Naked Lunch is a band from
Klagenfurt
Klagenfurt am WörtherseeLandesgesetzblatt 2008 vom 16. Jänner 2008, Stück 1, Nr. 1: ''Gesetz vom 25. Oktober 2007, mit dem die Kärntner Landesverfassung und das Klagenfurter Stadtrecht 1998 geändert werden.'/ref> (; ; sl, Celovec), usually ...
,
Carinthia
Carinthia (german: Kärnten ; sl, Koroška ) is the southernmost States of Austria, Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The main language is German language, German. Its regional dialects belong to t ...
,
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
, founded in
1991
File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...
. They started out as an
alternative rock
Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...
band, mixing hard rock guitars and fragile vocals. In the nineties, they connected with the German band
The Notwist
The Notwist are a German indie rock band. Formed in 1989, the band moved through several musical incarnations, despite maintaining a relatively stable line-up. While their early records moved through heavy metal into dark indie rock, their re ...
, in
Weilheim, with whom they still have ties; their producer,
Olaf Opal, is also working for The Notwist.
The group's album ''
Songs for the Exhausted'' was recorded after a long hiatus (when they nearly disbanded) and saw the band abandon their rock roots and turn to a more experimental, electronic approach to their songs.
They have a cult following in Austria and Germany. In 2007, a new album, ''
This Atom Heart of Ours'', was released.
History
Early days (1991–1996)
Naked Lunch was named after the
novel
A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...
by
William S. Burroughs
William Seward Burroughs II (; February 5, 1914 – August 2, 1997) was an American writer and visual artist, widely considered a primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodern author who influenced popular cultur ...
. The first incarnation of the band was made up of
Oliver Welter (vocals and guitar),
Georg Timber-Trattnig (bass) and
Peter Hornbogner (drums).
Soon after their formation, they sent out demos and were signed on the spot by German
Big Store Records, where a first release came out, the 6-track-mini-LP ''Naked''. The year after that, a full-length album followed, titled ''
Balsam
Balsam is the resinous exudate (or sap) which forms on certain kinds of trees and shrubs. Balsam (from Latin balsamum "gum of the balsam tree", ultimately from Semitic, Aramaic ''busma'', Arabic ''balsam'' and Hebrew ''basam'', "spice", "perfume ...
''. After that, bassist Trattnig left the band to focus on his writing. He died in 2000 due to
alcoholism
Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol (drug), alcohol that results in significant Mental health, mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognize ...
. The song "King George" on ''
Songs for the Exhausted'' is written about his death.
Trattnig was replaced with Herwig Zamernik (of
Disharmonic Orchestra
Disharmonic Orchestra is an Austrian death metal/grindcore band.
History
The band was formed in Klagenfurt in 1987. Two demos were recorded. A gig in Germany with Pungent Stench led to a deal with Nuclear Blast in 1989. The first outcome of tha ...
). Zamernik and Welter remained the core of the band to this day.
After a first few successes, the band became hungry for an international breakthrough, but despite playing showcases for major record companies, it took a few years before they were signed by
Mercury Records
Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it is ...
.
Superstardom (1997–2000)
After finally being signed to a ''big-time'' label, Naked Lunch took on recording their second album, which should bring them what they predicted with the over-ambitious title,
''Superstardom''. Recordings took place in
Weilheim,
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
and
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
. They shot a high-profile video for "Tambourine" (the single was mixed by
Alan Moulder
Alan Moulder (born 11 June 1959) is an English record producer, mixing engineer, and audio engineer.
Early life
Moulder was born on 11 June 1959 in Boston, Lincolnshire. He was educated at Boston Grammar School. He had an interest in music from ...
) in
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
, where they also damaged equipment on stage; they were arrested in London, where some of the members had relocated. But still, big success did not take place.
Soon after that,
Stefan Deisenberger joined on keyboards and synths.
In 1999, ''
Love Junkies'' was released and the single "Closed today" was a minor hit internationally (and also the band's biggest so far), but the album did not sell well. Naked Lunch cut their ties with their label and signed with
Virgin Records
Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwid ...
, where the same record got re-released. But it also flopped on second try and Virgin dropped them.
Songs for the Exhausted (2001–present)
After the events surrounding the two releases of ''Love Junkies'', Naked Lunch went on hiatus. Oliver Welter had to return to his hometown and lived on the streets and "out of his car", so to speak, for half a year. He often remarks that this phase was one of the hardest in his life and he was sometimes close to the edge. Perhaps the long-time-suicide of Georg Trattnig (as he called his long-term alcoholism which ultimately led to this death) showed Welter that it is better to choose life over death. Also, he fathered a daughter and more recently, a son. Herwig Zamernik is also a father (of four children).
Back to life, Naked Lunch entered the studio again and were all set to record another, perhaps their final album. The old indie rock-concepts were abandoned in favour for a new working technique involving intensive work with computers. ''
Songs for the Exhausted'' was recorded in Herwig Zamerniks own studio, the "Fuzzroom" in
Klagenfurt
Klagenfurt am WörtherseeLandesgesetzblatt 2008 vom 16. Jänner 2008, Stück 1, Nr. 1: ''Gesetz vom 25. Oktober 2007, mit dem die Kärntner Landesverfassung und das Klagenfurter Stadtrecht 1998 geändert werden.'/ref> (; ; sl, Celovec), usually ...
over the course of a year. Prior to the recording, drummer and founding member Peter "Bogs" Hornbogner left the band - he was later replaced by
Thorsten Thonhauser (although most drum tracks on the album were played by session drummers or were programmed). Shortly before the completion of the session, the studio burned down. Zamernik has subsequently built a new "Fuzzroom".
After the recording was finished, the band faced new problems. They were unable to find a record company willing to release the record, which was considered too sad, depressing and generally non-commercial. Finally in 2004,
Motor Music Records put their effort out and Naked Lunch were facing generally very good reviews and surprisingly good sales.
In the aftermath, Naked Lunch put out an EP, ''Stay'' in 2005 and contributed music to befriended film-maker
Thomas Woschitz
Thomas Woschitz (born 22 April 1968, in Klagenfurt am Wörthersee) is an Austrian film director, screenwriter and film editor.
Life and work
Thomas Woschitz grew up in Austria and studied at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Rome unde ...
's project ''
Sperrstunde'', which was screened to live backing music by the band. Also, Herwig Zamernik released a solo record, dubbed
Fuzzman on
Wohnzimmer Records.
In 2006, they composed the music for the episode "
Bis in den Tod" of the Austrian mystery serial ''
8x45'' and in 2007 the music for the Elisabeth Scharang TV movie
Franz Fuchs - Ein Patriot starring
Karl Markovics
Karl Markovics is an Austrian actor and film director. He was born in Vienna, Austria.
Biography
Markovics' mother worked as a clerk and his father was a bus driver. Markovics did not want to go into a professional career but wanted to become a ...
.
A new album, ''
This Atom Heart of Ours'' was released on January 19, 2007. It is the first to include new drummer,
Alex Jezdinsky (formerly of
Angelika Express), following the departure of Thorsten Thonhauser. Yet it is uncertain if Jezdinsky is a full member, hence he does not appear on any of the promotion photos for the new record nor in the video to the single "Military of the Heart".
The album entered the Austrian longplay charts at #25. In 2008, they composed the film score of ''
Universalove'' by
Thomas Woschitz
Thomas Woschitz (born 22 April 1968, in Klagenfurt am Wörthersee) is an Austrian film director, screenwriter and film editor.
Life and work
Thomas Woschitz grew up in Austria and studied at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Rome unde ...
.
Discography
Albums
* ''
Balsam
Balsam is the resinous exudate (or sap) which forms on certain kinds of trees and shrubs. Balsam (from Latin balsamum "gum of the balsam tree", ultimately from Semitic, Aramaic ''busma'', Arabic ''balsam'' and Hebrew ''basam'', "spice", "perfume ...
'' (1992)
* ''Superstardom'' (1997)
* ''
Love Junkies'' (1999)
* ''
Songs for the Exhausted'' (2004)
* ''
This Atom Heart of Ours'' (2007)
* ''
Universalove'' (Louisville Records, 2009)
* ''
All Is Fever'' (Tapete 2013)
EPs and singles
* ''Naked'' (Mini-LP, 1991)
* ''Balsam'' (Single, 1992)
* ''WOM Demos'' (EP, 1995)
* ''Spark'' (Single, 1997)
* ''Tambourine'' (Single, 1997)
* ''Me'' (Single, 1997)
* ''Closed Today'' (Single, 1999)
* ''On a Sunny Day'' (Single, 1999)
* ''Disco Sadness'' (Single, 1999)
* ''Stay'' (EP, 2005)
* ''Military of the Heart'' (Single, 2006)
* ''Universalove (Brooklyn)'' (Single, 2009)
*
Here Come The Bells' (Single, 2018)
External links
* http://www.nakedlunch.de - official website (in English and German)
* http://www.myspace.com/nakedlunchmusic (MySpace site - in English)
* http://www.fuzzman.fm - the Fuzzman website (in German)
* http://www.myspace.com/fuzzmaninthehouse (Fuzzman MySpace site - in English)
* http://film.kgp.co.at/sperrstunde (Sperrstunde/Closing Time - Film Concert - in German and English)
{{Authority control
Austrian alternative rock groups
Tapete Records artists