Nitzer Ebb

Nitzer Ebb
Background information
Origin	Essex, England
Genre(s)	Industrial EBM Techno Rock
Years active	1982–present
Label(s)	Mute Records Geffen Records
Members
Douglas McCarthy Bon Harris Jason Payne (live)
Former members
David Gooday Namen Duc Nhan Julian Beeston Dave Lovering (live) Kourtney Klein (live)

Nitzer Ebb (pronounced night-zer or nit-zer—the band themselves pronounce it either way) is a music group formed in 1982 by Essex schoolfriends Douglas McCarthy (vocals, synthesizer), Vaughan (Bon) Harris on synthesizers and drums, and David Gooday.

Beginnings

The trio began with shows in small local venues, but their arresting stage presence, military image and energy garnered a growing base of followers and soon led to appearances in larger clubs and concert venues. Combining the energy of punk with the electronic pulse of DAF, they released their debut single "Isn't It Funny How Your Body Works" on 7 January, 1985 on their own label Power Of Voice Communications, and their music soon became a fixture on the club scene. A double 'A' side single, "Warsaw Ghetto"/"So Bright So Strong", followed in 1985 to similar critical and dancefloor acclaim. Two further releases, "Let Your Body Learn"/"Get Clean" and "Murderous" were released on Power Of Voice Communications before they signed to Mute Records.

Late 1980s through to mid 1990s

In May 1987, they released their debut album on Mute Records, That Total Age, which spawned a hit with the pounding bass rhythms and barked vocals of "Join In the Chant" and "Let Your Body Learn". Both tracks found favour with the Euro club scene and the nascent Balearic Beat movement.

Preceded by the classic club track 'Control I'm Here', their second album, Belief, was released in 1989 and was co-produced by Flood (Depeche Mode, U2),who went on to produce their next 3 albums and remix other tracks. The band was now down to a core duo of Harris and McCarthy, with Julian Beeston on drumming duty. Two further singles 'Hearts & Minds', and Shame were released in 1989 with extraordinary remixes from Daniel Miller and William Orbit.

Three more albums, Showtime in 1990, Ebbhead in 1991, and Big Hit in 1995 achieved varying degrees of underground success and critical acclaim as the band moved away from 4/4 130bpm stomping dance tracks and explored other musical forms - jazz, rock, blues - whilst still sounding like Nitzer Ebb, or, as Douglas Mccarthy described their sound in 1991, "simplistic dance music". Nitzer Ebb had also found favour with labelmates and international pop heavyweights Depeche Mode, who invited them on their European tour in 1988, and in 1990, opening on the World Violation Tour in the US. Depeche Mode were frequently seen sporting Nitzer Ebb T-shirts around this period, most notably in their Enjoy the Silence video.

Exposure to large stadium crowds and the intensity of the whole rock and roll business provided a stimulus for the group to start to develop a more rock-oriented sound to their razor-sharp electronic dance music, and 1991's As Is EP (produced by Killing Joke's Jaz Coleman, Flood, Depeche Mode's Alan Wilder, and Barry Adamson) saw the band adopt a more traditional song writing approach, and paved the way for the aforementioned Ebbhead.

Ebbhead was released in September 1991 and showcased a new confidence in the band's songwriting and production (ably assisted by Flood and Alan Wilder), while the single I Give to You was a sweeping orchestral introduction to the band's new grand ideas. Two further singles, Godhead, and Ascend, combined sampled guitar riffs, throbbing analogue synths, and anthemic chorus'. A hugely successful world tour from Autumn 1991 to Summer 1992 spanning the US, Europe and Russia hinted that the band could potentially break into the mainstream and become a bona fide 'crossover' act.

This wasn't to be. The momentum, progress and optimism built up around Ebbhead was slowly erdoded by the band's (very expensive) 3 years recording the follow up album,Big Hit (drummers were sacked, producers changed etc). During this period a schism between Harris and McCarthy began to develop, and the writing was on the wall.

In short, the band took far too long, and then failed to deliver the album required to elevate them to the level that was promised. And that was that.

The subsequent world tour saw a new live set-up with Harris on bass, Mccarthy on guitar, Jason Payne on drums, and John Napier on guitar and percussion. Whilst still an energetic and involving live act, the shows didn't seem to benefit from either 'real' instruments or more musicians on stage, and the arresting visual dynamics of past tours were compromised in favour of a 'traditional' set up.

The Nitzer Ebb machine ground to a halt towards the end of the Big Hit tour (final dates were advertised then cancelled). Although the group never officially split, Mccarthy and Harris both went their separate ways.

However, the door was effectively left open for Harris and McCarthy to reactivate the band in the future if their differences could be resolved.

Recent years

Having quietly split, the band's back catalogue began to appear in DJ sets and mix compilations, and their name would appear in interviews with house and techno producers, (which only served to highlight their enduring influence). In recognition of this development NovaMute released a remix series with three 12-inch singles between 2001 and 2004 - Shame/Join in the Chant, Control I'm Here/Let Your Body Learn, and Murderous/Control I'm Here. The remix of Let Your Body Learn was particularly fruitful as it was given a radical overhaul by French techno producer Terence Fixmer which led first to a friendship and then developed into a recording project between Fixmer and Douglas McCarthy, called simply Fixmer/McCarthy. Live performances (with just a mic and a Mac) around the world followed, which included new versions of Nitzer Ebb songs. This also led to an album released as Fixmer/McCarthy, entitled Between the Devil....

In late 2005, it was announced that McCarthy and Harris (now residing in the US, and producing/engineering for Marilyn Manson and Billy Corgan) had begun to talk about the possibility of a Nitzer Ebb reunion. 2006 saw Nitzer Ebb tour once more, enlisting the services of a female drummer, Kourtney Klein, and focusing on the more electronic phase of their career, with Mute Records finally releasing the 2 CDs set, Body of Work 1984-1997 in June 2006. A companion piece Body Rework, featuring remixes from cutting edge contemporary techno artists such as Motor, Black Strobe, the Hacker, Derrick May, and Robag Wruhme, further highlighted the interest and respect still shown for this groundbreaking, unique, and highly original electronic outfit.

Capitalizing on the success of the 2006 world tour, Nitzer Ebb began work on new material in Los Angeles earlier this year. A retrospective documentary is set for release later this year.

Influences and legacy

Sonically, Nitzer Ebb evoked the sequenced teutonic basslines and barked commands of Virgin-era DAF in their early days, and took the energy of alternative punk rock of bands like Killing Joke and Bauhaus to create a new aesthetic.

As they grew in confidence and ability, they began to develop the Nitzer Ebb sound - a blend of unusual analogue trickery, minimal song structure, heavy drum beats and percussion, and Douglas Mccarthy's soulful vocals - either shouted, sung, or spoken. Their sound was captured perfectly in one of their publicity slogans from 1987 -"International Funk Aggression" - as despite being hard and heavy, their tracks were always very danceable.

Nitzer Ebb were seen as a totality comprising music, art and culture, manifesting itself as a 'Nitzer Ebb Produkt', which saw all adverts, flyers, record sleeves, letterheads, T-shirts, and other objects all sharing a collective identity that was heavily influenced by Russian Constructivist art, Italian Futurism, totalitarian imagery, and Expressionism. Long time collaborator Simon Grainger was an unofficial member of Nitzer Ebb and responsible for the austere look and feel of this visual aspect of the band, which aimed to provoke reaction, to critique, and even to poke fun at such stern stark powerful imagery. It also refelected perfectly the uncompromising style of the music.

In the short term Nitzer Ebb had a clear influence on labelmates, Depeche Mode, with both bands sharing a producer in Flood and (by virtue of his studio role) Alan Wilder, which saw a cross pollination of ideas - a harder edge given to one band and a pop sensibility brought to the other. Compare the intros of Halo and Lightning Man for a demonstration of this.

Nitzer Ebb were also a huge influence on Detroit Techno, with Derrick May publicly acknowledging this fact before the band opened last year's Detroit annual electronic music festival. A diverse range of DJs and producers, from Richie Hawtin to Tiga have also acknowledged the influence that Nitzer Ebb have had on their careers. Indeeed, their tracks (usually in their original form) are still heard across the world's more discerning dancefloors, and have been consistently listed in a wide range of DJ's Top 10s throughout the past year in the dance music magazine, Mixmag.

Other Projects

In 1989, Nitzer Ebb collaborated with Die Krupps on an updating of their classic Wahre Arbeit Wahrer Lohn single on the Machineries of Joy EP.

Having worked with Alan Wilder on 1991's Ebbhead, Douglas Mccarthy returned the favour, appearing on Recoil's 1992 album Bloodline, on the electronic reworking of Faith Healer, the Alex Harvey classic. Mccarthy also appeared on Recoil's Unsound Methods album in 1997.

Mccarthy appeared with Empirion at 1997's Tribal Gathering (a performance that was broadcast on BBC Radio 1) before embarking on a new career in video production. Since working with Terence Fixmer he has lent his unique vocals to collaborations with Motor, Kloq, Warren Suicide, Client, and Die Krupps on another reworking of Wahre Arbeit Wahrer Lohn.

Bon Harris began the Maven project in 2001 in Los Angeles, and has worked with Marilyn Manson, Smashing Pumpkins, Bush and Depeche Mode.

Discography

Albums

• That Total Age (1987)
• Belief (1989)
• Showtime (1990)
• Ebbhead (1991)
• Big Hit (1995)
• Body of Work (2006)
• Body Rework (2006)

EPs

• Isn't It Funny How Your Body Works (1984)
• As Is (1991)

Compilations

• So Bright So Strong (1988)

Demos

• Basic pain procedure (1983)

Singles

Music videos

• Murderous (1987)
• Let Your Body Learn (1987)
• Control I'm Here (1988)
• Hearts and Minds (1989)
• Shame (1989)
• The Machineries Of Joy (1989)
• Lightning Man (1990)
• Fun To Be Had (1990)
• Family Man (1991)
• I Give To You (1991)
• Godhead (1992)
• Ascend (1992)
• Kick It (1995)

Tributes

• Muscle and Hate - Nilaihah Records, (2005)

External links

• official Nitzer Ebb Website
• Official Nitzer Ebb Myspace Page
• Mute's old Nitzer Ebb page
• Nitzer Ebb at MusicBrainz
• Nitzer Ebb at Discogs
• Superb collectors site
• New Album and 2006 Concert Dates
• "EBM back to NEP"-Party, Interviews and many more...
• Interview with David Gooday (in Swedish)

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