Drill are a band from North East England. They were formed in early 1989 and released albums on the Abstract Sounds, Retribution Records and Muza Muza labels. After splitting in 1994 they reformed in 2005 releasing a new album in 2008. The Drill project was shelved late 2009.
Drill are notable for not using a drummer and for writing
industrial rock
Industrial rock is a fusion genre that fuses industrial music and rock music. It initially originated in the 1970s, and drew influence from early experimental and industrial acts such as Cromagnon, Throbbing Gristle, Einstürzende Neubauten a ...
music with
time signature
The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note value ...
and
tempo
In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...
changes within each song and for writing songs that do not follow the typical verse, chorus, bridge etc. song structures.
History
1989 - 1994
Kev Wilkinson and Tony O'Brien started Drill in 1989. Following the success of early demos and support slots with
Bomb Disneyland (later to be known as
Bomb Everything
A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechanica ...
) and
Ride
Ride may refer to:
People
* MC Ride, a member of Death Grips
* Sally Ride (1951–2012), American astronaut
* William Ride (19262011), Australian zoologist
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''Ride'' (1998 film), a 1998 comedy by Millicent ...
the band recorded and released the
album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
Skin Down in 1991 on Abstract Sounds. The album was well received by the music press, with
Melody Maker
''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...
describing it as "a musical white knuckle ride". The line-up at this time was:
Kev Wilkinson -
vocals
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...
,
Guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
,
Programming
Tony O'Brien -
Guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
Simon Moore -
Bass guitar
The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...
Davy Craig -
Guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
,
E-bow
The EBow, short for electronic bow or energy bow, is an electronic device used for playing string instruments, most often the electric guitar. It is manufactured by Heet Sound Products, of Los Angeles, California. It was invented by Greg Heet i ...
To promote the album the band was booked to tour the UK with the band
Pitchshifter
Pitchshifter are an English industrial rock band from Nottingham, formed in 1989. The band was started by lead guitarist and programmer Johnny A. Carter, and bassist and vocalist Mark Clayden. The band’s early material was characterized for ...
, however on the eve of the tour, the tour bus was involved in a serious road crash during which the tour bus overturned injuring several members of the band. On 7 September 1991, Drill supported
Nine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN and stylized as NIИ, is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland in 1988. Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Trent Reznor was the only permanent member of the band ...
on their second English gig at
Newcastle Riverside.
Davy Craig left the band due to lack of touring, and was replaced by Andy Cooper before the band recorded and released the album White Finger in 1992 again on
Abstract Sounds. For one track on the album ''The sound of rock'', they were joined by guest drummer Gary Binns and
Chris McCormack from the band
Forgodsake
Forgodsake were an English rock band from Newcastle Upon Tyne formed in 1990.
History
Forgodsake formed in 1990 by Kevin Ridley, Steve Wallace, Drew Gallon, Gary Binns and Chris McCormack. They recorded a demo and signed to Bleeding Hearts ...
. Chris McCormack later went on to form
3 Colours Red
3 Colours Red were an English rock band, formed in 1994 in London. They achieved their biggest chart success at the end of the 1990s, along with other British rock bands such as Ash and Feeder. The band was named by sticking a pin in a Londo ...
.
The White Finger album saw the band use
sampling and move towards a more electronic sound. Again favorably received, it was described by
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
as sounding like "
Freddy Krueger
Freddy Krueger () is a fictional character and the primary antagonist in the ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' film series. He was created by Wes Craven and made his debut in Craven's ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' (1984) as the malevolent spirit ...
stalking around
Tyneside
Tyneside is a built-up area across the banks of the River Tyne in northern England. Residents of the area are commonly referred to as Geordies. The whole area is surrounded by the North East Green Belt.
The population of Tyneside as published i ...
in a thick fog".
The band released the album Paroxysm on
Retribution Records in 1993 and the
live album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
Snuffed on
Muza Muza in 1994. The line-up of the band for these albums was:
Kev Wilkinson -
vocals
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...
,
Guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
,
Programming
Tony O'Brien -
Guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
Simon Moore -
Bass guitar
The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...
Rob Meek - Samples
Steve Chahley - Samples/FX
In 1994 the band ceased.
2005 - 2009
In 2005 the band reformed with original members:
Kev Wilkinson -
vocals
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...
,
Guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
,
Programming
Tony O'Brien -
Guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
Si Malarkey -
Bass guitar
The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...
Simon Moore -
Bass guitar
The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...
Antony Bircham -
Guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
They were joined briefly on
drums
A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...
by Mark Lough from Hug Lorenzo, however due to conflicting commitments he left and the band went back to using sequenced drum patterns.
In 2007 Tony O'Brien left the band to be replaced briefly by Dave Francis.
In 2008 the band released the single Pitmanic and album The Last Taboo of America on
Saturate
Saturate may refer to:
* ''Saturate'' (Breaking Benjamin album), 2002
* ''Saturate'' (Gojira album), 1999
* ''Saturate'' (Jeff Deyo album), 2002
* " Electronic Battle Weapon 8", a song by The Chemical Brothers, a shorter version of which was re ...
with the line up:
Kev Wilkinson -
vocals
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...
,
Guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
,
Programming
Simon Malarkey -
Bass guitar
The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...
Antony Bircham -
Guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
Simon Moore -
Bass guitar
The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...
Davy Craig returned briefly and played guitar on Pitmanic but left due to ill health.
Andy Cooper rejoined the band shortly before the Drill project was shelved in 2009.
Discography
*Skin Down (1991 on Abstract Sounds)
*White Finger (1992 on Abstract Sounds)
*Paroxysm (1993 on
Retribution Records)
*Snuffed (1994 on
Muza Muza)
*Pitmanic (2008 on
Saturate
Saturate may refer to:
* ''Saturate'' (Breaking Benjamin album), 2002
* ''Saturate'' (Gojira album), 1999
* ''Saturate'' (Jeff Deyo album), 2002
* " Electronic Battle Weapon 8", a song by The Chemical Brothers, a shorter version of which was re ...
)
*The Last Taboo of America (2008 on Saturate)
References
External links
Drill at My SpaceDrill official site
{{Authority control
English rock music groups
British industrial rock musical groups
Musical groups established in 1989
Musical groups from Newcastle upon Tyne