Fischerspooner were an
electroclash
Electroclash (also known as synthcore, retro-electro, tech-pop, nouveau disco, and the new new wave) is a genre of music that fuses 1980s electro, new wave and synth-pop with 1990s techno, retro-style electropop and electronic dance music. It ...
duo and performance troupe formed in 1998 in Chicago after meeting in school. The name is a combination of the founders' last names,
Warren Fischer and
Casey Spooner
Casey Spooner (born February 2, 1970) is an American musician and artist. He resides in Paris, Los Angeles, and New York City.
Early life and education
Spooner was born in Athens, Georgia. He attended University of Georgia and later went on to ...
.
Career
Originally a duo formed by classically trained musician Warren Fischer and video-artist and experimental theater performer Casey Spooner for an impromptu rendition of their makeshift track "Indian Cab Driver" at the
Astor Place
Astor Place is a one-block street in NoHo/ East Village, in the lower part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It runs from Broadway in the west (just below East 8th Street) to Lafayette Street. The street encompasses two plazas at ...
Starbucks, the group grew to over 20 performers, most of whom are dancers and guest vocalists. "We started as a performance art piece about entertainment that ultimately became legitimate entertainment,"
[
] said Casey Spooner, when talking about the group's origins in an April 2009 interview.
''#1'' (2001)
Their debut album, ''
#1'', has been released on several record labels, including
International DJ Gigolo,
Ministry of Sound and
Capitol Records, and includes their hit singles "Sweetness", "
Emerge", and a cover of
Wire
Overhead power cabling. The conductor consists of seven strands of steel (centre, high tensile strength), surrounded by four outer layers of aluminium (high conductivity). Sample diameter 40 mm
A wire is a flexible strand of metal.
Wire is c ...
's "
the 15th". In the final months of 2004, Fischerspooner opened up their FS Studios in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
to the public for a few hours once a week, allowing people to meet the band and production team, as well as preview new video, music and dance projects that they were working on.
''Odyssey'' (2005)
In 2005, ''
Odyssey
The ''Odyssey'' (; grc, Ὀδύσσεια, Odýsseia, ) is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Iliad'', th ...
'', the band's second album, was released. The album featured songs that were more structured and more accurately described as
electropop than
electroclash
Electroclash (also known as synthcore, retro-electro, tech-pop, nouveau disco, and the new new wave) is a genre of music that fuses 1980s electro, new wave and synth-pop with 1990s techno, retro-style electropop and electronic dance music. It ...
. "''Odyssey'' was really about being on
Capitol
A capitol, named after the Capitoline Hill in Rome, is usually a legislative building where a legislature meets and makes laws for its respective political entity.
Specific capitols include:
* United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.
* Numerous ...
, which was this icon of classic American music, trying to embrace that cliché and find a way to embody it and infiltrate it and take it apart at the same time",
says Spooner.
The lead single, "Just Let Go", featuring live drums and guitars, possessed a markedly different sound than those heard on their debut album. "Just Let Go" was featured on season 2, episode 15 of ''
Nip/Tuck
''Nip/Tuck'' is an American medical drama television series created by Ryan Murphy that aired on FX in the United States from July 22, 2003, to March 3, 2010. The series, which also incorporates elements of crime drama, black comedy, family dra ...
''; "All We Are" was also featured on the same TV series, in season 3, episode 1. The second single, "Never Win", went on to become the album's biggest hit, and was well received in both clubs and radio. Furthermore, it was also featured in the 2006
Happy Madison
Happy Madison Productions is an American film and television production company founded in 1999 by Adam Sandler, which is best known for its comedy films. Happy Madison takes its name from the films ''Happy Gilmore'' and ''Billy Madison'', two ...
movie ''
Grandma's Boy''. "A Kick in the Teeth" was rumored to be the album's third, and possibly final, single but was only pressed on 12" that included a remix by
Tiefschwarz
Tiefschwarz () are a German house group consisting of brothers, Alexander "Ali" (June 7, 1967-) and Sebastian "Basti" (December 28, 1969-) Schwarz, which formed in Stuttgart in 1996.IMO Records"Tiefschwarz Biography", '' IMO Records''. Retrieve ...
. This was followed after a duration of silence by a 12" remix of "We Need a War" with a mix by DJ Hell. Other remixes believed to have been done are of "All We Are" and "Get Confused". "All We Are" was featured as the credits track in the first episode of season two of Sweetbitter.
After the album's release, Fischerspooner toured a new, more elaborate show in Europe, but the band found themselves without the funds to tour the show fully in North America. "I was incredibly frustrated because I had worked two years on this huge record and I was only able to perform for three months",
recalls Spooner, who subsequently retreated to his theatrical roots, joining experimental New York performance ensemble
The Wooster Group
The Wooster Group is a New York City-based experimental theater company known for creating numerous original dramatic works. It gradually emerged from Richard Schechner's The Performance Group (1967–1980) during the period from 1975 to 1980, an ...
. During this period, it was unclear whether the band would record together again; and, in May 2007, the band was released from its
Capitol Records recording contract.
''Entertainment'' (2009)
Early European gig recordings of "The Best Revenge" surfaced on the internet during summer 2007. "The Best Revenge" was released on January 14, 2008 with French label
Kitsune Music
In Japanese folklore, , are foxes that possess paranormal abilities that increase as they get older and wiser. According to ''yōkai'' folklore, all foxes have the ability to shapeshift into human form. While some folktales speak of employing t ...
. The track includes a remix package from the likes of
Autokratz,
Tocadisco
Roman Böer (born 9 June 1974), better known as DJ Tocadisco, formerly Tocadisco (; Spanish for "turntable"), is a German DJ and record producer.
Biography
Born in Berlin, but grew up as the son of the photographer and media designer Gerry Böe ...
, Alex Gopher, The Passions and Tony Senghore. Fischerspooner also released "Danse en France" as a single on the Kitsuné label.
Warren and Casey subsequently began to work on more material for a new album while Casey was performing the role of Ophelia's brother Laertes in The Wooster Group's production of Hamlet (Fischerspooner also contributed two original songs to the production).
Released in North America via the band's own label FS Studios on May 4, 2009, ''
Entertainment
Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have developed over thousa ...
'' is their third full-length album and was produced by Jeff Saltzman (The Killers, The Black Keys, The Sounds).
The album's cover was listed on Pitchfork's worst album covers of 2009.
''Sir'' (2018)
The album ''
Sir
''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...
'', executive-produced and co-written by
Michael Stipe
John Michael Stipe (; born January 4, 1960) is an American singer-songwriter and artist, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of alternative rock band R.E.M. He is known for his vocal quality, poetic lyrics and unique stage presence.
Pos ...
of
R.E.M.
R.E.M. was an American rock band from Athens, Georgia, formed in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the first alternati ...
and
Boots
A boot is a type of footwear.
Boot or Boots may also refer to:
Businesses
* Boot Inn, Chester, Cheshire, England
* Boots (company), a high-street pharmacy chain and manufacturer of pharmaceuticals in the United Kingdom
* The Boot, Cromer St ...
, was released on February 16, 2018 on Ultra. The band released the first single "Have Fun Tonight" on June 19, 2017. The song "Top Brazil", was released on January 19, 2018; along with an electro-pop music video which Billboard called, "provocative."
NPR interpreted the album as a retrospective collage of Reagan-era queer references framed in an undeniably contemporary style;
"Even the cheapskate metaphor passions in the lyrics, read as physical, often NSFW desires — 'raging motorcycle thoroughbred,' 'not opposed to humiliation,' 'denim on denim,' 'dorsal fins at night in Berlin,' 'Butterscotch Goddam,' 'dark pink Saturday night' — that are dated just enough to seem older and odder. Pairing these with layered synthesizer lines and drum-machines that invoke Reagan-era industrial and EBM reinforces nostalgic notions of sexual danger."
In an interview with the album collaborators, it was said that, "
he album
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (pronoun), an English pronoun
* He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ
* He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets
* He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
explores Spooner’s 're-entry into the sexual playground now defined by technology, but also the muddled ways that feelings and self-image are present in that experience' while simultaneously examining the years of 'emotional and sexual turbulence' he experienced with his ex-partner."
Break-up
On October 30, 2019, the duo announced their breakup via
Instagram.
Band members
* Warren Fischer –
composer
*
Casey Spooner
Casey Spooner (born February 2, 1970) is an American musician and artist. He resides in Paris, Los Angeles, and New York City.
Early life and education
Spooner was born in Athens, Georgia. He attended University of Georgia and later went on to ...
–
songwriter
A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...
,
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 withou ...
* Sam Kearney –
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 strin ...
* Peanuts, aka Jeremiah Clancy – attendant to Casey, actor
*
Adam Crystal
Adam Akio Crystal (born in Oakland California, US) is an American composer, violinist, and keyboardist known for his work in film score and contemporary classical music composition for modern dance and ballet.
Music career
Crystal is a proli ...
-
keyboards
* Cindy Greene – vocals
* Lizzy Yoder – vocals
* Ian Pai –
musical director,
drums
* Vanessa Walters –
choreographer,
dancer
* Stephanie Dixon – dancer
Discography
Albums
* Bootleg (self-titled, with PS1 Cover Artwork) (1998)
* ''Fischerspooner'' (2000) – "For Those Who Know" release
* ''
#1 or Best Album Ever'', originally titled ''Best Album Ever'', "International DJ Gigolos" release in 2001, Ministry of Sound release in 2002, Capitol Records reissue with DVD in 2003 - UK #92
* ''
Odyssey
The ''Odyssey'' (; grc, Ὀδύσσεια, Odýsseia, ) is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Iliad'', th ...
'' (2005) US #172, UK #110
* ''
Entertainment
Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have developed over thousa ...
'' (2009)
* ''
Sir
''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...
'' (2018)
Singles
Music videos
* "Emerge" – Original version (2001)
* "Emerge" – Skin version (2003)
* "The 15th" (2003)
* "Sweetness" (2003)
* "Just Let Go" (2005)
* "Never Win" (2005)
* "Never Win" –
Mirwais version (2005)
* "All We Are" (made for a Coca-Cola project by Rex & Tennant) (2006)
* "Get Confused" (2008)
* "We Are Electric" (2009)
* "The Best Revenge" (2011)
* "Have Fun Tonight" (2017)
* "Togetherness" (2017)
* "TopBrazil" (2017)
References
External links
Fischerspooner official website
{{Authority control
American dance music groups
Electronic music groups from New York (state)
Musical groups established in 1998
Musical groups disestablished in 2019
Capitol Records artists
American electronic music duos
Electroclash groups
Kitsuné artists
Male musical duos
Dim Mak Records artists
Ministry of Sound artists