Project Pitchfork is a German
dark wave
Dark wave (also typeset as darkwave) is a music genre that emerged from the new wave and post-punk movement of the late 1970s. Dark wave compositions are largely based on minor key tonality and introspective lyrics and have been perceived as be ...
,
electronic rock group from
Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
, Germany.
History
First years (1990–1994)
Project Pitchfork was formed by Peter Spilles and Dirk Scheuber. After agreeing to work together, they picked the project's name by choosing a random word from the dictionary.
The band gave their first performance in Hamburg in February 1990
and released their demo, ''K.N.K.A'', in August. In May 1991, their debut album ''Dhyani'' was released. The band's second album, ''Lam-'Bras'' was released in February 1992 and yielded the first vocal appearance of Patrica Nigiani. Six months later, the band's third album, ''Entities'' was released. The band switched labels to
Off Beat for their 1994 release ''Io''. The album featured two singles, "Renascence" and "Carrion", and marked the first time the band entered the German Charts. The album was followed by a lengthy German tour.
The development years and success (1995–2002)
In 1995, Project Pitchfork established their own label, Candyland Entertainment,
through which they would release the majority of their material as well as some side projects and bands such as Philtron and Deep Red. 1995 also saw the release of two EPs, ''CH'I'' and ''Corps d'Amour'', and one album, ''Alpha Omega''. The year finished off with a tour supported by
Rammstein
Rammstein (, "ramming stone") is a German Neue Deutsche Härte band formed in Berlin in 1994. The band's lineup—consisting of lead vocalist Till Lindemann, lead guitarist Richard Kruspe, rhythm guitarist Paul Landers, bassist Oliver Riedel, ...
.
The next Project Pitchfork studio album ''¡Chakra:Red!'' was released in 1997. It was the first album since ''Dhyani'' to be written as a group effort, rather than by Peter Spilles alone, and the first to include Jürgen Jansen as a permanent band member.
Immediately after their first US tour in 1998, Project Pitchfork returned with concept album ''
Eon:Eon'', their first while signed to label
EastWest. The album yielded three singles, "Steelrose", "Carnival", and "I Live Your Dream". With the support of Eastwest, an imprint of the major label
Warner Music
Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and t ...
), the band had greater resources available to produce videos for their music, which led to their being the first gothic industrial band to receive airplay on music TV in Germany.
The video for "Steelrose" earned the band a nomination for an
Echo Award
Echo Music Prize (stylised as ECHO, ) was an accolade by the , an association of recording companies of Germany to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry. The first ECHO Awards ceremony was held in 1992, and it was set up to hono ...
for Best Video National.
Between 1998 and 2001 the band built out their own studio which gave them more time to develop their next release.
In 2001, the band released their eighth studio album ''
Daimonion'' and supported the album with a European tour. In 2002 the band released the "NUN" trilogy which consisted of album ''Inferno'' and EPs ''View From a Throne'' and ''Trialog''. This earned the band another nomination for an Echo Award, this time for Best Alternative Act National.
Recent years (2003–present)
Project Pitchfork returned with album Kaskade in 2005. In February 2009 the band released ''Dream, Tiresias!'' which received praise from electronic music magazine, ReGen.
In 2010 the band's follow up album ''Continuum Ride'' was released along with a video to support the song "Beholder." ''Continuum Ride'' was inspired by the band's US tour in 2009, particularly their experience of Detroit, whose dilapidated skyline led to a more "dark and destructive" sound than that of their previous album.
By 2011 Project Pitchfork ceased operating their Candyland label, having since begun releasing their work on the Trisol label.
The band released ''Quantum Mechanics'' in 2011 as well as a video for the album's second track, "Lament". Later that year the band released a compilation album titled ''First Anthology''.
In 2013 the band released their fourteenth studio album, ''Black'', and a music video to accompany the song "Rain".
In June 2014, the band announced via their official website a new album titled ''Blood''. To promote the record the band held a pre-release show in Hamburg. The album was released in September and featured a music video for "Blood-Diamond (See Him Running)" edited by Peter Spilles himself.
In 2016, Project Pitchfork released their ''Second Anthology'', a double CD that included one new track, several unreleased rarities, and many re-recorded and remastered tracks.
Also in 2016, the band released the album ''Look Up, I’m Down There'' to commemorate their 25th anniversary. The album was released in two versions: a standard CD release and a special, limited edition double CD wth an 80 page art book containing complete lyrics and a short story by the fantasy author Björn Springorum.
In 2018, the band released the album ''Akkretion'', the first of what was planned to be a trilogy of albums for release that year.
Of the remaining albums of the trilogy, only the second, ''Fragment'', was released.
Starting in 2019, Trisol began releasing reissues of all the band's material over the previous decade from ''Dream, Tiresias!'' through ''Look Up, I'm Down There''.
Members
Current lineup
*Peter Spilles –
composition
Composition or Compositions may refer to:
Arts and literature
*Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography
*Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include v ...
,
lyrics
Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a "libretto" and their writer, a ...
,
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 ...
(1989–present)
*Dirk Scheuber –
keyboards
Keyboard may refer to:
Text input
* Keyboard, part of a typewriter
* Computer keyboard
** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping
** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware
Music
* Musi ...
(1989–present)
*Jürgen Jansen –
keyboards
Keyboard may refer to:
Text input
* Keyboard, part of a typewriter
* Computer keyboard
** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping
** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware
Music
* Musi ...
(1996–present)
*Achim Färber –
live drums (1999–present)
Former members
*Patricia Nigiani –
backing vocals
A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...
, live keyboards (1992–1994)
*Markus Giltjes –
live drums (1995)
*Yenz Schrader –
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 ...
,
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 ...
(1998)
*Carsten Klatte –
live guitar (1999–2011)
Timeline
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at:10/05/1998
at:02/26/2001
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at:05/30/2005
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bar:Schrader text:"Yenz Schrader"
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bar:Färber from:01/01/1999 till:12/31/2020 color:drums
bar:Nigiani from:01/01/1992 till:12/31/1994 color:backing
bar:Nigiani from:01/01/1992 till:12/31/1994 color:keyboard width:3
bar:Giltjes from:01/01/1995 till:12/31/1995 color:drums
bar:Schrader from:01/01/1998 till:12/31/1998 color:drums
bar:Schrader from:01/01/1998 till:12/31/1998 color:guitar width:3
bar:Klatte from:01/01/1999 till:12/31/2011 color:guitar
Discography
Studio albums
*''Dhyani'' (1991)
*''Lam-'Bras'' (1992)
*''Entities'' (1992)
*''IO'' (1994)
*''Alpha Omega'' (1995)
*''¡Chakra:Red!'' (1997)
*''
Eon:Eon'' (1998)
*''
Daimonion'' (2001)
*''Inferno'' (2002)
*''
Kaskade
Ryan Gary Raddon (born February 25, 1971), better known by his stage name Kaskade, is an American DJ, record producer and remixer. ''DJ Times'' voted Kaskade "America's Best DJ" in 2011 and 2013. ''DJ Mag'' named Kaskade fifty-first on its 200 ...
'' (2005)
*''
Dream, Tiresias!'' (2009)
*''Continuum Ride'' (2010)
*''Quantum Mechanics'' (2011)
*''
Black
Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...
'' (2013)
*''
Blood
Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells. Blood in the c ...
'' (2014)
*''Look Up, I'm Down There'' (2016)
*''Akkretion'' (2018)
*''Fragment'' (2018)
EPs
*''Precious New World'' (1991)
*''Psychic Torture'' (1991)
*''Souls/Island'' (1993)
*''Little IO'' (1994)
*''CH'I'' (1995)
*''Corps D'Amour'' (1995)
*''Trialog'' (2002)
*''View From a Throne'' (2002)
*''Wonderland/One Million Faces'' (2007)
Live albums
*''Live '97'' (1997)
*''Live 2003/2001'' (2003)
Singles
*"Carrion" (1993)
*"Renascence" (1994)
*"En Garde!" (1996)
*"Carnival" (1998)
*"Steelrose" (1998)
*"I Live Your Dream" (1999)
*"Existence" (2001)
*"Timekiller" (2001) – #19 DAC Top 50 Singles of 2001, Germany
*"Awakening" (2002)
*"Schall Und Rauch/The Future Is Now" (2005)
*"Earth Song"
(feat. Sara Noxx
Sara Noxx is a German musician and member of the alternative music scene. She is also a member of the band Essexx, who in 1997 were the winners of the ''Zillo'' band contest.
Career
Noxx's debut solo release was the 1997 mini-album ''Societ ...
) (2008)
*"Feel!" (2009)
*"Beholder" (2010)
*"Lament" (2011)
*"Rain" (2013)
Compilation albums
* ''The Early Years (89–93)'' (1996)
* ''Collector: Lost and Found'' (2001)
* ''NUN Trilogy'' (2002)
* ''Collector: Fireworks & Colorchange'' (2003)
* ''First Anthology'' (2011)
* ''Second Anthology'' (2016)
Videography
*Va I Luce (1992)
*Entities Tour (1993)
*Glowing Like Io – Live Performance (1994)
*Alpha Omega – Live (1995)
*Live '99 (1999)
*Collector – Adapted for the Screen (2002)
*Live 2003 (2004)
References
External links
*
*
Full band's biography in English
{{Authority control
German electronic music groups
German rock music groups
German dark wave musical groups
Musical groups from Hamburg
Metropolis Records artists
Trisol Music Group artists
Off Beat label artists