title may be a joke, but imagine an outfit whose style starts with the last 30 seconds of "I Am the Walrus" and works outward from there.--- Brett Milano, The Boston Phoenix ++++ ...sort of like Shonen Knife doing Merzbow covers... [The] combination of naive electronics, self-conscious humor and gothic horror will no doubt incite a horde of imitators. --- David Grad, New York Press ++++ "Meet the Lothars" exists in a sort of friendly corridor of the avant-garde. It's demanding only insofar as the combined swell of three theremins can sound variously like bees, traffic, wind through a silo, steam and assorted manufacturing processes. But the nine instrumental pieces all have their own clear identities and owe a great deal of their architecture to pop sensibilities. --- David Greenberger, Metroland ++++ Lothars are a theremin-intensive outfit, and while that gimmick may seem very appealing, it is not in this case. They may be hip enough to be on the bill for the West Coast Terrastock festival happening in San Francisco in April, but we will never endure their live shenanigans again. --- Anonymous, Time Out New York

Location Somerville, MA - USA

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